Post by Jim H. on Nov 7, 2021 22:31:17 GMT -5
Week 9 was daylight savings which by the standards of Old Bucks means spring forward into hockey and fall back on the some pizza and beer afterward. It was also the same day as the New York City marathon reminding us that Old Bucks is neither a marathon nor a sprint, but a ride on a Segway where the gyroscope is faulty and sometimes dumps the operator onto the sidewalk. We got to the rink and the parking lot was jammed packed with cars. We thought either TCNJ had a big game or Saunders was back. The former was true, unfortunately. On the bright side they didn't hog three locker rooms like the last time and we got to gear up while maintaining social distancing as is fitting and proper during a pandemic. We even kept our mask on but not out of an abundance of caution. It was simply that cold in the locker room.
Amidst the bustle we were introduced to a guest skater, Brad, as he signed the "Assumption of Risk" form, not related to COVID but to the fact that he'd be on the ice with Big Joe Bruno barreling up and down it. Brad is a good friend of Kenny's. In fact they even went to college together back in the seventies and were fraternity brothers. We requested a story on par with John Belushi and Animal House and were not disappointed. They spoke of the time they took the freshmen pledges out to a local duck pond in the middle of the night, had them wade out into the water, and then forced them to dance "Swan Lake" while wearing tutus. How radically times have changed! You could never get away with that today.
Brad was a welcome addition to Red in the absence of Bob Freiling who had tickets to the Eagles game. Bob was not missed. Why? Because Red has learned, in light of recent events, that extreme left wingers like him are more a liability than an asset. Alan Blankstein skated for Red too. Alan was squeezing one last skate in before his twin daughters are induced on Tuesday. That will give Alan and his wife three girls which is one more than Paul Egan who joked that Alan is going to have to buy a pit bull to "counterbalance the levels of estrogen in the house".
Both house goalies were back, Vinnie on Red and Eddie on Blue. The game started out evenly enough, the teams trading goals up until 3-3 and then Alan Blankstein simultaneously bagged a hatter and gave Red the 5-3 lead. Alan looked sharp; on his second goal Brad one-hopped a cross-ice pass that Alan literally whacked out of mid-air and into the net. His third goal was snipe city, ricocheting off the post with a loud clang. At intermission the Red bench talked baseball. Everyone agreed baseball players in the 1970s never got hurt. How they got hurt today was beyond their comprehension. Amazing if you give old hockey players a breather what goes through their minds and comes out their mouths. It's usually anything but hockey.
Red was coasting with a 6-3 lead when Blue came storming back. Andrew Tona scored. Then Rich Devlin scored one of the most epic goals we've seen in a long time. First he gained the Red zone with the puck, deking out Kenny to the degree that Rich now had a sharp-angled breakaway. First he bore down on Vinnie. Then he dished it over to Joe Bruno who took the shot. On the ensuing rebound Rich literally whacked at the puck six times with Red players collapsing on him from all sides while Vinnie flailed his limbs wildly in an effort to stymie Rich that was, alas, as futile as it was intense. On the seventh whack Rich inched the puck over the goal line. That was the golfer in him. He never gave up even if it meant he was carding a ten.
Blue was only down one, 6-5. Soon they were up one, 7-6 on the strength of two goals by Dan Dougherty. The twin pillars of the Red defense, Kenny and Eddie, seemed on the verge of blowing the game. Luckily Red has one more pillar, Brian Pike. He scored two quick goals in the closing minutes of the game and gave Red the 8-7 victory. Incidentally, the game was no marathon but a few players at TJ's covered themselves in foil blankets and sipped apple juice just to be safe.
Amidst the bustle we were introduced to a guest skater, Brad, as he signed the "Assumption of Risk" form, not related to COVID but to the fact that he'd be on the ice with Big Joe Bruno barreling up and down it. Brad is a good friend of Kenny's. In fact they even went to college together back in the seventies and were fraternity brothers. We requested a story on par with John Belushi and Animal House and were not disappointed. They spoke of the time they took the freshmen pledges out to a local duck pond in the middle of the night, had them wade out into the water, and then forced them to dance "Swan Lake" while wearing tutus. How radically times have changed! You could never get away with that today.
Brad was a welcome addition to Red in the absence of Bob Freiling who had tickets to the Eagles game. Bob was not missed. Why? Because Red has learned, in light of recent events, that extreme left wingers like him are more a liability than an asset. Alan Blankstein skated for Red too. Alan was squeezing one last skate in before his twin daughters are induced on Tuesday. That will give Alan and his wife three girls which is one more than Paul Egan who joked that Alan is going to have to buy a pit bull to "counterbalance the levels of estrogen in the house".
Both house goalies were back, Vinnie on Red and Eddie on Blue. The game started out evenly enough, the teams trading goals up until 3-3 and then Alan Blankstein simultaneously bagged a hatter and gave Red the 5-3 lead. Alan looked sharp; on his second goal Brad one-hopped a cross-ice pass that Alan literally whacked out of mid-air and into the net. His third goal was snipe city, ricocheting off the post with a loud clang. At intermission the Red bench talked baseball. Everyone agreed baseball players in the 1970s never got hurt. How they got hurt today was beyond their comprehension. Amazing if you give old hockey players a breather what goes through their minds and comes out their mouths. It's usually anything but hockey.
Red was coasting with a 6-3 lead when Blue came storming back. Andrew Tona scored. Then Rich Devlin scored one of the most epic goals we've seen in a long time. First he gained the Red zone with the puck, deking out Kenny to the degree that Rich now had a sharp-angled breakaway. First he bore down on Vinnie. Then he dished it over to Joe Bruno who took the shot. On the ensuing rebound Rich literally whacked at the puck six times with Red players collapsing on him from all sides while Vinnie flailed his limbs wildly in an effort to stymie Rich that was, alas, as futile as it was intense. On the seventh whack Rich inched the puck over the goal line. That was the golfer in him. He never gave up even if it meant he was carding a ten.
Blue was only down one, 6-5. Soon they were up one, 7-6 on the strength of two goals by Dan Dougherty. The twin pillars of the Red defense, Kenny and Eddie, seemed on the verge of blowing the game. Luckily Red has one more pillar, Brian Pike. He scored two quick goals in the closing minutes of the game and gave Red the 8-7 victory. Incidentally, the game was no marathon but a few players at TJ's covered themselves in foil blankets and sipped apple juice just to be safe.