A SEASON THAT STANDS OUT FOR BITTER-SWEET REASONS
/season after season I spin the tunes during the playoffs, this year we were in for a crazy game after an even crazier year (photo lisette nepveu)
There are fun seasons, challenging ones and seasons that mean nothing in our personal register, and there are some that stand out for all sorts of reason. Our fourth season of operation will have been in some way the most striking to date and not always for the right reasons.
Without wanting to bring back the past into the present I nevertheless glanced briefly at the article that summarized our third seasons and strangely the latter had left a funny taste in my mouth just like this one. I wonder why? Certainly it all takes place in the same "theater" with more or less the same protagonists but this season will have seen many new faces join our ranks through the expansion to eight teams. With this most recent growth the family got bigger but we lost several veterans for various reasons, one being the usual family pressures. This will have created a kind of vacuum that we will have tried to fill throughout the season. This last one will have seen us suspend more players than ever before even having to expel 2 or 3 players because their play was dangerous and harmful to others. As I put my heart into what I do, these disturbances will have spoiled a good part of my year because of the time and energy we had to invest in disciplinary issues. It occupied my time as well as that of our disciplinary prefect, Laurent Quesnel who will have put even more hours than me on all kinds of files. The arrival of LiveBarn at Notre Dame College Arena will have been beneficial in helping us to adequately maintain the safety and happiness of all. You will surely understand that this aspect of a league's operations was not on my mind when I created the LFA but I guess it’s not given to all to play just to play as some players seem to sometimes vent their personal frustrations through the vector of hockey.
In addition to this darker aspect of our season that eventually dissipated over time, it allowed us to integrate strong and fun new characters such as Stéphane Savoie, Danny Beauregard and Carl Kelly to name but a few. It also allowed us to learn more about what our members want through a one on one poll that I conducted in the last quarter of the season. Some recommendations will be put forward as there is always room for improvement.
This season filled with pitfalls and challenges rewarded us well for our hard work by offering us in the end the most exciting championship game in our history. With a deficit of 3 goals with 18 minutes to play in the third period against the Avengers who were pumped-up and sure of their imminent victory, the Meteors were not done and forced our first ever overtime during a championship game. The momentum being what it is in sport, it took only a few minutes for the Meteors to complete their incredible comeback scoring a goal on a superb passing play that will have frozen the Avengers that were so confident not too long before. This fantastic victory of the Meteors will have been the first by an expansion team as the Shamrocks the year before had won the title during their second season in the DesBois circuit..... (Sounds funny said that way).
What to conclude of this season?! I would not know where to start as it was such a roller coaster of emotions of all kinds throughout the year, but in the end aren’t they all?!
It is while sitting in my office at the Bell Sports Complex with a view overlooking the action on the ice, living an old dream, that I wish all of us a good season filled with highlights and good memories that we can cherish until our last breath.
JFD
