SUNDAYS #10 vs. JAGUARS:

(vol. 26S, no. 10; newsletter by j.c.)
After compiling an impressive 8-1 season record during the Summer, the Pirates began their Playoff run against the Jaguars. The No.1-seeded Pirates squared-off three times during the regular season against the Jags, outscoring them 20-2 in those outings. Although that was a promising sign, the Pirates didn't want to get too cocky, as many of them witnessed first-hand the Cinderella story that Wednesday team pulled-off in the Finals against the top seeded Team Maxwell.

All hands were on deck for this Semifinals match with the exception of Harris, who was in Florida practicing with the Panthers as they had recently dealt Roberto Luongo and needed some help.

(editor's note: this next part is from Wildman so you might notice a slight change in the prose) The Pirates played a tight forecheck and pounced when when openings were available. We had a lot of scoring chances and their goalie played well), but it looked like we outworked them. Some pretty passes, which klutzy forwards like myself could not finish. We even generated some Offense on a penalty kill.

Injury report: Wildman suffered a pop in his hamstring but skated out the rest of the game. The non-scoring forward could lose a little speed in the next few games and should be dropped from your fantasy hockey line-up in all formats unless you are really desperate.

Here's the official stats from the game:
1st joe baio (gucci)
1st gucci (none)
1st farkas (russ)
end of 1: 3-1 Pirate lead.

The final period was more of the same, with the Pirates adding another trio of goals and blanking the competition:
3rd brooks (none)
3rd russ (none) SHG
3rd brooks (ralz)
final: 6-1 Seminfinals win. Other highlights of the last 22:00 minutes included Kevin getting tagged for a pair of penalties.

Onto the Championships vs. Chiefs!
date of game: 9.10.06