Unfinished Business

As you know by now, the 3 game lead we gave Valerenga in the finals proved to be too much to overcome. We did however go down swinging, we won game 4 in overtime in our rink, then turned in another overtime victory to send it back to Oslo for game six. While down 1-0 late in the game, a puck rattled off their post...and wide of the net..The buzzer went and the celebration started. We were on the wrong side of it. To be one of the last two teams playing is an honor, to be on the wrong side of the medal ceremony is devestating....I was on a flight back to the US 3 days later......

Then, opening day, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Elks Golf League, Econ 221, Youngstown, Rhode Island, Tyson's Wedding, Wildwood, Mullet Lake, Kid Rock, July 23rd, Delayed flight, FSU alumni weekend....a few hangovers in there.. And it was time to get back to work.

Our season offically started on August 1st, an inter-squad scrimmage open to the fans. Continental Airlines had other plans for me though, my flight was delayed 4 days, between us, that was great! Another weekend at home was perfect!

This year, the core of our team is back and we have some new guys who will help us, we do have a new coach which has been different. He is a more is better type guy so we have been on the ice a LOT!! It has been good but tough. We also have a new goalie coach which has been great. Practice is way more fun when I am working on something productive other instead of just making smart ass remarks to anyone who scores on me. Our preseason schedule had 9 games on it, 6 against teams in our league, and 3 against teams from Denmark. We won 7 and tied 2. We played good enough to win but we have a long way to go..It was good to beat the teams from Denmark, our leagues are often compared and to beat them was good for league pride. Much like UofM taking care of the MAC teams!

After all of that, on Tuesday September 15th we begin to defend our League Championship. We are playing Mangelrud Star (MS), they won the 'Qualification Series,' which is a tournament between the bottom 2 teams from the top league and the top 3 teams from the 2nd league. MS is another Oslo based team and replace Furuset this year. Like any new team, they will be hungry to prove themselves and we will have the opening night jitters. It will be a good test for us, but it is a game that we need to win.