Smurfs Rock Floor Hockey

First it was volleyball, now floor hockey. Our Cornerstone Church Sports Night team, The Smurfs, have prevailed once again.

Cornerstone Church has been running a winter sports league for many years. Traditionally we play three sports - volleyball, floor hockey and our version of European handball. For variety we might throw in a night of dodge ball or basketball or soccer now and then.

Originally we started with three teams in the league. Two teams would play first while one rested and then we would rotate. Later on we switched to a high school with a double gym. This allowed us to expand to six teams which was great.

In the fall the captains gather at one of the organizer's homes to pick teams. The games begin shortly after. We usually play each sport 7 or 8 weeks.

The first one we played this year was volleyball. It totally makes sense because none of the teams has their shirts yet (they're on order). For volleyball each team is on opposite sides of the court, so it doesn't matter what colour shirt you have. You automatically know who's on your team.

After six or seven weeks our team, The Smurfs, languished in 4th place. In the playoffs none of that mattered though. Everyone was given a fresh start.

We were put in a round robin group with the 1st and 6th place teams, while the 2nd, 3rd and 5th place teams were in the other. After playing both teams in your bracket the first place team in Group A would play the second place team in Group B and vice versa. The winners of those games would meet in the finals.

Well, wouldn't you know it, but our team actually won the whole thing. I guess anything can happen on any given night. As long as you're consistent and, perhaps, have a bit of luck on your side you always have a chance.

Floor hockey was a different story. Like last year, our team was pretty dominant from the start. Though we didn't win as many games as we did last year when we went undefeated in the regular season, we still went undefeated until the second last game this year. Along with that singular loss we had a fair number of ties to go with our wins.

Like last year we put a girl in goal. Last year it was Frida, this year Ellen. That allowed us to have an extra guy out. We were counting on our offence to win games and, generally, it worked.

This round we were the top seed going into the finals. But, as I stated before, anything can happen. We learned that the hard way in the second last game when the then last place team beat us. So we knew we couldn't take anything for granted.

Also, our goalie, Ellen, had a sore hand so she couldn't play net. We substituted our stalwart backup, Dan, for her. But, that would mean one less guy playing out. We would have two guys and two girls playing out instead of three guys and one girl. Defensively we would be stronger, but our offence would take a hit.

The set up was the same as in the volleyball playoffs. Group A would be the 1st, 4th and 6th place teams and Group B the 2nd, 3rd and 5th place teams.

All the games were very close. We won both ours, but by only one goal each. The other teams were even closer. Many of their games ended in ties and had to go to a shootout.

Through each round we kept winning avoiding having to go to a shootout until the finals. I believe we tied 0-0. This is when having a guy in net made all the difference.

The same thing happened to us last year. We won all our games until we reached the finals which we ended up tying. Having a girl in net versus a guy at the other end was the difference maker. We lost the shootout and, therefore, the finals. That's the one thing I was quite concerned about this time too.

The shootout was really close. Each team picked three shooters (two guys and a girl). Our first three shooters failed to score. But, none of their first three shooters were able to score either.

But, then it was Ken's turn. He's quite a good player on the Monday Blues team. He ran up and deked around Dan and put the ball in the back of the net. Victory looked certain for them.

Now Derek, from our team, was under the gun. The weight of the world was on his shoulders. If he didn't score we would end up losing in the finals for the second year in a row. Well, guess what?... he scored extended the shootout further.

The next few players from both teams couldn't put the ball past either goalie. It was getting really tense. There were only two guys left on our team who hadn't taken a penalty shot yet, Mike and Curran. I chose Curran to go next, but he didn't want to go. I made him go anyway and it paid off. He ended up scoring and we won the game!

It was too close for comfort, but we were all happy about the results. We'll have a week off for March Break before returning for our final sport of European handball.