The dying seconds were critical in this game.  Scoring in the last minute of any period can be psychologically devasting to the opponent.  When the Raiders opened the scoring at 19:23 of the first period, it could have seriously dampened the Cowboys spirits.   
 

But, it was not over. Six seconds read on the clock as Dave Fair blasted the winner past the Raiders goaltender!

It was a glorious victory, albiet not a text book game plan.  Perhaps it is a sign of things to come. Whether or not that means last second goal scoring or typical third period lapses is yet to be seen.

- Doug Collins
 
 

The 4 - 0 victory did not come without expense.  Andre was sporting brand new goal pads.  They complemented and completed a trend Andre began last season when he retired his early model goalie mask.  Let me tell you, that was a wise decision.  This mask was old.  I don't think even Terry Sawchuck would have felt safe in it!  Next he replaced his trapper.  I know that was difficult for him.  I'm sure it was like saying good-bye to an old friend, but he pretty much had to when the jokes about having a hole in his glove were no longer jokes.  Then, finally the unthinkable - the trusty old leg pads had to go.  We're talking original equipment here.  There are pads in the Smithsonian newer than these ones.  Most thought Andre would retire before the pads would. Some were even hoping for it. 

With nary a puck mark on his stiff new "crafted in Canada" black and bright white protectors, he entered the goal crease a new man.  Perhaps it was a new sense of confidence, the lighter weight or the wider coverage, I don't know.  I do know that the other team just couldn't stop hitting him with the puck.  And, it seemed we were in such awe of his performance, we couldn't stop letting them. 

Do the pads make the man?  I don't know, but I must say, in the last 200 games I have not seen that kind of goaltending at the Cowboy's goal mouth.  We all hope this is the beginning of a new trend... I mean good goaltending, not playing 200 games between Andre's shut-outs.

- Doug Collins

Of course, the Cowboys didn't win, but it felt like a win.  In fact, afterwards in the dressing room, on a number of occasions, I heard players refer to the game as a victory.  It was a victory for two reasons.  First, it felt like winning,  because I'm sure it felt like losing to the Raiders.  Second, it felt like a win because we played hard and didn't give up.  With a minute left, I had called a time out so that we could rest our top line for a final double shift.  At that time, even though we were down a goal, I was very proud of out team.  I felt that even if we were to lose, I would still be able to congratulate the guys on a good effort.

In some ways we were lucky.  We were lucky to have the ref call a double minor against the Raiders for a check from behind with 4 minutes left. We were lucky that in the same incident Derek May was not assess fourth (and game ejecting) penalty when he came to his brother's defense. We were lucky to get the opportunity to pull the goalie with 30 seconds left to add a sixth attacker. We were lucky the puck managed to cross the line when it did, in another mad scramble. But the funny thing about good luck is that you get more of it when you try your best.

I don't think the Cowboys played their best in this game - far from it, but we did try our hardest. That means a lot to me.  If we continue to put out that kind of effort for an entire game, we will play our best and perhaps the winning goals may come slightly earlier in the game.

Better lucky than good?  How about the better you play the luckier you get?

Enough clichés.

- Doug Collins

When we faced the fledgling new team, the Ice Cats, the next week, I was scared.  They were still looking for their 1st win, and were coming off a pretty good showing against the Raiders and the Skyhawks.  They were looking up, and we were hanging our heads.  Our December 5th 4-3 victory against them was enough to get the desperately needed 2 points, barely barely enough to lift our spirits. (But we lifted them anyway - several times after the game.)

On December 12th, with the mid season point just around the corner and the Skyhawks 3 points above us, we could not afford to let them gain another 2 on us.  This game against them was as big a 4 pointer as you would even want.  The Cowboys responded. We were up 5 - 2 by the end of the 2nd period.  At that point, maybe I shouldn't have reminded the Boys that this was the same team that came back with 5 straight goals against us in the 3 period in a previous meeting, because it was looking like it was happening again. The Hawks, Kevin Duguid streaked down the right wing past our defence twice sending the puck into the net.  Before we knew it, it was a tie game. We could not settle for a tie. 

With 8:22 on the clock in the third period we found ourselves shorthanded. Turns out the Skyhawks should have declined the penalty.  Derek May responded, driving to the net with the puck to put us back on top with the a shorthanded goal.  Rookie Norm Warn took the pressure off scoring the second shorthanded goal in the same penalty with a pretty, top shelf insurance goal - it was a good investment, because Dugid wasn't finished.  With 1:46 remaining, his 3 goal had the Skyhawks knocking at the door again.  

Even though the net was empty, Derek May's "hat trick" third goal was a pretty a sight as we have seen in a while.  It was an 8 - 6 final a a very big 4 pointer.

For the first time in as long as I can remember (possibly ever), the Cowboys will go to the Christmas break playing .500 hockey.  But there is one more important task at hand.  I would like every player on the Cowboys to go down to the mall this weekend, look for Santa, hop up on his knee and tell him we would like 2 points from the Blackhawks for Christmas.

We have never defeated the Blackhawks.  Next week would be as good a time as any.

Merry Christmas

- by Doug Collins

In the spirit of sharing that comes with the holiday season, the Richmond Cowboys Hockey Club are giving back to the community that has supported them for 22 years.  The hockey team is donating gift certificates of $250 to four needy families in East Richmond. 

