Tacoma Twin Rinks – North Rink – November 4, 2023
Muscle Hamsters vs. Bandits 3 – 3
Game Stats: https://stats.ttr.timetoscore.com//oss-scoresheet?game_id=51770&mode=display
Video Link: https://youtu.be/wXcFqvYnFg4
Goals at: 44:08, 50:26, ??? (WTF, LiveBarn?!)

Tacoma Twin Rinks – North Rink – November 5, 2023
Muscle Hamsters vs. Horned Broncos 1 – 5
Game Stats: https://stats.ttr.timetoscore.com//oss-scoresheet?game_id=52103&mode=display
Video Link: https://youtu.be/IiQAHUnVelA
Goals at: 2:45

“The vid” is making a comeback, and it’s taken 4 of our teammates off the ice in the last couple weeks. That plus various colds and such meant that not only did we have back-to-back games in a weekend, but we did so with a fairly short bench. Trophies for most ice time (besides Shae, of course) go to Chelsie and Parker who backed us up on “D” with very, very long shifts.

First up was the Bandits, who struggled early in the season, but seem to have gotten their legs underneath them, now. We only had 9 skaters for this one, and we had a tough time in the first, unable to keep posession and keep them out of our zone. But still the period ended with only a single-goal lead for the Bandits. Then they notched another one early in the second, and had us all pretty worried.

But then, look behind the bench for the guy in the little yellow helmet. It’s coach Christian!! He was droping nuggets of hockey wisdom on us when the few of us that could spend time on the bench were huffing anf puffing. A quick intermission pep-talk really seemed to turn things around, because we went out and scored three un-answered goals to take the lead! Kurt led the way with two goals and an assist. LiveBarn glitched badly and we didn’t get to see JR’s beauty of a goal that should have been the game winner.

But alas, just a little less than three minutes later, the Bandits tied it up, and that’s the way it finished. Ties are damn near unamerican, but we held our own with a tougher team that were better rested.

The next game was not quite as pretty. We only had 8 skaters for this one, and that’s only when Smitty joined us late in the 1st after finishing another game. What a freakin’ beauty. The Horned Broncos were looking for payback for our 6 – 0 beat-down we put on them just a couple weeks earlier. This time it was their turn to have a full bench versus an already tired, short-benched hamster squad.

But hopes of a shutout were quickly dashed by Kurt flying by the crease, finding the back of the net, then testing the strength of the boards with a hefty thud. But that’s pretty much where the cheering stopped.

We actually held the slim lead through most of the 1st, despite several quality shots on goal from the Broncos. Still, they knotted it up with just a little more than 3 minutes left in the period.

Then, there was the second period. A little more than 5 minutes in, the Broncos got two past Shae in less than a minute. But we can’t put those on his shoulders; our back-checking was not what you might call “good”.

Even so, we kept within 2 until late in the second, with Shae showing off with kick- and glove saves to keep us at least close. Another late in the third slammed the door shut pretty hard. We were not without our scoring chances, though. Their tendy, Vitok, was just absolutely on fire.

Next up we have what could be a tough one against a bronze team, the Fireants, who have been chewing their way through the copper division. But we get some of our skaters back, so hope springs eternal…

Tacoma Twin Rinks – South Rink – October 26, 2023
Muscle Hamsters vs. Well 80 1 – 5
Game Stats: https://stats.ttr.timetoscore.com//oss-scoresheet?game_id=53582&mode=display
Video link: None, sorry

Tacoma Twin Rinks – North Rink – October 29, 2023
Muscle Hamsters vs. Rebel Squad 5 – 3
Game Stats: https://stats.ttr.timetoscore.com//oss-scoresheet?game_id=52137&mode=display
Video link: https://youtu.be/EZErg1YQq4U
Goals at 4:21, 5:11, 19:16, 22:41, 58:39

We played a pair of late-night games relatively close together against the two newest teams in our division: Well 80 and Rebel Squad.

First up was Well 80 who, despite having a very short bench, being one of the lower-half teams in our division and one that we shut out in our second game this season, really took it to us. Without our brick wall named Shae, we had to produce way more goals, and that combined with their tendy making some pretty incredible saves led to a pretty lopsided victory for them.

The first two periods were a defensive affair, with their first two goals coming late in the first and second periods, respectively. We held the line pretty well, but a lucky bounce and a breakaway gave Well 80 a 2-0 lead heading into the third.

But then, just over a minute into the third, Kevin gave us some hope with a really pretty goal off a feed from Parker’s second apple of the young season. The bench was abuzz with comments about how they should get tired in the third, so we should be able to skate around them. But then three unanswered goals with their hot-shot getting an assist and a goal, really put the nail in our coffin.

Just three short days later, we squared off with Rebel Squad, who are doing really well, despite being a first-year team. They could be seen at the rink over the summer getting team lessons, and they even had their own photographer. We opened the season with a tie against them, and this time it was our turn to have a somewhat shortened bench, so we were a little apprehensive.

Appropriate for a game so close to Halloween, the puck seemed possessed by a demon, with weird bounces all night. They opened the scoring just 25 seconds into the game when a dribbler of a shot found its way through Shae’s pads. There were own-goals on each side, and a couple “knuckleball” shots, one lifted in the air from the blue line that wound up arcing down and going bar-down behind Shae for a real head-scratching goal. Weird stuff, folks.

Anyway, we opened up the scoring with Kevin pretty much taking the puck from the face-off in our end all the way down the ice to go forehand-backhand into the net at the other end. The LiveBarn camera could barely keep up with him! Less than a minute later, Kayla got credit for her first goal of the season when she was the last to touch the puck before a Rebel thoughfully placed it into their own net.

Late in the 1st, Chelsie put a sweet centering pass right on Kurt’s stick, which lifted it into the wide-open net to make it 3 – 1 heading into the second period. In the first minute of the second, Kurt took a nasty slash to the hand that wasn’t called (at 21:43 in the video), but Kevin hopped in and wound up feeding the puck to Adam behind the net who punched it out perfectly to Smitty who did the right thing and sent the puck into the back of the net, taking us to 4 – 1.

But Kevin wasn’t happy with just an assist and a goal, and had no empathy for a team already beaten into submission, so late in the third he headed into their zone again, and once more went forehand-backhand for the final goal of the game.