www.coastalpirates.com

WEDNESDAYS #9 vs. GERIATRICS:

(vol. 8W, no. 9; newsletter by b.n.)
The regular season ended this past Wednesday and it ended much the same way that it began. For those of you that can remember, we opened the regular season with a victory over the Geriatrics and on Wednesday we closed it out against those very same "Gerrys." In between those two games was a season of disappointment. All we were able to muster was a tie against the Rhinos while taking more than our share of thumpings in a schedule that had more than its share of 11:00pm games. The buzz before the game was clearly the appearance of both of the Gerry goalies. What were they thinking? Were they expecting a blowout and were prepared to pull Depip and insert Doug (who filled in Sunday for the Pirates)? Or perhaps they were going to rotate the goalies by period? Nope, neither one ... as it turned out, Depip was dressed as a defenseman for the night's contest.

The game began with the line of BB, Scott and #67 reunited for the first time in quite a while (kudos to Scott for suggesting the re-pairing). The line wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard; after holding the puck in the Gerry end for most of the first shift, #67 took the puck at the blueline and passed to Scott who was just inside the left faceoff circle. #67 cut to the net and Scott hit him perfectly with the return pass. #67 roofed the puck over Doug Collimore's right shoulder to complete the pretty give-and-go. The score marked the end of a long drought for #67 (according to Harris, that was the longest goal-less streak in Coastal Pirate history). The line would score another goal (well sort of -- BB & Scott were on the floor, but #67 had not yet stepped on the floor) when BB took the puck behind the net, circled around the left side of the goalie and fired a wrister from the faceoff circle to beat Collimore. I have no recollection of the 3rd goal. However, I have been informed by Harris that Roger scored it on a feed from Chris. Score after 1st was 3-0.

The 2nd period saw Glen Chambers pass the puck up to #67 who outskated the Gerry "D' for a breakaway. #67 was able to make a move that dropped Collimore to his pads, then roofed it for his second goal of the night. I don't remember the 5th goal. However, after once again checking with Harris, I vaguely sort of remember Chris taking a one-timer from Wildman for the score. I do remember though that after the Pirates scored the fifth goal, word spread around the bench that the team should pay more attention to "D" and try to get Harris the shutout. The word didn't help though because one of the Gerry's was able to grab the puck inside the blueline and fire a shot along the floor that was able to beat the outstretched pad of Harris for the score. Score after the 2nd was 5-1.

Now a word on Depip. He's a big dude. Allen's a pretty big dude too. One of the funniest plays of the night was when the two of them were going at it in front of the Gerry goal. It was the classic case of the unstoppable force vs the immovable object. As the two tangled, the puck came to Allen (from Dave) who promptly fired it into the net. And that was the night. There were a lot of other chances throughout the night, with #67 trying for the hat, but Collimore clamped down in the 3rd and made some great saves. Great play by all of the team. Maybe next season we can get the Gerry's every week.

Now an import word on Pirate Etiquette: If you attend the "meeting" after the game, it is important to remember that whatever you say is a matter of public record and therefore subject to pop up in the newsletter without warning. The newsletter has an obligation to keep the rest of the team members aware of the goings on of the team. Some people have to work or just can't make the meeting after the game -- therefore they rely on the newsletter to fill them in on "meeting's" important topics. With that said, it is important to remember that if you suddenly have the urge to say, "I probably shouldn't tell you this.." -- You would be right. Don't tell me. If I was a journalist (which thankfully I'm not) I would be obligation-bound to report what I heard. So, let that be your warning.

P.S. If anyone wants to know what I'm talking about, bring $20.00 next week and I will sell you the rights to the story as told to me. Finally, Congrats to Chris for the regular-season scoring title. Hopefully the curse that followed the last winner of that honor doesn't carry over to you.