WEDNESDAYS #11 vs. GERIATRICS:

(vol. 18W, no. 11; newsletter by b.n.)
When I first sat down to write this newsletter, I had a certain vision in mind: “TPOC returns to wrought devastation on his former team.” Then I thought that might be pushing it just a little bit. Then I thought of something more in the realm of what Keith might write: “#67 #67 #67 #67 #67” — but I don't think I could pull it off with the panache that Keith does. That got me thinking: Perhaps everyone is sick and tired about hearing about #67. Nahhhhh.

On Wednesday, July 14, 2004, the Coastal Pirates faced-off against the Geriatrics for the second time this season. Familiar faces on the Geriatrics included: The man with the “C” (Big Ant); The “real” Captain (Steve-0); the #1-thug, Bill Notley; and Ken Koenig, Iggy, DePipp, and Phil. Then there was the “ringer of the night” wearing the dreaded Micro jersey, Seth Rappaport. And while I'm on the subject of jerseys, the Geriatrics where sporting their third jersey that was blue with white lettering (for those keeping score, the Geriatrics originally wore yellow, then evolved to white with yellow and black accents); the Pirates meanwhile where sporting their one and only jersey, black.

As 1st period began, the MNM line of Miller-Newcomb-Miller took the floor with Keith and Mike manning the blueline. Now, the Coastal Pirate-Geriatric rivalry goes back to the last millennium when both teams played on the wood floor of Eatontown. In all that time, I've seen DePipp have some great games; I've also seen him have his share of games that did not go his way. So when Keith took the puck in the Pirate zone and fed to Scott who just flicked it into the net from beyond the face-off circle, you kind of knew it wasn't going to be DePipp's night. But the Geriatrics quickly answered back when Rappaport was able to fight off a stick check and fire on Harris; Harris stopped most of it, but the rebound fluttered up over top of him — in slow motion — and crossed the goal line. It was nice to see Craig Sudol back in the line-up as he filled out the next line with Chris and Wildman, while Dave and Kevin rounded out the team on “D.” With all that firepower, it was hard to imagine that the score remained tied at 1-1 for most of the period. Before the period was out, Dave picked up another fluke goal when he flicked a puck from the same spot that Scott scored from; this time the puck bounced off a couple players before it went past DePipp, but the result was a 2-1 Pirate (lucky) lead at the first break.

During the 2nd period Wildman got the puck in the Geriatric zone and somebody yelled “Cross!”; for whatever reason, the Geriatrics seemed to think instead of “Cross!” that it was the refs yelling “Off” — so you can imagine the controversy that erupted when Craig fired the puck into the net moments later. Scott would then pick up his second of the night (on a feed from #67) to widen the lead to 4-1. If there was any doubt in your mind that things were not going DePipp's way in this game, you only have to look as far as the final goal of the period when Notley intercepted a pass in front of his crease, but then had it summarily swatted away by a diving #67. That late goal gave the Men In Black a comfortable 5-1 lead at the second break.

In the 3rd period, the scorefest continued as Mike went to coast-to-coast for a pretty goal, followed by Evan picking-up his first tally of the night. Mike had another nice run up ice later in the period, when he and (guess who) #67 had 2-on-1; Mike held onto the puck deep into the zone until the lone Gerry defender was forced to make a move; then Mike passed to #67 who one-timed it into the net. The Geriatrics did not rollover however, as Rappaport was able to pick up a pair of goals in the 3rd (scoring all three Gerry tallies of the evening). The Geriatrics had a great shot at another one, but Harris was able to make a spectacular goal line stop that Gucci (in the role of referee after the eight games he played already that night) whistled the puck dead right on the line. But enough about Harris. Before his final shift of the night, the last thing on #67's mind was a hattrick, but after the great feed from Mike (see above), #67 was looking for the hattrick of hattricks. So it was not entirely surprising that Scott Miller (playing back in the Pirate end as forwards are encouraged to do from time to time) was able to bank the puck off the boards and hit a “hanging” #67 for a breakaway; #67 made about five moves (during one of which, Mike swears that he lost the puck) and then pulled the puck from between his skates and buried it for his hattrick. At the post-game “meeting,” Harris wondered which team #67 was playing for because he was deeper in the Gerry zone than most of the Gerry defenseman for the entire 3rd period. And, for those of you sick and tired of hearing about #67, you have a reprieve next week — it's a bye!