Flying Pigs - 2nd Place PNW Women's Tourney?!

Time for that annual pink ritual where I don my all-time favorite jersey and play for The Big Fat Flying Pigs at the annual Pac NW Women's Tournament at Canlan Ice in North Vancouver, British Columbia. One thing that is ALWAYS guaranteed is good times with my pals from NoCal (many who I met through the Northern California Women's Hockey League) sprinkled with some ladies I brought on from the Seattle Women's Hockey Club to complete the roster. This year, something very magical happened - the Pigs won a game....again, and again, and again. Once we caught our breath, we found ourselves playing in the Championship game. Here's a brief wrap-up of how we got there.

Game 1 vs. Eugene Extreme: Wish I could tell you about this game, but KT and I were a *little* late after a passport snafu ("uh....KT, you packed your passport, right?") But, we were determined to get up there for some ice time and made it in time to play the 3rd period. Our roster was already short with only 9 skaters so for the first two periods, the Pigs were down to 7. We got to the rink and I saw the score 3-0 and assumed the other team was winning. But, we got to the bench and to our amazement, the Pigs were ahead. We got there just in time and managed to help the team to a 5-1 win. Oink!

Game 2 vs. Stanley Cupcakes: This was a great team to play after Eugene Extreme because a lot were fresh novice players so it was a good recovery game for most of the Pigs after Game 1. It was an easy victory but we used the time to work on passing and puck handling. The final score was 5-1 and the realization that we were on a winning streak. Huh?!

Game 3 vs. Motherpuckers: I don't know what it is about our team - maybe it's the pink jerseys. But, we only got 2 penalty minutes the entire tournament and it was during this game. Generally, we thought the refs were letting the other team get away with a lot of chippy moves and it was a bit frustrating. Before the final game of the tourney, this was definitely the hardest game for us but we managed a 2-0 or 2-1 victory. I can't remember - the tournament extracurricular activities were starting to take effect on my memory :-)

Game 4 vs. Patriots: Sunday morning. Always the hardest game to play in a tournament and it was also our fourth game. One thing for sure about this tournament, you get your money's worth!! We figured if we won this game, we were in the finals and if we tied we were out. A lot of mixed feelings: on the one hand, we wanted to win since we had come this far and wanted to play in the finals; but on the other hand, it would mean we play our fifth game at 2:30 on a glorious Sunday afternoon. But, once that buzzer went off, our instinct kicked in and we skated hard and pulled out a win. Final score was either 2-0 or 2-1. I can't remember - again, memory is foggy and, I had just enough energy to focus on the task at hand (I keep asking myself "why?" when I feel like crap the next day). Woot! Victory and we were in 1st place - the PIGS UNDEFEATED!! Huh?! What was going on?

Game 5 vs. Eugene Extreme: Rematch of Friday night. And, what a game it was. Eugene went ahead 2-0 but with 4 minutes left in regulation, Superstar Shauna scored a goal and then another to tie the game with less than 2 minutes left in the game. Crazy!!!! For OT, we played a 4-4 sudden death but 2 minutes into it, Eugene scored on a breakaway goal. Nonetheless, it was good fun and probably my favorite tournament to date. Well, OK - maybe my co-ed tourney with the Mudflaps :-)) but that was my favorite for another reason (yummy). But, I would definitely recommend to any woman ice hockey player to participate in this tourney - one of the best out there!

Congratulations Big Fat Flying Pigs!! Nice bling!! See you next year! "Loving you, is easy 'cause you're beautiful. La la la la la. La la la la la. La la la la la la la la la la la. Dootin' dootin' doo doo. Aaaaaaahhhh!"

5 games in 3 days - "I'm fuckin' done!"