March 30-31

Friday night at the Arena for game #2 with Manchester, the last of the Monarchs' four regular-season visits. The Royals had won the Wednesday opener in resounding fashion, on this night one had to figure the Mons would come out with (as they say in hockey) "piss and vinegar" and that is exactly what happened. Manchester scored early, midway through and late in the first period, at the intermission the Royals trailed 3-0. In the second period Ryan Penny and Chris McCarthy scored seventeen seconds apart to make it a one-goal game, late in the frame Matt Willows struck to tie the score 3-3. In the third the Mons retook the lead midway through, in the closing moments Ryan Penny found the net to send the game into overtime. The issue was resolved in the OT shootout, Michael Huntebrinker recorded the lone marker while John Muse stopped all three shots he saw to claim the 5-4 win. The victory clinches a berth in the Kelly Cup playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, the last time the team missed the postseason was '08-09 when we had the worst record in the league. The club's record stands at 37-23-8 (23-10-1 at home), the next home game is April 4 versus Worcester. After the game I went upstairs on the concourse to meet up with Jenny and her mother as usual, the guys at the info booth told me Helen had taken ill during the second intermission and had gone to the local ER via ambulance (I didn't fault anyone for waiting until then to tell me, I couldn't have done anything about it during the game anyway). I went immediately to the ER where they were running a battery of tests. Helen has had heart problems in the past which is an obvious concern but she seemed in good spirits, Jenny was worried to the point of tears but that came as no surprise. The doctor wanted Helen to stay overnight for observation but she declined, she said she would call her family doctor on Saturday morning. They gave her papers detailing the tests they did so her doctor would know what happened, she was finally discharged around 1:30 and with it all I was home at a quarter-to-three (and there was no one in the place). Had our usual lunch date on Saturday, Helen said she felt fine so maybe it was just something she ate (who knows?). Take care, thanks for reading.