The Drought Continues... Refs Unfair to Blair
2004-01-26: Mighty Pirates 0 at Goldmembers 1

The game against the Goldmembers last Monday night was a most bizarre event. Don't mention the 1-0 score, which could have gone either way at any time in the game, were it not for the stellar play of both Pirate goalkeeper Matthew Lella and the 'Members' goalie as well. Don't mention the weather, which should have left both squads at skeleton strength on the bench, but resulted instead in a full 15 skater bench on the Pirates end. Don't mention the penalties (eight against the Pirates, including the double minor and subsequent game ejection for Blair Dimock and six against the 'Members), at times making the game appear to be Players vs. Refs rather than Pirates vs. 'Members. Don't mention the fact that the Pirates, not having scored on five power play opportunities in this game, have seen their power play record drop to an abysmal 10% (3 goals in 30 chances). Don't mention that the possibility of Captain Vito Mola's return to action on the ice seems to be receding faster than Klein's hairline.

No, what was truly bizzare was that despite the fact that the Pirates have not scored in two successive games and 68 minutes and 4 seconds of hockey, there were still things to be happy about. As the boys gathered for the 10:15 p.m. contest and the snow was flying all over the GTA, former captains Shaun Leggett and Richard Bingham took the team's reins into their hands and set the lines as they saw fit. Defense was manned by Blair Dimock, Michael Levine, Richard Bingham, Shaun Leggett, Peter Toth and Kapil Khatter. Forward lines were John Mutch with Jonathan Gallivan and Les Klein; Rob Kwinter with Auby Mandell and Mark Sager; and Jim Jezioranski with Nick Perri and Dave Turner. Matthew Lella, as usual, patrolled the pipes.

The early action was all 'Members, as they bottled up the Pirates in their own zone and fired shot after shot, from the point, the slot and point blank. It took a while for the Pirates to regroup, and from then on, it was a seesaw battle. The ugliness started early, as a gratuitous shove by the 'Members designated SOB #7 against a timid Klein at the Pirates' blue line set Klein off on a tirade that seemed to ionize the atmosphere, and the animosity spread through the ranks like an avian flu. Although Dimock took a double minor within the first minute, there was 3:21 left on the clock in the first period when #7 got his and was sent to the sin bin for the first of three times. After that, it was a parade to the box for both teams, as it appeared that the refs were selling tickets. Clearly they were working hard to regain control of a game they had let get out of hand, but the ultimate irony was when they ejected Blair Dimock 3-1/2 minutes into the second for delay of game, because he fell on the puck and could not get up due to the pounding that the 'Members were giving him with their sticks. Blair was of course furious and frustrated. We can only hope that he can put the refs' errors behind him and come back to shore up the Pirates' defense in the next game.

Well, with the lines totally mixed up and the offense and defense on ad hoc mode due to the amount of time lost to penalties, you would have thought the team would have been in disarray. In fact, the exact opposite was true. The deftness with which Pirates filled in the holes in the positions on the ice was astounding, and as the game wore on, the resolve of the boys in yellow not to let Matthew down for his extraordinaty effort became stronger and stronger. Forwards dropped back to break up rushes, defensemen sacrificed life and limb to break up attacks and positional play was the order of the day. In fact, except for the one goal that got away late in the first period, the Pirates defense and penalty kill were perfect. They managed to kill off five penalties, raising their penalty-killing percentage to an astounding 95%!

So where do the boys go from here? With six games left in the regular season, they will have to step it up if they do not wish to be this year's doormats in the playoffs. This coming Monday, they face ever-poorly-named Slowetry in Motion at 6:00 p.m. on RINX 2. It will require the Pirates to leave work around 4:00 p.m. to beat the weather, the traffic and the S-I-Ms!

Howie