WEDNESDAYS #6 vs. GERIATRICS:

(vol. 13W, no. 6; newsletter by b.n.)
Without repeating myself too much, let me begin by stating the obvious: Contrary to what you may have heard coming out of Harris' press secretary, I take no responsibility for the current playoff predicament of the Sunday night team. Is it my fault that Harris left me in charge of finding a replacement goalie for a team that I don't even play on? “Yes,” he might be quick to say, but don't listen to him, he has an agenda to push; his mind is clouded by partisanship and he is just plain wrong. Is it my fault that the only goalie I could find can best be described as “Up and Down.” And is it my fault that the Zombies lost a game on Sunday night to assure a first round matchup between the Pirates and the Blizzard? “You bet,” Bin Newcomb would have to say with grudging respect for those that are actually reading this. Afterall, a goal here or there would have made all the difference.

So here we are, finally talking about this week's game versus the Geriatrics. I had to get all that out because, as if things weren't confusing enough, as #67 arrived at the rink he was caught off guard by yet another pseudonym. It's one thing to be TPOC, quite another to be “Bin Newcomb.” So as the game got underway it was the line of Russ-Chris-Wildman on “O” and the defensive core of Keith Richardson and Rob “The Other Sunday Night Zombie” Armswood. Harris got another victim of the “Dave Matthews clause” when Scooby came strolling in halfway through the game. Things got going early in the game when Bin Newcomb took a pass from Russ and beat the Doug Collimore high over the left shoulder for the 1-0 lead. The Geriatrics would answer back later in the 1st period when one of them was able to blast a shot that Harris was able to get most of, but it was still able to trickle past him for the score. The Pirates showed no panic when shortly thereafter Chris was able to direct a shot on goal that Evan redirected into the net to give us back the 2-1 lead at the end of the 1st.

The chances continued for the Pirates in the 2nd with both lines on “O.” Allen found himself wide-open in front of the net and clanked a shot off the far post and Evan had some great chances, but a couple of his tips were strangely going wide (he later attributed this to the fact that the whole balance of his stick was off due to his missing the tip of his thumb). Ironically, with all the Pirate chances, it was the Geriatrics who would get on the scoreboard next when Bin Newcomb pushed the puck forward after a face-off in the Pirate zone; unfortunately the Gerry's got to it first and with all the Pirates pushing forward to break out of the zone, Notley was left all alone in front of the net to put a one-timer past Harris for the game tying goal, 2-2. Thumb or no thumb, Evan got things going once again when Chris took a puck at the blueline and pushed it up to Russ who crossed the Geriatric blueline and hit Evan in full stride; Evan picked his spot and scored, giving the Pirates back the lead for the third time of the evening (The Geriatrics complained after the goal about the way Evan waved his fist after the score until Bobby explained to them that he was only trying to give the “thumbs up,” but just came up a little short). The 2nd period ended with Pirates leading 3-2.

Chris would help give the Pirates a two-goal lead, 4-2, after setting-up Russ for a goal in the 3rd. But things are never easy though as the Geriatrics were able to once again able to direct a one-timer from Ed past Harris for the Geriatrics third goal. Things got a little dicey at the end as we attempted to hold onto our one-goal lead, but Harris came up strong when “Big Ant” took a pass in front and Harris flat out stoned him by stacking the pads and stopping the puck with his glove. After getting tagged with a late "too many men on the ice” penalty, the Geriatrics were still able to hit the post off a face-off, but that would be as close as they would get and the Pirates held on for the win.