Pat King

As a token of appreciation to the players that laced them up for the Jenkins Cup Champion Red Army team this late fall and early winter, the blog will be highlighting each player's season and doing a brief recap of a few defining moments that the player made to help Mother Russia dance her way to greatness.

Pat King
Regular Season: 13GP: 18 G, 22 A, 40 P
Post Season: 4GP: 2 G, 4 A, 6 P
(All stats per Hendricksmemoryability)

Hat trick Patrick continued his evolution as a top tier scoring threat this season. His goal totals dipped a bit from last season, though much of that can be attributed to moving him to the "second" line for the majority of the season. It is no secret that him and the Gr8teen can produce like bunnies on the rink, but sliding King down to carry his own line certainly paid dividends (see Hand, Steve: production).

But regular season, shmegular season, right? This was a championship season, and though the Red Army boasted a 10-3-1 record on the season, they rocked an even more impressive 4-0 record in the playoffs. We here at the R.A.D. have been highlighting each player's contributions, especially in the playoffs, and like so many of his fellow Comrades, King had his fair share of them. Still, it was an easy selection to find the one moment that truly defined #57's season. Quite appropriately, it happened in the game that defined the Red Army's season as well.

Championship Series Game Two: Red Army vs Puck Ewes "Don't call it a comeback".

With the Soviets trailing by two goals entering the third period, the electric buzz in the stands that had rocked the Plex at opening faceoff had been replaced with a quiet hush. Yes, it seemed that a game three was inevitable. Fans sensed it, the Puck Ewes sensed it, and even Tom's mustache, a symbol of all that is unwavering and true, yielded to the frigid presence of the Puck Ewes. With the Comrades in desperate need of a hero, they got one.

On an innocent looking play, King received a pass from Breiterman in the neutral zone and led the rush into the offensive zone. With Hendricks on his wing and being covered, King elected to take it wide on his defender and take the shot himself. The shot was kicked aside, but King out muscled his defender and got his own rebound before firing a shot again. At nearly zero angle, King's snapper still managed to squeeze past the goalie and wrip the top shelf so hard that it knocked the towel off of the net. It was by far, the toppest of shelves.

The Comrades believed, and rallied.

King was on the rink for the next three goals as well (Odell's, Hendricks', and Breiterman's), meaning that not only did he score a goal when his team needed it most, but in the final period of the season, and a few minutes of overtime, when nearly three months of work were on the line, King was a +4.

You don't lose when that happens, you just say "check mate king me."

Regular Season: A+
Post Season Rounds 1 & 2: A+
Championship Series: A++