WEDNESDAYS #12 vs. COYOTES:

(vol. 18W, no. 12; newsletter by b.n.)
Originally, this newsletter was going to be about Maggie. But then, I thought otherwise. So instead, there is Mike. Maggie will just have to wait. It would have been nice if someone clued me in ahead of time, but there are some things that you just can't talk about: Like the men's room. Why is that? I don't know. But trust me, there is a story behind it. You just won't hear it from me. Oh yeah, and by the way: Scott LeMatty skates like a girl. And one more thing: Harris said to me (quoting from a Puddle of Mudd song), “I like the way you smack my ass.” The scary thing is, well, I guess you would have to be there ...

There is one thing for sure, it was definitely Mike's night. Take the 1st period for example: Playing on the defense, Mike took a great pass from Craig from behind the net and put the puck in the net for the first tally of the evening. Later in the period, it was Mike who was unable to handle the puck when #67 tried to dump it behind the net; the Coyotes were able to pick-up the loose puck and feed one of their players in the face-off circle who was able to one-time it past Harris, knotting things up 1-1 at the first buzzer.

As the 2nd period got going it was Mike once again who fed the puck to Scott Miller for a great goal. Then, as with the 1st period, it was Mike once again failing to pick up the attacking Coyote (who had just skated around #67); taking advantage of his free ride to the crease, the Coyote was able to score unfettered by the Pirate “D.” Before the 2nd period was out, however, LeMatty would give the Pirates the go-ahead goal (on a great feed from Russ) with only 1:30 remaining. Surprisingly, Mike seemed to have nothing to do with this goal.

In the 3rd, it was (yes, you guessed it) Mike who scoring his second goal of the night while Russ picked up his second assist. Where would be without Mike? Probably a much shorter newsletter. But you have to admit Mike's deflection goal late in the 3rd was a great deflection — unfortunately the deflection went past Harris to make the game a 4-3 nail biter. Throw in a bogus icing call on Keith (who exploded in a rare Russ-inspired tirade) and the Coyotes were able to play the final 2:00 minutes on a powerplay that became a 6-on-4 when the Coyotes pulled their goalie. The Pirates where able to survive the barrage of shots to emerge with the 4-3 victory. And Mike? When he's not scoring goals for the opponents, he'll be hanging with the DJ. You the man, Mike.

(editor's note: in an another unrelated event, Keith Richardson became the second reader featured on the Asbury Park Press' new SundayBeat page. Keith wrote a “fan rant” that can be downloaded full-size by clicking on the image below)