August 29, 2001
TEAM HUH? TAKES THE RMHL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!
(Championship Game details, and more photos, at the bottom of this page)
Welcome to Team Huh’s Summer League 2001 Home Page. Here you can relive the trials and tribulations of CIHRA’s now infamous summer league Referees' team,
which played in the Rocky Mountain Hockey League.The action was, well, um, interesting to say the least, and we offer our sincerest
apologies to all the guys who got the reffing assignments for this team!!Click here to see Skip after Reffing one of our games.
Now, without further ado, meet Team Huh?:
Donnie "Please leave your goalie gear at home!" Adam
Eric "You didn’t bring beer?" Barske
Paul "These games are too damn long" Carnathan
Ian "You suck Ref" Croft
Mike "What do you mean I can’t chew during the game?" Dahlman
Mike "But I like to shoot at the big net behind the glass" Deeter
Ron "I don’t see backchecking anywhere in my contract" Groothedde
Randy "Quoteless Randy" Hegemon
Ryan "Our version of Baseballs' "Closer" Hissong
Bob "What do you mean no beer before the game?" Keltie
Paul "This is way too much ice time" Lehrer
Brad "You guys ever heard of Defense?" Martin
Gary "Who brought the beer?" Pedigo
Travis "I can’t buy a stinking goal" Smith
Tim "Carny, you're sharp as a marble" Swiader
Andy "I just want to lead the league in penalty minutes" ThiessenClick here for a Team Huh Photo! Click here to see some vacation pics from the Guys on the team! Click here for Team Huh RMHL regular season Standings and Stats
Click here for the Final RMHL League Playoff results
Click here to check out Donnie's Power Skating Web Site!
The Championship season, game by game:
Game 1:
Disaster number 1. Huh started out the season with a bang, literally. In game one, versus the Rebels, from the drop of the puck, the action was nothing short of ridiculous. Due to the physical play immediately being demonstrated by the opposition, and the willingness of Huh to, shall we say, return the hits, the game denigrated quickly into a slugfest.
We’re guessing that the Officials reffing the game, (who shall remain unnamed to protect the guilty!), had better things to do with their evening, since they called the game at 13:10 of the 1st period "due to excessive violence". (The League has rescheduled the game, to be played at a later date).
However, this was a history-making event, as it was the first RMHL game ever to be called in the first period in the history of the League!!! So to commemorate the event, pay homage to the Avalanche, and set a reasonable team goal, we had "Mission 2P", (Mission 2nd Period), hats made up. There are a few hats left, so if you’d like to join the Team in spirit, let Ron know.
Other game highlights:
Andy made good on his season goal, by taking the first fighting major / game misconduct of the season, and taking a commanding lead in the team penalty minutes.
Game 2:
Disaster number 2. The contest with the Ice Dogs was just plain brutal. We generated no offense, no defense, but would have been fine if not for the 5 or 6 rebound shots that Donnie had to contend with after each shot on goal!
We couldn’t pass the puck through a Zamboni door, and couldn’t hit a net the size of the Pepsi Center, but at least we kept the penalties to a minimum. For 90 percent of Team Huh players, we guessed that not having played since last summer was a bad thing…
We decided that we need either more practice, or more beer. More beer won out.
Chalk up a 14 to 1 loss. Ugh. Have to give the Ice Dogs credit though. They’re a darn good team, and we’ll wind up facing them in the Championship game this August.
Game 3:
More beer worked! An 8–0 drubbing of the Cougars. Stats night – everyone gets points! Our playing in this division was questioned by the Cougars, and our response was "(See Game 2 above)".
Game 4:
A 7–6 victory over Team Sweden. It was a hard fought, physical contest, and Huh had the game well in hand, building a 6–3 lead going into the 3rd period. However, sometime in the 3rd, we kind of forgot about the whole defense thing and gave up 3 goals, finding ourselves tied 6-6. After bagging one more, Team Huh held on for the win.
Gary made a serious run at Andys’ penalty minute lead, by taking the 2nd fighting major / game misconduct of the season. They’re still counting the punches on the video replay. (Gary finished out the game by standing in as Beer, er, um, make that Water boy for the 3rd period).
