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After extensive contract negotiations, the Mighty Pirates organization is extremely pleased to welcome back Howie for another season of insightful, amusing, and extremely addictive commentary! Yes, Howie tells it like it is!

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CAPTAIN MOLA SAYS NO TO SECOND CUP
2008-09-15: Mighty Pirates 5 vs. Nordiques 1

Newly reappointed captain of the Mighty Pirates (v.2008-2009), Vito Mola, made it clear in no uncertain terms that, in this 16th year of the storied hockey organization, Second Cup was not good enough ™ nothing less than Starbucks will do. With both the MPs of 2007-2008 and the Summer Pirates of 2008 having earned a hard-fought trip to the Finals only to see their championship dreams slip away in the final moments of their respective seasons, the Captain raised his own cup and invited the rest of the Pirates to join him in toasting the coming season, declaring ™ by crumpling his flimsy paper container into the trash ™ that only first class performances will be acceptable this year.

The Captain has much upon which he can confidently base his strategy. With the notable exception of the injured Nick Perri, the entire original roster from 2007-2008 has returned. The powerful centers, John Mutch and Jonathan Gallivan are back, along with left wingers Dave Turner, Mark Sager and Allan Phillips, and right wingers, Auby Mandell, Shaun Leggett and the Captain himself. The defense is solid with Evan Mintz, Richard Bingham, Chris Besant, Jim Jezioranski, Rob Kwinter and Les Klein. As always, Matthew Lella, one of three original Pirates, will stand again between the pipes. In addition, he and Mighty Pirates General Manager, the mysterious Roger Jolie, have signed veteran Mike Sousa, once a stalwart on the MP forward line, to a new long-term contract - a crafty decision, given that Mike can play center, right wing or defense with equal skill, and possesses a rocket slap shot that was honed to shocking precision in the summer season just past. And going back to a strategy successfully utilized for the first time last season, there are also three substitutes on the roster ready to jump in at a moment's notice should their services be called for: Tim Sturgeon, goalkeeper extraordinaire for the Summer Pirates, back-up to Lella and a solid presence on left wing; Gio Tassone, stalwart defenseman for the Summer Pirates, who ably filled Nick Perri's skates in midseason last year; and Steve Zsirai, right winger and rock star, who shined in the Summer Pirate season just past as a high-scoring and slick-skating rookie.

Expecting a full roster for the first game of the preseason against the Nordiques (0-1-0) ™ also fresh off a visit to the TNHC finals in the summer ™ Captain Mola saw the team fall to WTHAT ("Where the heck are they?") syndrome, as Phillips, Kwinter, Mandell, Bingham and Mintz in succession dropped off the list. Luckily, Sturgeon and Tassone were available to fill the spots and the Pirates were able to send out two centers, three sets of wingers and two defensive lines.

Though the Summer Pirates had finished their season just 168 hours before, so that most of the skaters should have been well-tuned, there were clearly preseason jitters out on the ice, as passing was tentative and shots were few and far between. But Sager and Mutch combined on a lovely effort early on, as Sager's persistence paid off in front of the net, resulting in his putting the puck past the goalie who had stopped two shots by Mutch, just 1:12 into the season, and the Pirates were off to the races. While the rest of the first period was scoreless, it was by no means uneventful, as the Nordiques goalie stood on his head to stop scoring chances, while Lella appeared to be already in midseason form, moving smoothly from side to side and in and out of the crease, to keep the Nordiques off the score board.

In the second period, just 1:10 in, Gallivan began a remarkable run of what would be four goals in a row to cap a productive first game in his run for the division scoring title yet again. Working the give and go with Sousa, he picked the upper corner of the net ™ seemingly the only place the Nordiques' goalie could not defend ™ and made it count. Only Klein's give-away at the Pirates' own blue line, feeding a pass right onto the tape of a charging Livingstone, who did not miss his opportunity to put it past a sprawling Lella, supplied the Nordqiues with their only score of the evening. Gallivan added two more goals using the same modus operandi, with Besant and Mola assisting on the first and Besant and Tassone on the second, and it was 4-1 at the end of the second.

The Nordiques never gave up, but also never allowed the game to devolve into chippiness. There were just three penalties in total, two on the Pirates and one on the Nordiques. Gallivan added another goal late in the third to make it a 5-1 final, and the first game of the season was in the books.

All in all, the Pirates were pleased with the outcome, as witnessed by the excellent turnout at the post-game Beer-and-Wings Banquet and Press Conference. The reporters were aggressive in their questions, but Captain Mola kept the message simple: Watch out for the Pirates ™ flimsy caps and second place T-shirts will just not cut it this year. He wants the Starbucks Cup, he intends to make it happen and he will lead by example!

A fine effort it was to start off the new schedule, and it continues next week at 11:10 on Monday against the Scorpions (0-0-1), whom the Pirates know well from the summer and winter. Always fast and always pressing, they will challenge the Pirates at every turn. Be at RINX 2 to see how it all unfolds!

GO PIRATES!!! VIVA LOS PIRATAS!!!