Last night, we played a team and one of their players scored four goals in a 6-2 rout. We were pinned in our end most of the game on defense and had it not been for some amazing saves by our goalie, the score would have been a lot worse. Our offense could not get enough time nor even up the shots on goal to keep the game close. We are a team in the B League but this guy really belongs in the A League. He has hands and can place the puck where ever he sees an opening in the net. His skating is not all that fast, but quick; he can turn on a dime.

Unfortunately none of the captains in the A League for the 35+ at RDV Ice Den in Maitland, Florida, seem to want him on their team, so we are stuck with him. Every season our league drafts new teams so you often are never on the same team twice. The draft starts with the A League captains going first, then the B League captains pick the rest. One of the issues with him is he tends to try to instruct his teammates and that does not always go over well. He can be a bit disruptive on the bench. So us guys in the B League are stuck with him.

What can you do when a player on the other team is so good he really doesn’t belong in your league? We tried to keep two guys on him the whole game. He was a bit of a puck hog when he first entered the league, but he has learned to pass to teammates who tend to be open because we are double-teaming him. He also draws a lot of penalties because our defensemen try all means possible to slow him down. I’d be interested in any ideas for defending this guy. We start the playoff next week and will certainly oppose him again very soon as we try to make it to the championship game.