Phantoms: Season One - Championship Game

WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2004 • HNA BEGINNER LEAGUE
PHANTOMS vs. COBRAS

Phantoms 3 – Cobras 1

ADDISON, IL – The locker room was drenched from the spray of Miller High Life (the “champagne of beers”), as the Phantoms celebrated their “worst to first” run and triumph over the Cobras. Yes, for the first time ever, the Phantoms beat their nemesis, and this time it was for the whole magilla.

Armed with a solid game plan, and a full roster, the Phantoms once again dictated the action on the ice and kept the majority of the play in the Cobras’ end of the rink. About halfway into the first period, the Phantoms got on the board. Team captain, Mike Boyd, took a pass from across the front of the crease and slammed it home, putting the Phantoms up 1-0.

The Cobras tried to get back into the game by stepping up their play and intimidation techniques. As Greg “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” Rolnick went zipping into the Cobras’ zone after a loose pass, one of their defensemen chased after him, screaming, “I’m gonna kick your ass, Nine!” Rolnick retaliated by catching up to the puck along the end boards, throwing a pass back to his defenseman at the point, and sliding out of the way when the charging Cobra went slamming into the boards. “Don’t hurt yourself now,” Rolnick muttered as he skated away.

The Cobras ratcheted up the tension in the second period when they evened the game at one apiece. AJ “No More Rats” Brandt made a kick save on a Cobras shot, but thought the puck was lodged under his knee. To his, and the Phantoms’, dismay, the puck was actually at Brandt’s foot, and a Cobra forward took advantage of the three inches between Brandt’s skate and the post to score.

It was towards the end of the second period that the game took a turn for the immortal. The Phantoms were deep in the Cobras’ zone, furiously trying to score. After losing his edge and falling to the ice, Phantoms right wing, Dave Deacon, scrambled to his knees, corralled the puck and launched a shot on net. The puck deflected off of a Cobras stick and went top shelf for the goal. As the Phantoms bench erupted in more chants of “Gi-no! Gi-no! Gi-no!” it was commented that Deacon often does his best work on his knees…

With a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, the Phantoms were looking to play fifteen minutes of mistake-free hockey. Rolnick almost botched things up when he started to play less like Gino Cavallini, and more like alternate captain (and penalty-call prone) Tedd Vanadilok. Taking the puck at the corner of the Cobras’ net, Rolnick circled behind the goalie and tried to fight off the Cobras defensemen who was apparently trying to dislocate Rolnick’s shoulder with his stick. As Rolnick was pulled to the ice, he reached out his own stick around the offending Cobra’s ankles and hauled him down as well. To his amazement, but possibly in the spirit of playoff hockey, no penalties were called. However, Rolnick was pretty sure a bounty had just been put on his head.

The Phantoms stuck to their game plan, and with four minutes to go in the game, were still up by one. As the Cobras desperately tried to even the game, they launched shot after shot on Brandt, who deflected and dodged the oncoming barrage like the Bush team at the 9/11 commission hearings.

After one spectacular save, Brandt played the puck out to defenseman Dan Phillips, who then passed up to Rolnick at the point. The puck went rocketing past both Rolnick and the Cobra trying to guard him, sliding quickly towards the other end of the rink and an icing call. Rolnick gathered what strength he had left in his legs and went hauling ass after the puck. He caught up to it before reaching the Cobras goalie, flung a shot on net, and then went pirouetting into the boards with a crash. As he landed on his thankfully padded backside, Rolnick saw Victoria “If It Is A Boy, We Shall Name Him Jarome” Brandt jumping up and down screaming with joy. Realizing what he’d done, Rolnick threw his arms in the air, and sure enough, saw the black vulcanized rubber in the back of the twine. Goal: Rolnick. Assist: Brandt. Knife twisted in back: Cobras.

As he searched in vain for an oxygen mask on the bench, Rolnick watched his teammates hold off the Cobras final assault. The remaining seconds ticked away and then it was over: PHANTOMS WIN! PHANTOMS WIN! PHANTOMS WIN!

The overjoyed Phantoms jumped the boards and surrounded their goalie in celebration. Prodded by his legions of fans, Boyd even took a victory lap with the deceptively light championship trophy [being held by Brandt in the picture below].

The Phantoms now have a few weeks off to rest and bask in the sweet glow of victory, before starting a new season in the HNA summer league.

GAME NOTES: Vanadilok couldn’t resist one last trip to the penalty box, and served two minutes in the first period for slashing…Rolnick thanked his Grandma Helen, M-J, parents, family, Sadie, Gino Cavallini, and Elvis (in that order) for all of their love, support, and imparted hockey wisdom…Brandt’s mother, Marge “That’s My Boy!” Brandt, was in attendance, and expressed her gratitude at her son’s decision to wait to play hockey until he could pay for his own gear.