WEDNESDAYS #1 vs. BOTTOM FEEDERS:

(vol. 34W, no. 1; newsletter by r.n.)
From the BlackBerry™ of Captain Russ ...
The Pirates opened the new Wednesday season with a somewhat sloppy victory over the Bottom Feeders. The M.I.B. played with a full set of ten including forwards Brian, Russ, Scott L, John, Dave and Scott M. The defense was Gucci, Kevin, Mike and Eddie. The highlight of the night by far was the return of Evan Miller, even if just as a spectator. Evan is just down to crutches as extra equipment now and was his jovial self.

The 1st period was full of a lot of loose pucks and loose play. The Pirates scored a rare short-handed goal when I pressured the BF's “D” and deflected an outlet pass to the boards. Scott L broke to the net, gathered the backhand pass and deposited the disk adroitly in the lower corner of the net. Harris came up big on a number of saves after our turnovers, and as a result the BFs had only a single tally after the 1st period.

We took a 2-1 lead in the final period on a 2-on-1 that turned into a 2-on-none after some good passing left their defenseman spinning. Scott L crossed in front of the keeper and sent a backhand pass across the front of the emptynet to me for the easy tip in. We opened the lead to 3-1 on a Kevin blast off a great feed from Gucci after an outlet from Harris. Since Harris never gets a minus in the +/- as a goalkeeper, I guess he is now assured a lifetime positive rating in that statistic as I have decided to award him an honorary +1 for the game!

The victory was complete when Scott L raced down rink to retrieve a loose puck, cut back on the chasing defenseman and deposited the puck in the empty net.

I don't think any of us would want to show a videotape of this one to our future grandchildren, but a well-deserved workmanlike victory to start the Summer session is hard to frown upon.

FOR THE RECORD*
Attendance (players): Scott Miller, Dave, Brian, LeMatty, Mike, Kevin, Gucci, Wildman, Russ, Ed. Net: Harris
Scratches: none.
Scoring: 1st period: 1-1 tie: Goal by LeMatty (Russ), SHG; 3rd period: 4-1 Pirates: Goals by Russ (LeMatty); Kevin (Gucci, Harris); LeMatty (#67), empty net.
*The accuracy of these stats are not guaranteed since they have not been reviewed by Brooks.
date of game: 6.12.08