Slaying the zombie

HP has played his old team for the last time this season.

In most cases it would be like having played any of the other teams in the league for the last time but with the “old team” there is something more. It was such an unpleasant experience last year, not just for HP but for the whole family as well, that whenever the two teams play it is kind of like the opportunity to stab that vampire in the heart, to slay that zombie one more time and put to rest the bad memories from last year.

But it was the “old team” that scored first and it had me wondering if this was going to turn out badly for the good guys. But slowly HP’s team took control of the game and by the end it wasn’t much of a contest- just another drubbing for the poor kids that had signed up for the “old team”. The final score was 6-1. In four games, HP’s team has won all four and outscored them 26-3.

HP ended up with 1 goal and an assist and played a feisty, physical game. There was one play where he made a check on one of the players on the other team right in front of their bench. HP did get his elbows up and I suppose that it could have been called a penalty but it would have been a marginal one at best but I saw that the coach for the “old team” went ballistic and starting gesturing wildly that it should have been a penalty. But there was no call and the player for the “old team” picked himself up off the ice and the play went on.

After the game, as I was walking down to the dressing room and the old team’s coach was walking back to his room and it was one of those unfortunate and uncomfortable being in the same place at the same time things. I was talking with someone as we went in and I was quite happy to ignore him but as he goes by he says in a very gruff tone, “I don’t appreciate elbows to the face!” This was an obvious reference to HP’s check during the game.

I was taken aback by this and without a good comeback I simply said, “Don’t talk to me.” The meaning being that if he has a problem with what happened on the ice then he should direct his ire towards the refs and not me.

I guess he was without a good comeback also because all he could say was, “He’s your kid!”

I found out after the game from HP’s coach that as the “old team” coach was walking past HP’s coaches he hurled a load of invectives their way. Among other things, he accused HP’s team of “targeting” his players, of HP’s players making fun of his players etc.

HP’s coach also told me that the “old team” coach also said, “Tell that a**hole to keep his elbows down!” “That a**hole” being Hockey Player. But I have thought about this for quite a bit since it happened and I am now convinced that what old team’s coach meant was that I was the a**hole and I was supposed to tell my son that he needed to keep his elbows down.

I mentioned this to HP’s mother as we were getting in car to go home and she just laughed and said, “He sounds like a sore looser.”

Stupid Grin

Well, I still can’t get this stupid grin off of my face! It is Monday morning and I am still basking in the glow of the game Sunday night. Hockey Player’s team played one of the perennially strong teams and not only did they win, they won big by a score of 5-1.

This was only the second meeting of the season between the two teams, "Perennially Strong" won the first one 5-1 and our boys played horribly that game, but Sunday night it was our team that came out on top by an identical 5-1 score.

HP skated hard and added to his scoring total with a goal and an assist, which gives him 12 points for the year (8 G, 4 A). His goal was actually the game-winning goal!

The boys played well. They passed the puck much better then they have in a long time and they skated hard and it looked like they wanted to win that game.

A practice tonight and then it is another kick at his old team- stats padding all round!!

As I was watching the game I noticed the name on the back of one of the kids on the other team and remembered two brothers that I used to play hockey with who had the same name. It is not a common name and I wondered if the player “belonged” to one of those two brothers. I walked up and down past the parents on the other team and spotted someone who looked like what I thought that this guy would look like, 20+ years later.

I went up to him after the game and asked if he was one of the brothers, the one I thought that he looked most like, and it turned out that he was the other. I introduced myself and I am not sure if he really remembered me, or even playing on that team, but we chatted briefly.