Since coming to ABQ, I've been playing in a rec league called NM Hockey. Its a bunch of guys and gals who get together to play some hockey and drink a beer afterwards. I was fortunate enough to play this previous season with some strong players and we made it to the championship game. Although the stakes are relatively low (it is a beer league in Albuquerque), I still got rather keyed up for the game, its not every day that you get to play for a championship and I wanted to lead my team to hoisting the cup in victory.
Before the game, I was a bit jumbled up. My stomach was queezy and I made several trips to the bathroom before I left the house. Once at the rink, I did my best to calm my nerves, making jokes and playful banter in the locker room with my teammates. It took until we were all dressed for us to admit that each and everyone of us felt the same, each with our own set of symptoms and each eager to do our best in the game. As we walked out of the locker room and filed on to the ice, each of us noted something a bit different about the arena - the fans in the stands. Eleven players on each team and each person probably brought 5 people to cheer them on. With over a hundred people watching, it was the biggest crowd I'd ever experience (aside from performing with the 110) and I was excited to give them a good show.
The game started out a bit less than spectacular. It seems as though the nerves affected our team in different ways and quickly we fell behind. Three minutes in, a goal on us; a few minutes later, the second. We got our heads about us but still managed to fall behind 3-0 in just the first period. I didn't want to lose like we did previously to this team (11-0, it was a nightmare) and I knew my team was better than this. Being as positive as I could be, I skated over to the bench during the intermission and calmly reminded my team that we had overcome deficits like this before and we could do that again. Put some traffic in front of the other goaltender and just keep playing hard.
The second period went a bit better. We got a goal back, making it 3-1 and flushing our nerves out. Second intermission, same pep talk. If nothing else, I was satisfied that it wasn't a shutout for the other goalie, now we just needed to step up and make the comeback. I knew we could, execution just needed to happen.
We come out strong in the 3rd and put a goal up on the board quickly, its now 3-2. I'm feeling confident and making saves, just hoping that my teammates will find a way to put in the equalizer and take the lead. I know I can post a shutout for the rest of the period, I can just feel it; its up to the offense now.
Our captain takes a time out with three minutes left in the game and we come up with a strategy. Shoot like crazy and I'll come off the ice with 90 seconds to go, giving us an extra attacker. Two minutes to go and we go on the man-advantage, a penalty against the other team. A few moments later, a mini-breakaway over the other goalie's shoulder ties it up. Now just to see who gets the game/championship winner...
Overtime works like this - five minutes of 4 vs. 4 and if it is still tied after that, a shootout. After scoring the tying goal and going to overtime, I'm confident that I can carry the team to victory and stop everything that comes my way. As we start playing, both teams are skating hard and trying to put it away as quickly as possible. We've all played enough to know that quirky goals can happen and no one wants to lose that way. The time ticks on and on, it looks like we are going to a shootout. Less than a minute to go and we are deep in their end, the puck squirts loose and the other team brings it down the ice. My defender goes into the corner with her man with less than 15 seconds to go. She ties him up despite giving up a foot of height and probably close to 60 pounds of weight. She pushes hard and he pushes hard back. The clock ticks closer and closer to the end of the overtime period. The other players know she has him and that a shootout is mere moments away. And then it happens - his longer reach allows him to push the puck past her and into open space. My other defender is thinking the game will go to a shootout and misses the pass to the other player. The opposition gets the puck with less than a second to go in OT and flicks a quick backhand towards the net. I drop to a butterfly position, like I have thousands of times, to stop the puck and send it to the next part of the game. Only problem is my timing. As my pads are dropping, the puck trickles underneath them and into the goal. I hear the horn sound and know that we've not made it to the shootout, the game winner is behind me. The season ends with me missing my last save opportunity, a championship lost.
The team is disappointed more with themselves than with me. Some players comment that they should have been down low to help out. Others that they were already thinking of the shootout and lolly-gagging around. No blame is placed on me - we won as a team all season and we lost as a team on the final shot. I'm sad to have missed it but know that I did everything I could to win it for us. My reactions just weren't fast enough this time - age must be getting to me. ;-)
click on picture for larger version
And as you can see, a photographer in the stands was able to catch the moment of defeat. The puck is going between my legs (hence why the footnote of going 5-hole by the photographer) and on its way to the back of the goal. While I'd like to have my pad in the right spot, I still think this is an amazing picture and give kudos to the photographer for having his finger on the shutter at the right moment. What can I say, I'd love to have taken this shot myself - the moment of victory.
Despite being a bit saddened by the loss, I am still grateful for the opportunity to play and being in the position that we were. I cherish the times I had with that team and the thrill of being in the moment. But the season is over and our team will be lumped in with the other teams as we are divided into new teams starting in January, the process beginning again. I look forward to making another drive towards another championship game, perhaps June will have me writing about the victory and not the defeat.
