WEDNESDAYS #4 vs. BRUINS:

(vol. 42W, no. 4; newsletter by h.s.)
A collapse. There's not much else you can say about the Wednesday game unless you opt for “debacle” which I heard another Pirate player say as he left our locker room. The unique thing about this particular collapse however, was just how well we'd played until the fateful 11:10-mark of the final period. We had a 2-0 nothing lead and were well on our way to getting back to .500 on the season. But to borrow a term from #67, I digress ...

After winning our first game of the Summer season we had dropped two straight so a win tonight was critical. With just minutes till gametime we only had three players, but by the time the puck finally dropped we had nine — the only casualty being Ed Gesior who was stuck at work. Although Gucci was sidelined (details on that in the “Injury Report” to the right of this newsletter), Marty subbed and allowed for the reunion of the famed offensive “MGM line” of him, Genalo and Miller. The other group up front was Wildman centering Russ and LeMatty. On defense we had the trio of Matthews, Farrell (making his first appearance this season), and Brian. (Note to defensemen: Telling your goalie you felt like you had a heart attack earlier in the day doesn't inspire confidence.)

Due to strong Bruin goaltending it took us nearly half of the 1st period to get on the board, but our relentless pressure was awarded with a pretty one-timer by Russ from LeMatty. That was the only goal of the period and we went into the break with a narrow 1-0 lead.

Halfway through the final frame is when things took a strange turn: Russ and a Bruin exchanged slashes and it nearly came to blows, but our Captain refused to take the bait. Both players were given a 4:00-minute major, but the real trouble began when ref Vic ordered Russ to “just get inside the *%$#@*& penalty box.” That use of profanity proved too much for our Captain and the resulting “discussion” cost Russ an additional 10-minutes in the box for verbal abuse of a ref. After the initial 4:00-minute penalties were over, Genalo put an opportune rebound from Maccanico into the net for a 2-0 lead. It had seemed we not only weathered the storm, but were even better off.

That's when Vic apparently revealed to Russ that there was no such thing as a 10:00-minute penalty and instead our Captain was told he was out of the game. Play was stopped and most of what was said can't be typed on this family site. When play resumed the Bruins began chopping away at their 2-goal deficit: First with a beautiful mid-air tip-in; then a rebound; and lastly a clean defensive-zone faceoff win with a slapshot, to leapfrog over us for the lead. We put out the extra skater for the final :90 seconds, but an errant pass landed on Bruin's tape at center ice (and the resulting emptynetter) sealed the deal.

The trouble spilled over to the parking lot — not in the soccer-riot way, but more gentlemanly as Dan Pepe made a post-game appearance saying the GoodSports version of the SOC would be investigating matters.

FOR THE RECORD
Attendance (players): Cassens, Farrell, Genalo, LeMatty, Newcomb, Nicolosi, Matthews, Miller, Maccanico (sub). Net: Harris.
Scratches: Gesior.
Injured Reserve: Gucci (2 weeks, torn bicep).
Scoring: 1st period: 1-0 Pirates: Goal by Nicolosi (LeMatty). 3rd period: 4-2 Bruins: Goal by Genalo (Maccanico).
date of game: 6.16.10