The almost 400-hockey players who flooded -- pun absolutely intended -- the Erie Basin Marina for the Labatt Pond Hockey Tournament likely have some strong words for Mother Nature, who spent Saturday surprising the area with an almost absurd 45-plus degrees of February heat.
The guaranteed three games of division play turned into two after the eight rinks began to resemble your mom's frozen sauce defrosting on the stove, with clearing attempts and hard stops spraying water into faces during the second round of games, as the noon-time sun wrought havoc on the Marina.
The Finals were bumped up to 1:30 p.m., with tiebreakers settling any squabbles in the seven divisions, which lead to some squabbling within Team WGR. We could've advanced to the Finals of Intermediate Tier I with a win over P11, who went on to win the Tier.
It was a lot warmer than last year's event, which made for a larger crowd but a lesser quality of hockey. Team WGR consisted of Jeremy White, myself (Nick Mendola), WKBW's Shawn Stepner, the Sabres' Ed Grudzinski, as well as local boys Jay Chwirut and Paul Barker.
Our first match-up came at 9:45 a.m. against the Fighting Trout, featuring the grudge match between Stepner and his co-worker, Channel 7 meteorologist Aaron Mentkowski. Team WGR went down 8-4 at the halfway point before adopting a more defensive style for the second half. We fought back to tie the game at 10 before falling, 14-11.
We'd need some major help to advance, and received some in the 11 o'clock hour, as the Fighting Trout fell to P11. At this point, the games were converted to 20-minute contests to preserve the ice, and Team WGR took care of Trout Deux on a surface resembling stew. Jeremy White's lone goals of the tournament stood up as the decisive two in a 9-7 win.
It worked out that we'd need to beat P11 to advance to the Finals of our division, and we geared up for our 2:15 p.m. third game. As game time neared, we discovered a win would be enough for us, regardless of the score between Fighting Trout and Trout Deux.
Then came the announcement that due to struggles with the ice, the third round had been extinguished. Rumor has it the city was concerned about the safety of the deteorating ice. Luckily, Pearl Street Grill gave all the participating teams a voucher for 100 ounces of beer and a pound of chicken wings, so we were somewhat sated sans victory.
We hope to resume our quest for a title next year, fortified with Bulldog and Dennis Williams. Congratulations to the winners of each division:
Women's: Advantage Attackers
Recreational Tier II: Rink Rats
Recreational Tier I: Crickett
Intermediate Tier II: Buffalo Old Boys
Intermediate Tier I: P11
Advanced Tier II: Mustangs
Advanced Tier I: Valore Books
Email: nick@wgr550.com
