Key moment

I hadn't seen the damn key in over 2 hours, it was now post-game, the beers were flowing, and I knew that time was running out.  If I didn't retrieve the keys soon, before the room began clearing out, I would be walking home, unable to swap my car keys with the USA Hockey Feds at the front desk.

I was failing miserably going from player to player asking who had the keys.  I needed the one figure that had a chance to rise above the din and speak to the group collectively...CUB.  I grabbed him be his shoulders to get his attention and to let him know the sense of urgency of the mission.  I guess from the accounts of the episode that the blood was flowing pretty freely, rushing so furiously to my head that it blocked my hearing and slowed my already suspect ability to process info efficiently.  But I knew one thing, he didn't have the keys and no one he spoke to did.

Because he is a kind man, Cub agreed to negotiate on my behalf with the USA Hockey Feds.  I later found out that they told him NFW, emphatically.  My last chance was Georgie, he had opened an locked the door, albeit with the rink's master key, but he was my last solid lead.  I was in full mania at that point, not understanding much of what he said other than that he did NOT have the original.  Crisis mode, final resort, I did the one thing that I knew had no chance of succeeding, but that George and Cub had both recommended.  I reached into my jeans.

And it was going down the rabbit hole. I reached in and felt the tiny little cardboard square, the faux-copper micro clasp, and the solitary key attached.  My world had returned to normal, presuming there really is any normalcy in my world.  The locker room roared, the blood threatening to explode in my head calmly retreated, thanks to a well-earned laugh at my expense.

I now have a fallback slogan for my headstone, and another entry in the litany of Suns idiocy.  "Where are the Fucking KEYS?!!!  

Oh So Close

    MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH



Setting Suns return west (or northeast for some of us) having taken HMS and North Carolina to overtime. They are the two clubs playing in the 50 and Over Championship game.  In both games we led in the third period, games in which we...oh, you get the idea.  Using the proper mathematical formula, the Suns should be champions if you insert enough Woulda Shoulda and Coulda's.  "I'm stickin with that story," said coach Cub.

Before I forget, John Otsuki scored a clever backhand goal in Game 3 vs Carolina, giving the Suns a short-lived lead late in the second period.  It actually went between a defenders legs on its gentle flight to to the top shelf.  The changeup contrasted with the "rockets" we were firing into the Carolina goalie's accomplished glove hand.  (Thank you John for the family subscription to SportsRap.)

We now limp home, having met new friends, and expanded dozens of relationships, all more meaningful as we play the back-nine of our lives.  Hockey is merely a useful common denominator for this club of friends.  If we were just hockey junkies, we would have never left the Brandon Ice Forum, watching live games on the ice and Stanley Cup playoff games in the lounge, talking puck and sippin Labatts in the hallways...oh, right, half a dozen of us did just that.  All right then, equal measure hockey love and camaraderie.

The Suns are the best hockey fraternity of them all, the favorite stop of USA Hockey legends Badger Bob, his son Mark and Art Berglund. Wearing the sweater, the pizza crest on the chest, lining up with Ketchum, Hailey and Bellevue Idaho residents is one of the grand privileges of a hockey life.

University of Maine head coach Tim Whirehead, a national figure in the hockey world, had his dream of joining the Suns come true after years of visiting, playing and yearning for the chance.  One of our opponents came up to us in the Brandon ice lounge and dealt out a left-handed compliment for the ages: "You're the best winless team I can remember."  Why I oughta...  Here's Glenn Hunter's (see "digit"ized photo above) summation:

"We must remember that we come from a resort town. Our goal has always been to accommodate and keep visitors happy. That's why we don't beat them, we don't want them feeling too bad."

There was no sadness amongst the Suns, we outplayed the two clubs playing for the title.  Cubby Burke was back on the ice and we got to play together, and for the record, I witnessed him arcing around the ice skating full tilt, panel to panel in neutral ice, and there was some of that wind flap going on through his jersey, kinda like a sail.  "I think the jersey was too big," said Cub, coming to the bench after each board battle, whether the shift was :15 long or :50.

Learned last night that Kurt Wenzel has found gainful employment, and Banjo Williams got his third daughter into Bowdoin, both grand accomplishments.  As John Weekes has said a time or two, "A finer bunch of guys you'll never find." Or words to that effect.  See you all next year, and if you find the locker room key please give it to...ANYONE BUT ME. 

DOWN AND OUT IN THE BAY

THE REMAINS OF THE DAY


Goalie Tony Benson lay sprawled in his cage, $1000 worth of goalie equipment hung out like a yard sale with a body buried in the midst of pad and gloves and blocker.  Glenn Hunter and Dale Johnson hunched over, unconsolable.  What appeared to have been the Suns finest hour on ice had been raked out from under them in maddening fashion, a 5-4 Overtime loss to team IMS, a loss that skewered the Suns chance to make the medal round.

IMS is an easy team to root against. A Tampa-based billionaire hockey enthusiast cobbled together a team by importing the best half dozen players from Detroit, including former NHL standout John Ogrodnick.  The IMS firepower was based on stretch passes and partial breakaways, which they employed in the early moments for a 1-0 lead, and expanded it to 3-1 when the clubs left the ice for the second intermission ice resurfacing.

But there was cause for optimism, the Suns forwards had found their legs and were wearing down the less mobile IMS defenseman.  And as the third period unfolded, coach Cubby Burke's enthusiasm proved to be well-founded.  The Suns systematically reeled off three consecutive goals:  defenseman Barney  jumping into the rush, Johnny Miller cashing in from in tight and Dave Hutchinson with a 25' screamer into the top shelf.

