Nov 02, 2015 | Tyard | 332 views
.500 weekend.
The Major Midget Bears faced a tough weekend with 2 very late 'away' games on Friday and Saturday and a 3rd one at home on Sunday evening.
The team has been severely handicapped with two players suffering broken bones that will side-line them 6 to 8 weeks. We've also had a few other more minor injuries and illness. An untimely suspension further complicated things. Being unable to get AP's arranged to help the team, we were forced to play very short-handed for the final game on Sunday. We had only 10 skaters... arguably far too few to play a fast tempo contact game at the rep midget level.
The Friday game we played Elmvale who is a very good team. It was a close fought game but Elmvale led 1-0 at the mid-way point. Unfortunately, a collision into the boards resulted in a major penalty to Elmvale, but a broken leg for Everette Nudd. After a long delay the depleted Bears fought back and tied the game. Final score 1-1. This comeback showed great character by a team rocked by such a devastating injury.
Saturday involved a late trip to play a very strong Collingwood team. In spite of dominating the play for most of the game, the breaks didn't go the Bears way and it resulted in our worst loss of the year, 0-5.
A suspension in the Collingwood game also meant that for our home game VS Midland on Sunday, we'd have a skeleton crew of only 10 skaters! Every effort was made to bolster the line-up with some call-ups but this was not possible due to 'technical difficulties'. To play so short-handed and tired after a full weekend of hockey, playing a full Midland team who had previously beaten and/or tied Huntsville and Collingwood was going to be a challenge. A lot of careful planning of juggled lines and pre-game prep was put into this game. Our remaining players, with a 3rd of their team-mates sidelined... listened and played perhaps the gutsiest game I've personally seen played in a long time. It was a see-saw battle throughout the game with both teams trading the lead several times. It was also a very well officiated game and special mention should be made regarding the Ref. who allowed the game to be played as it should be at the midget rep level. It was a joy to watch and for the players to play. The game ended with a 6-5 win for the Bears!
The weekend ended with a .500 record but considering the challenges the team faced, it was a huge success and full credit goes to the players especially for a Sunday win they will hopefully remember for a very long time!