Post by Old Bucks Admin on Dec 8, 2011 6:05:17 GMT -5
Week 11 was preceded by an unusual Thanksgiving bye—the first in our ten years with the club. Two players, Eddie and Skupe, did not know of the bye and actually went to the rink in a kind of Pavlovian response to the setting sun and the 12 minute mark of the second quarter of the 4 o’clock game. Whether they got as far as “trying the door” we don’t know; the empty parking lot probably gave it away. The bye week was nice; it gave Kenny time to plot his revenge—to somehow curb the pretensions of a high-flying Blue team. When we got to the rink Brian Urban was pacing outside, guiding by way of his cell phone the lost substitute goalie, like an air traffic controller used to land DC-10s when the navigator had succumbed to food poisoning. The goalie was ten minutes late which allowed Kenny to linger over the team-making process, using the same exacting standards to pick players that he brings to a Whitman sampler, sticking his finger into the bottom of each chocolate to see whether it “suits his taste”. Players like Mike Quirinale and Greg Wright were the chocolate truffles and butter caramels worth keeping while Saunders and Dave Hunt were the coconuts and chiffon crèmes that could be rejected out of hand.
For the first five minutes Red was without a goalie; instead they put on a sixth attacker, although to call John Lupisella an “attacker” is something of a misnomer. Then their goalie took the ice—Matt, who is an acquaintance of Brian Urban’s brother-in-law. He looked huge—like Jim Heffern with muscles. Also his pads and gloves stood out for they had a white background imprinted with what, from a distance, looked like Rorschach inkblots, but upon closer inspection resolved themselves into black maple leafs. He got no warm-up but that would prove inconsequential. The first goal was Red’s and came off a Saunders gaffe. He got the puck behind the Blue net and then “cleared” it right to the stick of Nick Swift who was in front of the Blue net, the “clear” being indistinguishable from a perfect pass to a fellow teammate. Nick buried the puck in the net putting Red on the board and Marty out of temper. Saunders came off the ice and had the nerve to use the most hackneyed excuse in sports, “Sorry guys, I wasn’t thinking.” He should have gotten all technical like, “Sorry guys. Red-green color blindness—you know how it is” or “Darn macular degeneration!”
Red had a 2-0 lead before Steve Souza scored for Blue making it 2-1. That was the last competitive moment of the game as Red went on a tear, scoring so many goals in succession that the game became a joke with Blue as the punch line. It was 7-1 before Blue scored again. In between, the substitute goalie, Matt, showed some college-caliber reflexes as he blocked shot after shot, often punctuating each save with a sneering laugh as if he was Cliff Lee striking out bush leaguers. He proved that a hot goalie obviates the need for a strong defense as Red’s three defensemen, Kenny, Eddie and Craig Allen muddled through another subpar performance. Red’s offense, on the other hand, had many scorers, from their two stars, Bob Freiling and Mike Robbins, to a slew of others like the Millens, Jon and Jason, Greg Wright, John Quirinale and Skupe. Blue managed to score a few more goals, but the game was still a laugher and started to drag on, degenerating into mere exercise. The Bassert brothers did all but break out the chalk-and-slate, trying to motivate the team to play better, but Blue was too dispirited. Only Rich Devlin tried to redeem himself, not on the ice but off it, giving free portfolio reviews to anyone on the Blue bench interested. The final score was 13-6. Those who stayed home to watch the Giants-Patriots game definitely made the right choice.
For the first five minutes Red was without a goalie; instead they put on a sixth attacker, although to call John Lupisella an “attacker” is something of a misnomer. Then their goalie took the ice—Matt, who is an acquaintance of Brian Urban’s brother-in-law. He looked huge—like Jim Heffern with muscles. Also his pads and gloves stood out for they had a white background imprinted with what, from a distance, looked like Rorschach inkblots, but upon closer inspection resolved themselves into black maple leafs. He got no warm-up but that would prove inconsequential. The first goal was Red’s and came off a Saunders gaffe. He got the puck behind the Blue net and then “cleared” it right to the stick of Nick Swift who was in front of the Blue net, the “clear” being indistinguishable from a perfect pass to a fellow teammate. Nick buried the puck in the net putting Red on the board and Marty out of temper. Saunders came off the ice and had the nerve to use the most hackneyed excuse in sports, “Sorry guys, I wasn’t thinking.” He should have gotten all technical like, “Sorry guys. Red-green color blindness—you know how it is” or “Darn macular degeneration!”
Red had a 2-0 lead before Steve Souza scored for Blue making it 2-1. That was the last competitive moment of the game as Red went on a tear, scoring so many goals in succession that the game became a joke with Blue as the punch line. It was 7-1 before Blue scored again. In between, the substitute goalie, Matt, showed some college-caliber reflexes as he blocked shot after shot, often punctuating each save with a sneering laugh as if he was Cliff Lee striking out bush leaguers. He proved that a hot goalie obviates the need for a strong defense as Red’s three defensemen, Kenny, Eddie and Craig Allen muddled through another subpar performance. Red’s offense, on the other hand, had many scorers, from their two stars, Bob Freiling and Mike Robbins, to a slew of others like the Millens, Jon and Jason, Greg Wright, John Quirinale and Skupe. Blue managed to score a few more goals, but the game was still a laugher and started to drag on, degenerating into mere exercise. The Bassert brothers did all but break out the chalk-and-slate, trying to motivate the team to play better, but Blue was too dispirited. Only Rich Devlin tried to redeem himself, not on the ice but off it, giving free portfolio reviews to anyone on the Blue bench interested. The final score was 13-6. Those who stayed home to watch the Giants-Patriots game definitely made the right choice.