CARSHIELD TORHS PRO CHAMPIONS 2024!

by Robb Woods

CARSHIELD TAKES HOME GOLD AT TORHS PRO!


From Tour Excitement to Rinkster to Carshield, George Brown has had his core boys follow along the whole time on this journey. From being one of the so-called easy teams in pro to becoming the most dominant force in roller hockey, it's something you love to see in sports, especially in roller hockey, where we play because we love the game. You see a lot of turnover in the sport with players jumping from team to team because there are no contracts, and people want to win, so they'll switch teams for sponsorships or some new wheels. Winning TORHS PRO, NARCH PRO, or PAMA PRO is a prestige in the sport like no other. When you're a champion, everyone knows it!

If you grew up playing roller hockey and were born in the 90s or 00s, you definitely know about Tour Excitement and have most likely played against them. You probably remember them either by their extreme green, white, and black jerseys or their coach, George "Downtown" Brown! One of the best guys in the sport and the most fun coach to watch. When I was working at PAMA Pro in 2021, I had the pleasure of being on the bench to watch George up close. One word - PASSION! This guy bleeds it, and you see his players use that as fuel and energy. From Okada, Perry, Hodge, Schwartz, Hackett, and even Spezia and Kile, these boys have been playing with George since they were 14-15 years old, an easy 15 years. Some left to play on other teams, and some stayed, but now they're all back together under the Carshield name and are TORHS PRO CHAMPIONS TOGETHER.

 


The start of this tournament is definitely not how the boys wanted to begin, going to a shootout against Labeda Blood and Feathers. Carshield edged them out, winning 2-1. The rest of the round robin was the same story, taking the next two games to a shootout versus Envious Wings, losing that one, and then beating Propel in a shootout. They ended the round robin with a 4-1 win over Black Ice 2.0 and found themselves as a 5th seed. It just seemed like the boys couldn't reach the level they expected of themselves, and you could see that it frustrated them. No Adam Erne this weekend, as he has bigger priorities with the STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS. Erne is on the Edmonton Oilers and has been with the squad all playoffs, so hopefully, we'll see him at PAMA Pro with some more hardware. Carshield reloaded this offseason with the departure of a pro team, Marsblade. They picked up two of the biggest names in roller hockey, Tyler Spezia and Alex Kile, adding serious depth and scoring power. Like I said earlier, the boys grew up playing under George and with all these guys, so they fit in perfectly.  

Playoffs came, and they played Envious Wings in the first round Saturday night. The game was supposed to start at 10:50 pm but didn't start until 11:45 pm, which is brutal for a playoff pro game (that's for another blog). Carshield looked like a new team, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and eventually winning 6-1 against a team they took to a shootout earlier. After the game, I saw Stavi's Snapchat story, and my man was at Wawa refueling at 3 am after the game. That's roller hockey for you.

The semifinal matchup was Carshield vs. Black Ice. To be honest, no one looked better than Black Ice in the round robin, with 24 goals for and only 2 against. The boys in purple looked HOT! But, as I said, Carshield looked like a brand new team. Matt Berry and Troy Redmann took over the playoffs from here. Redmann, the absolute GOAT, was on another level. He was seeing everything and was so positionally sound that it was hard to beat him. Berry broke up a pass early in the first to put Carshield on the board, and it was all Shield from there. Black Ice just couldn't get it going and couldn't get one past Reds. Black Ice looked good, but Carshield was on a mission. They won the semi 4-0 and played Tour Roadrunners in the championship, a rematch of last year.

The championship was a rematch from last year, with two NHLers facing off: Pat Maroon and Adam Erne. This time, no Erne, but you already know the Big Rig was there, and boy was he dancing. Carshield struck first in this game with Okada to Kile. Not even a minute later, the Big Rig and the boys answered right back with a tip-in front. The Roadrunners went on the power play late in the first, and Frankie Melton capitalized to put RR up 2-1 going into the second. Early in the second, Hackett to Berry with a beautiful dish back and forth for a top-shelf goal to tie it 2-2. Berry struck again on the power play to put the boys up 3-2. Carshield looked like they were going to win, but the Roadrunners did not let up the gas. Frankie scored late in the second to tie it 3-3. With 10 seconds to go, Pat Maroon made a beautiful pass across the crease to Max, but he couldn't get it through the traffic. The game went to overtime, and Reds and Charlie Robinson exchanged beautiful saves, keeping their teams in it. Redmann made 3-4 clutch saves in OT that truly won them the game. Late in OT, Hodge dished an unreal pass to Spezia, who was breaking at mid-court and went forehand-backhand right between Robinson's legs to win the TORHS PRO CHAMPIONSHIP!

TEAM STATS

Replay of the Game



This Team has now won 3 TORHS Pro Championships in the last 5 Years.




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