...As we were leaving the 1st game on that oval it began to rain. The weather gods of Lake Placid would not let CAN/AM have this tournament without what we dubbed as "The Suck". After a small breakfast we talked to some guys about the next and last team we were going to play. "The Chazy Chicken Hawks”, tired, wet, exhausted and at the point where "The Suck" was starting to overtake the fun, we were informed that we were going to play this psycho team that was "chippy" and "REALLY REALLY GOOD".

Being that we had not won a game yet "The Suck" fully took over with murmurs of "forfeiting" coming from the team. As we sat there looking at the rain contemplating the issue two thoughts came to mind the words of George S. Patton we said "Nuts!" to that and that we were there to play hockey.

 We skated out. We started the game and it was painfully obvious that these guys were the epitome of the word pond hockey (and then some). The look on some of my teammates face was of utter deflation as the others tried to rally us on. They seemed to be able to skate on mud, no let me correct that I WITNESSED them skating on mud! Killing us in the first half we could tell they were holding back. At the break it was raining, this team was playing as if we were not there and "The Suck" had obviously threw everything it had at us.

Just then in what I can only describe as the spirit and sportsmanship of the entire tournament and of the game itself, these guys came over and offered to swap 2 players (we were both playing with 5). I and another swapped jerseys with two of the most stereotypical looking and talking backwoods hockey players I have ever seen and began the second half.

What ensued can only be described as the very soul of Hockey. There were bodies flying over the sides, in the mud, onto the back pads, into the water on the ends. Non-stop passing, shooting, end to end action at breakneck speeds, it was all there. I was sitting in the rain on a bench during my turn on the bench laughing so hard it hurt. Hurt so bad I could not feel my real injuries! 

And as I sat there I took it all in. I could see all this as the water built up, as the rain became harder and more steady and the overall weather conditions deteriorating I could see it, the roots, the tradition, the heritage. We were standing on the shoulders of giants if just for a 15 minute period. The hockey played on gonzo style as the hockey gods intended. I smiled, Hockey as those who came before us and as those that will come was played that day and "The Suck" never felt so good."

-Jaime McGrath 2006

j m c @ w a w a t u s i . c o m

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