Thursday, January 17, 2008

And the place went crazy.....

The evening started not different from many other hockey game nights. Last minute skate sharpening, barely on time and then waiting around for game time. We were matched against Mahtomedi, and of course I wore my Totino Grace colors with pride. Mind you- my son plays for White Bear Lake, my older boy goes to TG. TG the team that beat Mahtomedi in the state championship game this last Nov. A game we nor they will ever forget. Anyway, it's not that I like to rub salt on a deep wound but , ok maybe I do. It was such a big win and they never thought we could beat them. So much for their smack talk.

Back to the game. It was pretty evenly matched in the beginning. We played tough, not giving them many scoring opportunites and breaking up their pass plays effectively. Late in the first period, they scored. It was a great shot and setup, I was impressed with this Mahtomedi team. I was very much less than impressed with their fans. We had the pleasure of siting within screaming distance of a fan/parent who, shall we say, had alot to yell about. "Shoot the puck" being his favorite. By the end of the first period, down 0-1, we took a nice shot at their net. The golaie baubled the puck and we tipped it in. However the less than adept refferees had blown the whistle a split second before and the goal was disallowed. We went into the second period more than a little disappointed. But we are Bears, we can overcome. The fans cannot. They screamed about anything and everything as we started the second period. Tempers started to flare on the ice as well, with lots of pushing and shoving and even a couple fisticuffs. By this time the ref's had lost control of the ice. Then it happened. Not premeditated, as some would argue, and completely by accident, we checked from behind, hard. It was a really bad hit. The kid went down and I could hear him cry. I yelled at my son, he was the one who made the hit. He was sent to the penalty box. Now mind you, all hell is breaking loose and things happened very fast. The ref's were first to the kid, then the coaches and then the dad(not sure if it was the dad) but he was a yellin like it was his kid. Then the parents were screaming at the rest. At this point it felt like a lynch mob was gathering. After a second to confer, the ref's ordered my son off the ice, he was ejected from the game. he did the skate of shame off the ice to the locker room where I met up with him. He was sobbing. He felt terrible about what he had done. Luckily the kid was fine, just had the wind knocked out of him. We packed up his gear and gathered the family and headed home. I was way too upset to stick around, for fear of telling someone where to stick it.

The coaches wife called much later to check on Sean and to give us an update of the events that transpired after we left. Apparently, after the game, while our coaches were still on the ice but the team had gone to the locker room, several parents from the other team came into our boys locker room and harrased them. They yelled at our kids for the terrible way they played. I am so glad I wasn't there. I am sure I would have found a wonderful place to put a stick had I stayed.

And the place went crazy.... and so did the adults. Have we forgotten this is a bunch of 11 year old kids playing a game in the state of hockey.

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