As for political stance, I’m a slapshot man, or that’s why the games are played

This past weekend was a great one for hockey. I went with some friends (chev and big cat) to the D3 hockey championships. Unfortunately, Plattsburgh State was upset the week before by Neumann College and didn’t make the Final 4 as they did last year.

            It was an odd tournament. Plattsburgh State was ranked number one wire to wire. They only had one loss, and it was an aberration. With most of last year’s Final 4 team back, including super soph goalie Brian Hince, nothing short of a National Championship would do for the Cardinals this year. But, in front of a packed home crowd at Stafford Arena, the unbelievable happened. The Cards totally outplayed Neumann College, but Hince had an off game and the Knights took advantage and won 5-4. Neumann College was picked to finish 5^th in the 6 team ECAC West. Only Lebanon Valley, the worst team in collegiate hockey, was picked below them.  Somehow, after finishing 4^th in the regular season, with their 3^rd coach in 4 years, they won the season ending tournament to get the NCAA bid. To many, the win over Plattsburgh State was total fluke. In their first game, they had Hobart, a team that beat them 6-2 a month before. In this game, Hobart played what looked to me and many others, to be a total domination. Hobart seemed to have the puck in the Neumann Zone about 80 percent of the time. They outhustled Neumann. They outskated them. They outshot them. Somehow though, Neumann prevailed! They then went on to win the title the next night, 4-1. I guess there is something about that 1980 Rink.

            The other great part of the weekend was The Zambonis. The Zambonis are the greatest all-hockey band playing today. They played a 1 hour concert outside the arena before the championship. They then played between periods of the game. My friends got to meet the band members, and they were a great bunch of guys. A few years ago, they played at the Waterhole during Winter Carnival week. I hope they make it back up this way next year.

            If you don’t understand the title of this blog, you have to listen to more of ‘Slap Shot Man’ by The Zambonis.