Rudy faces fear
Sunday's 19-19 tie, in a rare time-controlled game necessitated by Lak Attack's departure from his team's net to service the onerous demand of his exploitative employer, may have left some of the roadsters grumbling about their sisters. But for Rudy, it was a triumph.
With the clock running down, the speedy winger knew he had nothing to lose by floating in the offensive zone, waiting for a scoring chance to come his way. When a clearing pass ended up on his stick, he made no mistake, lofting his shot over a sprawling Gump, lifting his team to the hard-fought draw and putting the final exclamation point to his first regular season game since he was felled by a devastating facial injury late last season.
"I don't think I'd be cherry-picking like that in a game that was going to come down to goals." says Rudy, who also opened his side's scoring and added a few more in-between. "I knew we only had time for one more chance, and I had to keep myself open for it."
Indeed, Sunday's game represented one more chance for Rudy, whose career hung in the balance last Spring after reconstructive surgery to his face, shattered when he ran into Roach's errant elbow. Taking to the court for the first time without protective headgear, he admitted to some anxiety before the game.
"Yeah, I was just a little worried about my head," says Rudy, who did play a regular shift during the Stanley Stick Championship series while wearing a helmet and full face shield.
But from his first shift, he battled in the corners, drove hard to the net, and splayed himself in front of shots. On his first shot on net, he scored.
"Rudy was playing his usual game, the game I would expect him to play," says Elvis, who scored a pair of goals late in the game to give his side a short-lived 19-18 lead. "I wasn't surprised to see him step back in there. He's definitely a force to be reckoned with."
"He's somebody you have to watch out for a be a little careful," says Paul One. "You expect nothing less of him to come out and have a big game."
"He's just a fearless player, his skills certainly haven't diminished," says New Guy of his rebounding rival. "The competitive nature of the game takes over and you forget about your injuries, you forget about how you're feeling and you just play to win."
Or at least to tie.
Posted by jaysuburb at November 9, 2003 04:47 PM