When we last met, your HBS Blades had captured the 2006 Tuck Cup on the way to a 14 – 0 record. Following this triumph, the Blades decided to share their talents with the rest of the world and travel north to a land called Canada. For those of you who have never heard of this strange, mythical place, it is a country where the beer is strong, the women are friendly and the legacy of some guy named “Tim Horton” is omnipresent.
The Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario made the mistake of inviting the Blades to their MBA tournament this year-a mistake they have avoided in the past and one they will not soon forget. Similar to Gargamel’s replica watches uk performance in the episode where he discovered Smurf Village, the Blades terrorized the tournament competition, going undefeated in the group stages and rolling to a 4-0 victory in the finals to take the 2006 Ivey Cup.
The domination began on Friday night at the expense of Notre Dame. Fortunately for HBS, Ben Mandell (OA) had recruited his two brothers (Jeremy and Adam) to become honorary Blades. Convinced that the world ends above Maine, many of the Blades didn’t risk traveling to Ontario, so the Mandell contingent was brought in to round out the squad. These additions proved to be crucial, as the Mandell trio connected for 10 of the 13 goals in the 13-0 victory over the MBA Fighting Irish.
Following this victory, the Blades rolled to the Barking Frog in downtown London, Ontario, to enjoy a few Canadian sodas. The locals – particularly the female locals – were most impressed with Blades forward Tamin Pechet (NA).
When asked to comment on this phenomenon, Tamin responded, “It’s very strange, but it seems that when I tell these girls I go to HBS and that I used to work in Special Situations at Goldman Sachs and am working in VC this summer, they become much friendlier.”
Not to be outdone by Tamin’s success at the Barking Frog, the Blades stormed back onto the ice against Hansen the following afternoon. Though their play was initially sluggish, the HBS team was inspired by the defensive play of Dave Winslow (OA). Winslow, an ex-pro lacrosse player, who spends his free time at HBS combing his mullet, held off numerous Hansen attacks to keep the Blades in the game and salvage a 4-4 tie.
The draw with Hansen meant that the Blades had to win their final group-stage game against Ivey in order to advance to the Finals. Ever the leader, Bill Frank (OC) took it upon himself to spearhead this task replica breitling. In preparation for his trip to Cancun for Spring Break, Frank had been hitting the weight room and tanning bed hard, and was aptly prepared to carry the Blades to victory over Ivey. Bill’s two goals and two assists were decisive factors in the Blades’ 6-1 victory over Ivey, and, according to Bill, gave him, “A story to tell the 17-year old girls at the MTV Spring Break parties next week.”
From there it was on to the finals, where the Blades trounced Hill to claim a 4-0 victory. The star player of the final was Blades goalie Brad Charron (NG), who stonewalled the Hill forwards to post a shutout. The championship victory gave the Blades a second 2006 tournament trophy and gave Charron the confidence to wear a spandex t-shirt out that night. Using the same focus that enabled him to allow only 5 goals all tournament, Brad was unphased by repeated inquiries as to why wore a wetsuit to the club.
For his efforts in leading HBS to the championship, the people of London voted John Williams (NG) as tournament MVP. In a performance on par with that of Macho Man Randy Savage in “Wrestlemania IV,” Williams made the most of his 18-hour stint in London by dominating the competition on both the ice and the dance floor.
Other notable performances came from Blades co-captains Thomas Casarella (OF) and Syl Apps (OH). Casarella completed 3 passes, only scored on his own goal twice, and bought a round and a half of drinks. Apps was consistently the best player on the ice and, more importantly, was not afraid to sport his Princeton Eating Club blazer at the bar (Cap & Gown 4-EVA).
When reached for comment on the tourney victory, Apps had this to say: “With two tournament victories and an undefeated 17-0-1 record, the Blades now rival the Black and White Society for the title of most-exclusive-HBS entity. We’re even considering using gold envelopes for the invites to the HBS Tournament-those black envelopes are so 2003.”
Though the Blades can’t claim to be “hosting the best party of the year,” they are, in fact, hosting a tournament for 20 men’s and women’s teams hailing from 12 business schools. This tournament, the McArthur Cup, takes place from Friday, March 31 through Sunday, April 2. All are welcome and all are encouraged to attend. Please come out and see a dynasty in the making!
