Recently the National Hockey League released a study that showed the odds of a hat trick being scored in a game are 18 to 1. Now, the odds of two hat tricks occurring in the same game are 324 to 1 and the odds of three hat tricks occurring in the same game are 5832 to 1. If you take the Red Army, the odds of three hat tricks being scored in a game and Mark Hendricks not being one of those three players, then the odds are 426184824502 to 1.
Whew... caught up on the math? Good.
On June 14, all odds were defied as lightning struck not once, not twice, but three... no wait... I suppose, 9 times in the same spot. Chris Duhaime, Tony Horton, and Pat King all recorded hat tricks in a 13-5 routing of the Coyotes. To make the achievement so much more historic, and the primary reason that this game was selected to make this list, was that it was also the first career hat tricks of both King and Horton. As stated in my gamer, it was the first time two players had both recorded their first career hat tricks in the same game since Griffith Wrenwald and Trent Yorkshire each scored four goals for the Archdukes in a 9-0 walloping of the East Egg Flappers.
The game itself was the Soviets first win of the Summer Season, and as we all recall that Summer Season was a season that ended with a winning record... a first for the Soviets in three years. Bill (hands of cement) Clement in an interview with Roller Hockey Weekly said, "King and Horton's efforts that night were really a microcosm of the strides that Mother Russia has made in recent years. No team needs secondary scoring as much as the Soviets do, and this was the coming out party of two players that today plan an integral role in the Red Army system. That's the mantra on the bench for sure."
King, who has solidified himself as a consistent scorer the past few seasons, accredits his success to his affinity for ordering only the finest of liquors. "When I'm out a bar I only drink the highest priced Petrone, because top shelf is beautiful."
Horton, who is a far more streaky scorer than King, attributes his success to his pregame rituals. "I always eat seven pulled pork sandwiches and nine eggs. Then I wash it down with three gallons of Gatorade."
Rituals and slogans aside, these two defensemen-turned-forwards have really brought this team to new heights the past few seasons. Yes, the strongest part of the Red Army is still the defense, but with King and Horton chipping in, the team is firing on all cylinders.
Fun fact for the night, in the Red Army's last 20 games the team is 17-2-1. Yeah, I'd say those cylinders are firing indeed.
1 comment:
I miss CD2
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