Post by Old Bucks Admin on Jan 12, 2013 10:33:40 GMT -5
Much in the way that local health clubs see a swell in attendance following New Year’s Eve, Week 16 brought a marked increase in skaters as a seemingly endless stream of holiday plumpened players plodded out onto the ice for their weekly exercise. Notable additions to the usual rosters included Vinny in goal for Blue, Ed the Goalie (a recent and imposing addition to the goaltending bullpen), Bobby Freiling Jr, and two Herr boys. Dr Blankstein was again absent, no doubt modeling his newest “vacation Speedo” while windsurfing at his latest vacation destination. With Blankstein indisposed, the task of formulating the rosters again fell upon Assistant GM and Blue veteran, Rich Devlin. Never one to sacrifice gamely advantage for parity, Devlin quickly availed himself of nearly every skater below legal drinking age and assembled an unrelenting forward line of Bobby Freiling Jr. and the two Herr boys that produced a combination of speed and skill that would ultimately run roughshod over Red defenders.
The game began with a furious pace as the elder members of both squads pushed to keep up with the three youngsters. Red opened the scoring when Larry Johnson picked up a loose puck in the low slot and, displaying all the poise and savvy of a cagey veteran, calmly wristed it over Vinny. Freiling Sr., Jason Millen, and Craig Allen built Red up to an early 4-0 lead. The latter goal was a byproduct of some point-to-point blueline passing between the defensive pairing of Allen and Robbins. After receiving the pass from Robbins, Craig moved down to the circles and buried a high wrister. Following an elaborate goal celebration, Allen asked for the puck back, a commemoration of a pass from Robbins more than his own goal. Robbins looked to his father in the stands with a hopeful look of “See Dad! I passed it! Just like we talked about in the car!”.
Bobby Jr finally got Blue on the board with a highly contestable fourth whack at a “loose” puck by Ed’s feet. We will have to inform Ed of the Old Bucks goalie policy of screaming “I’ve got it” for any loose puck within a fifteen foot radius of the goal line. Bobby would add two more goals by slipping in and out of coverage around the goal mouth and opportunistically jumping on rebounds. With the score tied at four, Jonathan and Jason Millen scored back to back tallies before the Herr brothers reestablished a tie game with one goal coming from a sharp angled yet blustery wristshot and another from creampuff of a turnover by Craig Allen. Allen had been diligently working over his man in the far corner before stealing the puck and flipping an inadvisable clearing attempt into the high slot. Naturally, all three Red forwards were nowhere to be found and Herr took advantage of an unobstructed shot from 15 feet out. Frustrated with his defensive gaffe, Allen uncaged a full-throated expletive that can still be heard ringing throughout the Lawrenceville winter air.
On the topic of gaffes, we would be remiss to omit a world class breakway bungle job by Nick Swift. Despite the fact that Nick was well behind the Red defense, Nick lost the puck into his feet and spun himself 180 degrees while trying to retrieve it, thus becoming one of the select few club members to have one’s own ass go offsides (truly a historical moment). Rich Devlin added two late goals for Blue with his signature style of cruising through the low slot and picking off the carcass of sloppy defensive play, however it would not be enough to overcome the eventual score of 9-8 for Red.
Rick Robbins joined Mike, Devlin, Hugh, John L., and Tim White at TJ’s and wasted no time in explaining that the collective ineptitude of the club left him positively hysterical in the stands. All members in attendance were given vintage 1970s computer cards with hand-scratched notes of necessary improvements before his next visit. Paul Egan could not attend as he was allegedly partaking in some sort of conference in Las Vegas. Rich tried texting him for an update on this mysterious conference and only received the following picture as a response:
Week 16 Three Stars
3- The Larger Herr Boy – The kid provided a swift moving and bullish physical presence that Blue has been missing since the departure of Alex Cerbone.
2- Bobby Jr.- Buzzed around the net and made his old man proud with a triplet of tallies.
1 – Rich Devlin – Devlin was a pesky forechecker all night, forcing multiple turnovers and generating two late goals. For some inexplicable reason, Devlin has a Lemieuxvian confidence with the puck on his stick around the net.
The game began with a furious pace as the elder members of both squads pushed to keep up with the three youngsters. Red opened the scoring when Larry Johnson picked up a loose puck in the low slot and, displaying all the poise and savvy of a cagey veteran, calmly wristed it over Vinny. Freiling Sr., Jason Millen, and Craig Allen built Red up to an early 4-0 lead. The latter goal was a byproduct of some point-to-point blueline passing between the defensive pairing of Allen and Robbins. After receiving the pass from Robbins, Craig moved down to the circles and buried a high wrister. Following an elaborate goal celebration, Allen asked for the puck back, a commemoration of a pass from Robbins more than his own goal. Robbins looked to his father in the stands with a hopeful look of “See Dad! I passed it! Just like we talked about in the car!”.
Bobby Jr finally got Blue on the board with a highly contestable fourth whack at a “loose” puck by Ed’s feet. We will have to inform Ed of the Old Bucks goalie policy of screaming “I’ve got it” for any loose puck within a fifteen foot radius of the goal line. Bobby would add two more goals by slipping in and out of coverage around the goal mouth and opportunistically jumping on rebounds. With the score tied at four, Jonathan and Jason Millen scored back to back tallies before the Herr brothers reestablished a tie game with one goal coming from a sharp angled yet blustery wristshot and another from creampuff of a turnover by Craig Allen. Allen had been diligently working over his man in the far corner before stealing the puck and flipping an inadvisable clearing attempt into the high slot. Naturally, all three Red forwards were nowhere to be found and Herr took advantage of an unobstructed shot from 15 feet out. Frustrated with his defensive gaffe, Allen uncaged a full-throated expletive that can still be heard ringing throughout the Lawrenceville winter air.
On the topic of gaffes, we would be remiss to omit a world class breakway bungle job by Nick Swift. Despite the fact that Nick was well behind the Red defense, Nick lost the puck into his feet and spun himself 180 degrees while trying to retrieve it, thus becoming one of the select few club members to have one’s own ass go offsides (truly a historical moment). Rich Devlin added two late goals for Blue with his signature style of cruising through the low slot and picking off the carcass of sloppy defensive play, however it would not be enough to overcome the eventual score of 9-8 for Red.
Rick Robbins joined Mike, Devlin, Hugh, John L., and Tim White at TJ’s and wasted no time in explaining that the collective ineptitude of the club left him positively hysterical in the stands. All members in attendance were given vintage 1970s computer cards with hand-scratched notes of necessary improvements before his next visit. Paul Egan could not attend as he was allegedly partaking in some sort of conference in Las Vegas. Rich tried texting him for an update on this mysterious conference and only received the following picture as a response:
Week 16 Three Stars
3- The Larger Herr Boy – The kid provided a swift moving and bullish physical presence that Blue has been missing since the departure of Alex Cerbone.
2- Bobby Jr.- Buzzed around the net and made his old man proud with a triplet of tallies.
1 – Rich Devlin – Devlin was a pesky forechecker all night, forcing multiple turnovers and generating two late goals. For some inexplicable reason, Devlin has a Lemieuxvian confidence with the puck on his stick around the net.