Ok I’m still on this flight making my way to Auckland from Adelaide and I’m still trying to piece together what happened starting from Friday on ... my game with the Strip Polers is at 1 pm and the Goons play at 5 ... we grabbed breakfast at McDonald’s again ! We have all these coupons from the tournament so might as well take advantage of the freebies right ? The guys were planning to go out for food and dropped me off at the rink where I’m playing in my last game for the tournament . At this point we have no chance of making the final and none of us are planning to meet or organize lines or anything . We basically had quit by this point and figured let’s go try to win but we are playing the undefeated team from Auckland called the Jokers who have nothing to do with the team of Jokers I know back home in Toronto . These guys can actually play some decent hockey 🏒 we figured that out fast as we stepped on the ice and put up a bit of a fight but not quite enough to say we competed .... I finally began to feel more comfortable on the ice and started to track the puck better and had better lateral movements but then your team gives up a breakaway from a face off deep in our own zone ... yeah I know , how the fuck is that possible ? I jokingly asked the guys after and they said not to ask so I left it at that . Giveaways , breakaways and goals with little to no pressure from our end left us swallowing our pride as we were losing 5-0 again then we decided to crack the egg and get a goal but by this time it was too little too late and we finished the tournament with an 0-3-1 record and in dead last in our group . That was a tough pill to swallow for a group that came in probably as favourites but all the shut leading up to the trip probably messed up our mentality anyways .... yeah this was a first for me personally and it sucked but the tournament was still hopping with excitement as I made so many new friends along the way and we kept our cool and didn’t do anything stupid as a team . The sad part is that we more then likely will never play again as this team and I probably won’t be back any time soon . This for me happened in Singapore also at the last tournament I ever returned to . Sometimes you just have to keep the memory you had instead of trying to top the last one . I knew once the Americans all bailed that this would be different . Don’t get me wrong I still had fun but mostly with my team that I was backing up for and helping out on the bench ....
The ice was foggy for our last game and thankfully it cleared up by the time The Goons had to play and they did come to watch me lose to their kiwi buddies and they were supportive enough to give me a ride back to the room to dry my gear as I had promised to actually dress for this game to help out during warmup . During this time I went and grabbed a bite , took a shower and had a nap 😴 I’m not sleeping too great and apparently I must be snoring hard as I’ve chased my room mate to the couch (sorry Gazza) so this nap was much needed and now I’m keeping myself sober in case I get the nod but hopefully I won’t be needed as I’m really not playing well and I’m really not interested in playing for two teams at the tourney but if anyone NEEDS me then I’m there to help out . Fingers crossed 🤞 we head back to the rink for the match vs. Tatra Eagles from Slovakia 🇸🇰 which is run by my friend Robert Devecka whom I had the pleasure of sharing a house with when we set the world record for highest altitude game in India 🇮🇳. I know this will be a good game and I wasn’t disappointed aside from the fact that The Goons came up short losing the match 5-3 this game settled the standing and going into Saturday’s playoffs The Goons stood in third and would need to crossover and play ADF Strike which is made up of Australian Defence Force members (military) and these boys just lost the chance to go to the A division finals by giving up a last minute goal to the Adelaide Tigers and were obvious favourites since they don’t drink , party or do any of the crazy stuff most rec teams would do ....they even stretch and run in the mornings !
Friday night is the big night out at Strats which is a gentleman’s club and I headed over with the guys and met up with all my other friends ... unfortunately the guys from my Strip Polers team weren’t so good at showing up to see the gals working the strip poles 🤔 when I arrived I had a couple girls approach me at the bar and they asked if I remember them ??? Ummm 🤔 no ? Apparently on my crazy night running around with Brandon we stumbled in here to check out the talent and choose a girl to do some crazy stuff to Nonny .... but Nonny didn’t show up , didn’t answer his phone and it never came to fruition. That was the story of the whole week for these guys .... not showing up and not really caring as it seems . I could show you all the unanswered messages but hey at least he got to eat his shitty Nando’s . Disappointed to say the least with the whole crew from last year amd everywhere I went I was asked where the rest of the gang was .... those of you that I did party with , please don’t include yourselves ! Even my roomie from last year Rob didn’t come out once ! I didn’t see him at all yet he was rooming with Nonny and the both of them had messages that they never responded to . I’m guessing they didn’t have as much fun as I did lol . We called it a night at Strats and headed back to the room because the semifinal was at 8 am the next day and I heard that Nonny showed up around midnight which was way past when all the guys had left and yes he brought his friggin crocs again .... he really will never learn 🤫
Saturday morning we all got up early and met in the lobby at disgusting o’clock and I’m gonna dress to back up Maia for The Goons . We head to the rink min the team bus with JJ at the helm (thanks for driving us around bud ) semi final on the line this morning vs. ADF Strike who are all Australian defence force ... that means they are military and they don’t go out partying all week or not that we know of and when we walk in the rink we see guys doing windsprints while we are gasping for air lol 😝 these guys were a minute away from qualifying to play in championship for A division and now have to play The Goons in the B semifinal . I think most if not all the tournament participants would have put their money on ADF but that is not how hockey rolls . I got out for the pre game skate and noticed Maia wasn’t between pipes so I stepped in and warmed up with the team and looked for Maia to get over to the crease but he never did and instead opted for some stretches . If you ask me personally ... I need to feel the puck and i definitely need to work on tracking the puck also so I didn’t understand what was going on . Regardless Maia stepped between pipes to start the game and the boys stepped up and hammered down on these tireless men that we had to face . This was a good game to watch as it was back and forth with a lot of smart neutral zone play by the Goons who I thought had the edge in offensive prowess . Then the magic shift occurred and the Goons took a 3-1 lead after a few quick goals and they started to toughen up the neutral zone squashing every effort for the Strike team to enter the zone and when they did the Goons held the box really tight and blocked shots and never gave up on the play . ADF did score another goal but the threat was over by the end of the third as The Goons stymied their opponents giving them the ticket to the championship game .... the room we were in was so small that myself and Maia changed in the lobby of the rink basically hahaha ! After our game we stayed and watched Tatra Eagles face off against the Adelaide Falcons but decided to go have a team meal down the road from our hotel where we paid $25 for all you can eat brekkie which was perfect for all of us except Dimitri who went for Banh Mi sandwich instead 🙂 this Goons team is full of characters !
