November 17, 2022 10:15pm – Tacoma Twin Rinks – North Rink
Muscle Hamsters vs. Polar Bears 8 – 3

Game Stats: https://stats.ttr.timetoscore.com/oss-scoresheet?game_id=26522&mode=display
Video Link: https://youtu.be/arSQNspdaaY
Goals at (takes a deep breath…): 7:20, 13:30, 17:11, 22:26, 24:20, 38:31, 45:02 and 55:53

November 20, 2022 7:45pm – Tacoma Twin Rinks – South Rink

Muscle Hamsters vs. Bandits 7 – 2

Game Stats: https://stats.ttr.timetoscore.com/oss-scoresheet?game_id=24687&mode=display
Video Link: LiveBarn feed was absolute crap. Here’s the first 2:00: https://youtu.be/oEycc0K16Ds

Our last couple of games really highlight the improvements we are making as a team. Our first meeting with the Polar Bears ended in a 1-1 tie, then they snuck past us with a 2-1 win in our second matchup just a couple weeks later. But this time, we were a different team. Yes, they were very short-handed, which could explain a 1- or 2-goal win for us, but the 8-3 tally at the end of the game was huge for us.

Toward the end of the 2nd period, Randy decided he’d had enough of this defense s**t, and decided to get a little wing action. And yeah, he did okay. I guess. Just a HAT TRICK, and almost a natural at that! If it hadn’t been for Todd channeling his inner goon and taking a roughing penalty that led to a power play goal for the ‘Bears, he would have had the natty hatty. The hit was so vicious, apparently, LiveBarn decided to skip over it, lest young children be watching.

Okay, so a breakout win against a short-handed team that only has a couple more wins than us is one thing. But our next game was against the best team in our division, the Bandits. The last time we met, they pretty much ran over us, but as with the Polar Bears game, this was a much-improved Hamster squad. They scored early, just 23 seconds into the game and a lot of us were thinking, “Okay, here comes another beat-down.” But we quickly turned things around, scoring 5 unanswered goals, prompting Nico to suggest the centers play more back in a defensive mode! This is the Hamsters we’re talking about, here!

Things got a bit chippy when a Bandit kept poking at Shae after he had frozen the puck and Nico “tapped him on the shoulder” and asked him politely to please get the f**k off 😉 . The offending Bandit even had the nerve to drop the gloves (well, one anyway), which spawned some animated discussion on our bench, and in the text chat after the game.