Red Reign

Mark Hendricks stood behind his own goal line to Andy Schram's left, idly stick handling the puck back and forth while he watched the final ten seconds bleed off the clock. The Grenades, trailing by two goals as well as shorthanded, knew that their hopes, dreams, and season were ending, and did not apply any pressure to the Soviet winger. The clock read three, then two, then one, and it had happened again.

With a decisive game three final score of 5-3, the Red Army defeated the Grenades 2-1 in the series, and successfully defended their throne, winning their second consecutive championship.

"No doubt about it," said Captain Steve Hand when asked if this title meant as much as the first one. "Some people may have thought that since we won last season, it wasn't going to mean as much and we might get lazy. But we like winning; we wanted to defend it. I think last season was kind of a relief as well as a state of euphoria when we won, but this season, it was about pride. It was about proving that last season wasn't a fluke, and if a team wants to win, they have to go through us. We take pride in that."

Hand, who had another solid playoffs despite not tallying a goal in the series, was quick to hand out praise to his teammates. "Andy played out of his mind again, and Ben and Mark really helped the offense get going, and the defense looked a lot like our defense of last season. I think we came together at the right time. It was great."

Great indeed. The championship clinching game itself was no cake walk though. The Comrades kept consistent with all of their playoff games, and made it a nail biter. Hendricks opened the scoring early in the game after stuffing home a rebound in front. The sniper found the puck as his feet and began jamming away, and would have scored on his first attempt had Pat King not blocked his shot. King, who had effectively crashed the crease and jostled the goalie out of position, accidentally blocked Hendricks' first and second swats at the puck before allowing the friendly fire to squeak through his five hole.

"It was a pretty crazy play," King said. "I'm obviously not trying to block the puck, and he isn't trying to hit me, but we couldn't get it right. [Hendricks] had at least three feet of net to shoot at, but every time he would shoot, I would get shoved and my legs would close, and the puck would hit me in the shin guards. I just hope the stat guys give me a few blocked shots."

The Grenades rallied though, and knotted the score on a questionable play. After a centering pass went awry, a forward for the Grenades tried to salvage the errant pass by kicking the puck to his stick. His stick never met the puck though, and the puck slid through the pads of Schram and into the net. Despite the protests of the Soviet skaters, the referees, as well as Toronto, concluded that it was a goal. The score, just like the series, was tied 1-1.

"The important thing was not unraveling. We've had some pretty strange goals scored against us these playoffs," Tony Horton said. "We had that goal that came well after the buzzer went off that counted in the first round, then Bradsy put one in on our own goal last game, and now this kicking one. But, we are resilient, so we just kept working.

Working they did, and they got another goal from the Comrade who has put in the most hours for the franchise. Hendricks finished off a pretty goal after an aggressive forecheck by him and King. King forced a defender to make an ill advised drop pass, and Hendricks swooped in. Cutting in on a mini breakaway from just above the right faceoff circle, Hendricks deked forehand before finishing on the backhand into the now vacated crease.

"I know their goalie has a really active poke check, and I was thinking about just shooting to make sure I got a scoring chance," Hendricks said. "But when I went to shoot, I saw him slide his hand to the top of his stick like he was getting ready to throw out the poke check, so I called an audible. I sold the shot, then moved quickly to the backhand and avoided the poke check. With him already extended, I just skated past his reach and I had the whole net to shoot at."

The Comrades looked poised to enter the first intermission ahead by one, but a late goal against foiled those plans. A long shot from the point slipped past Schram when Scott Hoefer tried to bat the puck down with his glove but redirected it to the top part of the goal.

"It was tough to track that one," Schram said. "But even so, I was pretty confident in the game even when we were tied. They had two lucky goals and we had two hard working goals. We were owning the play. All the symptoms pointed to a repeat."

The game was broken open with about nine minutes remaining in the middle stanza. After wearing down the defenders with a long cycle, Hendricks retrieved a rebound off of a Hoefer shot, and cycled back toward the blue line before cutting into the middle of the slot. With Hoefer setting a screen, the goalie was unable to track Hendricks' shot, and the puck slipped into the net just inside the near post.

