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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.

Pirates Bid Adieu to Dry Division in Style
2004-11-08: Mighty Pirates 5 vs. Mid-Ice Crisis 0

Their fate already sealed by fiat from the powers that be at True North Hockey Canada, the Pirates had just one (or maybe two) motivations directing their efforts as they took the ice last Monday night against the Mid-Ice Crisis for their last game this season in the Molson Dry Division. Motivation #1 had to be salvaging a vestige of honour from their extraordinarily long preseason, which had seen the boys in yellow winless in six games (with a record of 0-5-1) and outscored 11-36. Motivation #2 may have been a modicum of vengeance for the 3-6 loss in the Summer Pirates' championship game of the 2004 playoffs.

But this was in the abstract, because all they were really doing was playing just another game of hockey. Would this be another drubbing at the hands of a skilled, motivated, youthful, speedy squad worthy of the Molson Dry Division, or would Pirate Brand Hockey® finally show its face again after a lengthy absence?

Your heroes were lucky to be able to put on the ice virtually their entire squad for the game. With only Rob Kwinter missing, Matthew Lella stood in net and demonstrated that he is already gaining his mid-season stride. Captain Vito set up three forward lines as follows: John Mutch centering Vito Mola and Shaun Leggett; Nick Perri centering Auby Mandell and Mark Sager; and Jonathan Gallivan centering Jim Jezioranski and Dave Turner. Defense was manned by Richard Bingham, Todd Kitchen, Blair Dimock, Jim Butler and Les Klein.

The boys were ready for some rough and tumble play, but were quite surprised that with their focus intact, they were suddenly winning races to the puck, passing with effectiveness, covering their opponents and by and large controlling the flow of the play. In short, real life Pirate Brand Hockey®! And then, smack dab in the middle of the first period, Nick Perri connected with Auby Mandell, who did not miss with his shot on goal, and the Pirates were in flight. The celebrations on the bench were subdued and tempered with the reality of the previous six games. As a result, focus on the part of the Pirates did not wash away in a wave of exhilaration — rather, the goal redoubled their resolve to stay the course, and continue to concentrate on the fundamentals.

Imagine their glee when the first period ended with the Pirates ahead 1-0. More of the same sparked the second period, as the good guys stuck to the game plan, until — with 6:49 remaining — the magical pair of Perri and Mandell responded to the chants of the crowd and reprised their beauty play of Period 1 with another one-two play to make it 2-0. This time the bench was a little more boisterous in expressing their pleasure, and it was Captain Mola who reminded them to keep their heads. But at the end of the second period, the Pirates were actually in control 2-0.

Feeling for the first time in the season a bit of the confidence that they once knew, the third period started out with a remarkable show of offensive prowess, as with just 24 seconds elapsed, Jim Jezioranski (in hot pursuit along with John Mutch of the all-time team lead in scoring, currently held by the legendary Mike Stein — check out the Record Watch at PirateHockey.ca!) took a perfect pass from Blair Dimock (himself playing as though the injury that has plagued him for much of the last year was a figment of everyone else's imagination) to make it 3-0. And just to make sure that no one missed it, he did it again just 38 seconds later, capitalizing on an amazing display of grit and determination by Dave Turner, who stole the puck at the Crisis blue line, kept it in the zone, shoveled it over to Gallivan, who in turn fed it to the hot stick of Jim J. and the game was beginning to look like it was under the exclusive control of the Mighty Pirates Hockey Club. Just to make sure, halfway through the period, rookie defenseman Jim Butler, who had played a stellar game protecting the goalie, set up a give-and-go with Vito Mola and Nick Perri (who chalked up a three point game in his own right!) and took the puck to the by-now non-plussed Crisis goalie and showed that the Pirate front office was right in bringing him up early from the WSIB Pirate farm team to the big club — his first goal of the season, but we know that it will by no means be his last!

Then the unthinkable happened — someone on the bench uttered the word "shutout" out loud! A chill went through the entire squad, and each Pirate vowed that he would not be the one to let the goalie (and new father) down in the wake of this, his best effort of the season. Through six minutes and 17 seconds of grueling hockey, with the Mid-Ices making attack after attack, the Pirates stood them up and kept them from scoring. It helped that the third period was not marred by any penalties for either side (at least none that were called!), so the boys could keep their well-oiled machine running smoothly. In the end, the shutout was in fact preserved, and the Pirates were able to say good-bye to the Molson Dry Division with their heads held high.

Was it that the Mid-Ice Crisis was tired and unfocussed, or was it that the Pirates are a much better team? No, that was a game like the ones that the Pirates hope to see in the Coors Light Division, where any team on any given day can win or lose, and where the one that plays the more focused and more disciplined game will prevail. While no one will know if the Pirates could have turned it around in the Dry, it was certainly clear that the disparity in skills in that division would have taken a severe psychological toll. Some observers were heard to muse that an intermediate division made up of the best two or three teams from the Coors Light and two or three of the weaker teams from the Dry would make for interesting competition as well, but we are not privy to the vagaries of scheduling in the new world of three rinks at RINX. Let them do their job and we will do ours...

So, the real play begins on Monday, November 15 at 9:00 p.m. at RINX 3 against the Komets. The Komets are winless in the Coors Light, so at least on paper, they are possibly the worst team in TNHC. But the Pirates know that in their world, no team is a pushover, and every game must be approached as though it is against the very best, demanding 32 minutes of Pirate Brand Hockey®. So be there and find out if they can keep up the momentum and climb slowly up the ranks from their current position in sixth place (although in reality four teams are currently tied in points for fourth place) towards the light at the top.

One critical tool that will help in that climb will be the return of the Wednesday Night Pirate Skate™, scheduled to begin this Wednesday, November 17 at 11:00 p.m. at Fenside arena (location to be confirmed). This remarkable tradition has been the glue that has cemented the team into the powerhouse of years past. If the boys show discipline and incorporate this event into their rigorous training regimen, then the world of hockey is in for a real treat for the rest of the 2004-2005 season. Stay tuned — the boys are back!

GO PIRATES!!! VIVA LOS PIRATAS!!!

Howie