The heavy, wet snow falling onto the ice at the Guidant Oval bandy rink was not predicted by any of the Twin City weathermen. That day, Saturday November 19, 2011, was supposed to be precipitation free. Consequently, the Canadian men's national bandy team makes the 7 hour, 460 mile drive down to Minneapolis from Winnipeg, confident that the annual CanAm game against the US will take place in perfect conditions. The snow begins to lightly fall as the teams are lacing up their skates. It quickly intensifies and by game time it is coming down at an accumulation rate of 2 inches per hour. The ice is covered in snow. It becomes almost impossible to handle the ball, to pass, to shoot. Exhausting to skate in. The only conditions that could be worse would be playing in the pouring rain on water covered ice. 

Brendan "BJ" Bayers is skating at top forward for the US. A veteran of two world championships, at 5'9" tall and 195 lbs he is built like a cannon ball and is a powerful skater. Not a surprise that he was a linebacker and a fullback in his football playing days. BJ surveys the ice. Where others see impediment he sees opportunity. If he can just keep the ball moving in front of him he is confident that the snow won't slow him down. BJ is not intimidated by deep snow. He has seen worse. As recently as the 2011 world championships in Kazan.  But not snow on ice. Instead, at the Kazan airport. The tournament is over and the US flight is scheduled to leave Kazan at 6 am. At 3:30am BJ and the rest of the US team are taken by bus from the hotel to Kazan terminal number 1. The team is dropped off at the front entrance and the bus departs. The US players enter the terminal carrying their very heavy bags. "Oh no", the US team is informed. The flight is actually departing from terminal number 2. The bus is gone so the US team must walk from terminal number 1 to terminal number 2, carrying their heavy bags. The temperature in minus 15 fahrenheit. The walkway has not been plowed and there is 2 feet of snow on the ground. Fifteen awful minutes later the US team arrives at terminal number 2. They enter and set down their bags. "Oh no", the team is informed. The officials at terminal number 1 were mistaken. The flight is actually departing from terminal 1. So the players grab their bags, which seem exponentially heavier now, and walk through the cold and the very deep snow back to terminal 1. The trip takes 20 minutes. Is it farther one way than the other?

The US-Canada match begins. BJ has survived the Kazan death march. He can score against Canada in the snow. And score he does. Four times in the first half.  Piston legs churning he skates the Canadian gauntlet. Flipping and shoving the ball to keep it in front of him. The normally stone hard Canadians are bowled over in the process. In the second half, with an even greater amount of snow on the ice, BJ scores two more goals. The game ends 6-1 for the US. Bendan "BJ" Bayers has scored all 6 US goals. He is not the first US player to score 6 goals in a national team match. In 1981 Brian Selchow scores 6 against Broberg. In 1991 both Bill Wood and Mark Perrault have 6 goal games against Hungary. Jon Keseley records the double hat trick against Mongolia in 2009. But these games were played on perfect ice. BJ has scored his 6 goals in preposterous ice conditions against US arch rival Canada. It is the most incredible goal scoring performance ever by a US national team player. BJ confesses after the game that even he is surprised by his performance. "It was just my day today" he states. "It could have been any one of us" . No BJ, you are incorrect. No other player could have scored 6 goals in two inches of snow, individually destroying Canada in the process.