Nostalgia vs Reality vs the Tigers

Cadavers (16) vs Tigers
Monday January 12
Milton Academy 9:00pm

0-2 Loss

You know, it was cool at the end of last week Kevin Manning was nice enough to share with all of us on the team email list some of his memories of playing with the Cadavers/Knights/Schlitz/etc… This was inspired by Mitch’s project on tracing the family tree of the Schlidaveurs back through players and teams, in anticipation of the Saturdaveur coming up on the 31st where the teams are to be split based on tenure. Kevin’s awesome email sparked a cool thread with guys chipping in stories from the long long ago in a rink far far away and we all had a nice kumby-ya moment about just how much we love this demented hobby of ours.

Ah yes the glory of the game, the comaraderie in the locker room, on the bench, and in the parking lot… hell… in Parkers case sometimes the dog’s bed. Always a good night at the rink no matter the outcome. No one “feels” it the next morning because we feel good about skating the night before. The hangover and the aching muscles are our badge of honor, worn with pride through the workday. There isn’t one of us that hasn’t felt that way about it in some way over the years.

I can only but echo the sentiments of my teammates on the email thread. I can assure you there will be some blog treatment of Kevin and Nelson’s excellent tales of the dark days before time, when the team, and the earth’s crust were still forming. The players, headcases and ringers through the years need to have some recorded history before the fog of age completley wipes them away. I mean do you really want of forget about Tom the “Oil Rig Guy” Goalie who could talk a dog off a meat wagon? What about the summer night the Knights wasted 3 30 packs in the alleyway behind Norheastern? Actually the blogger hasn’t remembered much of that one since the night it happened. Anyway… the point is there are some great stories, funny guys and funny things that have happened and keeping track of it all was what the blog was started for, so in advance I thank all the contributors for their tales.

The blogger wants you to know, before what follows, that he is proud to call every one of you teammate, and couldn’t think of another thing he’d rather do with his time than skate a game and have a cold one with the lot of you. Thanks for the fun.

So the feeling was pretty good last night as the blogger walked into the rink in Milton, thoughts of yesteryear, and how much I like this game and the whole ritual of the game night. Sure it isn’t easy with a family and getting older, but man, this is where its at.
The blogger passed Brian “Long arm of the Law” Carey dressing outside the room in a good mood an running late, but glad to dress in the hall given that we had a full room. Better yet a room full of a bunch of good players.
The blogger found a seat in a happy room full of Zombies ready to take on Team Tigre. A quick look around the room gave the blogger some serious optimism.

Campbell, Chuck, Capraro, Reynolds, Larry (am I seeing double coach?), Valenti, George, Pounds, Elliot, Matvey, Roman, and Parker for good measure.

That’s right, gentle reader of the blog, a full 13 of eager Zombies, looking to have a good night, fueled on the good vibes of Cadaver lore, ready to go get em.

It would be nice if I could tell you all about the great game we played against the Tigers. They had their usual crew. Their guy #8 was there, played great as always, figured in both of their goals. They have a roster of decent veterans and a few eager younger ones, just enough to get after you, and enough talent to keep an eye on, but uh… nothing special. With a full 13 and good lines, we ramped up for short shifts and tried to take it right to them. Should have been a formula for success.

Yes I’d like to tell you all about that. But I’ve got nothing. We drew a dud. The energy we had in the early going left after we gave one up. Then our chances became less potenet. Aside from a short stretch in the early 2nd period when Larry and Parker both had doorstep opportunities we did not deliver any consistent or effective pressure.

We had penalties, Capraro, Matvey, Campbell, and Larry (in a total sw move with :06 in the game) but they did not affect the outcome per se. No pp goals were scored. We just didn’t have it.

Last night was an exercise in frustration, nothing coming together the whole night. So there we were, a bunch of not so happy zombies ranting in the post game locker room about the breakout, beating guys to the puck, getting better shots, with not many smiles to go around.

There was some joy standing between the trucks in the cold moonlit parking lot having a quick one (cold soda) and discussion of happier things.

There is always that. And truth be told, I don’t feel too bad today. I am glad that I skated. I’d suit up next to any of you any night of the week, at any time. Even if we do suck.

No game stars.
Better luck tonight to the Suds.