Championship game is later in afternoon and as we are eating I got a call from my buddy Robert Devecka asking for permission to use two local skaters that apparently have paid to play on two separate teams in the same division which put up a red flag with the tournament organizer Glen Foll so the team had to make a decision whether to allow them to play or not ... in true hockey spirit the guys all decided that if they’ve paid and played all week then why not let them play . This decision gave the Slovaks at least the skaters to compete and when we played them and lost the other day they were there . I’m sure if the decision was to say no then things would have been a bit more edgy , besides ... this decision should please the hockey gods ! We had our pre game chill out and I took a nap before waking up and meeting the guys to jump on the bus again .
Got changed with Maia in the lobby right where we are standing in the above picture and we talked about the game and then headed out for the big championship game ! Maia was spoken to by the team about warmups and played it the right way this time and stepped between the pipes and I came in to give him a rest and then we huddled and the puck was dropped . I took my spot at the end of the bench working the door for the D and the game started off with us dropping the lead before coming back to jump ahead 2-1 which was short lived in this game ... the Slovaks potted two quick ones and went up 3-2 and I was getting the look from Cam to be ready before the third period and nothing came of it . When the third started the game was pretty intense and we tied it up at 4 a piece and with around 5 minutes left in the game we took a penalty and Maia came to the bench and told me it was my time to shine !?!? Wtf ? Maia is such a great person that I’ve had so much fun with but this was something even I have never experienced and next thing you know I’m thrust into playing a championship game with minutes remaining after sitting cold on the bench all game . The Goons looked confused and as I skated to the net I looked over at the bar and saw all sorts of confused faces there also ... I probably shouldn’t have accepted the challenge as the draw was lost and they set up the PP and when the puck came screaming across the ice to the open man who took a clapper at me I was nowhere near prepared for this ... and that was the winning goal 😢 oh no 🤦♂️! So much shit went through my mind and I watched the guys scramble to get the equalizer and then the puck came down the ice and one of the Slovaks broke free and I hesitated and skated out to challenge for the puck and took a stab and basically missed and flopped and gave up an empty netter to really mess thing up . There is nowhere to hide at this point and all I can do is make the rest of the saves and skate to the bench for extra attacker and watch in horror as I was hung with the L and boy did I feel bad 😔 we took photos and watched the Slovaks celebrate and then we went to change in the lobby right next to all the celebrations and that was one of the worst feelings in my life even though I was happy for my friend Robert who was also confused why I was put in the net so late . It is what it is now and I can’t change it and must live with it but it will be sour in my mind for the rest of my days ...
All things aside we went to our hotel dropped bags and showered before heading to the Czech Club where the after tourney party was held this year . The food was great and drinks were free . It was good seeing everyone one last time before heading home and I even saw Nonny and Robert who got a ride with us back to the hotel on one of the most hilarious bus rides ever but then disappeared when we arrived at hotel . That night we did it up again and headed out and tore up the town . I didn’t do anything crazy or too illegal this night and didn’t wake up with scrapes and bruises but I can say we all talked about the game and the guys did their best to make me feel better but yeah ... it is what it is ...
Sunday was our last day and we decided to go to the beach and the wind picked up and it was too chilly to be wearing shorts and a tee shirt ... first we hit the Jetty bar which is a dive then we went across the road to a nicer establishment to eat called The Moseley and when I checked in my mate Jim Ryan came by , but unfortunately we had to leave just after he bought me a beer to take care of one of our team mates who had not slept the night before and was still going hard until he hit the proverbial wall at the bar . Just like any good team mate we left and I thanked Jim quickly as we hurried our way out .... I owe you a pint next time mate ! We got on the team bus and our team mate who remains unnamed passed out and we got some beauty photos of him as I held him upright on the bus since I sat behind him 😴 he almost knocked his head pretty hard and that would’ve sucked bad . Back at the hotel we all packed up , cleaned up and had a nice chill out session together before calling it a night .
Our crazy week in Adelaide has now come to an end 😢 tomorrow we fly to Auckland where I have my debut in the Backyard Hockey League .... wish me luck !
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