(vol.
30S, no. 2; newsletter by h.s.)
Years from now while surfing the Pirate website, readers will think the Sunday debut of the new home jerseys was a one-sided affair — they'd be wrong. The Pirates had a nine-man crew (Dan and Kevin were legally absent, but Wildman subbed against the team he purportedly “created” long ago for the Friday league); The Puck Hogs, however, only had four on their bench at warm-up. In fact, the Hogs roster was so sad that they asked Cap'n Russ if Schlueter could skate with them to give them a full five-man crew. Russ O.K.'d the roster-change and Schlueter quickly gave us back our $20 in ref fees (I made that last part up). The phrase “no good deed goes unpunished” comes to mind as the Hogs soon found two more guys once the game got going and the Pirates found themselves in a back-and-forth slugfest on the scoreboard.
The 1st period scoring began with a D-to-D goal, when Mike Farrell (now #23 on his jerseys) received a pass from LeMatty and gave the Men In (New) Black the 1-0 lead at the 18:00-minute mark. It took about ten minutes, but the Hogs fought back and tallied the next two, including a breakaway goal by ref-turned-forward Schlueter; His goal was reminiscent of the classic Lindros-pushing-away-Messier footage of many years ago, when he fought off LeMatty and then one-handed a puck five-hole. The Hogs actually held onto the lead late in the period and it looked like there might be an upset in the making. But the Pirates made the most of the last few minutes: With only 3:20-remaining, Murf knotted things up, and then the “Brooks Show” got underway (assist Tony) to give the Pirates back the lead, 3-2, at the break.
The Hogs would muster another offensive barrage and they quickly tied things up 3-3 at the start of the final period. The Pirates, however, seemed to grow tired of this see-saw battle and banged-in four, unanswered goals during the next 18:00-minutes: LeMatty (assist Brooks); Brooks (unassisted); Anthony (assist Mike); and Ralz (assist Tony). So, the “new jersey jinx” is officially broken for both nights and the Pirates — albeit with slightly more trouble than they anticipated — continue their Sunday unbeaten streak.
date of game: 7.22.07
SIX SOLD SO FAR! DON'T MISS OUT ...
From the person who brought you Coastal Pirate cookies and custom handmade Pirate lollipops (yes, Debbie — aka “Gucci's Girl”) comes her latest creation: Customized Pirate eyeglass cases. These sturdy plastic shells have a Jolly Roger imprinted on them and Debbie will customize yours to your own specs! Best of all she's priced 'em cheap: $5 for name & number or $9 for name, number and team name. They're limited to 24 pieces and Deb is donating the profits to the post-game “meeting” fund — how's that for team spirit?!
( only $5-$9 / click here to order )
