#Jamie Lee rattray is me

[butchmarner]

Who is the gayest PWHL Team?🌈

(Based on my extensive and unprofessional research of players' instagrams lol)

Minnesota: 3 confirmed

Michela Cava- dating teammate Emma Greco

Emma Greco- dating teammate Michela Cava

Liz Schepers- dating Ohio State teammate Michaela Boyle

Toronto: 7 confirmed

Brittany Howard

Carly Jackson

Allie Monroe

Jess Jones

Hannah Miller

Kristen Cambell- dating Team Canada softball player Emma Entzminger

Erica Howe

Ottawa: 7 confirmed

Brianne Jenner- (C) Married w/ 2 kids to Hayleigh Cudmore, her former teammate in Calgary

Emily Clark

Emerance Maschmeyer- married to Team Canada goalie Genevieve Lacasse

Ashton Bell

Malia Schneider

Zoe Boyd- either gay or really really really good at lesbian thirst traps and a queerbait of an instagram

Amanda Boulier

Boston: 7 confirmed

Hilary Knight- (C) dating speed skater Brittany Bowe (sorry Freddy Anderson)

Shiann Darkangelo- dating Montreal's Elaine Chuli

Jamie Lee Rattray

Samantha Isbell- exes with New York's Jill Saulnier

Taylor Wenczkowski

Amanda Pelkey- married to Finnish Olympian Venla Hovi

Erin Brown- dating New York's Savannah Norcross

New York: 9 confirmed

Micah Zandee-Hart (C)

Madison Packer- married to former teammate Anya Packer

Jade Downey-Landry

Jill Saulnier- exes with Boston's Sam Isbell

Chloe Aurard- dating basketball player Ella Bushee

Savannah Norcross- dating Boston's Erin Brown

Olivia Zafuto- dating former Boston Pride teammate McKenna Brand

Elizabeth Giguere- married

Johanna Fallman

Montreal: 9 confirmed

Marie-Philip Poulin- (C) engaged to teammate Laura Stacey

Laura Stacey- engaged to teammate Marie-Philip Poulin

Elaine Chuli- dating Boston's Shiann Darkangelo

Sarah Bujold

Erin Ambrose

Leah Lum

Mélodie Daoust- has a son with ex-wife, currently dating retired Team Canada player Hannah Bunton

Cath Dubois

Brigitte Laganiere

Notable mentions to 4/6 captains in this league being gay 🌈

(thank you @lesbianracecars for helping me in my extensive research)

[excusethequality]

Ranking my favorite name from each of the PWHL teams.

(not based on the players as individuals, just based on how much fun I think their names are to say)

#6 - New York City's Lindsey Post

Short and sweet and plosive. Also she's a goalie so that makes it twice as fun. 10/10

#5 - Boston's Jamie Lee Rattray

Sounds like a local hero or a figure from a local folk tale. "I heard Jamie Lee Rattray once hit a puck so hard her stick exploded!" "Well my sister told me that her friend's cousin told them that Jamie Lee Rattray took the nerdiest girl in school to prom and then they won Prom Royalty and then she did a backflip off the stage and then they both did the whole Hare Hare Yukai dance." Legendary. 10/10

#4 - Ottawa's Jincy Roese

Epic, but also playful. Sounds like a Pacific Rim Jaeger. No notes. 10/10

#3 - Montreal's Marie-Philip Poulin

Regal, refined, makes me feel fancy, rolls off the tongue. "Captain Clutch" is also a fun bit of alliteration, so just all around quality names here. 10/10

#2 - Minnesota's Kelly Pannek

Powerful consonants. Cool name. Lets you say things like, "Pannek is on fire tonight!" Hardcore. 10/10

#1 - Toronto's Natalie Spooner

"Spoon" is just a thoroughly enjoyable word to say, then the "er" at the end leaves you starting to smile. It's a good time all around. You can't be mad when talking about Spooner. 10/10

[footygirl114]

Hockey lessons you definitely know more than me btw

First and foremost: there is a lot of players that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community

There is a lot more players than this but this is a good start start

Team Canada

I'm mean we have first none other than Captain Clutch aka Marie Philip Poulin

Jamie Lee Rattray aka ratty

Emily Clark

Laura stacey

Brianna Jenner

Oh and forgot one small detail silly me Pou and stacey are engaged

For Team USA

Alex Carpenter

Hilary knight

Love it!

