Post by Old Bucks Admin on Nov 29, 2012 19:46:52 GMT -5
The competitive spirit that drives Old Bucks hockey was on full display during the Week 10 pregame banter within Locker Room 2. The combination of Larry Johnson, Jonathan and Jason Millen, Rich Cerbone, and Mike Robbins was so positively ebullient with the recent New England thrashing of the New York Jets that Bostonian banter filled the air much to the dismay of absolutely everyone else within ear shot. While the resident “Massh0les” exchanged anecdotes of their time spent in New England, Marty tried to spur an opposing conversation by shouting across the room “Hey Eddie, what about our cherished memories of time spent on the Camden waterfront??!!”. Eddie offered little in the way of a spirited response.
A crowded on-ice attendance was bolstered by an influx of youth that included a return by the Bassert boys (I’ll start referring to you gentlemen individually next week….name tags would be nice), Bobby Freiling Jr., and a powder blue-clad mystery man who was later revealed to be Kenny the Goalie’s son. The Millen-Millen connection opened the scoring for Red with a “bang-bang” play in the low slot that found daylight below an outstretched Kenny G. Any positive momentum from the opening tally was quickly erased as Blue sprang to life with a dominant 7 minute stretch that saw the Basserts, Brian Urban, and Dave Hunt carry Blue to an easy 4-1 lead. Marty Urban was even less interested in discussing New England culture at this point, having watched his Red teammates lollygag about the ice with the intensity and mobility of bubble hockey players. Paul Egan, ever evolving into his role as a bi-monthly goal scoring threat, piled up the early Blue lead by shaking free of his coverage and knocking a drunken wobbler of a shot behind Marty. On his way by the Red bench, Egan chided Red’s defense by boasting “You’d better stay on me, boys! You give me a centimeter and I’ll take a klick!”.
Red pushed the pace for the next 30 minutes with John Lupisella and George Schott each finishing off a pair of shockingly well played 2-on-1’s, Mike Robbins pouncing on some garbage, and Jason Millen adding his second of the night. Red’s resurgence was briefly interrupted by Kenny G forcing a Robbins breakaway attempt over the crossbar and a fantastically whiffed open-net attempt by Hughie DeHaven. With the scores even at five, the remainder of the game saw Red and Blue standing toe to toe, trading blows in an equal sided punching match that recalled the great Balboa/Drago fight at the smoky old Spectrum in 1987. Brian Urban and the Basserts continued their inspired play at both ends of the ice, forcing turnovers and finishing plays while Red answered back with goals from Larry, Bobby Freiling, Eddie, Jason Millen, Mike Robbins, and a repentant Hughie DeHaven.
With three minutes remaining in regulation, Kenny G’s boy buried a high wrister from the left circle and Craig Allen stopped setting up the Basserts long enough to score one of his own. High drama indeed, as the score now sat tied at 12-11 Red with the clock decidedly in their favor. In a flourish of late activity, it appeared that the Basserts had evened the score; however intense video review from the league office in Toronto ruled that the goal had been the result of an illegal handpass. In his most valuable play of the evening, Bobby Freiling added one more goal for Red and thereby eliminated a potentially contentious postgame debate.
With Paul Egan and Rich Devlin abandoning the TJ’s ritual in favor of crimping pie dough, whipping meringue, frosting cookies, and other such holiday themed flights of feminine fancy, a hearty breed made the trek to the pizza joint-turned watering hole. John Lupisella, Mike Robbins, Craig Allen, and Hughie DeHaven braved a bitter cold and reminisced about some of the more hot tempered characters to come through Old Bucks (To be fair, Jonathan Millen, George Schott, and Kenny Blankstein made insultingly brief appearances before succumbing to the chill and scampering back to their cars. Ken never even turned off his seat warmers). Craig Allen then shared his recipe for Long Island Iced Tea, which ingeniously substitutes careful measurements for generous dumpings of every available booze in the house. “Aha” he proclaimed as he raised one finger “but I only have one drink a night”.
