Good Times In The Beer League

Last night I witnessed one of the funnier hockey games I’ve ever seen. I went to watch my brother’s roller hockey team play in their weekly beer league game, which I feel a little guilty about since I haven’t gone to watch every week. Years ago I don’t think I missed any of their games, so it brings me back to those good times when I watch their games now. Granted they’re not as spry as they were when they were 16-18 years of age, but whatev. They’re still playing; that’s all that matters.

So why am I writing about this one random game, you ask? Here’s the deal, the team (I’ll call them FK, for short) currently carries eight (8) players on their roster. Last week three of them were suspended for fighting, and one was out of town this week. Thus, they were playing with only 4 players (plus goalie). It’s 4-on-4 hockey and you could only imagine how this was gonna go down. Looking at the other bench, the other team definitely had 8 total players (plus goalie). So with two full lines going up against FK’s depleted roster you’d think that the latter would have gotten creamed, right? Incorrect! I have no idea what was up with the other team, but FK trounced them 11-7. It wasn’t a complete domination by FK though; they still had 7 goals scored on them.

I have to actually talk about FK’s goalie for a bit though. He had this quasi-Marc Andre-Fleury/Kelly Hrudey thing going on in terms of dress. He had these bright yellow pads with an equally bright yellow jersey on with the letters on the back reading “PBR.” My first thought was, “Pabst Blue Ribbon?” His helmet reminded me of Kelly Hrudey because it looked just like his Hollywood helmet from back in the day; not too much protection around the neck and black with the Hollywood marquee across the front. Sadly he was not wearing the blue bandana. Anyway, their goaltending has been questionable, so you could understand my wariness, right? By the end of the game he let in 7 goals. Still better than 11!! HAHAHA!

Anyway, so was even in terms of the number of goals in the first half of the game. I actually had to leave for a bit since I was having contact lens issues. I left when it was tied 3-3 and came back when it was tied 5-5. No fights had broken out thus far, so I figured they game would finish without incident. By the middle of the 2nd period FK was visibly gassed, understandably so! The only breaks they were getting were when the whistle blew!

Problem: How does one get more rest when you have to play every second of the entire game?
Solution: Stand as still as possible when you’re not around the puck.

As the other team’s players were trying to dipsy doodle around the FKs, their efforts were halted because even though the FKs appeared to not have any energy, right when the puck got close to any of them, they magically sprang to life causing utter (read: hilarious) frustrations for the other team. I knew FK was good, but man, this was kinda sad. I can’t remember which of FK’s goal this was, but when #4 scored and I saw the smile on his face, it dawned on me that perhaps they couldn’t believe they were winning either. I guess it doesn’t help when the other team’s goalie was having a terrible game. By the third, every time he let in another he would just lay there with his stacked pads on display for awhile. I couldn’t see his face, but I’m sure the expressions of disbelief and frustrations spent most of the time on his face. Anyway, the game ended 11-7 and that’s all she wrote.

To the victors go the spoils… and the right to laugh.


P.S. This post was a lot longer than I thought it was gonna be. I just wanted to give those FKs some well-deserved props.