[oreoambitions]

Me: the only thing I want from Canada is- My Partner: Jamie Lee Rattray Me: -all dressed chips?? Have YOU been watching hockey again???

Me: *writing something transparently horny* My Partner: have you been watching hockey again 🧐

[halvedhab]

“I really hope Liz Knox picks me first!” (x)

[justbackgroundnoise]

top 5 woho goals this year? :)

omg a women’s hockey question, you have no idea how happy this makes me. Thank you! This is so tough because WOW what it year it’s been for women’s hockey.

Marie-Philip Poulin’s first goal in the gold medal final at the 2022 Olympics. It plays on repeat in my head

Brianne Jenner’s first goal in the 2022 Women’s World Championship Gold medal final

Sara Nurse’s goal in the CAN/USA Rivalry Series game on Dec. 15th, 2022

Jamie-Lee Rattray’s breakaway goal in the CAN/USA Rivalry Series game on Dec. 15th, 2022

Cayla Barnes second goal in the first USA game against Finland at the 2022 Olympics

I know this is very one sided towards Canada but as a die hard team canada supporter I just tend to pay more attention to them and some goals are more recent because they’re fresher in my mind 😂 I could have also chosen a couple PWHPA goals but I didn’t get to watch all of those games this fall so it wouldn’t be fair to pick from that. I would love to know what yours might be!

[maybeitstimetoearnmybluebead]

I posted 487 times in 2022

That's 62 more posts than 2021!

15 posts created (3%)

472 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@afterthefair

@popkin16

@cakemakethme

@xiaq

@canibecandid

I tagged 44 of my posts in 2022

#harry potter - 11 posts

#fanfiction - 4 posts

#hockey - 3 posts

#help! - 3 posts

#fic search - 3 posts

#fandom - 3 posts

#nhl - 2 posts

#ao3 - 2 posts

#fanfic - 2 posts

#queer - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 88 characters

#we stay up all night reading like its the 2000s and a new harry potter book just dropped

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Congrats to Jamie-Lee Rattray! You were my neighbor (in some way, shape, or form) all four of our years at Clarkson, my classmate in that one history course senior year, and our social circles overlapped in multiple places. Now, as a member of Team Canada's Women's Hockey Team at the 2022 Winter Olympics, you (and 3 others) are truely Golden Knights!

1 note - Posted February 17, 2022

#4

Ugghhh. I found a fic that I absolutely love. That I adore. That positively speaks to me. I have been reading it on repeat for days. It's a WIP, and so well written, unique, and complex that I feel like I'm reading new source material, not fic. And as a result, it has given me much inspiration.

In the past two days I have managed to churn out one 1700 word long fic and 3400 words (and counting) of another, which looks like it'll become a monster of it's own. I'm waiting to see if I hear from the original author before I post these "fics inspired by" (which I will tag, credit, and link appropriately on AO3).

In the meantime my holiday fic exchange contribution for another fandom sits in my WIPs at about 300 words, where it's been for months since the writer's block hit, and is *checks calendar* roughly 5 weeks overdue.

2 notes - Posted January 25, 2022

#3

looking for a fic

Harry potter fandom-

I am on the search for a fic I read a couple of months ago on AO3. If I recall correctly, Harry is spending the summer in Diagon Alley and ends up starting a school where he, Hermione, and Daphne Greengrass teach incoming muggleborns useful stuff like how to use a quill, some basic spells, and wizarding culture (Harry is also taking that lesson) so that they aren't behind the wizarding raised kids when they get to Hogwarts. I think Flitwick helps? And the building they use is one that it turns out Harry inherited because the Potters owned properties. There's other stuff, too, like Harry having multiple heirships and starting to get involved in politics (which is where Daphne came into play).

And then when they get back to Hogwarts Harry gives Daphne a portrait of Slytherin from the Chamber to put in her common room. Harry had been going down to the chamber and learning from books/a portrait he found down there so I think this takes place in maybe 5th year? I feel like the characters are too mature to be third years and I don't think the tournament is happening, so 5th year makes more sense. Might even be summer after 5th year- I don't remember Sirius being in the fic but I do remember Harry being Heir Black so his absence would make more sense if it's after 5th year.

3 notes - Posted May 4, 2022

#2

Potter Puppet Pals: The Mysterious Ticking Noise

Congrats all- The Mysterious Ticking Noise is 15 years old.