Game 5:
Croft calls his shot!! Game 5 was a great game, with WAY too much ice time, as only 8 Huh players made it to the game. It was tit for tat against the Choirboys, with the score being tied 2-2 at the end of the 2nd period. During the 2nd intermission, as the fans streamed out for more beer, Ian makes a historic call by expressing "next goal wins this one boys!". He then goes out and bags the game winner! Ian takes it to the hole, battles off a defenseman, and pokes it through the goalies’ pads. Hero status is imminent, and ESPN is working on the Highlight Film / Life Story.
A 4-2 victory. Sweet!
Game 6:
A 6-3 victory over the Stars. Talk about playing down to another teams’ level! Huh was well represented with 10 players, while the Stars only had 6. While actually being DOWN 3-2 to the Stars at the end of the 2nd period, we realized that we were playing like dorks. Not being patient, lousy passing, sitting around in amazement that they were keeping up to us with only 6 guys, etc, etc, etc.
We ‘cleaned it up" so to speak in the 3rd, scored 4 goals in a 4 minute span, and celebrated with more Beer of course.
Game 7:
The Choirboys again. As we snicker over the fact that the Boys only have 7 skaters, we suddenly find ourselves down 3-0, 5 minutes into the 1st period! So we did the only thing we know how to do - snipe at the Refs, snipe at each other, and goad the Boys into some dumb penalties! (Not that it did us any good whatsoever. Six minutes of 5 on 3, and do you think we could score? Naaaaaaaa...).
We toughed it out, tied it up 5-5 in the 3rd, and will be happy with a point for this one. New game plans were developed in the parking lot after the game, but since Beer was involved, I doubt we'll remember them.
Game 8:
Ok boys and girls, the word for today is "complacency". Can you say it with me? "Com-pla-cen-cy". Very good! My god do we suck. Too much beer? Not enough beer? Who the heck knows. After building a quick 3-0 lead, we once again seemed to forget that this was a hockey game, and all of a sudden in the 3rd period we were tied at 3. Defense? Whasssssssssat? Oh well, Team Sweden deserved it. They fought back, battled hard, and we, well, no one really knows what we did :)
Game 9:
Now that's more like it! Hat's off to Travis for setting the tone, and starting out our shifts at 1 minute, as opposed to our normal 2-3 minute fiascos :). I'm thinking it may be trend he'll want to continue, as it netted him 2 goals. We're not worthy oh snake-bitten one! (Then again, maybe his motivation was that little babe in the stands watching his every move, and anxiously anticipating the post game beerfest?).
Anyway, Team Huh skated well, passed GREAT, and lit the lamp repeatedly for an 11-2 win over the Stars. In other news, Pedigo continued his torrid race to the top the PIM standings, while at the same providing some serious humour value with his "Captain to Referee" communications. "Peep...". We were all waiting for the big thumb from Ethan, but it was not be. Way to go Gary :).
Game 10:
The much anticipated re-match with the Rebels! Team Huh was well represented again, with a grand total of 6 skaters and a goaltender, while the HackMeisters, er, um, Rebels, had a full squad of about 15 players. After taking a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period, Team Huh drew on their tremendous physical reserves, planted our rears on the blue lines, and played about 5 minutes of keep away in the second period. This obviously didn't sit well with the Rebs, as from that point on, they reverted to their normal hackfest style of game.
They came back with 2 goals in the 3rd, then decided to jump Trav with about 10 min left in the 3rd. Of course, a melee ensued, with several Rebels players coming off their bench to join the altercation, and their entire troop of fans (?), decided to hang over the glass and scream profanities. After the officials ejected their entire fan club from the rink, and got the penalties sorted out, there was only about 2 minutes left in the game. The clock was run out due to the curfew time limit, and Team Huh left with a sweet victory.
Game 11:
Game two against the Ice Dogs. Once again, Team Huh took the ice with 6 players. Well, 4 at first, since two of the team members made fashionably late entrances, (Bob and Ron swore they were NOT racing each other down Jewel Street). The game was close, (for a while), hard fought end to end, but fatigue and a hot goaltender proved to be Huh's undoing. Team Huh outshot the Dogs 50-25, but managed to put 47 of those 50 shots right in the goaltenders' gut. Great game, great workout, but a 7-3 loss.
