By Nick
I know I haven't written much lately, but that's not been because there hasn't been much going on.
On the dad front, he's getting to the end of this brutal run of chemo. And none too soon. In addition to kicking his butt, he's got a new grandson (my new nephew) to meet and his granddaughters would like to visit with him out here in NY as well.
I did get to Minnesota to go to a Wild game with him, and that was a special weekend for me. I'll write about that at some point.
On the hockey front, we had been sort of fighting our way through a .500 season, but then we went on a 5-game winning streak that put us firmly in contention in the upper division. The playoff format was unique: we got placed in a 4-team division. Then we played a 3-game round robin within the division to determine semi-final seeding. We won our three games and were seeded #1 in our division. Then we played a one-game semi-final, which we won, and now we're in a best-of-three championship series. Game one was last week - and we won. Game two is tonight. Game three, should it be necessary, is next Monday. Obviously, we hope it doesn't get to that point.
I'm not what you'd call a "scorer" when I play out. There are a few of us on the team who understand that our lot in life is to give the scorers on the team a breather and do our best not to get scored on while we're out there. It's a nice, symbiotic relationship. In game one we had 8 forwards, and I got chosen to skate with the scoring line. That's very much like asking me to translate for the Brazilian ambassador at the UN. But there I was, fumbling around out there and trying not to get in anyone's way. Until later in the 3rd period when the game was tied, that is. The puck was in the corner and I found myself pretty alone in the slot, called for the puck, got a great pass, and somehow put it over the goalie's glove for the eventual game-winner. It's getting a little tiring having to carry the team all the time like this.
So, we go tonight hoping to repeat as champs.
I'm up to $964 for the season. The team has promised to chip in some $ as well.
Looking forward to a fun one tonight!
