Ice Hawks and the School of Hard Knocks

Travis Triplett

2/03/2005 - The Black Hawk Ice Hawks’ learning experience in the C2 division is definitely an eye-opening one this season and it continued with a crushing 7-4 defeat at the hands of LEC.

  “We knew going into this season in early October that there were not going to be any easy games. This is the highest division we have ever competed in,” said team captain Garrett Ladd.

  The Ice Hawks’ offense started with a very early jump as Jeremy Neal helped himself to a fat juicy rebound given up by LEC net minder Colin McKeever. Black Hawk would take the early lead just thirty-one seconds into the contest and they continued to mount pressure in the opposition’s zone.

  But LEC would capitalize on Black Hawk turnovers and rattled off three unanswered goals to take a lead that they would never relinquish. The game appeared to have blowout written all over it as LEC’s offense gave Chris “Roach” Edinger no solace whatsoever. The buzzer signaling the end of the period was the only break Black Hawk would catch as they stared at the scoreboard in bewilderment.

  “These guys crash the net hard every time we play them. Every time I looked they had three players heading toward me. That is tough to defend,” said Roach.

  But the Ice Hawks would find a groove thanks to Matt Lindbergh. He would have McKeever fishing vulcanized rubber out of the net not once but twice! Tony Reda, always a threat on the ice, would hit top shelf with his patented “Reda Special” that left the LEC defense talking to themselves. It would not take long for LEC to rebound, though, as they had a ready answer for every Black Hawk attack. At one point they were carrying a four-goal lead.

  Even though the Ice Hawks suffered another crushing defeat, there was one player who had a smile on his face normally reserved for children at Christmas. It was Adam Carr and you have a good idea where this is heading. An LEC player thought it would be a good idea to take the body shot on the gargantuan defenseman and he skated full tilt at the behemoth on skates. He quickly discovered the folly of his actions as he found himself staring at the skating surface with visions of canaries and stars orbiting his cranium.

  “Playing hockey is rough, and playing rough is my favorite part of the game,” said Carr. Not even a five-dollar fine for violating the “Black Hawk Penalty Statute” could wipe the grin off of his face.

  The Black Hawk Ice Hawks hope to rebound this Sunday against FUBAR. Game time is 2:45pm this Sunday at the Sun Microsystems Ice Centre off of 104^th and Highway 36.  “It’s your town and your team, so see ya there!”