The gifts will be distributed through Mitchell Elementary School, where many of the team members owe their childhood education.   (Mitchell School was named after the Grandfather of former Cowboy Goaltender, Clark Mitchell) The specific families will not be publicly identified, but their selection will be based on need.

The Cowboys played with as big a heart as they ever have.  It proved to me something I was beginning to doubt - that the Cowboys, when they show up and want to play, they can beat anybody.  But this game had something different in it.  From the opening face-off we played like we were the better team and when the final buzzer went, we were.  The thing that was unusual, was that we played the entire game without our usual 3 minute (or more) lapse.  This was a good thing, because in a 3 - 2 game, you can't afford a lapse.

The whole experience was a little strange for me.  It was great to win, but it was a great puzzle too.  Sometimes you go and play and nothing goes right.  You can't quite figure out what was wrong, so you just put it behind you.  This game I couldn't quite figure out exactly what we did right.  This is something not to put behind you.  This is something we need to hold on to as a team.  "As a team", that is the key words here.  If anything about us that's changed lately is our consistant show of faces.  I may not recognise them, but they are the same ones each game now.  That alone is the stuff that Champions are made of.  A consistant group of guys that enjoy playing together, enjoying winning, and above all, collectively remember the taste of victory.

Victory is an aquired taste.  Once it gets in your blood stream you have to have it.  The Boys want it now, all they have to do is show up and show up together.

- by Doug Collins

On Wednesday night the Cowboys will have the opportunity to win their first play-off round since entering the RIHL 4 seasons ago. With the return of Steve Tomicki from injury, and Hap and Glen May back after missing last game, the Cowboys stand a very good chance of doing so. After all, since Christmas, the Cowboys are the best team in the league.

It's been a long time since I could say that. So to what do you attribute the turn around? It's basically the same bunch of guys as always, but somehow we are playing better than ever before. What are we doing different? Without too much pondering I can tell you quite simply: we are showing up. Game after game we are putting a full team on the ice, and it's the same guys each time. In the 25 game schedule we never had less than 12 players. Only twice were we short a player during the winning streak. Eight players played 20 or more regular season games. Two players, Jack Zellweger and Doug Collins played every game (I don't know when that has happened last)! It's just simply mathematics if you ask me.

So why the sudden commitment from so many? I can't answer that. Perhaps it's the new life injected from the youth of rookie Corey May? Maybe it's the scoring punch of another rookie Norm Warn that's set the band wagon on course. Maybe God is on our side now with the addition of 'The Christian', Paul Falconer. Or maybe we sold our soul to the devil when Ross Hillman returned to the team after an 18 year absence. Or maybe, just maybe, everyone suddenly realized that they were playing on the best darn team there ever was and perhaps if they just spent more time together it would show up on the stats. They did, and it did.

The only question that remains is just how far can this team go? Better put, will we peak at the right time - in the final game of the Series Final?

Play-offs did not hit us without adversity. High scoring Forward, Norm Warn, was lost for the season, suffering a broken leg 2 games before the play-offs. Equal in scoring results is Steve Tomicki who is just recovering from some strange infection (he claims he got it from his jock strap, but there's more to it). In a meaningless final game of the season, power defenseman Dave Fair fell down go boom and since then can't remember where the rink is. Paul Falconer got hit with a slap shot and suffered through two games before the doctor told him it really wasn't a good idea to keep playing with a broken ankle! Before Dave Fair fell on his head, he left his mark with a point-blank blast that certainly would have gone in the net had my foot not been in the line of fire. I'm playing on one leg now. Most say it hasn't made a noticeable different in my performance, but I don't think they mean it in a good way.

With the hurdles placed in front of us so far we have done well. Can we knock off the defending League Champions, the Raiders? I'm expecting a full squad of mostly healthy players next game. You do the math.

Oh I forgot, there is one more small hurdle. Both our goalies aren't available for next game. Oh well, that shouldn't be a big problem should it?

- by Doug Collins

The key word here is "had". We had the team up until Play-offs before 5 players fell to injury. That has got to have a significant impact on any team. Despite our shortened bench, I think we did very well. Even without two of our top scorers we still won the first game impressively (7 - 4). But come Game 2 we temporarily dropped another two of our best when Hap May and Glen May took some future Cowboys to tournaments in Vernon. Their return in Game 3 was not enough to hold off the Raiders as we fell from grace in a disappointing 5 -4 loss to end our season. Still, we didn't go down without a fight. We came back from 3 - 0 to tie the game. Then even after the Raiders popped in 2 more late in the third, their lead was not secure. With a minute left Trevor Harris roofed a Derek May rebound to draw within one. It turned out to be the last goal of the Cowboys 2000-2001 season but you can't say it didn't worry the opponents. You have to remember, the Raiders are a team that we tied or defeated 3 times this season with less than 10 seconds left!

So it's over. What are you going to do? We could learn from it, I guess... but how do you learn not to get injured? I think we did learn something though. We learned that we are a better team than we thought we were. That's a significant lesson. For the first time in many, many years, the Cowboys felt what it feels like to be winners. Don't forget what that feels like boys, it's going to be a short summer.

- by Doug Collins