The Goal Scorer

We've had two over the years. Guys that just know how to score. They were both very good, though I'm not sure they were the "best" players on our team. Other guys could skate better, defend better, handle the puck better, hustled more . . ., but these two just knew how to put the biscuit in the basket.

It's a special talent: the ability to score. One I don't have. Being in the right place at the right time. Getting shots off quickly and accurately. Knowing how to get around that last defenseman for a clear shot.

The first of our goalscorers left us many moons ago. Moved to Alaska. I think we only played one full season with him. It was lower competition, but his line scored 75 goals in 20 games, and he was responsible for over 30 of them. He wasn't in great shape, and sometimes that caught up with him. But he changed gears to shoot around opposing defenseman like they were standing still. A few minutes into a game, the other team knew it was coming, but they still couldn't stop it. And his shot always seemed to find net. As soon as he went down with a knee injury in his second season with us, our team started to falter. It never recovered. Not long after his move to Alaska, we (the tribal council) started over again with a new team.

Our next goal scorer. Again, a very good player. Our best? Maybe, maybe not. Certainly not our fastest, and our other top center was likely better end-to-end and on the defensive end. But the goal-scorer's hands . . . He could make the puck dance, and regularly did around opposing defenseman. And he, too, found the net with regularity. He was our leading goalscorer last season, and he only played the first 1/2 of the season, scoring about 1.5 goals per game, and opening up the ice for everyone playing with him. But he too up and left, back to the midwest, to Wisconsin. Again, without him, our team really took a dive.

So, now we're starting a new season, and through our two preseason games, the lack of a goal scorer is looking like a problem. Talent-wise we're one of the better teams in our league, but we need to find a way to generate goals.

Oh, to have a goal-scorer.