Post by Jim H. on Feb 21, 2022 6:39:30 GMT -5
As Paul Egan is fond of saying, “There is no such thing as inclement weather. There is only inappropriate attire.” Similarly speaking, there is no such thing as good Red teams. There are only varying degrees of bad Blue teams. In Week 22, Blue had the double task of playing without Brian Urban and with a hodgepodge of anonymous new recruits who had the effect of reshaping club identity into a big, flabby beer-and-wings distended gut that was dragged about the ice like an anchor tied to a parachute. The Blue bench sat aghast as Red jumped out to an early 4-1 lead on the strength of Ben David pinning the corners, Bob Freiling mesmerizing the defense and Mark Herr bringing just the right amount of nothing to an amped up offense that even featured its own ringer—some guy in a burgundy Toros jersey that was so dark, so almost bluish, that it worked as well as face paint and camo when it came to infiltrating the Blue zone and pounding the net with shots.
We almost thought that Red had Dougherty-proofed the goal as it wasn’t until the forty-minute mark that Greg was able to light the lamp with the kind of toe-dragging finesse that he’s known for. But the momentum was short-lived. Leading 4-2, Red’s offense and defense fused into one implacable force that scored eight goals to Blue’s one, extending its lead to 12-3 while neglecting all the scruples it ever had against running up the score. Paul Egan, affecting a studious nonchalance, was able to squeak one by Vinnie to make it 12-4, but the result was as negligible as his absence will be when he misses the last two skates to go skiing in Colorado.
Toward the end, Greg Dougherty, on one last all-consuming breakaway, got tripped from behind by Ben David, but was still able to nudge the puck past Vinnie as he slid into him like a baseball player, face-first. The big Franco-Ontarian was still man enough to apologize in the locker room afterward, even going between rooms to do so, and Greg accepted, preserving the collegial atmosphere that is not only the hallmark of Old Bucks hockey but as indispensable as the afterparty which, incidentally, the club repaired to after the game.
We almost thought that Red had Dougherty-proofed the goal as it wasn’t until the forty-minute mark that Greg was able to light the lamp with the kind of toe-dragging finesse that he’s known for. But the momentum was short-lived. Leading 4-2, Red’s offense and defense fused into one implacable force that scored eight goals to Blue’s one, extending its lead to 12-3 while neglecting all the scruples it ever had against running up the score. Paul Egan, affecting a studious nonchalance, was able to squeak one by Vinnie to make it 12-4, but the result was as negligible as his absence will be when he misses the last two skates to go skiing in Colorado.
Toward the end, Greg Dougherty, on one last all-consuming breakaway, got tripped from behind by Ben David, but was still able to nudge the puck past Vinnie as he slid into him like a baseball player, face-first. The big Franco-Ontarian was still man enough to apologize in the locker room afterward, even going between rooms to do so, and Greg accepted, preserving the collegial atmosphere that is not only the hallmark of Old Bucks hockey but as indispensable as the afterparty which, incidentally, the club repaired to after the game.