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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!

You'll find links to each and every Howie Report right here after each game.

The "Howie-Les" Report
2018-09-17: Mighty Pirates 3 vs. Super Seals 3

It was a warm night on Carlton Street as the Pirates (0-0-1) took on the expansion Super Seals (0-0-1) to open the winter season.

With Sousa out of action, Mola stepped in to chose three full and spectacular forward lines: starting with the grinders, D. Turner (LW), M. Sager (C) and Phillips (RW); followed by himself (LW), Mutch (C) and Leggett (RW); and then Rosenberg (LW), Gallivan (C) and Budish (RW).

On defence he paired father and son superstars C. Besant and J. Besant, while the rookie sensation Chi made his debut working the blue line with all-star veteran Jezioranski.

A minor miscalculation saw the Super Seals (0-0-1) pounce on a puck and grab an early 0-1 lead, just 12 seconds into the game. It wasn't quite the start your heroes were expecting, and fourth string keeper Hugo Marques was wondering if it was worth the $35 (hey, that's better than the NHL pays their emergency goalies!) to come out for this at 11:00pm... even if it was Maple Leaf Gardens (3rd Floor)!

However, the Pirates didn't panic and the game settled into a steady back-and-forth flow despite the fact that the Super Seals have a graphic designer on their team and looked pretty fierce in their custom jerseys.

This was also the first time fans were getting to see Chi in action... and he did not disappoint. He can do crossovers in both directions and skate backwards stick-handling the puck, all while keeping his head up. It's a new dawn for the Pirates!

Mola was robbed early in the game with a wicked glove save; but, he would not be denied after receiving the puck in the slot from Mutch with 16 seconds left in the opening period. Tie game, 1-1.

More end-to-end action resumed in the middle frame, as both teams were more spritely than a late game would warrant. We even got to see a fancy toe drag from Phillips, a trick he must have added to his repertoire over the summer. Bring 'em on, Phillips!

Midway through the second, a Gallivan forecheck along the boards squirted the puck to Budish, who drove to the net hard. Rosenberg was in the right spot at the right time, using his soft hands to pierce the net with a real beauty, giving the Pirates their first lead of the game, 2-1.

It didn't take long for the Pirates to punish the Seals on their only penalty of the game. Gallivan eked out a faceoff win and Rosenberg smartly moved to the dot to blast home a wicked, top-shelf laser of a shot for the Bucs to regain the lead, 3-2. Unfortunately, the Seals' powerplay was almost as effective moments later, scoring just 15 seconds into their opportunity to even the score once again, 3-3.

Your heroes fought hard for two points with some late close calls, including Chi's massive blast that rang off the post in the dying minutes... but, both teams would need to settle for a clean, well-played, opening night tie.