Game 10 - Championship game
Sabers 8 - Blackhawks 7 What a nail biter. After missing the entire season because I was busy skiing, I was able to make it to the championship game to watch it. That’s why I am able to write this review. We advanced to this game with a surprising 8-1 record. I am embarrassed to say, that I felt we were looking at a fourth place finish this season. Why would I say that? Simple. We built this team from our 12-U players that moved up. We were loaded with 13-year-olds. Billy is 12 and Eddie and Justin are 11-years-old. We are a young team and I did not think we were ready to play with the "big boys". But we still have two years to "grow" and play in the 14-U division so we had to start somewhere. I knew we had the talent but I didn’t think we had the age and the size to get as far as we did. But I underestimated the most important characteristic of these Blackhawks. Their HEART. These kids have tremendous heart and they know how to dig down deep and find that little bit extra to do well. By advancing to the championship game, I have to admit the kids surprised me. I apologize for underestimating them. But I am really proud of all they have done. Bill, Don, Bob, Paul and all the other fathers that helped really handle this team brilliantly.

Okay so we advanced to the championship game against the Sabers. Definitely going to be a tough game. We were missing one of our top players as Nick S. was playing in an ice hockey tournament in Connecticut. (Nicks team lost the championship game 2 to 1). And we were playing the Sabers who were undefeated. In fact, they handed us our only regular season loss, 7 to 2. And they have won four of the last five championships in Allaire. This was destined to be one of the great games. And the fans could not have been disappointed, as the Blackhawks played one of their most exciting games, EVER. It was truly a classic.

I arrived at the start of the second period and we were losing 1-0. Okay, it looked like it was going to be a good game. The third period started and the Sabers were up 3 to nothing. It was not looking good for Blackhawks. Many of our favorite "Blackhawk Haters" were now strolling in for the following game and were enjoying seeing us losing. But then something happened. We scored a goal and followed it up with another goal 90 seconds later to close the gap to 3-2. We were elated. But then the Sabres scored two quick ones and we found ourselves down 5-2 with 8 minutes to play. Game over, right?

WRONG. The Blackhawks never say die or quit. Before you knew it we scored two more to get within one with 3 minutes left to play. It was a tough battle, but we managed to get the tying goal with under two minutes left in the game. The final two minutes saw a lot of back and forth play. Everyone on both teams really played great. Great defensive plays. Lots of offensive attacks. Many shots on both nets as both goalies came up big. Nick was awesome in net. He really saved the day time after time. But the big defensive play came from Justin. Nick made a great save and landed about five feet away from the net. The rebound left the puck behind Nick and a Saber had a clear line on the puck with an open net. Justin came from out of nowhere to clear the puck as Nick scrambled to get back to the net. In the final 20 seconds the Sabers took three shots, but Nick stuffed them all. On to overtime.

In overtime, the Sabers controlled the puck a lot early on. In fact most of the early part, we were in our zone playing defense. But we managed to get off a few shots. Both goalies were still playing strong. As the O/T wound down we were prepared for the inevitable shootout. But with 11 seconds left Matt got past the Sabers defense and all that was left was the goalie. Matt moved to the left, drew the goalie to the left and sent the puck wide right, just past the Sabers goalie. This whole play seemed to be in slow motion as we all held our breath and went silent. And we watch the puck pass the Sabers goalie and head toward the net, only to miss by an inch. Time to breath as the overtime ended in a tie. And our favorite "Blackhawk Haters" were no longer thrilled to see us losing. Sorry to disappoint them.

Since I disagree with the individualness of the shootout I will not mention names here. The Sabers score to go up 6-5. The Blackhawks don’t score. The Sabers don’t score. The Blackhawks don’t score, and the Sabers last shooter does not score. We were down to our last shooter. If he scores we continue, if he misses, the Sabers win. Guess what? He scores and we are tied at 6. Onto Sudden death, with us getting last shot. The Sabers miss, we miss. Then a Saber scores and we a down to our last shot again. And we score to make it 7-7. The next Saber misses, and the next Blackhawk can win it with a goal, but we miss. The tension is building. Again, the next Saber misses, and the next Blackhawk can win it with a goal, but we miss. The next Saber shooter scores and we are at sudden death again. We already came back and tied the score 3 times, but this time we couldn’t do it, as we missed the shot and the Sabers won the 14-U championship. Congratulations Sabers. You guys were great and we think that we gave you a better game than you expected.

( I apologize for not knowing who scored all the goals in what order). In regulation time, I do know that Matt Miller scored one. Mark Parino scored one and Billy scored one on a great pass from Eddie. I don’t remember who got the other two and who got the shootout goals.

Check out this great article on TEAMWORK

The Blackhawks have purchased four season tickets for the Trenton Titans. The Titans are New Jerseys minor league ice hockey team in the prestigious East Coast Hockey League. We are making these seats available to our club members first. If you are interested in these seats let us know.
Check out the information on them.