Week 10 Three Stars
3- Kenny G – Made a number of Red’s shooters look bad throughout the night with some impressive stops
2- Brian Urban – Much chatter on the Red bench about a solid all-around game.
1- Bobby Freiling – Yeah, he usually scores goals and this wasn’t his best game, but you can’t underestimate the value of that final insurance goal. Handpass-gate would have ensued.
A crowded on-ice attendance was bolstered by an influx of youth that included a return by the Bassert boys (I’ll start referring to you gentlemen individually next week….name tags would be nice), Bobby Freiling Jr., and a powder blue-clad mystery man who was later revealed to be Kenny the Goalie’s son. The Millen-Millen connection opened the scoring for Red with a “bang-bang” play in the low slot that found daylight below an outstretched Kenny G. Any positive momentum from the opening tally was quickly erased as Blue sprang to life with a dominant 7 minute stretch that saw the Basserts, Brian Urban, and Dave Hunt carry Blue to an easy 4-1 lead. Marty Urban was even less interested in discussing New England culture at this point, having watched his Red teammates lollygag about the ice with the intensity and mobility of bubble hockey players. Paul Egan, ever evolving into his role as a bi-monthly goal scoring threat, piled up the early Blue lead by shaking free of his coverage and knocking a drunken wobbler of a shot behind Marty. On his way by the Red bench, Egan chided Red’s defense by boasting “You’d better stay on me, boys! You give me a centimeter and I’ll take a klick!”.
Red pushed the pace for the next 30 minutes with John Lupisella and George Schott each finishing off a pair of shockingly well played 2-on-1’s, Mike Robbins pouncing on some garbage, and Jason Millen adding his second of the night. Red’s resurgence was briefly interrupted by Kenny G forcing a Robbins breakaway attempt over the crossbar and a fantastically whiffed open-net attempt by Hughie DeHaven. With the scores even at five, the remainder of the game saw Red and Blue standing toe to toe, trading blows in an equal sided punching match that recalled the great Balboa/Drago fight at the smoky old Spectrum in 1987. Brian Urban and the Basserts continued their inspired play at both ends of the ice, forcing turnovers and finishing plays while Red answered back with goals from Larry, Bobby Freiling, Eddie, Jason Millen, Mike Robbins, and a repentant Hughie DeHaven.
With three minutes remaining in regulation, Kenny G’s boy buried a high wrister from the left circle and Craig Allen stopped setting up the Basserts long enough to score one of his own. High drama indeed, as the score now sat tied at 12-11 Red with the clock decidedly in their favor. In a flourish of late activity, it appeared that the Basserts had evened the score; however intense video review from the league office in Toronto ruled that the goal had been the result of an illegal handpass. In his most valuable play of the evening, Bobby Freiling added one more goal for Red and thereby eliminated a potentially contentious postgame debate.
With Paul Egan and Rich Devlin abandoning the TJ’s ritual in favor of crimping pie dough, whipping meringue, frosting cookies, and other such holiday themed flights of feminine fancy, a hearty breed made the trek to the pizza joint-turned watering hole. John Lupisella, Mike Robbins, Craig Allen, and Hughie DeHaven braved a bitter cold and reminisced about some of the more hot tempered characters to come through Old Bucks (To be fair, Jonathan Millen, George Schott, and Kenny Blankstein made insultingly brief appearances before succumbing to the chill and scampering back to their cars. Ken never even turned off his seat warmers). Craig Allen then shared his recipe for Long Island Iced Tea, which ingeniously substitutes careful measurements for generous dumpings of every available booze in the house. “Aha” he proclaimed as he raised one finger “but I only have one drink a night”.
Week 10 Three Stars
3- Kenny G – Made a number of Red’s shooters look bad throughout the night with some impressive stops
2- Brian Urban – Much chatter on the Red bench about a solid all-around game.
1- Bobby Freiling – Yeah, he usually scores goals and this wasn’t his best game, but you can’t underestimate the value of that final insurance goal. Handpass-gate would have ensued.