Thank you, Don Grapes for your fascinating but controversial analysis of the last three periods. I’m Danny Galvanic with Hewit Foster, and we’ll bring you the play-by-play of the first sudden-death overtime of the final game for the Solar Cup, in just a few minutes.
We’re waiting for the Zamboni to finish resurfacing the ice here at Moon-Base Tranquility. It seems to be having trouble with the rink’s higher curved walls. Last year’s rule changes have enlarged the rink’s ice to three-quarters of the way up the curved walls before it contacts the boards. Unfortunately, the Zamboni was only designed for a half-pipe style rink.
Okay, it looks like we’re ready to start. The Zamboni is leaving, and the autonomous play-by-play cameras are flying in.
Both the Montreal Habitues from Earth and the Olympus Mons from Mars have won three hard-fought playoff games. Now, with this final game tied at two-two, it means that the team to score next will take home the Solar Cup. Pressure on these teams is tremendous, especially since they now only field three players plus a goalie.
Okay, the player’s gates have opened, and the crowd here on the moon is going wild with thunderous support. The “Monster’s from Mars” and the “Earth’s Darlings” are vying to out-cheer each other.
Now here comes the players skating onto the ice, and the sound has become painfully loud as they pipe the cheers in from viewers on their home planets.
The Ref is skating to centre ice, ready to drop the puck. I am sure he feels more secure since the league changed from that hard rubber puck to the softer Nerf one. It’s taken some getting used to by the teams as it has less mass and doesn’t travel as fast, but the overall style of the game hasn’t changed that much.
We’re ready to start; the players have come to the face-off circle. For the Montreal Habitues, we have Simon LeStrong at centre, Guy Imli on left-wing, Guy Flowers on right-wing and Kenneth Drysdale in goal.
Across from them for Olympus Mons, we have Roady Runner, their captain at centre, Lee Golas on left-wing, Elmo Rond on right-wing and in goal is Sally Galabrielle. She is the only woman on either team, but she has been a sensational stalwart for the Mars team.
The Ref has dropped the puck. LeStrong muscles Runner out of the way with a solid body check and passes the puck back to Flowers halfway up the pipe. Flowers builds up speed by skating down the pipe towards centre ice. Golas moves to intercept him. What a move. Flowers turned around, and skating backwards, bowled Golas over with a tremendous check. He has an open path to the goal.
But wait, Rond, high on the pipe, has swooped down with incredible speed and steals the puck right off Flowers’s stick. Rond is dashing towards the Habitues’ goal. It’s a breakaway with no defenders to stop him! But wait. Here comes Imli. He’s using the pipe’s gravity and his heavy mass to power hard with each stride. Imli hits Rond from behind, just as he is taking his shot.
The shot goes wide, and Rond crashes into the boards behind the net. Oooh, that must hurt. The crowd roars, and the Ref blows his whistle. Play has stopped. It looks like Imli is getting a penalty.
That was a very solid hit. Rond hasn’t gotten up yet. The trainers from Olympus Mons are coming onto the ice. We’re going to take a commercial and be right back.
Okay, they’ve taken Rond off on a stretcher. It’s hard to tell from here, but his skate was dangling from his leg at an impossible angle, so I doubt he will be back in the game tonight. Imli has been sent to the sin bin, 5 minutes for boarding. He has also received a game misconduct, so we won’t see him on the ice again, either.
There has been a lot of bad blood between these two teams and we’re seeing that come out tonight.
Olympus Mons is sending in Cel Leborn as a substitute for Rond. He is one of the oldest members of the team and a wily veteran, so we expect he will help the Olympus Mons settle down and get the job done.
We’re ready to continue. The Ref is standing in the right circle just off the Habitues’ goal, waving the teams to step in for the faceoff. Runner and LeStrong are facing each other. The Ref drops the puck and then immediately blows his whistle. Runner is waved out. He’s jumped the gun and they’ll do the faceoff again.
LeBorn now takes his place in the circle. But wait. The Olympus Mons goalie is skating up to the blue line. There are 4 attackers and only 2 defenders. This is an enormous risk! If the Habitues get hold of the puck, they’ll have an open net.
The Ref drops the puck. LeStrong tries to muscle LeBorn out of the way. LeBorn reaches between LeStrong’s legs and pulls the puck back. He sends it over to Golas, who fakes a shot, then passes it back to Galabrielle at the blue line. She takes it and skates towards the goal, drawing LeStrong to her. LeStrong throws a body check and she side steps him. Now only Flowers stands between her and the goal. She passes to Golas who one-times it, but Drysdale got his stick in the way. It bounces back. LeBorn shoots for the top left corner. Drysdale again stretches out his stick and blocks that. The puck bounces to Galabrielle. LeStrong cross-checks her, but she maintains her balance and directs the puck between Drysdale’s legs.
She SCOOOOOORRRRREEESSSSSS!
The crowd is going wild! It’s deafening!
What a risk? What a payoff? The whole Olympus Mons team is rushing onto the ice in wild celebration. They’re jumping together into a giant group hug.
But wait! Imli has left the penalty box. He’s brandishing his stick with both hands and steaming down towards the Olympus Mons team. Olympus Mons, in the midst of their wild celebration, haven’t see him coming. Imli grabs Galabrielle from behind, spins her around. The Olympus Mons team turns towards him in horror.
What? Imli dropped his stick and has gotten down on one knee. He is opening a small box in his hand.
We can’t hear what they are saying because of the roar of the crowd. Oh, my producer tells me we need to go to a commercial break. We’ll be right back.