WEDNESDAYS #6 vs. WAVE:

(vol. 18W, no. 6; newsletter by b.n.)
The Coastal Pirates faced the Wave the other night (well, last week actually) and I could have sworn that they were a new team, but Chris assured me that they had, in fact, been around for a couple seasons. Well, if you say so Chris.

The 1st period was a feeling-out affair, but ended on a high note when Craig hit Chris for a sweet one-timer with only :01 second remaining in the period — talk about “reversing The Curse”!

Between periods, I had a few moments to reflect on life. Isn't it weird, I thought to myself, that people retire from the Coastal Pirates and then shortly thereafter come back again? Why do I even bother mentioning that? Well, during my moments of contemplation on the bench, I suddenly wondered whatever happened to the old scorekeeper Rob?! You remember Rob — he was the tall, lanky kid who used to run the scoreboard (even if you don't remember Rob, it is not that critical; after all, it's only a newsletter). Anyway, it was somewhat ironic that I was thinking about Rob, because I happened to run into Rob a short time later at his new place of employment: The Brewer's Apprentice in Freehold. For those of you who don't know, The Brewer's Apprentice is a brew-your-own brewery and is (in)famous as the home of “Pirate Ale.” I got a chance to talk to Rob and he told me how much he enjoyed his new job. But enough about Rob.

In the 2nd period the Wave went on the powerplay after one of their players tripped and fell over the blueline. As Scott Baldwin sent #67 to the penalty box‚ Bob Correo skated over to open the door to the box and laughed at how bad Scott's call was. But sometimes things just go your way as the Pirates were able to pick up a shorthanded goal when Scott Miller got the puck from Wildman (via Mike) and broke in the right wing; Scott blasted a shot that beat the Wave goalie over his left shoulder and gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead. After the penalty expired, the Pirates continued to roll when Craig fed the puck to Russ who then blasted a shot of his own from the slot that hit the top shelf. Wait! Stop the newsletter: Did I say Craig “fed” the puck? What a change a week will make! Ok, resume the newsletter ... The 2nd period ended with the Pirates holding a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Getting back to Rob for a moment, I found myself at the Brewer's Apprentice for a beer tasting for the Grasshopper Brewery (a micro brewery from somewhere in North Jersey). Before the night was half over, somebody puked in the bathroom. And when I say puked in the bathroom, I mean the entire bathroom. There was puke on the walls, puke on the floor — everywhere, except the porcelain throne. So who got to clean up the mess? You guessed it. Former GoodSports employee Rob. It took Rob quite a while to clean everything up too. Obviously from the condition of the bathrooms at GoodSports, Rob didn't get much practice cleaning bathrooms at his old place of employment.

The Pirates were able to hold the 3-0 lead until only the 10:00 minute mark of the 3rd when the Wave were finally able to get the puke (whoops, I meant “puck”) past Harris to make the score 3-1. With less than 2:00 minutes to go, it looked as if the Pirates iced the game when Evan took the puck from brother Scott and put the Pirates back up by three goals, 4-1. The Wave, however, would keep it interesting when they scored with just under 1:00 minute remaining — but that would be the final tally of the evening, with the Pirates triumphing 4-2. Oh, and by the way, no it wasn't my puke in the bathroom.