Fraser, Michigan
This past Sunday was my first road trip with the team. There was a game in Kitchener earlier on in the season but due to work commitments I had to back out of the trip. Anyways, this is our furthest trip of the season and we all went off to Fraser, Michigan to play.
Of course before I do get to the game I should at least cover the trip to Fraser right? Well, at around 11am AnsJ241 dropped by the house because I had invited him along for this trip to see us play. I was in the process of getting ready when he came but once I was dressed and such he and I went outside to load the car with my wheelchair and he brushed off my dad's car since it had snowed the night before. At about 10 to 12 we were on the road and off to Michigan!
My guess was that we made it to Sarnia some time close to 1pm and my game was at 2:25pm. When we made our way to the Canada/US customs and immigration we were greeted by a doorknob of a Officer that we will call .. oh .. Gunter .. yes, let's call him Gunter .. anyways .. the guy was less than pleasant as I answered his questions and explained the nature of our business to go into the US for the day. Apparently the guy couldn't put together the concept of "sledge" and "hockey" and "amateur sport" when I answered why we don't travel together. Whether or not he was playing stupid or he was being ignorant or just being a tight @ss I will never know but after we played his game of 10 Stupid questions we handed him our ID and it satisfied the almighty Gunter and on we were into the US to play sledge hockey!
We made our way into Fraser and were there maybe some time close to 2pm. I thought we made some pretty good time and myself, AnsJ241 and my dad made our way into the arena to find my team mates and hook up with them so I can get ready for the game. We found out where we were to go and were given a change room. What's most astounding is that the room that we got was the sole change room for that particular rink and was offered to us by the Fraser team. So once I got into the change room and saw my yeam mates and joked and kidded about like we always do before a practice or game, I got my gear on it was time to play. But before we left the room we were welcomed by the Fraser coach and wished us a great game (a VERY classy act I believe).
The game started later than the 2:25 start time due to a practice going over time and then the ice having to be resurfaced. But as we waited we had the chance to talk with our opponents for the afternoon and each guy that myself and others on my team spoke to we were really friendly and thankful that we came down to play them. In the end the game started at 2:35 instead of the aforementioned 2:25. All the players took to the ice for warm up shortky thereafter.
It's really hard to describe the game because everything happens so fast. It's even hard to describe my goal that I got (I'm still surprised as well) because everything was happening at a million miles an hour. All I know is that a shot was taken, it hit the left cross bar, I slipped past the defender and moved to the front of the net and got the rebound and put it past the goal keeper who couldn't make the slide across. The second goal was scored by Mark on a in and out play and shot for the top right corner (and you had to see the zig zag move he made because it was awesome!). The third and final goal of the game came from Jim late in the 3rd period when he used me as a decoy at the far right hand side of the net when he faked the pass to the far side and the goalie moved and Jim went left hand side low. It was a play we had set up, a "triangle" play where two players are low and a defence man is high at the "point" (with the option to pass up high if there is a problem) and it worked to perfection. It's great to see what we had worked on in practice last week be used in a game situation.
So how about a few pictures? everyone loves pictures right? So here's a few photos snapped by the official photographer of the day by Mr. AnsJ241 . I think the captions will pretty much sum it up:
What you see is my line being given more instruction by my coach. We had talked in the locker room about what we were to accomplish in today's game but he also needed to add in a thing or two more. I am the furthest to the right, #46 sitting next to Ted our trainer.
Now it's time to get it on! This is from the opening face off of the game. I must say that the start of the game was pretty rough as everyone involved jockeyed for position to try and gain control of the puck. It's a interesting picture because prior to the face off all of us who were lined up were joking about and talking but once the puck was dropped .. look out .. keep your head up or else you may lose it.
All in all the game itself was a whole lot of fun as usual. As I said earlier we wound up winning the game 3-0 with goals coming from myself, Mark and Jim. I thought we played well enough but you would think a little differently coming from our coach. We won and that's what mattered. Of course the real test for our team comes next Sunday when the team from Missisauga comes to town. From what I have been told they are quite good.
If you're interested in coming out to see us play you can as always check the website. The address for that is: www.londonblizzard.com
And just a fast note about coming back. The way back took a little while longer but this time we weren't sub - jerk- tected ... err .. subjected .. to any jerk border crossing officials.
