So, thanks to my lovely back, I missed the pre Xmas home game, but I did see the 2 post Xmas/pre New Year games......
First up, Telford Tigers. Sweet Jesus on a bicycle I felt sorry for the poor lads. People will often refer to a team being like 'Lambs to the slaughter', and in this case, that is only too true. The Tigers started brightly enough for sure, but sadly, over the course of the 60 minutes of play, the Phoenix proved that they were simply far too good for the Tigers young squad to cope with.
Indeed, the dominance was so great I chose to descend to the bar for the 3rd period, and have an extra cheeky beer instead. All credit to the Tigers fan though. Noisy, passionate, and likeable. I wish the fans of some other clubs were similar, but sadly, there are always going to be those who are just, well, not.
We shall ignore the trip to Shuff.... We lost, shit happens, and you deal with it (a lesson some folks need to learn. How you cope with losing is equally as important as how you cope with winning).
Normal service was resumed the following night, when a very special guest witnessed out triumph over the visiting Bracknell Bees. Dwight 'Dewey' Parrish was in the house to receive a special commemorative jersey from the club as a way of thanking him for his services to Manchester ice hockey. The response to Dewey was wonderful, and entirely fitting.
As for the game, well, we certainly looked damn good, and early on it looked like we could have had another double digit scoreline on the cards. Bracknell put up more of a fight than Telford did, mostly due to the greater experience of the Bracknell squad, but still came away on the wrong end of the scoreline.
Again, I missed the 3rd period, although this was due to chatting to Dewey and his wife in the bar! Interestingly, of the 4 clubs Dewey iced for in the UK, 3 of them went bust whilst he was on the roster! (Storm, Devils, Bees). So, i give you Dwight Parrish: Kiss of Death!
See y'all on Sunday