11 notes - Posted June 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Thought-

You know how Snape talks like a mix of some academic and some posh person out of the turn of the century? Yet we also know that, given his working class background, that's probably not, like, his natural way of speaking?

I think he started talking that way when he first started teach to combat imposter syndrome and to make himself seem older than he was, and he just stuck with it.

Like, seriously, he was 31 years old at the start of the first book, and contextual evidence leans towards indicating that he likely started teaching when he was 20 or 21. The 5th/6th/7th years at the time would have been students who remembered him as a surly, bitter, dark upper year student when they were 1st/2nd/3rd years, and his fellow professors would likely still be somewhat thinking of him as their student. Can you imagine suddenly being a teacher at your old Junior-Senior High when you're barely in your 20's?

He had to do something to differentiate himself from his history at the school, and to make himself feel like an adult in a place of authority. I mean, I'm 30, own my house and car, have a steady, well paying job, have completed both a BS and MS, and I still don't always think of my self as a real "grown up".

So he started talking like a posh, pretentious academic prick and stuck with it.

But his inner dialog is probably all, like, 'these fuck'n littl' idiots.'

21 notes - Posted January 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[butchlifeguard]

me and who ❓️

[ID: screenshot from a boston fleet vs toronto sceptres game. jamie lee rattray and jocelyne larocque are bent down following a cross check, with the fronts of their helmets touching and one stick held between them. end ID.]

i don't do rpf and i've only played hockey a couple times but hockey fights are incredibly me and who

[highbuttonsports]

BACK ON TOP

It was a long time coming, not just since Canada last won a Women’s World Championship in 2012, but 650+ days since the initial start date of what was the 2020 Championships, but thanks to another “bubble” the women were finally able to get back into game action. I will be the first to admit, I haven’t paid much attention to women’s hockey over the years, mainly only tuning into Canada, USA games, but I found myself watching every Canada game this time around and I was entertained.

The speed that Canada played with throughout the tournament was something to watch. Watching them, it wasn’t just their speed that kept the games entertaining, Although they stumbled out of the gate in game 1 against the Finns, they looked hungry and played a relentless style that even kept the blowouts entertaining. It wasn’t just the speed and relentlessness they played with, but their puck possession and transition game was on a completely different level – even against the US in the round robin game. Their powerplay, even with all the fire power they had, struggled, but their penalty kill was exceptional. It was tenacious and high pressured, giving every team issues just trying to enter the zone. Without it, and some timely, stellar saves from Ann-Renee Desbiens, who made a triumphant return to action this tournament after retiring, I don’t think Canada would have been able to come back tonight.

Going into the gold medal game tonight, Canada ran through the round robin (including the US), the quarters and semis completely dominating everyone, but no one expected the gold medal game to be a walk through and it turned out to be an instant classic. With the US jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first, it didn’t look like it would be. In between the first and second, Canada flipped the switch and found another gear, dominating play and evening the game up at 2. The third was, as expected, back and forth with both teams having plenty of chances, including a post from Jamie Lee Rattray with under 2 minutes left, which set the stage for Captain Canada to do it again. MPP took a beautiful pass from Jenner in stride and unloaded a bullet that went in and out of the net so fast play continued as MPP began to celebrate as the only one knowing it went in. Much like Patrick Kane in 2010. After a few moments the horn blew confirming it did cross the line and Team Canada flew over the bench to celebrate their first World Championship since 2012. It was only fitting, that after all MPP has been through with injuries over the years that she would once again come through when Canada needed her most.

I won’t sum up every game or play here but I can tell you every player had at least a few standout moments throughout the tournament. Most notably to me, and aside from Marie-Philip Poulin, Natalie Spooner, Melanie Daoust and Brianne Jenner it was the youngsters Sarah Fillier, Sarah Nurse, and Emily Clark upfront and Ashton Bell, Ella Shelton and Claire Thompson on the backend. As I just said, everyone had their moments, but if I covered them all, it would be weeks before this was published.

