(vol.
27S, no. 10; newsletter by brooks)
To say the least, this Semifinals was the most tested the Pirates were all season. The Chiefs went with Blackhawks' goalie Steve Carr in net and that in itself is a huge hurdle. As usual, #67 came to play hard against us, but it was what he forgot that did them in ... We will get back to him shortly. The Pirates had a full, ten-man crew: Up front was Tim-Tony-Brooks and DiPierro-Murf-Farkas; on defense Russ-Gucci-LeMatty rotated until a slightly-late (but “vouched-for-by-Gucci”) Kevin suited-up.
The Pirates would get on the board first at the 16:00-minute mark with a pretty goal by Murf (assist to Farkas). As is customary, Glenn had taken a shot/pass from an impossible angle and Murf bounced it off Steve's head and in. The Chiefs would knots thing up 1-1 about 8:00-minutes later, but before the Pirates would score the next two: Another Murf tally on a rebound scramble from Dan DiPierro's shot, and then Tony's one-timer from Brooks. (editor's note: Dan's biggest play of the night would come at the post-game “meeting” when he paid-off his “fines” with a 12-pack of Corona™ that he pulled-out from the trunk of his new Cadillac.) The Chiefs would again make it a one-goal game after they scored their second to make it 3-2 at the end of the 1st period.
Unlike the 1st period, the final 22:00 minutes was more of a tight defensive period. It looked like the one-goal lead would hold and the Pirates would be headed into the Finals, but then the Chiefs netted a goal — with just 2:00-minutes remaining — to make it 3-3 at the end of regulation. Both harris and Steve put on a show to keep their respective teams in it. Now it gets better ...
During the 3:00-minute Overtime, both teams had many opportunities, but a Kevin turnover led to what would be the games best moment. He lost the puck on a @#*%$# tile and Harris made a great sprawling save to keep it tied.
The Shootout: The Chiefs went first and Pirates second during the three-man Shootout. Brooks would get a goal as the Pirates first shooter ... Harris makes a nice save on the Chiefs first attempt. Russ is denied and so is the Chiefs second shooter ... LeMatty is stopped and the Chiefs final shooter scores to push a sudden-death Shootout. Kevin, Tony and Murf all shoot to no avail, but all four attempted shots from the Chiefs are stopped as well. Finally our seventh shooter, Gucci, skates to center ice: After hitting his head late in the 3rd period, Gucci was seeing three goalies — but all that mattered is that he saw four nets, because one slapshot later we had the victory.
Way back I made a point about what #67 “forgot” before — it turned out to be the puck. During his turn on the Shootout against Harris, he skated down the middle and left the puck just sitting there in front. It's probably a good thing though #67, because Harris was going to make you look silly and send you home in tears. As for Steve Carr: He is a good friend of mine, and he played like a champ this night ... but it wasn't quite enough, buddy. (He is a regular reader of the Pirate newsletters incidentally). By the way, I took my daily dumb penalty by punching a Chiefs player in the back of the head. Oh well, I will never learn. Next we play the St. Pats for the Title. GO PIRATES!
date of game: 11.26.06
editor's note: We're not sure which “dumb penalty” the above screen grab from the GoodSports “League Suspensions” site refers to, but it's safe to say that Brooks is immortalized in more places then just the Pirate “Legends” page.
