There was a bit of nervous tension, tipped with a wide grin, on Bucky Seymour’s face just prior to his Viking team hitting the ice to play the annual alumni game against the local Elliot Lake Wildcats.
Seymour, who played for the Junior A Vikings squad in the 70s, was handed the reins of co-coach with former player Gord Quimot. Both have played and watched hockey in the Centennial arena, known in local hockey circles as “the barn.”
“It’s the best ice anywhere,” Seymour told Elliot Lake Today as the Zamboni cleared the ice.
The game was a well-matched affair despite the obvious difference in age between the Wildcats’ players, who are about to close out their regular season and the Vikings alumni players.
It was the Vikings who set the pace early in the first period, scoring the opening goal on the Widlcats. But it didn’t take long for the Wildcats to come back with players finding the spot in the net behind the Viking’s goaltender to end the period with a 2-1 advantage.
The sides would exchange some well executed plays and goal over the last two periods and with only about four seconds left on the clock the equalizer was put in by the Vikings, forcing a shootout to determine a winner.
Quimot, who eventually dawned gear and played with his team, proved his own scoring prowess notching a goal as the second shooter of the shootout.
The exchange of goals continued up until game referee David Elford took the shot for the Wildcats to give them the 8-7 win.
The goal, if somewhat out of the ordinary, capped a great hockey game enjoyed by the many spectators who attended.