www.coastalpirates.com

SUNDAYS #7 vs. FLUKES:

(vol. 9S, no. 7; newsletter by t.h.)
The only good thing about last night's game is that is was not played at the witching hour (i.e., midnight). It had been rescheduled twice and finally was played at 10pm. We faced-off against the Flukes, a very good team with players that can skate, pass, and shoot — one of the elite teams of the league. Unfortunately for the Pirates, we were without some of our key offensive players (Russ, Jimmy, and Chris) and ended-up with a short bench of eight skaters. Nevertheless, the Pirates took to the ice to see if they could overcome these tremendous obstacles.

We started with five offensive players (Wildman, Scott, Dan D, Glenn and Ralz) and rotated three defensemen (Dave, Roger and Scooby) with Harris tending goal. The first couple of shifts, the Pirates played well and had some scoring opportunities, but could not convert. The “D” was sharp, but at the 10:00-minute mark the Flukes started to click and the puck ended-up in the back of the net on five occasions before the horn blew on the 1st period. The low point of the game occurred when the Pirates were on a 5-3 powerplay (the second penalty coming after one of their forwards ran Harris). The Flukes cleared the puck to Harris who tried to fire it up ice to Scooby as Roger was skating back to begin the next rush; as it happened, the puck hit Roger in the shin pads and deflected back on goal. As the puck rolled on edge, both Roger and Harris dove, but to no avail. A shorthanded goal against without a shot on goal by the Flukes. Arrgghhh!! However, with less than 1:00-minute remaining in the 1st, Ralz took a clearing attempt from along the boards and shot the puck towards the net; Scott tried to deflect the puck on goal with his skate, but instead of going towards the goal it deflected to Glenn who put the puck in the back of the twine, ending the 1st period with us trailing, 5-1.

During the 2nd, the Pirates played good hockey by limiting the Flukes to just one single goal, but we could not convert on our scoring chances either. We did, however, have a successful time on special teams, as we killed-off three 2nd period penalties. The 2nd period ended with us trailing by five goals, 6-1.

The 3rd period again saw the Pirates keeping the penalty box stocked, as the referees appeared to call every little infraction against us but none on the Flukes (they had only two calls on the night). As it turned out, Ralz discovered that if you are assessed three penalties in a game, you are automatically tossed. During the three 3rd period powerplays, the Flukes only managed one goal, but at even strength they converted three more to give them a four-goal 3rd period. The Pirates did manage to put one behind the Flukes' goalie when Scott bullied his way past the defensemen and backhanded the puck through Arena (assist to Scooby). The game ended with a final score of 10-2. That is when the celebrations began as the newly-brewed “Pirate Ale” was introduced to the Sunday night team in the parking lot post-game. It is a classic IPA which will surely help drown out the horrid memories of this game.