With the Bears having already locked up a playoff spot, player-coach-GM Greg Walsh allowed star defensemen Steven Clark to extend his stay in Thailand to rest up for the ensuing playoffs. A surprise move of arrogance on the part of Walsh as he was already missing a few players, including league hot head Dave“I apologize for nothing”Campbell who was serving a league suspension.

The Rhinos started the game with their newly formed KMT line composed mainly of recently acquired Taiwanese nationals Eric the Zamboni driver and Tai Bo. They were being rewarded for a fine performance in the last game against the Raptors. Unfortunately, the Bears scored on the very first shift and were already wondering how many points they were to receive that night. Tai Bo was able to redeem himself with a great individual effort; however the Bears continued their offensive onslaught and went up 3-1 after the first period. Yet, not one Rhino was worried. They had seen this script before with their goalie Andrew Tingely and they knew he was settled in for the night. If you were to look at Tingely’s stats for the second and third periods, he would probably be the top goalie in the league for second and third periods

In the second period, the less than dynamic duo of O’Neill and Whalen finally connected for two goals with O’Neill allegedly kicking in one of them. He did. However, it never completely crossed the line and a teammate swooped in and potted the easy goal. Walsh and other bears went ballistic after the call but to no avail.

The third period saw the Rhinos go a head 4-3 on an awesome patented rush by player coach JP Grimard, however the Bears, never short on offense were able to tie the game towards the end of the third period.

The shootout only lasted six players with Tingley stopping all three breakaways, while the Bears goalie Thomas stopped the first two shooters and then JP Grimard again saved the day and scored the winner in the shootout with a quick deke and then top shelf.

Additional notes

-While Rhino Nation deniers will look to the absence of Clark, Campbell, and Milone as an excuse for the Bears loss, player-coach-GM Walsh still had Macleod, Thornburn, and the surfer looking guy to lead the team. And many times having less players means more especially if you have a“late-season-Shelly” to look after.

-The Rhinos once again played really well despite“brutal”performances by two of the three Rhino defensemen not named JP. The team expects big things out of them next game.

Three Stars

#1 Rhinos - Andrew Tingley (saw a ton of rubber and was almost perfect on numerous breakaways)

#2 Bears - Mike Thornburn (3 goals and an assist, was maybe off the ice for about a minute.)

#3 Rhinos - Alex Whalen (finally showed up literally and figuratively and skated away with 2 goals)

Mike O’Neill