Post by Old Bucks Admin on Apr 10, 2011 6:05:46 GMT -5
So many people showed up for Week 8 that the rink looked like a Cecil B. DeMille version of “Slapshot”. We saw first-timers such as Paul Glassman, Pete Cardelia, and Ollie Hamill; we saw complete strangers and bid them a hearty Old Bucks welcome; and we saw a nice cross section of regulars, including the reconditioned Kevin Saunders, out for his second skate this year. The game itself was a study in contrasts. While bench space was at a premium, and ice time was scarce, goals could be had for the asking. Defensive lapses accounted for some goals; subpar goaltending accounted for others. And by “subpar” we’re not talking quadruple bogie territory—we’re just saying Marty and Vinnie chunked a few into the drink. Among the players who distinguished themselves Rich Cerbone stood out. For one, he took the best pass of the night from Rich Devlin, turned it into a breakaway, and picked his corner more perfectly than Willie Nelson picks his guitar. Then he assisted Paul Glassman with a behind-the-back pass that was butter plain and simple. Brian Urban showed his mettle too, wresting control of the puck in the Red zone and catching Marty flat-footed with a rip from the point. It’s not everyone that can break two commandments—“Thou shall not steal” and “Honor thy Father” all in the same play. But if anyone offended the hockey gods more it was Angie and Bill Hamill. Both missed the same open goal on back-to-back shots, Bill by striking the left post and Angie by striking the right. The goal was so open, in fact, that if anyone else besides Bill and Angie had missed it, you would have thought they were shaving points. Finally, Kevin Saunders confounded his critics by going the whole game without cheapshotting anyone. Pretty good behavior for someone who considers non-check hockey an oxymoron, like non-kick judo or non-sweep curling. As for that bad spill he took in the corner, we’re still analyzing the data from his black box to see what caused it. Results should be posted by next week.