SUNDAYS #9 vs. BULLDOGS:

(vol. 22S, no. 9; newsletter by k.r.)
What is worse than having to play the Bulldogs? Having to play them with four skaters. That was the situation that the Pirates found themselves in on Sunday for the first 8:00 minutes of the game. Word had it that because of the capacity crowd there to watch the undefeated Pirates, some players were unable to find spaces in the parking lot and that caused them to be late to the bench. The Pirates opened the game with Harris in goal as usual — and that was the last thing typical of any other Sunday. Playing defense was the duo of Chris Goione and Keith Richardson, with Glenn Farkas and Brian Newcomb being the only two players up front.

Truly, this is a tale of two games: Playing with four skaters was a big problem. Players were coming in as the game was in progress and by the look on Keith's face they could tell that they needed to dress quickly. The Bulldogs took full advantage of their 8:00-minute powerplay and they were able to run up the score to 4-0 before Gucci took to the ice, giving the players a “full” crew. (editor's note: because we anticipated we might need subs, we had arranged for Gucci play — he is on our Sunday roster too — but the Bulldogs wouldn't give their consent to his playing on a second “B” squad until after the game began ... and by that time Gucci was in the pro-shop fixing his stick.) About 2:00 minutes after Gucci had stopped the bleeding, the ironmen on the rink where joined by Bobby Currao, Mike Farrell and Kevin, giving the Pirates a comfortable eight-man lineup. Not too long after the Pirates made it a five-on-five game, Glenn tallied the first goal on a feed from Chris. The Bulldogs would capitalize twice more time in the remaining 14:00 minutes — ironically once on a shorthanded goal — and the Men In Black trailed 6-1 at the break.

The final period was an entirely different story, however. The lines were reorganized to have a defense rotation of Gucci-Kevin-Mike, with the five forwards being Chris, Glenn, Keith, Bobby and Brian. During the final 22:00 minutes, the Pirates scored three times — on goals by Brian, Chris and Mike; Chris would add an assist as well to cap off a three-point night. The final was 8-4 Bulldogs which means that the Pirates won the second half. You can't help but wonder what would have been if a full roster started the game. In any event, while this is still a loss it is the first one of the Summer season and letting up eight goals almost equaled our total for the previous seven games combined. It still showed that we can now skate with one of the best teams at GoodSports. This is good to know because the season closes out with the Lumberjacks and the Blackhawks.
date of game: 8.07.05