Post by Old Bucks Admin on Nov 28, 2008 18:13:53 GMT -5
No one gave Blue a chance in Week 10. Kenny was back and vowing it was time for them to “take their medicine”. He gave them Dan Dougherty for goalie (Vinnie was out) and kept his son, Ben, for the Red team. Ben was home from West Virginia University for the holidays. He says hockey is popular there, though squirrel hunting more so. Like a true Mountaineer he took to the ice announcing, “Blue’s a gone coon now!” Rich Devlin also skated with Red, opting for the sure bet over the long shot. His ties to Blue raised some eyebrows, however, with Hughie branding him a “known sympathizer”. But Red didn’t reject him; they just put him on offense and warned him not to try anything funny.
Dan had a slow start marked by the kind of mental lapses you’d expect from a jittery substitute goalie. When Steve Hendershott scored on back-to-back tip-ins, even Kenny was surprised. Additional goals by John Lupisella and Jim Heffern put Red up 4-1 and things looked black for Blue. Then Jim Heffern switched to defense and made a botch of it, coughing up the puck in the neutral zone to Angie, who hit a streaking Rich Cerbone for a goal, and then failing to clear the puck and costing Red again. This was just the boost Blue was looking for. Their fortunes revived just as Dan settled down and found his groove. He was like a pitcher who’s gotten out of a tough first inning with the confidence he can now go the distance.
Blue tapped an unlikely source for their offense: their defense. Tony V. was paired with the new guy, Mike, who until now had distinguished himself only with his big shoulder pads. But in Week 10 Mike was a different player, much faster and more energetic, as if he had consumed an entire box of Power Bars before the game. Every time he penetrated the Red zone it was like a fighter jet closing range on its target. His weapon of choice was his slap shot and twice he scored in this manner. Tony V. scored even more—four goals to be exact—mostly by pinching from the point and wristing the puck past Marty. He got under Red’s skin even when he wasn’t scoring, especially on one occasion when he was manning the point and couldn’t keep the puck in the zone, but still managed to uncork one into a crowd of people. At this the Red bench erupted in protest. Tony looked at them incredulously, as if to say, “I didn’t do nothin’”—an act he’s learned from putting handcuffs on many criminals who also “didn’t do nothin’”.
By dint of Mike’s and Tony’s efforts Blue carried an 8-7 lead into the game’s final stages. Red was faltering—down to three defensemen after Hughie bruised his drinking arm and had to leave the game. Greg Wright managed to tie the score but his success was short-lived. In the game’s closing seconds, a fresh flight of forwards scrambled from the Blue bench and fanned out into the neutral zone. Steering a course for Marty, they were soon within the Red zone turning the Red flank and throwing its entire center into disorder. What looked like a rugby scrum coalesced in front of the goal and Tony V. made his move, using soft-footed stealth to inch his way down from the point like a duck hunter in face paint and camo. Completely undetected by the two defensemen, Kenny and Craig Allen, he was able to jump on the first rebound that came his way, and poke it into the net for the game-winning goal.
Back in the locker room Kenny was a mixture of confusion and dejection, like Donovan McNabb after being benched in the Baltimore game. Only when the conversation turned to golf shirts did he perk up, becoming especially animated while extolling the wrinkle-free virtues of the Ben Hogan line. And when someone gave him a check for club fees he was on cloud nine with not a care in the world.
Now there’s a man who knows his priorities.
Dan had a slow start marked by the kind of mental lapses you’d expect from a jittery substitute goalie. When Steve Hendershott scored on back-to-back tip-ins, even Kenny was surprised. Additional goals by John Lupisella and Jim Heffern put Red up 4-1 and things looked black for Blue. Then Jim Heffern switched to defense and made a botch of it, coughing up the puck in the neutral zone to Angie, who hit a streaking Rich Cerbone for a goal, and then failing to clear the puck and costing Red again. This was just the boost Blue was looking for. Their fortunes revived just as Dan settled down and found his groove. He was like a pitcher who’s gotten out of a tough first inning with the confidence he can now go the distance.
Blue tapped an unlikely source for their offense: their defense. Tony V. was paired with the new guy, Mike, who until now had distinguished himself only with his big shoulder pads. But in Week 10 Mike was a different player, much faster and more energetic, as if he had consumed an entire box of Power Bars before the game. Every time he penetrated the Red zone it was like a fighter jet closing range on its target. His weapon of choice was his slap shot and twice he scored in this manner. Tony V. scored even more—four goals to be exact—mostly by pinching from the point and wristing the puck past Marty. He got under Red’s skin even when he wasn’t scoring, especially on one occasion when he was manning the point and couldn’t keep the puck in the zone, but still managed to uncork one into a crowd of people. At this the Red bench erupted in protest. Tony looked at them incredulously, as if to say, “I didn’t do nothin’”—an act he’s learned from putting handcuffs on many criminals who also “didn’t do nothin’”.
By dint of Mike’s and Tony’s efforts Blue carried an 8-7 lead into the game’s final stages. Red was faltering—down to three defensemen after Hughie bruised his drinking arm and had to leave the game. Greg Wright managed to tie the score but his success was short-lived. In the game’s closing seconds, a fresh flight of forwards scrambled from the Blue bench and fanned out into the neutral zone. Steering a course for Marty, they were soon within the Red zone turning the Red flank and throwing its entire center into disorder. What looked like a rugby scrum coalesced in front of the goal and Tony V. made his move, using soft-footed stealth to inch his way down from the point like a duck hunter in face paint and camo. Completely undetected by the two defensemen, Kenny and Craig Allen, he was able to jump on the first rebound that came his way, and poke it into the net for the game-winning goal.
Back in the locker room Kenny was a mixture of confusion and dejection, like Donovan McNabb after being benched in the Baltimore game. Only when the conversation turned to golf shirts did he perk up, becoming especially animated while extolling the wrinkle-free virtues of the Ben Hogan line. And when someone gave him a check for club fees he was on cloud nine with not a care in the world.
Now there’s a man who knows his priorities.