And we all decided the smart idea was to spend a day in Edinburgh before the game.
Whether that was right or wrong in the end-- well there are varying views.
None the less, the entire team was up at Oxford Station at 8am, groggy and ready to leave.
We had booked a 9 seater van as well as a luggage van.
I, being lucky, would be riding up with Mack in his car along with Rohani and Darren.
We set off from Manchester around 9am after visiting Asda for Mack to stock up on energy drinks.
By 11am we had zoomed all the way to the Southwaite service station just outside of Carlisle.
As we waited for the 9 seater and van to catch up the quote-on-quote hour that we were ahead of them by, we recovered. Although the recovery would be short lived as that hour passed by in about 20 minutes.
The chase was on to Edinburgh.
It felt like it was a challenge right out of Top Gear and we were the arrogant Jeremy Clarkson, whilst Martin was the "Richard Hammond".
None the less, we caught up with them just over the board into Scotland.
But that lead (?) dwindled in the balance when the 2 vans continued on the M6 and or A74.
Us, on the other hand, turned off onto the A701 Scenic Trail to Edinburgh.
The beauty the others missed out on was breath taking.
We bumpily pulled over for photos and to take in the serene Scottish landscape.
We continued our journey cutting across the Scottish mountains.
In the end, the Hammonds of the world got their victory in 5 minute fashion.
The lagging car in the "Metro Train" pulled up to the Edinburgh Zoo just past 2PM.
It was our time to visit the zoo.
And might I add, visit the zoo in warmer weather, all the BIG animals like to sleep.
Edinburgh Zoo had recently received 2 giant pandas in the last few months.
They are the only 2 in the UK, so it felt like it would be worth the visit.
After visiting the zoo, we too needed to be fed.
Dunno if it was the discussion of penguin hamburgers that triggered that...
We were off to Bella Italia or Bella Italia 2 as we ended up at the one on the Royal Mile.
When we had finished dinner, we realized there amount of time we had left till game time.
As it was only 615ish, we needed to pass more time.
We returned to Murrayfield Ice Rink so those who needed sleep, could in fact sleep.
Meanwhile, while those had their evening kip, Martin, I & Jack Walker needed an escape.
We found a cinema about 15 minutes away from the rink and headed over.
To pass the time we saw the newly released film called "Chronicle".
It wasn't too bad of a film, it mainly passed the time as it ended 10 minutes before 10PM.
Back to the rink...
Inside the locker we all suited up and prepared ourselves for the game.
It would be my first game in 10+ years in goal.
And I had only had an hours worth of training since then, which was on Monday night.
None the less, I felt confident in my ability to stop the puck.
No need for a super hockey blurb, but we ended up losing the game 4-3 after leading 2-0 and 3-1. It seemed quite a disappointing loss to the team, but I couldn't help feeling confident with the result. I faced 35 shots and saved all but 4 in my return to goal. I was stone cold on several of their Edinburgh Beagles chances and I really have no complaints.
You can view the game sheet from our C team clash here.
My "Man of the Match" award from the Beagles-- Thorton's chocolates.
None the less, the day was done, it was 1AM and everyone wanted to get home!
The drive home was much more enjoyable as I found my first bits of sleep-- 2 glorious hours.
After a long, long day of pandas, a film, and hockey, we returned in Manchester at 6AM.
I would like to thank RoRo and Mackinnon for getting us there and back safely.
And a big thank you to everyone for the great day!
