diptych # 125 / civilized ku # 2870 ~ not so subtle hidden agenda
Monday, March 9, 2015 at 12:15PM 
Union College arena ~ Schenectady , NY • click to embiggen
Shatter Point Hockey Tournament ~ Schenectady , NY • click to embiggen
Hugo's scheduled hockey season is over. However, the team is now engaged in post season tournament play.
This weekend past, they played in a tournament in Schenectady, NY - a NYS Capital District city. 2 of the games, semi-final and championship, were held at the Union College* hockey arena. Hugo's team played in both games.
The team went undefeated in the round-robin play (3-0) earning them participation in the championship game. Their opponent was the tournament host team, the Schenectady Chargers, a high level very well coached hockey team**. A team which they defeated 2-1 - in an intense and closely contested game - in the round robin play and a game in which Hugo scored 1 goal and was, as they say, making stuff happen (play making, puck moving, shots on net, etc.).
Unfortunately 2 things conspired against Hugo's team in the championship game.
#1 - As mentioned, the opponent team was very well coached and they knew, after experiencing Hugo's play firsthand, what they had to do to win the championship game. Namely, get all over #88. A tactic which they executed to perfection with 2 and, at times, 3 players (see action picture in diptych) stuck to Hugo like glue throughout the game.
What the opposing coaches didn't know was the fact that, if Hugo doesn't score, his team doesn't win - a fact which has held true without exception over the course of the entire season. The fact that Hugo's team record is 35-10-2 is testament to how many pucks Hugo has put in the net - 60 at last count.
#2 - While shutting down Hugo obviously helped the other team win, perhaps the biggest factor was the round robin schedule which pitted the 2 teams most likely to met the host team in the championship game - Hugo's team and a team from Massachusetts - against each other in an very early 7:10AM game which ended only 4 hours before the championship game began. That game was vigorously contested inasmuch as both teams were playing for a berth in the championship game. Needless to write, the host team, having played their last round robin game the day before, was well rested. Anyone who thinks that that situation was a scheduling coincidence should contact me so I can sell them a bridge in Brooklyn.
After a scoreless 1st period (in the championship game), Hugo's team started to "lose their legs" midway through the 2nd period and it was only a matter of time before their opponent scored a couple goals. And with Hugo shut down, that was effectively that.
In any event, there's always the next time - which arrives this Friday-Sunday in a tournament in the far reaches of northern Vermont.
FYI, the other picture in the diptych depicts why many hockey dads have sore backs - they're bent over tying skate laces before very game.
*Union College is a small - enrollment is approx. 2100-2200 students - college founded in 1795. Despite it's diminutive student body and the fact that it offers no athletic scholarships, the Union College men's hockey team, the Dutchmen, won the NCAA Division 1 (highest level of collegiate athletics) national Championship last season, besting Minnesota Gophers (enrollment 28,600 and plenty of hockey scholarships).
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