Scott Greene: Continental Cup Winner Brings It Home

[DoktorFunk 810]

By James Vanderbiggen,

 

In my years as a journalist, you live for the good stories. The ones that make you laugh. Cry. Inspire you to be your best self. It’s a job that can often make you jaded, because of all of the mundane and terrible things that you usually have to write about. But the good ones make it worth it. Such is the case with this story.

 

Scott Greene grew up here in Richmond and lived here for most of his life. He studied in the same schools, played in the same yards, and ate at the same restaurants. He has a love of hockey and always dreamed of winning the Continental Cup, something both of his parents encouraged him to achieve. He strived even more to make it there after his father tragically passed away and his mother was diagnosed with cancer. And, Scott has finally achieved his dream. 

 

Last week, the Seattle Bears reached the top of the mountain. They won the Continental Cup, something many said that they couldn’t do. And they didn’t just win it. They won it in convincing fashion, outplaying their opponents in all but two of the games on their quest for the Cup. Scott Greene was not a small part of this run, with 5 goals and 5 assists across all of the games played. He and the team silenced the doubters and cemented their names in history. We caught up with Scott to get his thoughts on this period of his life. 

 

“It was an amazing run,” says Greene. “We really worked hard all season to prove that we deserve to be there. It’s nice to see that all that hard work finally paid off. We were projected to do FAR worse than we did, but we always knew that we would be a force to be reckoned with.” The Bears had some stiff competition in their run. First, they faced the Toronto Legion in the first round. “This was the series we were most worried about, or at least the one I was most worried about. I wasn’t sure how we would do.” Long story short, Seattle did well. They ousted the Legion in 6 games.

 

“We were definitely worried. This is the first time we had made the playoffs like this in the VHL. I felt like I didn’t play particularly well, either. The rest of the team did, though,” says Greene. His team did indeed play well, and secured themselves an appearance against the Calgary Wranglers, who had beaten the Vancouver Wolves, the defending champions, to advance to the next round. 

 

“Calgary was less worrying. We had a good record against them in the regular season, but we didn’t expect to do NEARLY as well as we did,” says Greene. Seattle swept the Wranglers, beating them handily in four games. “In all seriousness, we really did expect it to be an extremely close series. Calgary plays great hockey, and they’re an outstanding team. Once we won the first two games, we expected them to bounce back and take the fight to us. We just had the momentum and kept playing great, and we beat them in four games.” 

 

This marked the first appearance in the Continental Cup Final for most of this young team. The core group of the Bears was drafted back in season 67, so they were prepared for season 69 to really be the season they made a strong impact. Even worse than that, they were playing the offensive force that was the Malmo Nighthawks, who dominated the European conference all of season 68. 

 

“Malmo was where I was personally the most worried,” says Greene. “You have amazing players on that team, including Matt Thompson, who needs no introduction, and Jerry Garcia, my former General Manager in Mississauga. We were sure that it was going to be a tough series, and I even fully expected us to lose.” 

 

But the Bears didn’t. They won the first game, then the second game, both 4-3, in Malmo. “Once we were up 2-0, I think a weight was lifted. We knew that Malmo was going to have a tough time coming back from that, but we expected them to at least win one or two games and give us a scare. Not one of us expected us to sweep them,” said Greene. And, of course, just that happened. The Bears went undefeated against Malmo, winning all four games, and winning the Continental Cup with it.

 

“The last few seconds were ticking down, and it was only when that was happening that I was like ‘oh, we’re actually going to win this thing’”, says Greene. “My heart started beating and before I knew it, I was crying! Openly crying as I skated out onto the ice to hug my teammates.” Rewatching the footage of the Bears hoisting the Cup shows this to be true. Greene was very emotional about his win. “It was something I had promised my dad I would do before he died. It was very moving. I knew my mom was watching, and I hope somewhere Dad was too.” 

 

Greene joined the Bears on their extensive media tour and celebration during the summer. “We didn’t get too crazy, but there were a couple of nights where I was a bit worried. I hadn’t partied this hard since college, but I was ready for it,” says Greene. “I was a bit worried we would all die of alcohol poisoning for a bit, to be honest!” The Bears got in trouble for flipping several cars in Seattle the day after they won the Cup. The owners of the cars were reached for comment. “I didn’t mind,” said one owner. “I was thrilled that they won the Cup!”

 

This weekend, Greene brings the Cup back to Richmond, VA, his hometown, to share with all of us his victory, his happiness, and the pleasure of a dream come true. This is one of those good stories. But, his story isn’t over. “I think we can repeat this, at the very least,” says Greene. “We’re ready. We’re all in the best shape of our lives, and we want to have our names etched into that cup many, many times. It’s all we’ve ever wanted. “

[DoktorFunk 810]

Second week