(vol.
22W, no. 11; newsletter by c.g.)
The Coastal Pirates had the honor of having four skaters and a goalie placed
on the All-Star roster this season. Craig, #19, and #67 were originally
named to the first-ever GoodSports team, and then Evan and Harris were added
as alternates. I'm not sure about how they ultimately chose the players
on the roster, but in the future I'd suggest that whomever is doing the
selecting try to balance between offensive and defensive players. Their
were actually two All-Star games being played simultaneously as the Wednesday
teams were separated four squads: East vs. West and North vs. South,
with each game alternating ice time with the other after a period of play.
Craig, #19 and Evan played for the East,
while Gucci (who was named to the team as a member of the Wave) and Harris
played for the opposing West team. You could not help but notice Mike Farrell
and Kevin, who hung around after their earlier game to watch the festivities,
and wonder how neither of them was on the floor. As it stood, all but one
person on the West team was a forward for their “usual” team,
which left us scrambling for who was going to play defense.
As we started the game the Western goalie was a no show and one of the “A”
team goalies took the place in our crease. Both teams played evenly through
the 1st period, until Craig passed a puck to a player on the Hocky Teem
(or, according to the GoodSports website, the Hocky Times), who backhanded
one past Harris for the 1-0 lead. Evan was buzzing all around the net throughout
the game, but just couldn't get one to go. With about 5:00 minutes to go
in the 1st period Dave Kurasz became the Western goalie, but having no warm-ups
allowed two shots to get past him in under 2:00 minutes.
After a half hour break (while the North and South All-Stars battled), the
final period began on a precarious note when one of our skaters went home
at the intermission — leaving only seven Western skaters to a full
Eastern squad. Craig got us back to even when he scored on a breakaway to tie
things up at 2-2. The Western team struck again (this time when a Phantom player went end-to-end and placed one just below the crossbar) and the West leapfrogged ahead 3-2 on the scoreboard. The East would battle back however,
and score two unanswered goals to regain the lead 4-3, with less than 5:00 minutes remaining. On the next shift though, #19 would score with
a backhander from the slot to beat Harris and tie the game at 4-4. Neither
team could score after that and that's the way things went into the overtime.
Craig had two plays in the 3:00-minute overtime that should have been goals,
but somehow stayed out of the net ... so it was on to the shootout. Harris
stopped our first two shooters like he always does, and Dave — who
battled back with a solid second half — was unable to stop either
Gucci or Murphy, and the game was over. Overall it was a really fun evening,
and one I hope GoodSports repeats in the future. It was great to play with
some different guys and to shoot on Harris for a change. Both the All-Star
games were close battles, and I think everyone agreed the night was a success.
date of game: 8.03.05
Pirate forwards Evan Miller, Craig Sudol and Chris
Goione played for the West All-Stars, and found themselves shooting against
Harris who was in the crease for East.
[
view the entire all-star gallery / click
here ]
