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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 Lessons of History
2005-11-21: Mighty Pirates 1 vs. Mid-Ice Crisis 4

Howie has seen this movie before, and it has taken him much of the week to figure out how to write the review. Self-righteous indignation fills the Pirate locker room after the game, complaints about the reffing and the dirty play of the other team, memories of recent injuries sustained and injustices witnessed abound — and of course the Pirates are at the short end of the score. A few quiet voices attempt to raise the point that self-righteousness can go both ways, that the refs called what they saw, that maybe there was a bit of dirty play on the part of some Pirates as well, that injuries and injustices were in fact in abundance with respect to both benches — and that in the end, the Pirates are playing in an adult non-contact beginner recreational hockey league. A suggestion is made that perhaps — just perhaps — a measure of restraint and consideration is required to make such a league work. That perhaps — just perhaps — the Pirates were bringing much of this on themselves by crossing a line in terms of their aggressive play. That perhaps — just perhaps — the Pirates were out-played by a better team and took their frustrations out on the opposition with some cheap shots, which engendered cheap shots in return, which encouraged more rough-housing, which...

Remember the ugly incident of a few seasons ago involving our summertime affiliate, in which one of the Pirate players was physically attacked — mauled — and our indignation rose against the other team and the imposition of a suspension against the Pirate involved as well? There was a lesson to be learned there. Yes, the Pirates were the victims, and yes, in the end the suspension on the Pirate was lifted, but there was a lesson there. What was the lesson? That in fact there are a few Pirates who seem to forget the level of hockey that they are supposed to be playing and that there is really NO reason to go hard into another player on the boards, even if "I was just going for the puck." There is a measure of self-restraint that is required to avoid body contact, to avoid potential injury, to avoid situations that might arouse retaliation. No matter how much you are "into the game," you must remember that everyone on the ice and the bench has a job to go to in the morning, and that after all, this is supposed to be fun.

So how do you avoid the crashes and the "chippiness" and the "cheap shots?" You do it the way the Mid-Ice Crisis did it last Monday evening against the Pirates — by winning the races to the puck, by moving it up the ice using crisp passes, by positioning their players to be in the right place at the right time, by avoiding — not seeking — contact when in control of the play, and by staying calm even if your opponent loses focus. The game between these two perennial rivals ought to have been a fun and relatively even contest, and the score at the end suggested that it was by no means a blow-out, but the reality on the ice was that the Mid-Ice Crisis played their game to a tee. They won those races to the puck, brought in two or three men on every rush, clogged up the neutral zone with forechecking and backchecking (hence their moniker "mid-ice crisis") and concentrated on strong defence.

Their scoring opportunities came only on Pirate breakdowns. Of course, breakdowns often came to the Pirates as a result of being short-handed, which they were plenty during the game. In fact, the Mighty Pirates were assessed a grand total of five — count 'em, five — penalties in the course of the game, costing them precious minutes and countless scoring chances, and landing them at the top of the heap in terms of penalty minutes in the division. Is that something to be proud of? Howie thinks not...

But let us start at the beginning. Four regulars were scratches for the game, including Blair Dimock (ever the dependable dad), Shaun Leggett (suffering the results of being an ever-dependable dad), Jim Jezioranski (getting to the rink and discovering the costs of being an ever-dependable dad — "where the hell did I leave my skates?") and goalie Matthew Lella (also a dad, but with bruised ribs from a warm-up shot before the game two weeks ago). Regular Summer Pirates netminder Tim Sturgeon graciously stepped in between the pipes, and in fact did everything he could to keep the Pirates in the game. Captain Vito Mola chose to go with two defensive pairs, two centers and three sets of wingers. Rob Kwinter, Richard Bingham, Paul Matusek and Mark Cooper were at the blue line, John Mutch and Jonathan Gallivan played centers, and Les Klein and Nick Perri, Vito Mola and Dave Turner, and Mark Sager and Auby Mandell took the wings.

Within the first few minutes, the Pirates had gotten themselves into penalty trouble and were forced to kill off time. The Crisis scored at full strength with just 22 seconds off the clock and capitalized on their first power play opportunity later in the period, and took a 2-0 lead into the second period. Not that the Pirates did not have their chances. They found themselves in Crisis territory plenty of times, but were denied each time. Mark Sager had shot after shot in front of the net, and several lines managed to press the attack, but to no avail. The Crisis notched a third goal in the second period to take a 3-0 lead, which held up until Kwinter hit Turner with a clearing pass at the Pirates' blue line, and the Tower of Power in turn hit a streaking Jonathan Gallivan with a cross-ice pass that gave him a break-away on the goalie, which he did not squander, bringing the Pirates to within two. Shortly thereafter, on another hard press by the Pirates in the Crisis zone, John Mutch had a sure shot on the left side, which the goalie managed to deny, but left a fat rebound on the right side to Auby Mandell's stick. The Aubster took the backhand shot and lifted it off the ice, but the goalie managed to lunge across the crease and snatch the puck out of the air. That was definitely a TSN Turning Point, as the goal would have brought the Pirates to within one goal, and perhaps — just perhaps — would have gotten them to focus on their game plan rather than the whining about the reffing, the body contact and the injustices of the world economy. As it was, they never did get back on track, they continued to be beaten to the puck, took needless penalties, and allowed themselves instead the luxury of blaming it all on others. The Crisis managed another beautiful two-on-one goal in the fourth, and then just kept the Pirates at bay for the rest of the game.

Even the last seconds of the game were marred by controversy, as Paul Matusek and a Crisis player went hard into the boards chasing the puck, each team accusing the other of dirty play. In fact, what happened was, in the eyes of this correspondent, totally unnecessary. The game was over, the puck was in the corner and there was no need for body contact to have occurred in such a situation. Take a look around, people, and decide how you want to play and be perceived — that incident alone might have been the spark that inspired the op-ed piece ("Once Mighty, Now Mighty Dirty") from our Russian correspondent posted on PirateHockey.ca, but in fact the entire game was like that.

Just so you all know where Howie stands — there is no need to muscle other players, period. If the other team does it, let them take the penalties. It is not the role of the Pirates to right all the wrongs of the world. Their only task is to play good clean hockey and have some fun out there. As the Pirates are now the most penalized team in the Monday Dry Division (the collective Knuckleheads, as it were), every ref and every team will now be on the lookout for infractions of the code of good behaviour — and that includes whining and mouthing off from the bench. It would be nice for a change to not give them anything to call and just play the game for what it is — a good time on a Monday night with a bunch of great guys who love to play hockey. Maybe with that attitude, we will see the Pirates loosen up a bit, focus on winning the races to the puck, the crisp passes, the teamwork and the fun that mark Pirate Brand Hockey®. The ball is in our court — or the puck is in our end. Let's decide what we want to do with it.

Our next game in Monday night, November 28, at 11:10 in RINX 2 against the Loch Monsters (who have a chance to leapfrog over the Pirates in the standings with a win), and the Wednesday Night Pirate Skate™ continues on the 30th. Can we make sure the right Pirate team shows up on Monday, and that two goalies and enough players show up on Wednesday so that the skaters do not have to cough up a lung to make it through an hour of skating?

Many thanks,
Howie