WEDNESDAYS #4 vs. PINE ACRES:

(vol. 21W, no. 4; newsletter by b.n.)
There was a time when everyone thought that the world was flat. There was also a time when people thought that washing with soap and water was bad. Way back in the olden days, there was a time when the Coastal Pirates could go a span of several months before amassing three losses. Nowadays it only takes a couple weeks. Sure, you could chalk up last week's 7-1 spanking at the hands of the Lumberjacks to the fact that they were, in fact, an “A” division team and (let's face it) the Pirates are definitely not in their league. But this week's match up, that pitted the Pirates against the never-before-scene Pine Acres was a different story. Going into the game, there was uncertainty in the air as the Pirates scoped out their new opponents. The uncertainty didn't last long, however.

The Pirates started the game with Harris, as he usually is (except when he isn't) in the net. On offense, The Bros. Miller paired with Wildman, while LeMatty (subbing for the Craig) teamed-up with Jimmy and Roger. With Keith Richardson on the IR (full report below), Mike Farrell subbed on the blueline with #67. Dave Matthews was definitely on the bench — he being the third defenseman — in the rotation of three. The thing that seemed to be apparent early was that the Pine Acres' crew knew what they were doing. To start the game, they gained possession of the puck and seemed to have an uncanny knack of hitting the open player with a pass. The Pirates were able to withstand some early barrages, but it seemed like the puck was constantly on their sticks and inevitably it ended-up in the back of our net by the 17:00 minute mark. From that point on, the goals came fast and furious, and before the Pirates knew what hit them the score was 6-0. The Pirates were left shaking their heads and trying to figure out what hit them. And that was only the 1st period.

Perhaps it was the fact that Keith wasn't around to help on defense — or perhaps it was because #67 was around to help on defense. Whatever the case, Harris (the only Pirate on this side of the Mason-Dixon line with a letter on the front of his jersey) made changes between periods, and #67 found himself on offense while Scott LeMatty came back in an effort to stop the bleeding. Maybe it worked, or maybe the Pineys let up a little, but whatever the case, the Pirates seemed to at least hold their own in the final period. More than 20:00 minutes of penalties were handed-out in the final 22:00 minutes of action, and it took Brooks nearly as long to sort of the mess and hand out the judgments (including a game misconduct for a Piney). Although neither team capitalized on the five powerplays, the Pirates did manage to at least get a puck in the net when Scott Miller fed #67 for a one-timer; the goalie made the initial save but sent the puck straight up in the air; before #67 could swat at the rebound, the goalie swatted into his own net. Fine, we'll take it. If you see the glass as “half full” then you could say we tied the Pine Acres in the final period 1-1; however, if you view the glass as “half empty” then we lost 7-1 — for the second week in a row. Ouch!
date of game: 3.28.05

Here is the latest status report for Keith Richardson: Keith will be on crutches until this Thursday. He's wearing a brace on his knee 24-hours a day for the next three weeks — and every time he does something physical for now on (this includes raking leaves). He may start physical therapy in the next week or two. The good news is that his back is fine and he's back to work (if that's a good thing!). The team doctor has him out of the line-up for four more weeks, so hopefully we'll see Keith back in “Black” for the playoffs.