MPP, Captain Canada, Captain Clutch, whatever you want to call her is the heart, soul and engine of that team (as evidenced by blocking a shot with her neck in a 5-0 game) and might just be the only player in men’s or women’s hockey to score 2 Olympic gold medal winning goals along with the absolute rocket she scored tonight. My god what a shot (and pass from Jenner) that was. She’s been plagued by injuries over the last few years but seeing her healthy and controlling play like she did when she was deemed the “Next One” was a sight to see. Speaking of the “Next One”, this tournament was a coming out party of sorts for 21-year-old Sarah Fillier. She could have easily had 7 or 8 goals, but those damn posts kept getting in the way, but from what I saw in her play, she lived up to the hype. As Cheryl Pounder described her almost every game, she is a triple threat. She can fly up and down the ice, has incredible vision and isn’t afraid to shoot. She was the third and youngest member of what was dubbed the “Fill-Da-Nat” line with veterans Melanie Daoust and Natalie Spooner. That line was a treat to watch. Shift after shift they would control the offensive zone moving the puck from low to high and vice versa. The poise and puck control that Melo showed in the tournament was at a different level. It was the definition of the old saying “puck on a string” and her hockey IQ and vision really took center stage throughout. I’ve played against Spooner a couple times in charity tournaments and I can tell you first hand, when she’s in front of the net, she battles harder than anyone and is impossible to move, especially when the puck is within reach. Gretzky’s office was behind the net, hers is inches outside of the blue paint and she owned the front of the net throughout the tournament. While not rookies like Fillier and others, Emily Clark and Sarah Nurse had what I thought were fantastic tournaments. Every time they were on the ice, they were literally all over it. They never stopped moving and were relentless in their puck pursuit and retrieval which was rewarded with a pair of shorthanded goals early in the tournament.

On the back end, rookies Ashton Bell, Ella Shelton and Claire Thompson were stellar. Have you ever seen a team or coaching staff put so much trust in a group of rookies to play such big minutes? Sure, you’ll see one in the top 6 often, but very rarely do you see 3 of your top 6 being rookies. Not only was their defensive play solid but, their poise under pressure with and without the puck, their hockey IQ, and skating abilities helped Canada’s transition game immensely.

Winning the gold will give Canada a huge boost of momentum and confidence going into the Olympics in February and it wouldn’t surprise me if they stuck with the same roster, not just because they won gold, but how close the team has become after being in the bubble together for so long (just look at their TikToks). Going off air, Tessa Bonhomme asked, “Are you not entertained?” and it’s safe to say anyone that watched the game tonight was more than entertained. I know I’ll be watching more in February, but for now, enjoy the celebrations ladies and congratulations!

Smitty

Quick Hits:

If you haven’t already, I suggest reading this article about Ann-Renee Desbiens return to glory on Sportsnet:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/longform/meet-goalie-came-retirement-26-fight-gold/

Blayre Turnbull coming back onto the ice on a stretcher to get her medal was iconic. Surprisingly it doesn’t happen more, but she broke her leg during the celebration. Hope she has a speedy recovery and is ready for Beijing

Hats off to the all-woman panel at TSN for all the hours at the rink and the phenomenal job they did covering the tournament from start to finish

Leafs Offseason Recap – Coming Soon – Sorry all I was waiting and hoping for a trade

[incorrectwomenshockeyquotes]

Jamie Lee Rattray: And last but not least, my lucky hat.

Jocelyne Larocque: What's so lucky about it

Jamie Lee Rattray: Once, when I was wearing this hat, everyone I knew gave me a present.

Jocelyne Larocque: That was your birthday.

[marilynngmesalo]

Finland upsets Canada at women’s world hockey championship semifinal

Finland upsets Canada at women’s world hockey championship semifinal Finland upsets Canada at women’s world hockey championship semifinal https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

ESPOO, Finland — Canada won’t play for gold at the women’s world hockey championship for the first time in tournament history.

Finland earned a stunning 4-2 semifinal win over Canada on Saturday. The Finns will play for gold on home ice Sunday against either the U.S. or Russia, who meet in the other semifinal contest.

“It’s unreal and on top of that, to do it here on home ice, we’ve been working so hard for so many years now,” assistant captain Michelle Karvinen said. “It’s not just one good game.

“It’s something we actually have earned.”

The U.S. and Canada had met in the final of all 18 previous world championship finals dating back to the first in 1990.

Canada beat Finland 6-1 to cap the group stage of this year’s tournament Tuesday. But the Finns had the better special teams and goaltending Saturday.

In her 200th career game for Finland, goalie Noora Raty made 43 saves for the win before an announced gathering of 4,311 in her hometown.

Ronja Savolainen scored twice, including an empty-net goal, for Finland. Jenni Hiirikowski had a goal and an assist and Susanna Tapani also scored.

