It's that time of the season. Time for Putt Putts Bar to defend its championship!
Putts finished the regular season with 15 points and a 7-2-1 record with that ugly tie coming in the final game of the season against the winless Hurricane. Not exactly how they wanted to wrap things up, but the team remains confident heading into the postseason.
The 15 points put Putts in third place behind The Blizzard (18) and Cove & The Monkeys (17). Both Blizzard and Cove earned a first round bye. Putts on the other hand will have a tougher road to a repeat championship having to play three games including a first round matchup against MC Auto, and then a probable championship rematch* against Cove in the second round. But Putts is not overlooking a sneaky tough Auto team that played them really rough in their previous matchup.
It was December 21st. Green and red sweaters were everywhere, but there was no Christmas spirt shared between these teams. In front of their largest crowd to date, Putts skated away with a 7-1 victory, but the game was called early by the referees. Tempers were running red hot on both sides and after Adam Parks was called for cross-checking in front of his own net, Patrick Ball was ejected from the game for yelling at the referees.
"The refs really let this game get out of hand," said Parks. "They (Auto) were playing rough, running us into the boards from behind, and the stripes let that shit go. For two periods I pleaded with them to make calls, but by then it was too late."
Rich Kloeckner got into a scuffle with a member of MC Auto with 30 seconds left and the referees decided to call the game and attempted to send both teams to their respective locker rooms. Neither team payed any attention to them.
"It was ridiculous," Parks continued. "They told us, 'No handshakes.' They tried to take the sportsmanship out of the game. We shook hands anyway. Screw that. We weren't mad at them (Auto), we were pissed about the way the game was officiated. If they're not going to protect us, we're going to protect ourselves. If I get thrown into the boards face first from behind and there's no whistle for that? You're damn right I'm going to level somebody who takes a whack at Fox (goalie). That's hockey. It was ugly, but it didn't have to be. That's not on us or the other team."
The only goal scored in that game by Auto came off a penalty shot stemming from a tripping call on Brett Haberkorn in the second period. Ironically that was the first penalty called in the game despite several no-calls in the first period.
"That game was a turning point for our team," said Parks. "We realized that we are not liked. Not by other teams. Not by the refs. Hell, not even by ownership at Rivertown. We have a reputation. We know that. We earned that. But, damnit, we're not going to get hurt over it. We discussed it as a team and we've been more aware of our physical play and potty mouths. We're still not going to take any shit, but I'd say it's worked so far. The penalties have evened out since then."
The rematch is sure to be interesting. As lop-sided as the score was, the game had a much tighter feel. Don't expect Putts to overlook Auto in the first round, they've been wanting a rematch.
Roll on Putts!
By Adam Parks
*Cove & the Monkey, formerly the Fury Elite, lost to Putt Putts in the Fall 2011 Championship game.