"Take another shot of courage Wonder why the right words never come
You just get numb
Its another tequila sunrise, this old world
Still looks the same,
Another frame, mm..."
Still looks the same,
Another frame, mm..."
Well last night was just another Wrangler loss, and another game of sometimes good play, sometimes bad play, sometimes "keystone cops" play, and most of the time mediocre play. The Wranglers fell to the Lakers 2-6. The Wrangler bench was so short that everytime they switched lines, the bench was empty except for the backup goalie. You had 10 boys on the bench for the game, not counting the goalies. It seemed that one of our defensemen - Powell - had enough and decided to abruptly quit leaving his teammates to deal with the short bench. Remember Bricksler and Purslow were out for the previous evening's penalty antics. So the remaining players gave it their best, best as they could.
The play was conservative and not fast, and at times it was confusing. While the few Wrangler fans that made it to the game were commenting on how well they were playing; me, I thought the play was mediocre. I remember counting the number of successful passes between Wranglers and it took over a minute of play before the Wranglers made a successful pass - and the Wranglers were on a power play! So many times one Wrangler went left, one Wrangler went right and boom, they collided in the middle. To me - the Wrangler Curmudgeon - it demonstrated that some players - despite playing for the Wranglers most of the season - had no business playing Junior A Tier III hockey. Meanwhile the Lakers were at times putting on a passing clinic. One Laker goal in particular was oh so beautiful - first rushing forward to the left passes it to the center, who passes it to the right winger and "rama-lama-ding-dong" goal scored. Sure, Jossie, Robison, and Riemersma were playing their hearts out and doing as well as they could.
Defensively, the 3 remaining defensemen - Miller, Summa, and Chase tried their hardest. Luzaich stepped in to play defense. Several times they stopped players, intercepted passes, made saves, and worked offensively putting a few shots on goal. But several times the Lakers would play to one side, pulling the Wranglers over, and again they would sneak a foward to the back door of the net and get the goal. On one goal there was a Wrangler forward not more than 2-3 feet from a Laker and he just watched as the pass came across to this Laker, and playing his hockey air guitar watched the Laker shoot and score. I was envious; he had the best view, only 4 feet from the net and got to see the goal, wow! Uh, you're supposed to help... and keep the other team from scoring. Oh, it's too late to learn now. The music comes to my head, "It's just another tequila sunrise..."
The Wranglers scored two goals to keep some minimal respect - one in the 1st period by Waterbury (assist Riermersma) and one in the 3rd period by Riermersma (assist Robison). Riemersma's goal was a nice quick wrap around shot. Also SJ was in goal and he did a great job stopping many Laker shots, some that were guaranteed goals, only to be denied. SJ faced 51 Laker shots. Each goal CDA scored was not - in my opinion - a mistake made by SJ, rather a mistake by another Wrangler who just didn't understand what to do. So, SJ you get a star, Riemersma you get a star, and Robison you get a star. Way to go boys. You showed heart and played hard. I'm impressed that you boys helped post 24 shots on the Lakers.
This afternoon, the bench shortens even more. Zach Miller is leaving for home. I heard that Kramer is going to dress and play the ice, not as a goalie. This ought to be interesting and fun for Kramer. Bricksler and Purslow should be back. But for me, the Wrangler Curmudgeon, this disasterous season is finally over. Amen.
