Back In Black

The typical Randal Graves end-of-period pep talk.

Jeebus, I'm tired. And not the usual tired; this is some kind of commie pinko germ warfare super-tired you read about in the back of science fiction books. I'm that tired . . . and I've never been happier.

Last night marked my second game back from injury, and unlike the first game, this time I had a little more endurance. Of course, I had to dig for that endurance, because we only had nine skaters last night. Two lines of forwards, and three defensemen. Ouch. Luckily, the previously-injured Randal Graves made his triumphant return to the rink last night, and he added some much-needed scoring punch.

We were playing the Steelers - yeah, I know; not the best name for a hockey team - but they were decent. Not great, but decent. They had two really good skaters, but not much more. We played pretty awful in the first period, and escaped with a 1-1 tie after the first stanza.

Enter Randal Graves.

Randal is the self-appointed motivator of the team, and during every intermission, he calls us to the bench and tells us how we're a bunch of pansies. Here's an excerpt from last night's bit of prose (please excuse the "sentence enhancers") . . .

"We gotta stop playing like f**king pussies! This team blows! So get on the ice, play hard in the second period, and score six goals! Then, you can sit on the bench and jerk off for the third period!!! I know you fags aren't tired, because I'm not tired. F**k!!!"

After the last two sentences, I turned to Badger (our goalie) and said, "Um, I'm really tired." he looked at me, smiled, and said, "Me, too." Incredibly, as always, Randal's speech worked, and we played much better in the second period. My line of John Martin, Vinnie, and I played well, and contributed on a nice goal near the end of the period. I shot a puck wide of the net, Vinnie picked it up, and threw out in front from behind the net, where John took it and slid it past the goalie. First post-injury point for yours truly!

We slacked off a bit in the third, but finished strong. Randal scored two key goals at the end of the game to secure the win by a score of 5-4! Here are a few other items of note:

• Vinnie was involved in the most bizarre play I have seen in a long time. After skating into the zone and getting the puck with the goalie out of position, he fired, hit the post, and - with the goalie sprawled on the ice - the puck bounced back and underneath the goaltender's pads for the stoppage. Suffice to say, Vinnie felt snake bit.
• John Kirk, who usually plays on a line with me and Vinnie, was moved up to the first line last night, and played out of his mind. If I could hustle like him for one period, I would call it a career.
• Badger played well again, and let in a goal that was shot from the top of the zone, bounced off of Mike D's shoulder pads, and past him into the net. Another fluke in a game of flukes.
• As Randal scored the game-winning goal, he was tripped in front, and went airborne - exactly like Bobby Orr in the famous photo - before sliding on the ice.
• Despite the assist, I made a lot of mistakes last night; including passing the puck to a wide open player - from the other team - who immediately went on a breakaway. Couple that falling on my arse while skating backwards, going offsides twice, and fanning on a clear shot on goal, and you have the recipe for disaster. That being said, I was proud of myself for not giving up and getting right back into the play. I'm getting there, and once I get my endurance back, I'll be in good shape.
  

Oh, and on another bright note, tomorrow is my last day at physical therapy! I've been cleared for release. Whoo hoo!