WEDNESDAYS #2 vs. JAMOKES:

(vol. 16W, no. 2; newsletter by b.n.)
As the second game of the Winter 2003-2004 Season got underway just after 7:00 p.m. on November 26, 2003, you couldn't tell the Pirate players without a scorecard. Then again, even with a scorecard you would have had a little trouble telling them apart since almost none of them were wearing their Pirate jerseys; other then #67, Evan and the long lost Roger Weiss (still sporting the “A” on the jersey), there wasn't a Jolly Roger in sight. And, if that wasn't bad enough, Jimmy Ferraro tried to take the floor with a red jersey on. Fortunately #67 spotted Jimmy his alternate black Ranger jersey so chaos would not ensue.

The Pirates welcomed a new player to the Wednesday night roster, Greg with a C. Greg with a C. will be a major improvement over Mike Farrell, whom he is replacing. Speaking of Mike Farrell, I had thought that he would be leaving both the Sunday and Wednesday rosters. But, from what I have heard, he has changed his mind and will stay on Sunday for another season (amazing what a little thing like winning a Championship will do). And just like a bad penny, Mike Farrell keeps turning up on Wednesday night. Other Pirates in attendance for this night included Kevin, Wildman, Keith and “Tony.” I have never played on the Pirates with “Tony” before and I thought it was extremely odd that he came running in to the rink before the start of the game carrying goalie pads. Since both the goalies for our game were already dressed, I thought perhaps “Tony” was a little early for the 8:00 p.m. game. But no, “Tony” just put on his regular equipment and skated on “D” (my guess is he was just trying to show off in front of Harris, who can't carry his pads more then the foot-and-a-half it takes to get them from his Hummer to the motorized cart he uses to ferry them in and out of the rink.)

All right enough about the roster, let's get to the game: The opponent for the night, was the Jamokes who gave the Pirates some trouble last season (their goalie “Claffy” shut out the Pirates when he filled-in on another roster). The Pirates got right to business when Jimmy got the puck behind the net, fed #67 who directed the puck to Evan — who buried it for the score less then a 1:00 minute into the 1st period. Jimmy was next on the board when he took a feed from Mike and buried it. Things continued to go the Pirates way when Greg with a C. fed Jimmy (is anyone sensing a trend here?), who in turn got the puck to Evan for his second of the night. The Jamokes would get on the board before the 1st period was over, however, to make it 3-1 at the first break.

As the 2nd got going the Pirates continued to roll; Wildman picked-up a goal on a feed from Mike and, oddly enough, Jimmy was not credited with an assist. Jimmy (obviously frustrated with his offensive performance) would get another tally on a feed from Greg with a C. The Jamokes would score once again and seemed to be threatening to get back in it on a play where Harris had to reach behind himself to cover the puck; the Jamokes were yelling at the ref that the puck crossed the line, but Scotty calmly yelled “No goal” and pointed for the face-off to Harris' left (as one of the Jamokes skated past him, Harris was heard saying “I've pulled pucks out of the net before! And that one wasn't even close!”). Also in the 2nd, the earth shook as a New Jersey Coastline train bound for Spring Lake derailed and crashed into the boards ... no wait ... it wasn't a train crash, it was just “Tony” as he “lost his edge” and pounded some poor unsuspecting Jamoke into the corner. Ouch. There wasn't any argument from “Tony” as he headed to the box to serve his 2:00 minutes. As the 2nd closed out, the Pirates held a comfortable 5-2 lead.

Going into the 3rd period both Jimmy and Evan had a pair of goals and it was only fitting that Jimmy would jump in front of Evan's shot (that was clearly on the way to the back of the net) and let the puck graze his stick so he could pick up yet another hattrick. The Jamokes would add the final tally though, when they were able to work the puck off the boards and thread a pass to a wide-open Jamoke who one-timed it past Harris for the slam dunk score.

Jimmy Ferraro summed-up his stellar five-point night best when he returned my borrowed black Jersey: “You left a few goals in this jersey, I used them all up though, sorry.” Gee, thanks Jimmy.