The Win of the Galaxies (Ballad of November 10th)

(to the tune of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot)

The legend lives on from the beer-leaguers on,
Of the game they played down in Southgate.
’Twas November ten, twenty-twenty-five then,
Fifty years since the Fitzgerald met fate.
The Galaxies came, with a rough sort of name,
At oh-five-and-two they were dreamin’.
But the word spread around that the Mariners were down,
'cuz November tenth’s bad for their seamen.

The puck hit the ice, and the game rolled like dice,
With the benches all steaming and shoutin’.
Then Rochna broke free, cut the D like the sea,
And he scored — there was never a doubt in’t.
Unassisted, they say, he struck twice on this day,
Late in period one, cold and surly.
And the story was told in that rink’s biting cold,
That the Galaxies of November came early.

The second began with a grind-it-out plan,
Every shift fought with bruises and blisters.
Then a shot from the slot took a strange, lucky hop,
Off Blatt’s shinguard — he’ll tell all his sisters.
The bench gave a shout, and the scoreboard flashed out,
Three-nothing, their luck finally turnin’.
Then Ruggiero came through, made it four-nothing true,
And the tide of the game kept on churnin’.

But the Mariners fought, as November had taught,
That two goals can come quick and frightenin’.
Two of them scored, and the chill was restored,
Like the wind on the lake when it’s lightnin’.
“Hold fast,” someone cried, “keep the puck to the side,
Let’s not give this tale a sad ending!”
For the ghosts still may hum of that deep-Fitzgerald drum,
And November tenth’s curse needs no mending.

With less than a minute, Blatt sealed it and grinned,
An empty-net dagger, done surely.
The horn gave its moan, like the freighter’s last tone,
Through the cold Southgate night late and early.
Five-two was the score, their first win — what a roar!
Their drought finally ended so purely.
And the legend lives on, from the beer-leaguers’ song,
When the Galaxies of November came early.

Yikes. Another game where we struggle to score. Good thing it’s a long season