Jamie Lee Rattray and Loren Gabel countered for the Canadians, who trailed 3-2 after the second. Shannon Szabados stopped 15 shots in her first loss against the Finns in 18 starts.

The Canadian women are now in the unfamiliar position of having to play for bronze Sunday.

Finland’s disruption of the established world order atop women’s hockey will be viewed by some a good for the female game. But it was difficult for Canada to feel any positives in its loss.

“It’s hard to have that perspective as a player in the game,” captain Brianne Jenner said. “Right now it just feels like a loss for Team Canada, which we never like to have at the world championships.

“We’re pretty disappointed with that outcome. We’ll give credit to Finland for a game well played.”

Canada was without captain Marie-Philip Poulin for all but part of one period at the world championship. The highest-scoring player on the Canadian roster reinjured her knee Monday attempting a return.

The loss of forward Blayre Turnbull in the first period Saturday further eroded Canada’s attack.

The player head coach Perry Pearn called “the conscience of the team,” was in a vulnerable position when Savolainen pushed her and Turnbull tumbled head-first into the boards.

No penalty was called. Turnbull stayed down for a minute and left the ice with assistance and didn’t return.

“To me, what happened there is I think embarrassing for women’s hockey because checking from behind at every level is not acceptable,” Pearn said. “If that was one of our players on a Finn, I would want it called.

“There’s a potential for someone to break a neck and for a veteran official like the group like we had, for them not to make that call is really wrong.”

After losing to the Finns for the first time in a preliminary-round game at the 2017 world championship, Canada went 7-0, beating them by at least three goals in every game until Saturday.

Finland scored its first two goals on the power play and the first three were generated off shots from the point.

The Finns have spent years defending their own end against Canada, so they knew what to do to protect a lead.

“We’ve been pretty confident that one day it could happen when we play a perfect game and I have a good game,” Raty said. “So we finally scored three on Canada.

“That doesn’t happen too often. If you keep believing in yourself, anything can happen.”

Canada’s special teams had been effective through five games. But going 0-for-4 with a man advantage, including 90-plus seconds of a five-on-three early in the second, put it at a disadvantage.

Canadian players twice threw their arms in the air in celebration of a goal in the third, but were disappointed.

The second time was quickly waived off, but the first no-goal called was upheld after a lengthy review.

Tapani tipped a Nelli Laitinen shot between Szabados’s pads at 16:18 of the second to restore Finland’s one-goal lead.

Gabel had pulled Canada even at 7:53 on the rush with Jenner and Ann-Sophie Bettez. It was a broken play, but Gabel got enough stick on it to tip the puck past Raty’s right toe.

Canada couldn’t generate a goal on a two-man advantage early in the second.

“A big, huge kill for us,” Raty said. “If they score there, it could go either way.”

The hosts took momentum from that kill into an ensuing man-advantage to lead 2-1 at 6:50 when Hiirikoski scored with a one-timer from the point.

The Finns scored on their lone power-play chance in the first period to pull even 1-1.

Hiirikoski, at the point, took a drop pass from Noora Tulus and Savolainen tipped the shot by Szabados at 16:23.

Canada struck early with Rattray on Raty’s doorstep re-directing a Laura Stacey wrist shot at 2:32.

//<![CDATA[ ( function() { pnLoadVideo( "videos", "I-2-aguNDvw", "pn_video_565822", "", "", {"controls":1,"autoplay":0,"is_mobile":""} ); } )(); //]]> Click for update news Bangla news http://bit.ly/2IwwUWQ world news

[maysoper]

