Nov 11, 2011 | Steve McGeown | 853 views
Revenge is a Dish Best Served... Awkwardly
The date was circled, 5 times, and underlined, and in red ink... Trash talk was thick in the air for days in '03 classrooms all across Waterloo Nation. Timber Wolves / Ice Wolves... for many, this rivalry stretched back into the previous season and for some made as awkward as possible (it's complicated...). Ice Wolves had mastery over their rival pack last season, and Timber Wolves were hungry to make amends. It ended with Timber Wolves winning 3-2 and getting a much needed monkey off their back. More importantly it also ended with a great amount of goofy horseplay in the arena halls with players from both teams after the game, which made things somehow whole again.
The game started off in the traditional Timber Wolves fashion, where they had to spot the other team goals early to be sporting yet again. Kyle Maloney had a pair early in the first period, both generated from raw breakaway speed analogous to Road Runner, Timber Wolves only able to muster up a Wile E Coyote like defense to counter it. Assists to Jonathon Dinner and Callahan Reesor on Kyle's goals.
Then the second period wake-up call came, and Timber Wolves got their feet moving a bit more (possibly faster rocket skates from Acme...) and a renewed initiative to fore-check. They were finally rewarded with a goal from Owen Parsons from Ryan McGeown and Luke Ronson. Then, Luke Ronson, playing yet another monster game on "D", lead another great rush from defense, short-handed no less, to tie the game, assisted by Jackson Hurst. In the third period, Preston Young fired a shot that pin-balled around a bit and found its way into the net for the winner, assisted by Jasper Peterson.
Perhaps a bit too hopped up for the game on both sides, it wasn't a great passing / structured game for either team. A bit too much of everyone trying to do it themselves. However, good effort put in on both sides, Timber Wolves with a slight edge in shots, but not by much.
Ice Wolves Misha Stastna and Timber Wolves Marshall Nicholls both played exceptionally well in goal at their respective ends. Both teams feature boys who can let the wrist shot fly, and these two guys stayed big and square to shooters all game and managed rebounds well.
We are much relieved to see Ice Wolves make it through the re-tiering process, as that was especially awkward in taking those points. Good luck the rest of the way Ice Wolves... Let's all try to keep that picture in this article in perspective...