Monday Night Mayhem
It was Monday night Mayhem when I received an urgent call from my Hubby as I drove to the rink for his and Jake’s game. Unfortunately, their team’s goalie wasn’t going to to miss tonight’s game. They wanted Goalielocks to suit up and play for them in the championship. Never mind the fact that Goalielocks at 14 isn’t old enough for adult league. But from a maturity stand point I’m not sure most beer league players are old enough to play in adult league, so Goalielocks would likely fit in perfectly.
He was not to keen on the idea of being pummeled with pucks from beer leagurers living out their childhood fantasies of playing in the NHL. However, the Hubby and Uncle Jon convinced him that nobody on the ice could shoot as fast or hard as anyone on his current team. It took some convincing, but he eventually acquiesced as we drove back to grab his gear.
They held the game for us and our gear. Consequently, Goalielocks quickly got dressed and took to the ice. For Goalielocks, the game was a much slower pace than what he’s use to, but he was busy from start to finish. He played phenomenally. I’m pretty sure he’s the only goalie in beer league that can do the split. This nice little trick caught the other team by surprise a couple of times.
Unfortunately, they pulled him with 5 minutes left in the 2nd when an adult goalie replacement was available. Apparently, you have to be an adult (chronologically speaking) to play adult league. While they’ve made exceptions for goalies before (in a pinch), it’s better from a liability standpoint to have an adult goalie in net. He came off the ice smiling, but was still bummed he didn’t get to play the whole game.
Goalielocks walked into the locker room to get undressed and with a smile said, “they owe me a lot.” And he would be right, he was kept very busy in net tonight. Fortunately, he gave their team an opportunity to win. In the end, he watched the third period from the stands with the rest of us fan. Unfortunately, the goods guys lost 3-1.
While he didn’t play the whole game, I could see that he enjoyed the opportunity to play with his family. Likewise, judging from their reaction, they enjoyed the chance to have him in their net. Of course the best part of the night, for my boys, was the free pizza, wings and beer post game.
Sometimes all compasses, all roads, and all maps lead us back to the same place. For my family, our compass apparently only points us in the direction of the rink. Moreover, forget the compass for a second, when I got leave to work or my house, my iPhone tells me how long it will take to get to the rink. Such is life as a hockey mom and I wouldn’t change it for the world!
P.S. Goalielocks also gets bonus points for making his mom dinner. He made me awesome scrambled eggs and waffles! The waffles were amazing! Finally, the scrambled eggs were divine.
Tonight’s song is Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) performed by Celine Dion. I love this song.
