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Emery boys share food and drink, then battle at the rink
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Neighbors | Submitted.Hockey was the centerpiece of the Emery family 'sThanksgiving weekend. Pictured, from left, are Gerry, Tyler, Paul, Riley and Randy Emery.
Brothers Gerry and Randy Emery have competed against each other all their lives. Growing up in a house with four boys, fighting for the last drop of gravy at the Thanksgiving table almost became an annual ritual. But this year, there was an added twist to their sibling rivalry.
Roughly 24 hours after sharing a feast at home, the Emery brothers — and their sons — squared off on the ice as members of opposing high school hockey teams. As part of the Canfield Thanksgiving Tournament at the Ice Zone, the Cards took on the Mooney/Ursuline Thunder to start the 2010-11 season.
Randy is in his fourth season as the coach at Canfield, while Gerry just took over the hockey program at Mooney/Ursuline. To make this family feud run even deeper, Riley Emery is a senior for Canfield and his cousin, Tyler, plays for Mooney/Ursuline.
Then there was grandpa Paul Enery, who took a safe approach to the game.
“Don’t look for me Saturday night — I’ll be polka dancing,” he said during Thanksgiving dinner.
If he wasn’t actually at the game, he missed a good one. Behind two goals from Riley, Canfield held a 4-3 advantage halfway through the second period. The Cards got goals from Steve Ferko and Nick Carney to help build that edge.
But Tyler and his team’s defense tightened up in the third period. The Thunder shut out the Cardinals the rest of the way and scored five straight goals to earn an 8-4 victory in round one of the Emery rivalry.
“They (Canfield) played well and moved the puck, but I think we picked up our game after falling behind and skated hard the rest of the way,” said Gerry, whose team went on to win the tournament with a 6-3 win over Avon.
Despite the loss to his brother and nephew, Randy thought his team played well in spurts, but couldn’t seal the deal.
“It takes 45 minutes of mistake-free hockey to compete with them,” Randy explained. “We played a good half a game, but we need to finish.”
The Cards went winless in the tournament, losing to Avon and CVCA twice. Randy remained upbeat as this was just the start of the season.
“We have a whole season ahead of us. This was a great test for us - we see where we need to be. We will see them again Jan. 3, hopefully with a different result.”
The Cards and Thunder will meet again at the Ice Zone in the third annual Steel Valley Cup game. Mooney/Ursuline won the first two games in the series, including a 4-3 overtime thriller in 2009, and a 6-1 win in 2010.
Canfield will be back in action today in Mentor against division foe Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. On Monday, the Cards will play CVCA at 7 p.m. at the Ice Zone. The Canfield hockey boosters will give away free tacos, courtesy of Taco Bell , for the first 100 students in attendance.