SUNDAYS #6 vs. WAVE:

(vol. 17S, no. 6; newsletter by b.n.)
Last I checked, the Wave were not in the “A” division. In fact, they still aren't. But you wouldn't know that by the way the Pirates spotted them a 3-0 lead. Hmmm, what happened? I don't know, perhaps it was the fact that clocks had been rolled forward an hour for Daylight Saving Time and the Pirates were still playing on the “old” time — but that's too easy an excuse. While I'm on the subject of Daylight Savings Time though, I could not help but think that the Pirates could benefit from a “Hockey Puck Saving Time.” Whoops, I shouldn't have said that. Oh well, now that the cat is out of the bag, I can't help but mention the first goal — I didn't see it (being that I was on the bench and trying to retrieve my water bottle that someone had inconsiderately hidden from my view), but from what Harris said (he's the goalie for those of you new to coastalpirates.com) it was a soft goal. Enough said. For the Dire Wolves second goal, the left wing stepped around the right defenseman (who admitted to being in Chilis from the end of his 7 p.m. game until just before the 10 p.m. start) and broke in with a 2-on-1; Keith (the other “D” ) made the right play by taking the pass away and giving the goalie the shooter. Did I mention that Harris was our goalie? Oh yeah, I guess I did. Anyway, the Dire Wolf fired-off a shot that caught the back of the net.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention that yes, #67 also had a hand in the Pirate demise: Sometime in the 2nd, #67 was working hard along the boards and found himself on the ground with the puck (nothing new there); obviously, he knew that he should clear the puck up the boards, but when he saw two Dire Wolves he took a chance and threw the puck up the middle without looking — stupid! The puck landed on the tape of a Wave who was able to blast a shot that Harris got most of; unfortunately, the puck was loose behind him, and another forward swooped-in — Harris tried to knock him away with his shoulder, but he stepped around him and buried the puck giving the Wave their comfortable 3-0 lead. Ouch. Did I mention Kevin? Oh yeah, maybe he was never at Chilis — it must have been Applebees. Anyway, Kevin had a great chance to put the Pirates on a powerplay, but instead of taking the hook like a man, he chose to retaliate and both teams skated 5-on-5; but Kev would still come through for us when he returned to the ice. After Wildman won a face-off, Chris grabbed the loose puck and pushed it back to #67; he immediately fired it across to Kevin who did the rest — from inside his own blueline he stepped around every Wave before finally burying the puck and putting the Pirates on the board. The Pirates picked-up another when #67 took the puck from the right point and fed the puck across the rink to Keith who cranked up a shot; the goalie stopped it, but Dan DiPierro buried the rebound into a wide-open net. The Pirates would get no closer, however, although Scott “The Bull” LeMatty had some great chances. But sometimes the puck just doesn't go in for us.