(vol.
42W, no. 8; newsletter by b.n.)
What the heck happened last Wednesday?
Was it the Stanley Cup Finals? Nope. Don't think so. The '72 Summit Series
between Canada and Russia? Nah ... Slapshot 4?(Man, I hope not ... they
got to give that franchise a rest).
In all honesty, the game (which the
Pirates won 3-2) was overshadowed by the fisticuffs and the
16:00-minutes of penalties. First it was Kevin driving to the net: As he drove down the
right wing he tried to cut back around the defenseman at the face-off
circle and towards the front of the goalie all at full speed ... but before he got there it
appeared (from the angle I was at) like one of the opposing players tried to cut him off .. and unfortunately the dude's timing was off and he drove into Kevin
when he was in front of the goalie ... which of course drove Kevin into the
goalie ... which sent the goalie flying ... and the net flying .. and Kevin
flying ... and the dude that hit Kevin flying into the pile-up as well. There was of
course a little scrum after that (nothing major, just everyone blowing
-off some steam including the opposition goalie). Afterwards it seemed that everything was under control.
But
alas, apparently not, because shortly thereafter the Hocky Teem dumped the puck
into the Pirates zone. It seemed like an innocent enough play: #67 played
the puck in front of him and passed the puck up to the center of the rink.
It must have been three seconds later that a player from the Hockey Teem
came flying-in and delivered a punch to #67's chest and knocked him to the
ice. (I had a great view of this play by the way.) It would be one thing if
it was a “bang-bang” play, but #67 was already looking up the rink and
admiring his pass (hey, it's a no-check league so you can do that!) when the
blow was delivered. So needless to say, #67 looks at the nearest ref and
sees that his hand is not up ... and (I hate to say this) seeing no call
being made he skates after the guy and tries to jump him (which when he
weighed 219 would have worked a lot better ... but now that he is almost 50
pounds lighter I don't even thing the guy realized that #67 was hanging on
him). Fortunately Vic was paying attention and sent the dude (after much
denial) to the penalty box for a 4:00-minute major.
#67 would take his own penalty late in the final period on a rule that I
never heard of but apparently exists only in roller hockey leagues at GoodSports: Apparently anytime
you leave your feet and someone runs into you and falls down you get a
penalty for tripping. I didn't know that. Neither did #67, as he
went down to block a shot (which he did by the way because the puck went
into the corner to the left of Harris); the Hockey Teem dude took two steps
(this according to Russ), tried to cut around the opposite side of #67 and clipped his
shoulder and went down. Boom. That's a penalty. #67 to his credit asked
for the explanation of the call and even though he didn't agree with it, he went to the penalty box like a man and didn't spend ten minutes complaining to Vic about it after the game
either.
So this mutual goodwill of both franchises sets-up a nice Semifinals match, as we face the Hockys for our first Playoff game this week. Should be fun!
FOR THE RECORD
Attendance (players): Cassens, Farrell, Genalo, LeMatty, Newcomb, Nicolosi, Matthews, Maccanico (sub), McLaughlin (sub). Net: Harris.
Scratches: Gesior (AWOL).
Injured Reserve: Gucci (season, bicep), Miller (3 weeks, ankle).
Scoring: 1st period: 2-1 Pirates: Goals by Matthews (McLaughlin); Farrell (none). 3rd period: 3-2 Pirates: Goal by McLaughlin (none).
date of game: 7.14.10
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE ...
In keeping with the theme of this newsletter, above a 17-year-old Scott LeMatty is involved in an altercation. Scott, who is untypically on the receving end of that right hook, claims that the punch missed him. Hmmm ....
(Click photo to enlarge)