The Suns were on a roll, confidently outplaying IMS with 5 on 5 hockey, grinding them down thanks to quick-footed forechecking.  The dreams of IMS to buy a championship contender were crumbling.  And then with just over 7 minutes left in regulation and the Suns leading 4-3, fate struck.  An attempted IMS breakaway pass was 20 feet in front of their cherry picker, and Suns goalie Benson skated out of his crease to smother the puck.  The IMS forward charged into the prone Benson, gouging him with his stick and the boot of his skate, leaving a series of marks.  The Suns were furious--Benson was clearly injured with no backup on the bench, laying prostrate on the ice for several minutes. When the arguments subsided and Benson dragged his beleaguered body back to the crease, IMS had been issued a 5 minute major penalty with 7 to play.  Despite the apparent man-power advantage for the Suns, it was a deadly gift.

"I wish we could have declined the penalty," said the Cub in hindsight.

The refs, having just asserted themselves late in a tight game, got whistle happy.  3 consecutive minors were blown on the Suns, and the 5 on 4 manpower advantage soon devolved into a 3 on 4 penalty kill.  The break in momentum, the break in the forecheck flow, the wide ice for the Detroit snipers all contributed to the precipitous momentum shift.  The defense tandem of Rappleye and Johnson, Rap and Sluggo, immaculate in the 2011 tournament, were torched for the umpteenth time in 2012, permitting the tying goal on a 2-on-2 rush with a couple of minutes left.  What had appeared to be an inevitable, emotional victory that would spring the Suns into a prominent spot for the medal round, had come down to an overtime struggle to survive.

5 minutes of sudden death with their playoff lives on the line.  The Suns regrouped and carried the play, generating half a dozen legitimate chances in overtime.  With 2 minutes remaining in the extra session, IMS desperately tried to clear the zone.  Sluggo dropped to his knees at the offensive blue line and took the slapper in his body, 60 feet away from the winning goal.  IMS had skated past him, not expecting the gamble.  Johnson found time and space to close another 5 feet, and put his whole existence into his own slap shot, a low rocket headed for the far right corner. For a millisecond the shot appeared to have found its mark, but the IMS goalie flashed his leg and got a toe on the shot.  The Suns were sucked in too deep, and this time the IMS clearing pass found its mark, and Detroit's best sniper was in on a clear breakaway.

No one would fault Suns MVP Benson if he failed to stop this breakaway, and the IMS forward put on a sensational deke. But Benson did a Hasek-like snow angel, windmilling around with his back to the puck and blocked the fatal goal with his wrist. A roar came from the Suns bench, quickly followed by deathly silence. A rebound had been shelfed from an impossible angle, and IMS was celebrating like a gang having just been given a reprieve from death row.

It's hard to say if the Suns deserved a better fate.  It was clear to all observers that they were in control of this game, until events began to spiral in another direction.  It was terrific sports theater, drama that only intensified because of the severe consequences of the outcome.  And the ultimate consequence of this thrilling game is that the Suns final Game on saturday vs North Carolina will be about pride and fun, because that elusive national championship trophy will be going to Heartland or St. Nick's or IMS, and the Suns will be going back to Wood River Valley.

                                              SLUGGO SPORTING HOCKEY RASH

Suns drop opener 5-2 to Minnesota Club wearing Air Force NCAA jerseys...go figure.  I think they were the equivalent of understudies to defending champ Heartland.  Down 3-1 entering the third, Suns' John Miller sniped early, bringing SV within 1 and then the club did some buzzing, generating a handful of grade-A chances to tie what was becoming a gripping contest.  But the Gopher wannabe's popped one in late, added and empty netter, and then it was over.  Nothing left to do but some serious processing while replenishing the carbo load.

U Maine coach Tim Whitehead, a virgin Sun who's always dreamt of wearing the black and red, got his wish and played well with his Hamilton pal Sparky.  He designed a power play breakout against a metal locker in the pre-game meeting that glazed a lot of eyeballs, a highlight in a night that was found lacking. Coach Cubby Burke won "best dressed" with his Al Sharpton style warmup track suit adorned with his name, number and Suns logo. 

Final analysis, we were literally introducing ourselves at faceoffs, and it showed.  Feeling out period (or two) cost us a lot of initiative, and placed us in a hole we couldn't quite dig out of.

Now we play a local club fortified with Detroit's finest skaters. Perfect. Got em right where we want them.

Game Day!

HENEGHAN & BANJO AT THE PREGAME LUNCH

Arrival Day... Heneghan says the Beard is a couple weeks old. Banjo guessed he had been working it since stepping off the ice last year. about 8 new faces will be wearing Suns jerseys this weekend down at the Tampa Senior Nationals, including "Sparky" and "Whitey,"  illustrious alums from Hamilton college.  As Glenn Hunter said at lunch, "There are three kinds of people, Suns, Suns wannabes, and people who haven't yet discovered they are Suns wannabes."  Terry Heneghan piped in, "Don't forget the fourth category, Suns that no longer want to be associated," so I guess we are up to 4 categories.  Sluggo Johnson did some quality recruiting, picking up an excellent puck-handling goalie named Tony Benson, and a tireless "young'en" John Miller.  Sluggo was scouting the Michigan club getting in a practice session in Brandon. "They can all skate...they picked up (NHL sniper) John Ogrodnick also." Suns will catch Michigan Sting on Friday, but have to take care of the Hosers from Washington D.C. Thursday night.  In these tourneys, opening night victories take you a long way toward that elusive medal round.  Glenn Hunter has a 6:30 meeting in the lobby and then we're off. No Goody Bag this year, no water bottle and lipbalm giveaways, just a chance to meet Whitey, Sparky and the rest of the Suns wannabes that will be full fledged Suns by the end of the night.