We shall never surrender

Churchill's “We shall never surrender” Speech is playing as I write this entry. It intros Iron Maiden's “Aces High” It fits the mood as it would make a great soundtrack to today's game. There we were in the rink of the number one ranked team in the division. We had lost one game by one goal to them in a tournament earlier in the season – their tournament as a matter of fact – and tied them at our home rink. Today we were back on their ice. Dressed in Orange - our third jersey you might note (Thanks to JC's mom and Tim Horton's) the team entered the rink. There were a few comments made, but the team looked sharp. We had brought back Brit on defense to add some muscle. She plays tough like her brother did for me last year. We worked the defense all this week to prepare for this game, and it showed. They can hit, and They did. They have bigger and more players than we do, but we move fast. We found ourselves down by three before our first goal. The team was playing well, but too unsettled. By the second period we had calmed down a little and got back into our groove. That's when we started coming back. We worked to keep on grinding it out – win the small battles for the puck.. Sure there were a few times we could have made what may have seemed like good up ice passes, but we didn't want to get caught flat footed. You can be up the ice looking for a pass, but if you're not moving your feet you don't get the pass. The rule has been to keep moving, and get open.(Live to Fly – Fly to Live) We also have been stressing proper positioning to open up the ice. (Aces High). The tide had begun to turn. Teamwork is not about one player's desire to rack up goals. It's about working together for a common cause. Today we worked for the win. We are strong when we are unselfish. (Rolling, turning, diving) The team worked the whole ice. We scrambled after the puck and it paid off. Eric shut the door in the third period, and defense held solid as the forwards drove the puck deep into the offensive zone. JC had two assists, Kyle one, and Britney one. Kyle, and Flash each scored a goal, Tyler and Super Dave each had two, but it was the whole team that worked hard for each point. And so it is for all great teams: All for one, and one for all! That's good hockey. It is the team that is the star. The sum of the whole is greater than any one player alone on the ice, and we have been learning that all season. As we learn to work together and push the limits of what we think we can do – we get faster, stronger, and smarter. Each player on this team is a star in their own right. By playing everyone on the team in all kinds of situations we have slowly developed a solid team where we have had to all become better players. Where some teams have one strong line, we have nothing but strong lines. The stamina level has gone way up also allowing us to slowly wear down other teams. Sure the players get tired, but not as easily as I see some of our opponents. Today we won, today we played great, and today we were our own team playing our own game. The most important thing we did today was believe in each other, and believe in the team. Everyone on the team knows that all I want is to play great. If you play great, good things will happen. I would rather lose, but play great than win and play poorly. Playing great and winning ain't too bad either.