The Thunder Rolls

If there's one thing that has surrounded me in the last month, it's success. It's not my success either, but rather the teams that I seem to be following. The Colgate Raiders in the NCAA lost in the NCAA Frozen Four Championship after I jumped aboard their fan-wagon this season in what was a season of overwhelming success and firsts for them. The University of Manitoba Bisons, as you're well-aware, won the 2018 U SPORTS National Women's Ice Hockey Championship after their impressive season of firsts. Today, one of the Canadian professional women's teams I follow decided to cap their season off by winning their league's championship as the Markham Thunder downed Digit Murphy and her band of imported American and Chinese elite hockey players by a 2-1 score in overtime! Look, I vowed never to write about a specific league again, and everyone will say I'm going back on my word. Maybe you're right. I did say that I would support the teams and the players, though, and that's where this blog is intending to settle in when it comes to the vow I made. This is less about the league and it's ridiculousness, and more about the Markham Thunder and their celebration in being the best women's team from that unmentioned league. I also wanna give a quick nod to my good friend, Teri, who grabbed the photo at the top of the article. She'll be taking photos for the Markham Thunder next season, and I highly recommend you keep an eye on this up-and-coming photographer. She's gonna be big! There was some surprise when American Megan Bozek decided to sign with the Thunder as there were two trains of thought in that she'd either sign with Toronto to play alongside friend Sami Jo Small or possibly return to the American professional beer league (full disclosure: that league is more ridiculous). Bozek, having been cut from the US Olympic squad in a rather surprising move, shocked everyone in her own right when she signed on to don the green-and-white. While the Thunder got marginally better, you could sense that the confidence from this group was growing. I was lucky enough to take in a Thunder practice this season with Bozek on the blue line, and there was a palpable feeling of camaraderie within the Thunder ranks at the practice. While they were still battling for their playoff lives at the time, there seemed almost be a naivety about their situation which really took the pressure off the players. Players like Melissa Wronzberg, Fielding Montgomery, Taylor Woods, Alexis Woloschuk, Megan Delay, Karolina Urban, and Jessica Hartwick may not have hit the scoresheet every night, but it was their play early in the season that helped buoy this club's standing as they found their footing. These foot soldiers went into corners, won puck battles, gave their hearts and souls to make plays, and sacrificed their bodies to block shots as they kept Markham in the running for one of the four playoff spots all season long. Make no mistake that these players who gave everything they had were vitally important in ensuring that the Thunder got their spot in the postseason dance. There were some outstanding performances by players on the Thunder as well as Jamie Lee Rattray, Jenna McParland, Kristen Richards, Laura McIntosh, Nicole Kosta, and Nicole Brown did the bulk of the scoring up front while Dania Simmonds, Devon Skeats, Lindsey Grigg, and Kristen Barbara did some heavy lifting on the blue line. Combined with the efforts of the players in the paragraph above, this team started to find its groove towards the end of the season as they made a push up the standings towards the Vanke Rays. And by season's end, they had claimed the fourth and final playoff spot in the Clarkson Cup Playoffs. GM Chelsea Purcell decided to welcome back the Olympians they desperately needed to compete with the highly-talented Canadiennes de Montreal, and the additions of Laura Stacey, Jocelyne Larocque, and Laura Fortino really bolstered the team in front of the all-world goaltending tandem of Erica Howe and Liz Knox. Two games later after staring down Caroline Ouellette, Hilary Knight, Emerence Maschmeyer, and the rest of Les Canadiennes, the Markham Thunder punched their ticket to the final with a 2-1 overtime win and a dominant 4-1 win over Les Canadiennes in Montreal. But despite all the adjectives and praise I can heap upon this team, they still needed to beat a highly-touted Chinese Dream Team run by Digit Murphy and backstopped by Finnish Olympian Noora Räty. Digit's Americans and the Chinese Elite wandered into a storm that they almost handled thanks exclusively to the pads of the Noora Räty. They were out-skated, out-shot, out-hustled, and out-hockeyed for most of the game including the eventual overtime period thanks to the score being deadlocked at 1-1 through sixty minutes. The overtime period saw chances at both ends, but it was pretty apparent that one team was carrying the play. With 2:12 to play in the extra frame, we saw a champion crowned.

For the first time in franchise history, the Markham Thunder are your Clarkson Cup champions! I can't claim that I knew they were going to win as they went in as the lowest-ranked team of the four that played, but I can tell you that the growing confidence that I saw in this team in January simply went and ballooned with the two wins over Les Canadiennes and was carried into the final game against The Six Americans, the Finn, and the Chinese. Seeing this team add players of exceptional talent and character to an already good team helped build that confidence as they battled hard down the stretch, earned the trust of one another, and went into the playoffs as a unified force that captured the imagination of everyone in winning the Clarkson Cup! Fred Shero, legendary coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, may have said it best when he stated, "Win today and we walk together forever." The Markham Thunder can certainly wear that motto proudly because they rose to the challenge and won today when it mattered most. This team, no matter where they go and what they do in their remaining lives, will always be known as the 2018 Clarkson Cup champions. Well done, Markham Thunder, and congratulations on your Clarkson Cup championship! You can walk together forever as a team that seized its opportunity and embraced its destiny. No one will ever be able to take that from you! Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice! from Sports News http://hockey-blog-in-canada.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-thunder-rolls.html