Demand surged for manicures in Waterloo this week ...
... after two nailbiting games for PW
Black last weekend. Indeed, the stress on the fans
was so great that your intrepid reporter's nerves have only just returned
enough to be able to record the events.
Saturday evening's trip to Stratford's historic Allman Arena was a grand occasion, with the team in fine mettle. Stratford came out hard, scoring the first two goals of the match, with the Wolves struggling to respond, setting up a classic underdog storyline. Iin the middle act, the Wolves made a fabulous comeback, scoring their first of the game on a nice backhander. The second came only a few minutes later, to great applause, making it 2-2 going into the final act. The Wolves moved first, pulling ahead with a shorthanded goal, but Stratford responded with a nice effort of their own. Both teams really put the pedal to the metal after that. With only 2 min left, a penalty was called against Waterloo and Stratford sensed an opening - but instead, it was again the Wolves who held the offensive play, almost managing a second shorthander. The coaches of both teams used their time outs to extend the fans' agony (and perhaps even to impart some useful strategy to their young charges), but the game eventually ended in a hard fought tie. Yummy chocolates sustained the boys for their drive back home after their huge effort.
Sunday's game against Brantford started with a show of strength from the Wolves' D, who kept the puck away from in front of their net and kept the 99ers shots on goal to a minimum. Combined with the offensive lines taking their chances where they could find them, the first ended with a Wolves goal to make it 1-0. Brantford took the lead in the second, scoring two goals in succession with hard pressing around the Waterloo blue line (which sometimes didn't quite work as they had planned) and the crease. A ripper of a shot tied things up for the Wolves, setting up another exciting third period. In the third period Brantford led the scoring on a breakaway, but again the Wolves tied it up soon after. Brantford managed a fourth goal with 9 min left on the clock and another with 4 minutes to go. The fans sensed that perhaps the game might be over. But with a full 1:36 to go in the game, and two goals down, the coaches made the bold decision to pull the goalie, and play one man up in hopes of narrowing the gap. In under a minute, the boys put the puck in Brantford's net, to wild cheers from the stands. Not much time remained to try for the tying goal, but the goalie was ready to move as soon as possession was secured from the faceoff, and 6 men were out there again. The Wolves pressed as if their lives depended on it, and the defence handily nipped any Brantford attempts on the empty net in the bud. But sadly the clock ran down just before the Wolves could get the last goal they'd been working for.
Dramatic endings to both games, and a highly entertaining weekend all round. But this reporter, at least, could have used a bit more time to recover from it all before the gang are back in action once more.