"That cycle we had going was really working," Lotocki said. "They had the faster skaters and really wanted to open things up, but we kept forcing them to play our game. I don't know if it's a system or not, but when we play that way, we're tough to beat."

The past two seasons make it seem that when the Red Army plays that way, it's downright impossible to beat them.

Later in the same shift, after another long cycle in the offensive zone for the Soviets, the Grenades finally retrieved the puck and began their breakout. It was read by Breiterman however, and the Norris candidate finalist chipped the puck ahead to Hendricks. Without looking at the goal, Hendricks took the pass, turned, and fired. The goalie, who had not yet readied himself for the shot, was off of his post, and the puck snuck in on the short side.

"I think that's when we started to all believe. We had a two goal lead and they were getting frustrated. It felt good. I had never been part of a Red Army championship, so it was new to me," Jamie Simek said. "I had to dig up my old pair of champagne goggles from CYA soccer of 1995!"

Perhaps the two goal lead made the Comrades complacent, because they allowed a goal on the next shift. After three consecutive battles for loose pucks were won by the Grenades, they brought the deficit to within one after an offenseman batted home a rebound right on the doorstep.

The period would end with that score, and with fifteen minutes to play, the Red Army was leading in game 3 of the championship series 4-3.

Those fifteen minutes seemed to last an eternity. The Red Army dominated the play, but could not score the insurance goal, and the heart rates continued to climb. On the rare turnover that occurred, the Grenades were quick to push the puck up and get a scoring chance. They were met however, by the Iron Curtain. Schram had several highlight reel saves on the night, including a goal line desperation Varlamov-on-Crosby-esque save, but his best plays were the simple ones. In traffic with the puck careening around, he always seemed to find it and cover. He seldom looked out of position and when he did, his athleticism and determination shone brightly, or, Hoefer was there. After a defensive lapse left a Grenade in the slot with the puck on his stick, Hoefer dove in front of the puck like a madman, and blocked the slap shot with his leg, deflecting the puck well out of play into the rafters.

"I don't like losing," Hoefer said, shaking his fist angrily at people passing by. "I wan't black shirts," he would later add, though no one would hear him.

With a little over three minutes to go, the insurance marker came courtesy of Breiterman. The defender took a snap shot from just outside the circles, and the puck beat the goalie. There wasn't a screen, there wasn't a deke, it was a shot that probably should have been saved. But then again, maybe, just maybe, it was the aggregate effect of a goalie scrambling around with Soviets in his crease for forty plus minutes that made him a bit slower in the third period.

"I was a bit surprised when it went in," Breiterman said. "But when it did, I think that's when it sunk in. We were repeating it. I saw Mark come up and he, as always, gave me a painful celebration by jumping on me."

The Grenades shot themselves in the foot, or rather, imploded on themselves, by taking a penalty with 90 seconds remaining, nullifying any chance they had at mounting a late comeback. The clock ticked down and the Russian sticks and gloves went up.

Champions, again.

OTHER NOTES:
- After a team party last night, it was decided that the Georgian moonshine known as "Ch-ch" is more preferable to Burnett's
- Schram again, for the millionth time this season, did not allow a goal in the 3rd period
- Hendricks' four goals were the most he has ever scored in a championship series game (he has now played in 5)
- Simek received a pie to the face after the game for winning his first ever championship, those his bright red face was still visible behind the whipped cream
- The only face brighter than Jamie's belonged to Steve, whose cheeks resembled Yosemite Sam after the amount of yelling he had done
- Lotocki informed reporters after the game that he will be returning for another season with his Comrades, and as a result, the Bear Cavalry jokes will continue
- Ryan Odell was effectively peer pressured into coming out to party with the players last night, there was lots of hugging
- King, Horton, Breiterman, and Hoefer all awoke this morning in Moscow, which is strange, because last night they drank in Burke

THREE STARS:
3: Mr. and Mrs. King
2: Jessica Rohrer
1: Ben Breiterman, Steve Hand, Mark Hendricks, Scott Hoefer, Tony Horton, Pat King, Brad Lotocki, Brian Lynch, Andy Schram, Jamie Simek



I guess you could say we're good.

Just saying.