With a full squad, (all 12 of us), Team Huh and the Ice Dogs are going to have one great game in the Championship :)
Game 12:
Ohhhhhhhhh, the final game against the Rebels, and they brought the whole Trailer Park with them to cheer them on! The game started as normal, with the 1st period ending in a 2-2 tie, between some minor altercations. After reaching deep inside ourselves, and deciding that "these guys are lame", Team Huh began to put this group of (expletive deleted) away.
They continued their bang and crash playing style, and discovered that the paybacks are a (another expletive deleted). Team Huh rolled to an easy 9-6 victory, even after spending way too much time laughing at the opposition, and allowing them to score 6 goals, (it's that whole defense thing again).
Their fan base continued their constant "hanging from the glass, cussing and swearing, and threatening our players" style of cheering, but were strangely gone by the time we left the rink. Maybe Garys' "clearing pass" off the glass, (which missed one their fans by a couple of inches), may have made them think a bit? Go figure :).
Game 13:
Final regular season game against the Cougars. Huh had 9 skaters, the Cougars had 7, and after a competitive first period, that ended in a 2-2 tie, Team Huh began to put the Cougars away. Final score, 9-5. Bring on the Playoffs!
Playoff Game 1:
Team Huh vs Team Sweden. Don't ask us how, but Team Sweden, (the last place team all summer), has given us fits every game. This one was no different. They played a great 1st period, but we wore them down in the 2nd & 3rd, and came away with a 5-3 victory. Bring on the Choirboys for game 2!
Playoff Game 2:
Team Huh against the Choirboys, (although maybe it was the Rebels in different jerseys - we're still not sure...). Everyone was in the spirit of competition tonight, and somehow everyone ended up with their number on the score sheet, (in the penalty columns of course). Trash talk was the theme tonight, with English 101 being recommended for the competition. Fisticuffs by many, Goalie running by the opposition, lineages questioned...this game had it all, but Team Huh rolled on to a date with destiny, (we're hoping she's cute!). A 5-3 victory, bring on the Ice Dogs and Mr. Stanley, or, er, um, we guess that would be Mr. RMHL ??
Championship Game:
August 29th, 8:45pm, Foothills Ice Arena.
""Our backs are against the wall"", ""There's no tomorrow"", ""We have to take it one shift at a time"". The media pressure was intense!! No room in the locker room for Team Huh to plan their attack on the Ice Dogs - too many damn Reporters!!
Actually, the room was almost empty until about 15 minutes before game time, when a grand total of 11 of Team Huh's valiant warriors finally made it to the rink. We think the game plan consisted of "Where are we drinking tonight?", but we can't remember - the Championship euphoria is clouding our memories.
Team Huh vs the Ice Dogs. The 2nd place team, (us), vs the only undefeated team in the Division, (the Dogs - replete with 18 skaters). As it should be, and as was predicted earlier in the season. Team Huh took to the ice for the first period with a date with destiny, rocked the Ice Dogs' world by rolling to a 5-0 lead at the end of the first, and peppering their poor goaltender with 15 shots. We figured ""Oh yeah, this one's ours!""
The second period however, was vintage Huh. Defense? What's that? Amid a penalty fest, (40 minutes worth in the 2nd between the two teams), we manage to score 1, they score 3, and it's 6-3 after two periods.
Third period, yet another penalty fest, (another 44 minutes worth between the two teams). We score 1 with 4:35 remaining in the game, giving us a comfortable 7-3 lead on the road to victory. Wrongo!! The Dogs rally, pull their goaltender, and score 3 goals in 3 minutes, making it 7-6 with 1:23 to play in the game!!
But Team Huh sucks it up, plays some outstanding defense, and after a game with 109 total penalty minutes, makes it to the buzzer for a hard fought, well deserved League Championship.
Victory is soooooo sweet :)
(No comments will be made about the fact that we trashed the Championship Trophy 5 minutes after game, as it seemed to take a tumble somewhere on the ice... Ron volunteered to rebuild it, stating valiantly that "we have the glue, er, um, technology!").
Click here to see the Championship Game Score Sheet
Click here to see the Championship Trophy, 5 minutes
after Team Huh? got their grabby mitts on itClick here to see the Trophy after extensive Rehab,
and a renewed big-bucks contract.Click here to see the proposed Championship Tattoo,
(For the Few, The Brave, The Clinically Insane)
