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PlayOn!

I LOVE PLAYON! Seriously, or at least lust! Day one is finished, we won 2 outta 3. And I “think” we should play tomorrow or that is the rumor. Now lets break it down so far the good, the bad, the hockey.

First the set up is annoying. All the shit they want you to buy. Buy a hat, buy balls, by water bottles!! Sure its cool but I don’t have the funds for that. Right now you are paying $90 for 3 games. MAYBE more games but only 3 for sure. So for 1 fun afternoon you are at $30 a game! The $70 is fine but the $20 to WEM is bullshit. You are forcing people to shop at WEM and I get it. They let us use the lot BUT the fact is most people are gonna go in anyways and shop. Our waitress on Bourbon said it is their busiest day so why force it on people, we are already headed in!! The other thing is most people are getting custom shirts. That is $30 minimum, trust me I looked into that a lot! So really 3 games 1 afternoon is costing $120. If you don’t play Sunday that is $40 a game and that is a rip off. BUT it is fun and if you wanna play you gotta pay!!

Kudos to the teams that pick awesome names. Peace River Samsqanchis, you rule!! Also lighten up, we weren’t aloud to be the ball danglers?? That one wasn’t bad at all. When we won an ESSC title as the Theron Fleury Experience maybe that crossed a line. Also I wanna get this outta the way. There is NO NHL SCOUTS here. Or I am 90% sure of that. So to the people who play like their big chance is at playon, it isn’t. It is supposed to be a fun day. Intense hockey is one thing. Dirty hockey and hitting isn’t. You injure someone they have a real job it could effect, so smarten the fuck up!! The flip side is puck bunnies. None of these guys are making the NHL. So you don’t need to dress like your headed to a nightclub and trying to pick up a future millionaire. I mean I am not complaining but you could try some self respect!! Up to you. Also fans need to not be losers. Don't come boo or heckle another team. And do be poor losers or winners. If your gonna bring fans make sure they are decent.

Next lets go to something awesome. The national anthem. Maybe it is the proud Canadian in me but that is all class, starting the day with that. There is something about that song and holding a stick getting ready for hockey that is just awesome. Also we played at 8AM. I will never ever complain about that. Parking is good and the temperature is good. 2PM game burning, 8AM nice. Also here is a tip, get as many guys as you can. 6 forwards and we were still bagged!!!

This is all volunteer so I cant complain too loud and I cant complain about our officiating BUT some was just brutal. We sat and watched a friends game in a higher Div and the ref was clueless!! I am not sure he read the rule book at all. And some things like blatant slashes were ignored. And I mean both ways, not just on the guys I knew, but them doing it right back. I mean yes there will be rough hockey but you gotta nip that shit in the bud!! I do have to say thanks though to all the volunteers, without them there would be no tourney….

I get it, I gotta pay the $15 for the water bottle to drink the next “Gatorade” as loved by Connor McJesus. But don’t advertise it as free to player if it isn’t! And don’t have such bitchy people working there!!! Also I would say have a water station!! Like it is 20+ degrees outside. Ya I brought water bottles but it would be nice to have a station!! And more porto potties please! I would be sooo happy if you do that next year…. Anyways this is the end of day 1!

So lets talk games. Game 1 8AM, perfect time. I hope every year we get this time slot!! Still decently cool out, great parking. Anyways we won 14 – 3 I think was the final. Thing is it was the other teams fault. They had talent and easily coulda won BUT they only had 1 sub who showed up late. The fact is we weren’t a better team, we just were able to keep running. So to anyone in Playon, bring a full team.

Game 2 10AM. Another great time slot, sun is about to get hot but still playable weather. 5 – 3 I think we won. And this coulda went either way. Full team, decent skill I think we got the W cause luckily the guys on my team are in way better shape than me. They can keep running and we out run the other team. The other team they were bigger guys and did use the body a bit more but were decent about it. Nothing aggressive just smartly playing a size advantage.

Game 3 2PM. Brutal heat. Good game but  6 – 4 loss. And of course it was to a team with “that guy” The one who thinks scouts are in the crowd. The whole team was aggressive but no more than any team in playon but “that guy” Holds sticks, trips, slashes and crosschecks. I have the bruises to prove it.

Day 2 morning. Holy fackin fack. It hurts to get out of my bed. I knew I would be sore but I didn't realize how out of shape I am! We play at 11:20 so I have a nice breakfast of bacon at 9. That and coffee I should be good to go. I will say parking is much better the second day. watching a couple games before I know it is gonna be a tougher day. But we line up for our play off game.

I am gonna be dramatic here. We lined up, I didn't know if we would be able to run but we could. End of the first half and we were down 2 -1. Including a missed penalty shot chance. For the next 13 minutes we played like a damn! When the ref called two minutes we were up 5 - 4. I will admit I thought we had it in the bag cause we had been kinda running the half. The game of course got rough. I will say they started it BUT we had no problems replying and pushing and shoving just as much. Guy on both teams hit the ground. Then with less than a minute left a pushing match got out of control and both teams get a penalty shot. I cant argue, it was a good call. I know if we score it should be a done deal. Sadly we didn't, they did. so now the game is tied. No one scored in the last 30 seconds. I will say this, had we played OT I think we would have had it. However it didn't go that way. They scored twice in the shoot out and we didn't get 1. So all our dreams of moving on a squashed.

So there you go, we didn't make it passed the first round. But I wouldn't change it, what a way to go out. Also I reread this blog and it does seem like I am shitting on the tourny. I want to say right now I am NOT! PLAYON IS AWESOME!!! 
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Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada

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