Well, now, wasn't that special
2003-09-29: Mighty Pirates 1 at Goldmembers 6
Gentlemen,
The Pirates, in their eagerness to initiate Wednesday Night Pirate Hockey™, decided to give the Goldmembers a taste of that special experience. Unfortunately, the 'Members did not get the message, and showed up for their first meeting with the Mighty Pirates in the second preseason game of the infant 2003-2004 season, with a virtually full squad. In the meantime, the Pirates suited up with just eight (count them - 8!) skaters and a goalie. Were they nuts, or just boys who want to have fun?
Besides the ever-reliable Matthew Lella in net, the boys, sporting their home yellows, put out a formidable defensive trio in Blair Dimock, Shaun Leggett and Jonathan Gallivan, and five forwards in Nick Perri, Jim Jezioranski, Mark Sager, Dave Turner and Les Klein. The good news in that lineup was that Leggett, Jezioranski and Turner were able to take the ice for the first time in the season, and they all demonstrated mid-season form. The bad news was - well, it doesn't take a genius to assume that those boys were going to get tired really fast!
The reality, however, was dramatically different! Despite sporting a prodigious average age on the ice (with the three oldest Pirates offering to set up a "checking line" to allow the speedier younger set a chance to rest and then score), your heroes in fact took the lead early in the first with the Pirates' first goal of the season, courtesy of Jim Jezioranski who snuck the puck under the goalie after receiving a lovely feed from perennial playmaker, Nick Perri. To all observers, it looked like classic Pirate hockey from championship years past, as the veterans played their game perfectly. The early goal also had the effect of stunning the Goldmembers into a suddenly flacid state, and a much more cautious game developed. The pace of the game, however, did not slow, and the Goldmembers finally managed to put one puck by Matthew in the first to tie it, and a second in the second to take the lead 2-1.
Unfortunately, there is no mercy in hockey, and the third period also had to be played. A series of lucky bounces and the inevitable exhaustion caught up to the hometown favourites, and the Goldmembers went on a scoring spree, popping what seemed to be a goal a minute in the first four minutes of the third period. Despite several heroic efforts, especially on the parts of all three defensemen, who jumped forward to create several amazing scoring chances and give the forwards a moment to catch their breaths, the last two thirds of the period passed without further scoring, and the final score, most deceiving at first glance, showed the Pirates at the short end of a 6-1 final.
There were stars for the boys, of course, and one would argue that just showing up for the game deserved at least a Congressional Medal of Honour, but a few nominations include:
- Shaun Leggett, who played amazing defense, and showed incredible heart when, after taking a sizzling shot to the foot in front of our net that would have felled any mere mortal, went back on the ice and played the rest of the game, even taking the puck end-to-end when he found no one else to pass to to create yet another scoring opportunity.
- Matthew Lella, who once again played against unbelievable odds, and kept it close for so long.
- Captain Vito Mola, who despite being unable to dress for the game, showed up and led the team from the bench with constant encouragement and a positive spirit.
Everyone else deserves mention, though, including Jezioranski and Perri, who notched the first two points of the young Pirate season; Sager and Turner, who covered their positions like Hudson's Bay blankets; Dimock, who despite endless provocation, managed to stay nearly penalty-free (taking only one necessary one to break up a horrible break-away); Gallivan, who gave a clinic on the meaning of the term "end-to-end hockey;" and Klein, who at least showed up.
Injuries and no-shows seem to be the headline-grabbing issues that are molding the early part of the Pirate season. With veteran Mandell out indefinitely, and serious nagging injuries to stalwarts Toth (who has yet to play a game this season) and Captain Mola, work-related diseases hitting Mutch, Kwinter, Khatter and Levine, and illness sapping Bingham, the Pirates have yet to muster a full squad to face their foes. While the strategy is generally in line with their preseason workout system, the level of effort required for these early games threatens to affect the morale of the team. Demotion looms unless things turn around dramatically in the next two games.
The next game, however, will not be much better, as several players (Klein, Sager, Kwinter, Mandell and Levine) are planning a hunger strike on Monday to protest poor turnouts, and will likely be unable to play. With continuing nagging injuries, it appears that the best the boys may be able to muster will be nine skaters, if everyone else shows up. Then, there will be the Thanksgiving and bye week layoffs, and the boys will not be back on the ice after next Monday until October 27. The only good news to come out of this may be that efforts will be accelerated to pu the Wednesday Night Pirate Skate™ into place before the end of the month, to get those rickety bodies back into shape for when the real season kicks off in November.
Stay tuned, and in the meantime,
GO PIRATES!!!
Howie
