It Could Happen Tonight

At the risk of overloading readers in hyperbole, I'll keep this post brief. Sure, I could use grand analogies comparing tonight's game's magnitude to that of the US landing on the moon, but let's face it, space travel doesn't do justice to what the Red Army can accomplish in 20 hours and counting.

Yes folks, with a win tonight the Red Army can do what so many other Red Army teams before it could not: win a championship.

How many Red Army teams? Well, join me for a stroll down memory lane. The elder Hendricks brothers, along side current Comrades Scott Hoefer, Brad Lotocki, and Ben Breiterman played the inaugural season in the summer of 2005. The team did not play again until the following Winter, except because of the number of George Mason University students on the team, the team name was changed to GMU. Two seasons later, one producing a championship, the summer returned and so did the Red Army. The GMU players, having frustrated management with their physical play, untimely penalties, and tendencies to fight, were placed on waivers and a new group of players were brought in.

Which players? Well, the two younger Hendricks brothers made the Hendricks threat a quadruple one, while rookies Steve Hand and Andy Schram joined the force as well. The team was rounded out by some players who only played a season or two (Josh something, Alex Spitzel, Chris Craighill) and others who experienced longer terms skating for Mother Russia (Chris Duhaime, Matt Kraus, Brian Lynch, Jamie Simek, Jerrod Funk). All contributed to many fun seasons, albeit losing ones.

The seasons changed, and the revolving door continued to, well, revolve. Some players left for school, some left for jobs, but there was always another guy waiting in the wings. But the summer always brought back the core.

In fact, the core had grown so big in 2008 that the team had to split into two teams: the Red Army and the Redder Army. Tony Horton made his debut with the Redder Army while Pat King and Ryan Odell skated their first terms with the Red Army.

Neither team won a championship.

They reunited the next season but again, even with the firepower of Zach Wilson, Matt Mcvay, and Mark Hendricks, a championship seemed to elude them.

Fed up with the reoccurring playoff losses, the founders of the team, the elder Hendricks brothers, left with Lotocki and Odell to play at the Box. They played three seasons in Chantilly and even managed to win a championship in the Gold Division. Still, despite the glory, the feeling was bittersweet. The four of them moved back down 28 for another run with the Red Army. The results remained the same: early playoff exits. Was the team cursed?

No, but changes were coming.

Breiterman and Hoefer returned, Schram started playing goalie, Hand, Horton, and King began producing and all of a sudden the wins started rolling, even in the playoffs. In the 2009 Fall Season, the Comrades earned a first round bye for the first time in franchise history, then beat their arch rival the Shockers to advance the furthest they'd ever been before. Of course, the next round they were defeated at the buzzer. But progress was made.

Enter the 2009 (now 2010) Winter Red Army team. A team comprised of all of the same players save for Matt "Short Fuse" Kraus of a season before, yet, on the verge of achieving much greater things.

Yes, 22 Red Army teams have failed to do what this season's Red Army team can do tonight. Hell, just by getting to where they are they've already made this season the most successful in franchise history. Ironically, nay, appropriately, this team is far from the most skilled team the franchise has ever had. It is not the fastest team, it is not the most defensively sound team, and it's certainly not the most physical team, but for some reason, it's the team that knows how to win.

So Comrades, before you lace them up for 45 minutes (and maybe more) tonight, I thought you'd want to know some history.

That is, before you make some.