Otis Boudreaux on the Ice - Part 3

[Otis Boudreaux Jr 214]

Dateline: Houston, TX.  Man, this was a long walk back to the dorm. I dont think Doug and I said 2 words between us the whole time. We have seemed to become good friends, at least from my point of view, and I think we both knew that some times there are no words that are powerful enough to break the silence. We have been practicing so hard, so much. I mean, I wonder at times if I could even raise my legs up off of the bed. I ached in places I didnt know I could ache. I have read that walking can help with leg aches, but I dont think any walk could take this ache away.

 

Our season isnt off to a good start, hell, it is going pretty bad to be honest. The preseason didnt go to badly. We were starting to gel and we were playing more and more as a team, not just as a bunch of individuals that happened to be on the ice together at the same time. That is, until the unthinkable happened, we lost our goalie. I dont know all of the particulars, so all I know is that one day he was there, living in the room at the end of the hall, stopping those shots on goal (ok, not all, but he made us competitive) and then he was gone, not only from the room at the end of the hall, but also from protecting our net. 

 

So our season went into a tailspin. Take tonight for example, we played at home against Mexico City. The house was rocking, Mexico City has a great bunch of traveling fans. The music was loud, our fans and theirs were getting into it, and we were ready to give them a show. But it didnt go how we planned. Yea, I got 2 more assists, I think that gives me 8, or 9, I dont remember. We scored 3 goals...but we gave up 7. Most of the time 3 goals is a good foundation, but not when we cant seem to stop anyone from scoring against us. Doug is skating his heart out but there has to be more than one guy trying to protect the net. 

 

The coach had us shift to a more defensive strategy, but it didnt even help. He congratulated me on getting the assists, but I could hear it in his voice, he is wanting to figure this out. I mean, the goalie we have let in 78% of the shots he faced, 78%. Yea, the odds are not in our favor on that one. 

 

Hopefully we get a goalie soon, or I am afraid that no matter how many goals we score, it wont ever be enough.