April 23
Hockey Tournament

This Friday evening, the village of Saint-Charles hums with an unaccustomed agitation, and a lot more traffic.  So where is everyone headed? The arena is the gathering place : in fact, this evening an important hockey game will take place, the high school boys (18 in number) challenging our 4 priests and 6 fathers!  A game to remember then, the first in a long series (we hope!)...

Singing the “Hail Mary” at the beginning of the match

The bleachers are modestly filled while the players prepare.  Several minutes of warm-up exercises take place, during which the supporters warm up their voices, so as to encourage their chosen team.  “Go, students, Go!”  creating the echo “Let’s go; parents and priests, let’s go!”

The referee takes the ice, the last players are lined up... and everyone gets on their knees: a rare scene in an arena, but which proves to all that being Catholic doesn’t prevent being joyful; to the contrary!

There we go, the two teams are in place for the first face-off, the whistle is blown by the referee... and they’re off!  From here on in, it’s quite difficult to describe what flashes past our eyes!  Passes follow at high speeds, with the warm encouragement of the little crowd; some shots on the goals are made, the puck is blocked just in time, wonderful skating, shouts of joy... or groans of disappointment, everything you need to feel (almost) like you’re at a Stanley Cup Match!  Yes, it’s all there; even time out in the penalty box for one player...!  The first goal is scored by the parents, answered quickly by the opposing team!  After 45 minutes of play, the score is 2/2.  The players are relayed frequently, out of breath from the intense game.  With only a few minutes to the end we are at 3/3... The students are very determined to win this game, and sure to score a 4th goal!  But the final signal sounds... and the goal is scored seconds later!!!  And so it is a tie for this first tournament...  but it surely won’t be the same story next time!  See you all there in 2011!  Hats off to all of our players, bravo and thanks to our valiant referee, as to all who came to encourage them!