It wasn’t the prettiest hockey game played in the area this season, but it had plenty of heart and more than its share of exciting action.
The final score of 6-4 showed there was lots of action as the Smithers Secondary grad class took out the school’s staff at what has become an annual event just before the Christmas break.
In many ways it was an exhibition of what the game of hockey can be — fun. There was a lot of end to end action, the goalies did a great job of keeping the puck out of the net (most of the time), unexpected falls, outstanding passes and more.
Somehow, breakaways seemed to be a key element in any plan the teams had. And just as unexpectedly, both goalies were able to make surprising saves that kept the score a lot lower than is could have been.
While the staff crew showed a fitness level we can all hope for, the rather deep bench of the grads, around 40, ground them down and then they pulled out the plug on the staff energy reserve when they used an interesting strategy (all players on the ice at once) to swamp them at the end of the game.
For some reason the referee was unable to count that high quickly enough and too many on the ice was not called. Must not have been successful at math in school.
The game was very well attended. Since so many teachers were at the arena, classes must have been postponed. Or maybe there was a bonus mark for being at the game.
There were even some cheerleaders running around the place and an excellent figure skating exhibition between periods by Chantal Gammie.
This is what school should be. The learning environment can only be enhanced by such activities that include so many of the staff and teachers together having an enjoyable time. Congrats to the grads and staff both.