Of course before I do get to the game I should at least cover the trip to Fraser right? Well, at around 11am AnsJ241 dropped by the house because I had invited him along for this trip to see us play. I was in the process of getting ready when he came but once I was dressed and such he and I went outside to load the car with my wheelchair and he brushed off my dad's car since it had snowed the night before. At about 10 to 12 we were on the road and off to Michigan!
My guess was that we made it to Sarnia some time close to 1pm and my game was at 2:25pm. When we made our way to the Canada/US customs and immigration we were greeted by a doorknob of a Officer that we will call .. oh .. Gunter .. yes, let's call him Gunter .. anyways .. the guy was less than pleasant as I answered his questions and explained the nature of our business to go into the US for the day. Apparently the guy couldn't put together the concept of "sledge" and "hockey" and "amateur sport" when I answered why we don't travel together. Whether or not he was playing stupid or he was being ignorant or just being a tight @ss I will never know but after we played his game of 10 Stupid questions we handed him our ID and it satisfied the almighty Gunter and on we were into the US to play sledge hockey!
We made our way into Fraser and were there maybe some time close to 2pm. I thought we made some pretty good time and myself, AnsJ241 and my dad made our way into the arena to find my team mates and hook up with them so I can get ready for the game. We found out where we were to go and were given a change room. What's most astounding is that the room that we got was the sole change room for that particular rink and was offered to us by the Fraser team. So once I got into the change room and saw my yeam mates and joked and kidded about like we always do before a practice or game, I got my gear on it was time to play. But before we left the room we were welcomed by the Fraser coach and wished us a great game (a VERY classy act I believe).
The game started later than the 2:25 start time due to a practice going over time and then the ice having to be resurfaced. But as we waited we had the chance to talk with our opponents for the afternoon and each guy that myself and others on my team spoke to we were really friendly and thankful that we came down to play them. In the end the game started at 2:35 instead of the aforementioned 2:25. All the players took to the ice for warm up shortky thereafter.
It's really hard to describe the game because everything happens so fast. It's even hard to describe my goal that I got (I'm still surprised as well) because everything was happening at a million miles an hour. All I know is that a shot was taken, it hit the left cross bar, I slipped past the defender and moved to the front of the net and got the rebound and put it past the goal keeper who couldn't make the slide across. The second goal was scored by Mark on a in and out play and shot for the top right corner (and you had to see the zig zag move he made because it was awesome!). The third and final goal of the game came from Jim late in the 3rd period when he used me as a decoy at the far right hand side of the net when he faked the pass to the far side and the goalie moved and Jim went left hand side low. It was a play we had set up, a "triangle" play where two players are low and a defence man is high at the "point" (with the option to pass up high if there is a problem) and it worked to perfection. It's great to see what we had worked on in practice last week be used in a game situation.
So how about a few pictures? everyone loves pictures right? So here's a few photos snapped by the official photographer of the day by Mr. AnsJ241 . I think the captions will pretty much sum it up:
What you see is my line being given more instruction by my coach. We had talked in the locker room about what we were to accomplish in today's game but he also needed to add in a thing or two more. I am the furthest to the right, #46 sitting next to Ted our trainer. 
Now it's time to get it on! This is from the opening face off of the game. I must say that the start of the game was pretty rough as everyone involved jockeyed for position to try and gain control of the puck. It's a interesting picture because prior to the face off all of us who were lined up were joking about and talking but once the puck was dropped .. look out .. keep your head up or else you may lose it.All in all the game itself was a whole lot of fun as usual. As I said earlier we wound up winning the game 3-0 with goals coming from myself, Mark and Jim. I thought we played well enough but you would think a little differently coming from our coach. We won and that's what mattered. Of course the real test for our team comes next Sunday when the team from Missisauga comes to town. From what I have been told they are quite good.
If you're interested in coming out to see us play you can as always check the website. The address for that is: www.londonblizzard.com
And just a fast note about coming back. The way back took a little while longer but this time we weren't sub - jerk- tected ... err .. subjected .. to any jerk border crossing officials.
posted by Spatchula at 10:40 AM
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