roadhockey.net

Bird takes flight

After being grounded last week with a sore back, Bird soared early and often in Sunday's game, teaming up with his linemates Kid and Beetle Boy for three quick goals on their first shift to launch his team to a decisive 20-12 win.

As is usually the case when Bird's got his scoring touch, he was able to inflict most of his damage even before his opponents were aware of his presence on the court. With Kid swooping in hard from the wing, dragging a pair of defenders behind him, Bird quietly planted himself at the edge of the crease, waiting for a crossing pass to tip home or a loose rebound to lift over a sprawling Lobsterboy.

"Bird is like a stealth machine," says the shelled shotstopper, who's now lost both of his starts since returning to the road hockey court from a two month hiatus. "Nobody covers him so he can sneak in there."

Missing last week's game may also have worked to his advantage, says Bird, as defenders seemed to forget the offensive rapport he's forged with his linemates, particularly the Kid.

"We know how each other plays, we know where the other person is going to be and it really works for us."

Twice the Kid was able to send a shot screaming across the crease where Bird was able to just lay down his stick for a nifty deflection, beating Lobsterboy once and narrowly missing on the follow-up.

"Very early on, Bird and Kid were really hooking up for a lot goals, and that really caught the other team out," says New Guy. "It was Bird's day today."

"They seemed to have that deflection play working for them, and we had nothing going," says Paul One, who returned to action after missing last week's game.

"They're a dynamite combination," says Lobsterboy of the diminutive duo. "They know exactly where the other guy is all the time. Bird's luck is amazing, you just shoot the ball and it goes off him into the net."

More importantly, the damage Bird and his linemates inflicted on their first shift seemed to reverberate beyond the three goals they posted to the scoreboard as dizzied defenders careened crazily around the court, confused and disspirited.

"I think when they see me score on any play, they're fairly embarrassed by it," says Bird. "It's really very depressing for everyone on the other team."

"Those goals usually make the difference," says Beetle Boy. "They can be confidence killers for the defense."

"I think they really got them off their game," says New Guy of his triggerhappy teammates.

"It's devastating," says Unabomber, who played despite nursing a shaky shoulder that had already kept him out of the lineup for more than two months. "When they start piling up goals like that, you lose your intensity."

The delayed addition of Rudy seemed to briefly shake the underdogs from their torpor as he sped hard to the net and forechecked relentlessly. But with the game already in the third period and the score seemingly out of reach, it was too little too late.

"We had enough of a lead that we weren't too concerned," says Bird. "Even when they started to play well and go to the net harder, we still knew we had the talent to finish them off."

"When Rudy showed up, it gave them a little life," says New Guy. "But we had enough of a lead by then so we were able to maintain it. You don't want to panic."

"We were pressing, getting two, three or four chances," says Paul One of his side's star-crossed surge. "But then it ends up going against us at the other end. They definitely had some timely goals."

"We took too long to realize we were in a death spiral," says Lobsterboy.

••••••

Road Kill Notes: After a season of peace and Sunday Morning solitude, the Roguesters returned to the neighboring court on Sunday, with their little mini-nets and a cacophony of unnecessary noise.

The Stanley Stick Championship Series has been tentatively scheduled for May 30 and June 6. To be elligible, a player must have started in six regular season games, at least three of them in the season's first half.

Posted by jaysuburb at April 4, 2004 05:03 PM