Girls’ minor hockey team wins after 12 OTs, plays again two hours later
It's Stanley Cup Playoff time and that means it's that time of year where fans earn badges of honor for staying up late to watch an NHL game go into multiple overtimes. You remember where you were in 2000 when Keith Primeau deked out Darius Kasparaitis and beat Ron Tugnutt in the fifth overtime, right?
As much fun as it is to watch one of those games, it's a little more tiring to play in one of them.
That was the case over the weekend during an Atom A Provincial tournament in Toronto. The Stratford Aces and Chatham Outlaws, two teams made up of 9- and 10-year-old girls, played 12 (!) overtimes before both coaches decided that after five hours things needed to end in a shootout (Ed. note: Boooooooo!). Stratford would end up winning 1-0 thanks to this shootout winning goal by Emily McFadden:
The game lasted three 12-minute periods and 12 overtime periods lasting 10 minutes each.
If winning that game wasn't relief enough, they had to go back and play just two hours later.
From the Toronto Star:
After a two-hour break, the Aces hit the ice again. They played another full game and nearly three periods of overtime before Stratford earned a 1-0 victory over North Halton on a goal by Tori Gavin, 10 with about three minute left in the third overtime.
Altogether, they played nearly 21 periods of hockey in a single day at the Canlan York Arena.
They had spent 12 hours at the rink and returned Sunday morning but lost 6-0 in the semifinal to an Oakville team, the eventual tournament champions.
Twelve hours at the rink one day and a couple more the next. That is making the most out of your ice time.
Check out more from the Star, with quotes from the Stratford head coach and McFadden.
Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy
