October 13th, 2013              

    I think that I summed up my feeling on this game pretty well on Facebook after it was complete, so I will repeat those thoughts below:

    "Best act of sportsmanship I've ever personally seen... After being smoked 3 straight games against older, more experienced teams, today's coach took his best skater and put him in goal and only allowed his regular goalie to shoot. While we wound up losing the consolation game 1-0, the confidence boost our team gained was immeasurable. You could see it in their faces on the ice. My hats go off to the coaches, players, and the entire Northwest Chargers (Illinois) hockey organization. I tip my cap to you all. Thank you."

    So, as you could probably determine, the game this morning was a rematch against the team that beat us on Friday, the Northwest Chargers. In that game they racked up several goals in the first period before backing off and beating us by a score of 11-0. Since they too lost their remaining games, they were well aware of the issues we had faced in playing the other two teams. To make things better for everyone involved, they took their best skater off of the ice and put him in goal (I overheard the coach say that the poor kid was so nervous that he was on the verge of throwing up before the game, so maybe it wasn't better for him...). Their regular goaltender was then put on the ice and was the only kid who was allowed to shoot on goal, and he managed to score his elusive goal in the third period today. While the Storm team had some quality chances today, they just couldn't manage to get that one shot past the goalie that they needed for a tie. It didn't matter in the end, as the kids felt like they had won the tournament anyway, surrounding their goaltender like they were going to be hoisting the Stanley Cup! Although the more hard-ass coaches out there would say that there are no moral victories, I say that they are dead wrong. Today there was a moral victory, and it couldn't have tasted any sweeter!

Great Lakes Tournament Consolation Game - vs. Northwest Chargers (IL)
	Drew and the rest of the starting lineup getting some last minute instructions before heading out for the opening faceoff.
	Drew lined up at left wing once again for the faceoff.
	Drew doing his best to get in the way of this pass between two opposing players.
	Drew playing his position, trying not to let the puck get by him.
	Drew using his reach to try and deflect a pass.
	Drew picking the puck off of the boards.
	Drew getting his stick on the puck along the blue line.
	Drew fighting an opposing player for the puck...
	...and turning up ice to chase after it.
	Drew skating along the boards with the puck.
	Drew skating down the ice while watching where the puck is going.
	Drew skating down the ice once again.
	Drew in his faceoff position.
	Drew gathering in the puck in the neutral zone.
	Drew doing his best to stop an opposing player with the puck.
	Drew skating through the center ice area.
	Drew looking for an open teammate while skating with the puck...
	...before being greeted by a couple members of the opposing team.
	The final score, a much more respectable 1-0 loss.
	Drew and his teammates making their way through the handshake line.