A Rookies Slap Shot

[Spaz 297]

"Phil Marleau wins the face off for Riga, after the off-sides call. 

Riga trying to hold on to force a game five but have to kill off this penalty first. They dump the puck into Helisinki's zone to take some time off the clock, Bolonee picks the puck up, passes it to Draven, Draven takes it into the offensive zone, 1:30 left on the hooking minor. 

Draven passes it to Hafkey. SHOOTS... MISSES THE NET. Puck pushed into the corner, Bolonee picks it up, passes it to Hafkey, Hafkey back to the point, Spencer Elsby takes a slapper……..SCOOOOOOOOORRRRESSSSS ITS OVERRRRR 1:23 LEFT ON THE POWER PLAY THE TITIAN'S HAVE ENDED THE SERIES AND WILL ADVANCE TO THE FINALS! THE DEFENDING CHAMPS HAVE BEEN DETHRONED!"

 

It's been a couple of days and that goal keeps replaying in my head. Last night after practice a group of us got together with the rookie. We held a small celebration at the nearest pub as we watched the highlight on ESPN. It still feels like a dream. Just two seasons ago we were a team that just missed the playoffs, and then last season we had the heart breaking game 6 defeat to Moscow, who would fall to the eventual Continental Cup winners Riga. The regular season would end with us tying Seattle for first place, but we would end up claiming it having more regulation/overtime wins by one. 

 

The playoffs would start with us having to wait to see if we were facing Malmo or HC Davos, as they would battle it out in a 5 game series. It would take all 5 games as Malmo's Ray Shields would send them off to the divisional round with his overtime heroics.

 

Malmo's young talent was a force to be reckoned with and they showed that. Malmo would force 7 games, but not only that, they would go up 3-2 in the series looking to pull a big upset and prove to the league they weren't to be taken lightly. After game six's devastating loss coach sat down with all of us and asked all of us how much we wanted this, he said this is a repeat of last year's series against Moscow, a team we should've beat but we didn't want it enough, we played down to them and it costed us, he also stated that we have these next two games to go out and give our all. We can't afford mistakes because they will continue to cost us. He eventually went over new lines and new strategies going into the very important game six. We would eventually get our shit together and score 10 goals in those two games to eliminate them in a hard fought battle. 

 

Our next opponent was Riga, we knew it wasn't going to be easy, as they previously man-handled Moscow in just 5 games. We knew any mistakes we made they would easily capitalize and that would be the end of our run. We would shock them and the world as we took a commanding 3-0 series lead winning 4-1, 5,2, and 8-4. Erik Summers earned a natural hat trick in game three before rookie Spencer Elsby would secure our name in the finals with a laser from the point in over time.

 

We wait to see who we face as Calgary who is trying to get redemption from last season's cup disappointment, has a 3-2 series lead against a Seattle team that is trying to win their fourth cup in six years. Both of these teams won't be easy as they both are known for their highly talented offense. I honestly don't have a preference for who we face as I see both teams being a challenge, though it would be nice to face off against a friend and old VHLM teammate in Kris Rice.