CALGARY — Silencing the Loud House.
That’s what Dane Dobbie did when he scored the overtime winner against the Colorado Mammoth in the West Semi-Final last season.
“When you play there and you score, you can hear anything,” Dobbie explains. “Otherwise it’s loud, but as far as scoring in that way, you could hear a pin drop.”
With a single action, just one goal, the veteran forward took the air out of the building.
Quieted 13,116 people all at once.
“That is definitely one of my more memorable goals,” admitted Dobbie. “It’s a memorable one. Too bad we couldn’t have won the championship with it, but playoff goals are key to me and they’re very important.”
Arguably the biggest goal in Dobbie’s career came just over 10 minutes into overtime, when he received a flip pass from Jeff Shattler and whipped it past Dillon Ward.
As the ball crossed the line, Dobbie began to run from one end of the floor to the other, being chased by his ecstatic teammates and ending up at the bottom of a dog-pile by the Roughnecks net.
Being eliminated from the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year by the Roughnecks did not sit well with the Mammoth.
“I think we’ve taken them out of the playoffs the last few years,” said Dobbie. “We consider them a rival and I’m sure they consider us a rival, too.
“So it’s going to be a big game for sure. They’re going to want to get back at us, but at the same time, it’s a new year, a new beginning, so we’ve got to come ready to plan.”
Heading into Friday’s match-up, Dobbie is once again trying to score a memorable goal against Colorado. This time however, it’s a personal milestone instead of a game-winning goal.
Although the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
The stocky lefty is looking 300 career goals in the face and could complete the mission this weekend against Colorado. Should Dobbie score this milestone marker, he will become the 25th player in NLL history to reach the plateau and the first to do so in Roughnecks silks.
“It’s a big goal and hopefully I can get number 300 this weekend,” Dobbie said of the accomplishment.
Calgary will enter the weekend with a 1-1 record as the team was able to get revenge on the Vancouver Stealth after a loss in the home-opener. The Riggers defeated the Stealth 14-10 at the Langley Events Centre.
Although Curtis Dickson led the charge with six goals, it was a great team effort to earn their first win of the season.
“I thought we came to play in Vancouver and I thought our whole team, all 20 guys, played well that game,” noted Dobbie. “Hopefully we can carry that over into this weekend.”
The team will use the week to prepare by watching plenty of game film and learn the game plan from coach Curt Malawsky.
And they need to be prepared.
This is a big game for both sides as it is a divisional match-up that could loom large as the season rolls on.
“Hopefully we can come out and get two points,” Dobbie said, using a hockey analogy. “As they say it’s a big two points that we need.”
