Peter Georgas (2L)
We arrived in Kingston for the Queen’s Law Invitational Hockey Tournament on Friday afternoon, determined to win some hockey games and socialize aggressively. We stayed at the Econolodge. Parking was ample. At 4:30 pm, we headed to the rink.
Game 1: UofT vs. Queen’s “B”
Scramble draw. Chapman wasted no time getting UofT on the score sheet – notching a goal against the Queen’s goaltender on the first shift of our first game. “Nice!,” we shouted. There were no fans at the game, but you can imagine what excitement there would have been if there were. Down 2-1 in the final frame and facing an unsavory result, the boys started to press. With the clock winding down, mayday Mike Garbuz leaned on a clapper and drove all 6 ounces of vulcanized rubber through several bodies, stunning the Queen’s goalie. Importantly, the puck ended up somewhere across the goal line and we skated away with a valuable tie.
Best Factum: Pat Chapman & Mike Garbuz
Later on…
I don’t remember if it was the Smidge or Bar None; or maybe it was even Smidgies. It didn’t matter – a rose by any other name…. But what I remembered most vividly about “The Spot” from my undergrad days was the floral patterned walls, the floor – a disco ball of broken glass – and an unnecessary washroom attendant. Some things never change. (I didn’t tip the washroom attendant. I had already spent all my loose change on the $2 bar rail.)
On the walk back to the Econolodge, I saw two men (one of whom was topless) in a fist fight. They were tussling outside of a bar called “Fluid”. The “u” in the bar sign had been designed to resemble an unmistakable part of the female anatomy. It would have madeGeorgia O’Keeffe blush.
Refractory
On Day 2, I broke fast just as I had supped – Gatorade and General Tao. I was rooming with the 1Ls. I knew they were jealous (not to mention insubordinate). But we should cut them some slack. With 1L exams around the corner, Denroche, Mingay, and O’Grady sacrificed a March weekend to rumble in Kingston. I think we all understand how hard it is to prepare for two 1L exams at the same time.
Game 2: UofT vs. Queen’s Alumni
Everything was riding on this game. And don’t be fooled; we weren’t playing UofT alumni – these guys were in shape. It was a tall order, but after some line-up changes, we had unwavering confidence. Plus, we finally got some fan support – notable 2L Jen and 1L Rona. I had thought that we had a good shot at playing the alumni to at worst a 0-0 draw and potentially advancing into the knock-out stage. We were backstopped by a mercenary goalie – Engineer Sam (depicted below) – who in intramural play had earned more than his share of clean sheets.
The confidence was shattered some time later, Queen’s drawing first blood. For the second game in a row, we found ourselves down a goal. Frustration on the bench mounted, at which point 3L Ian Li decided to put the team on his back. On his next shift, he drove the crease and found himself alone in the slot with possession of the puck and a yawning cage. Disregarding the open net entirely, Li opted to fire one through the goalie. That’s called puck poise. We played the rest of the game to a 1-1 draw and awaited our fate.
Best Oralist: Ian Li
Devastation
There’s no other way to put it. We got hosed. We failed to advance out round-robin play on a tie-breaker, ending our aspirations for glory. It wasn’t very Rojo Caliente at all.
The Bar
That night, it was all about Alehouse (née A.J.’s Hanger). The rebranding came in the wake of a 2005 stabbing murder that occurred on the upper floor – where we spent a good portion of the evening. The bar started out as 200 amped up broskis yelling at a critically understaffed Alehouse bartending staff and continued that way for some time. Later into the evening, and several hours after our second (and what proved to be our last) game in Kingston, some UofT 3L “fans” arrived. 3Ls don’t wake up before 9:30 am for anybody.
We walked away from the tournament undefeated yet unsatisfied. In fact, Windsor is the only other team who went undefeated in the tournament, capturing top prize. It’s impossible to say who would have won had we squared off against each other. Our only solace is that it’s a mere 12 months until QLIHT 2016. Time to start training.
The 2014-15 UofT Law Hockey team remains undefeated in both intramural and tournament action, with a combined record of 12-0-3 as of March 19.
