Friday morning started with Berger and I heading to work at 8am to build some scaffolds. Learning on the go, we were able figure out which way was up, but in the end it they were definitely built to an unexceptional standard.
With 6 points on the line for the weekend, the Perth Thunder stormed in late Friday night to the beautiful city of Melbourne. With a long flight, Brian Berger, Kevin Darcy and I headed out for a late night meal to see what the city had to offer. We jumped on a street car and headed down to St. Kilda, led by Darcy who had previously lived in Melbourne years prior. Darcy took it upon himself to show Brian and I a few hidden gems to see, but knowing we had two big games ahead of us, we turned in early for the night.
With this being the imports’ only definite trip to Melbourne for the year, we woke up in the early morning and hit the busy streets to check out a few of the sights, this time with Berger and Mohle. We grabbed a small breakfast from a café and strolled down to Federation Square.
After three hours of walking around the city, we grabbed a quick disappointing bite from Subway and hopped onto the bus and headed to the rink. With a large group of travelling fans, the Thunder were eager to give their fans a favorable turnout. Unfortunately, the game didn’t go as planned and we ended up dropping the first of two decisions 5-3. With plenty of odd-man advantages in the second period we failed to capitalize and tip the scale into our favour. From the start of the third period, we seemed to beat ourselves with small mistakes in the defensive zone. A game that could have been put away in the second period turned out to be one that slipped away from us.
With a frustrating end to the game we left back to the hotel and the boys went their separate ways to grab some dinner. Mohle, Berger, Darcy and I headed to MadMex to bury a burrito, and then headed back to the hotel to meet up with Willow and Cox in the hotel. We hung out in the hotel for a bit before checking out the Melbourne nightlife. Once again with a Sunday matinee game, we turned in early for a good nights sleep. Mohle was relaxed in his own bed, while I got stuck with the pull-out, however it was step up from cuddling up to Berger and Darcy in a twin bed.
With an 11AM checkout we had to drag Darcy out the door and meet the team for a morning stroll and breakfast. With Kevin’s past-due statistics quizzes, his tutor Brian Berger had to get to work while Kevin supplied some brain fuel of Nando’s. After a couple of exceptional quizzes, the two struggled to comprehend much of the difficult content and got complacent with a whopping 26% on the last of four quizzes. Meanwhile I ventured off with Jono (Bremner), Rucker, Willow, Ricky (Del Basso), Lamb and Walshy to a café for breakfast. After killing some time, everyone parted ways to prep for the game in their own separate ways.
With the game being aired on FOXTEL, there was a little more added pressure to perform. Both teams came ready to play and were nothing short of exciting. With the game ending at a deadlock 5-5 tie, each team was given three opportunities to beat the opposing goaltenders. Perth’s Berger and Melbourne’s Armstrong each struck out in the first round. Ice’s captain Baclig was stopped on his shot low, while Dan Mohle had a nice backhand goal to put the Thunder up one. This was a positive as two weekends prior, third shooter Kenny Rolph dumped the puck into the far corner in a poor shootout attempt to say the least. I was able to stop the last shooter to guarantee the Thunder’s first shootout win in memorable fashion.
Many people assume the stress escalates with the heightened pressure of a shootout. From a goaltender’s perspective of a shootout, the key is to remain calm and take it one shot at a time. In my mind, this is why I feel goaltender is the best position to be in all of sports. You have to embrace the pressure and opportunity to be the hero. The key to being successful in shootouts is forcing the shooter to make the first move and not budge first.
There was little time to celebrate and we rushed to the airport to catch our flight home. I was privileged due to our alphabetical seating order to sit with Berger, Bremner, and Cox. The flight was nothing short of entertaining as the West Coast Eagles made an appearance. Might have even have overheard some asking for Dan Mohle’s autograph after his shoot-out winner. Many laughs were shared about the antics that took place over the weekend.
Overall, we left Melbourne with two of six points. Obviously, we would have hoped for a better result, but the opportunity to capture all six points were definitely on the table. As the new imports settle in week by week, we feel as though the Perth Thunder fans have a lot to look forward to this season. With minor adjustments and attention to the small details, it should be an exciting push to postseason, as we plan to visit Melbourne come September.
With an upcoming off weekend, we will have to wait to see how the league standings will shake up, but can’t worry too much about who plays who. The down time will give us an opportunity to rest for an end of the year run at a playoff spot. We are looking forward to doing some much needed sightseeing at Kings Park as well as support the West Coast Eagles in their footy match this upcoming weekend. Who’s got tickets?
Written & submitted by Dan Clarke & Brian Berger – Monday July 29 2013