Life In The Box
It was back to a life in the box for me as we headed to Coral Springs for the Mayor’s two games. It’s never dull in the sin bin that is for darn sure. I wasn’t that too busy in the first game, but the second game was different. The first game we got off to a bit of a slow start and ended up losing 5-3. Certainly, it would have been nice to win that one as it would have sealed a state tournament berth.
While the Hubby headed back north to take Goalielocks to his practed, I stayed in Springs with my Mayor. We grabbed a quick bite in between games at McDonald’s for him and Dunkin for me. I needed to ensure I had my pre-game coffee, so I wouldn’t mess up the mojo. I had drunk my morning coffee at home instead of the rink per usual, so naturally that’s probably what messed up the morning game. It’s a good thing us hockey moms aren’t superstitious or anything.
I grabbed my coffee and some oatmeal. It was my first time trying Dunkin’s oatmeal and I have to say it was pretty darn good. Fortunately, both McDonald’s and Dunkin are close to the rink, so we had no trouble getting back to the rink in time. As we waited around for the game to start, we were discussing our path to the state tournament. If we had won in the morning, we would have qualified. Since we lost however, our team’s fate was in the hands of another team. Needless to say, it is always better to be in control of your own destiny.
As the zambonis took to the ice, I headed over to my place in the sin bin. As they finished cleaning the ice, both teams and referees were ready to start the game. I looked around and there was no score keeper to be seen. Both referees tried to reach someone unsuccessfully to find a score keeper. Consequently, yours truly ended up being the scorekeeper.
I have to say, I truly sympathize with the scorekeepers now. There’s a lot going on and the whole thing isn’t setup for a lefty. The refs said I would start the game and not to worry about the penalties and such, but that wasn’t exactly accurate. If you didn’t put the penalties up, you had to do the backwards math yourself. No thank you! Additionally, ladies there’s a reason men don’t like to read instructions. Most of the time the instructions are poorly written or leave out key steps – as was the case with adding penalties to the clock.
Fortunately, I had mostly figured it out (penalties included) by the end of the first period. I am pretty sure, however, that the score sheets are made for people with 20/20 vision and super small and perfect writing. Sadly, I fall into neither of those categories, which made filling out the score sheet quite the adventure. By the third period, we were on run time, which made my life a bit easier. Meanwhile, the Hubby is texting for updates and getting radio silence. There was no way I could text and score keep all at once.
We ended up winning the game 9-1, but we lost one of our players in the process. Late in the first, one of our D-men was checked and flew head first into the boards. Can I tell you how scary that was? From where we were sitting in the box, we could tell he was out cold. Unfortunately, he ended up having to be transported to the hospital with a concussion. It was certainly a very scary situation. Thankfully, his mom just updated all of us and let us know that he’s home and will be okay. Thank goodness!
Post game, we ended up watching another U-12 A game as it would decide our fate. Like I said, it is always better to decide your own fate than to leave it in somebody else’s hands. It was nerve wracking and up to 23.7 seconds left in the 3rd it looked like our season would end early. Only at 23.6 seconds, the Panthers scored a goal and sealed our fate. Our squad is going to SAHOF!!!! I couldn’t be happier for this team. They work so hard and play so hard for each other that it is fun to watch. Even on their worst days, they have each others’ backs. I freaking love these kids and families.
Anyway, we’ve been home for almost 3 hours and my toes are still frozen. Once that cold gets in your bones, it sure does not want to leave. I’ll be making myself some nice chamomile tea to try and warm myself up. Tonight’s song performed by PitBull, JLo and Claudia Leitte is “We Are One.” The Mayor and I listened to this song as we drove back to the rink and it is the perfect song for him and his team. Plus the hockey dads will like the samba dancers.
