There was little joy in Iceville...

...for the Steve's Painting squad last night.

Late games are always tough to manage for some guys and we never really know how many bodies we'll have on the ice. Most of the guys I play with (good guys, all) are blue-collar/trades folks. There are a handful of Cube rats and IT geeks. Most of the team have shifts to manage or very early work hours, so being up late doesn't always work for them.

Last night we were putting out 8-8 record up against the top team in our division. Because of a re-alignment and an unbalanced schedule, we had not played them this season. We did our best with a short bench against a full team, and a fast-skating, hard-shooting one at that. I actually felt I played well but couldn't really do much to stop the goals that did go in.

Mid-way through the 3rd period, the Captain (a heart on his sleeve kind of guy....very emotional on the ice, but pretty calm when off it) came off the ice after a particularly frustrating shift and slammed the bench door pretty hard. I don't know if it was on the opening slam or the closing slam, but somehow the guy who was coming on to replace him got the top of his right ring finger caught in the door.

These doors, I mention, are metal framed and pretty heavy.

He was sliced pretty badly and there was much concern as play was stopped and Stevie raced off the ice with the Captain and one of our walking wounded who's already on the injured list. Paul, our Captain, felt absolutely dreadful because he feels a certain responsibility for Stevie getting his digit in the door. I dunno how that will shake out, but we're pretty concerned and we hope Steve needs nothing more than a few stitches and a couple of weeks off from the game to heal.

As for me, I actually felt good about the game and how I played (a rare thing, as you know) but a few minutes after that, I misjudged a slapshot coming towards my blocker and would up taking the brunt of the shot on the outside of my forearm.

Ow....

So I have a nice lump and a bruise as a reminder of the 5-2 loss.

But I'm certain Steve's reminder, to say nothing of Paul's, will linger longer than mine.