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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!

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A TSN Classic as Mid-Ice Crisis Edges Mighty Pirates in Playoff Shootout Heroics
2006-03-13: Mighty Pirates 4 at Mid-Ice Crisis 5

Should the NHL inflict another player strike or owner lockout on its blindly loyal fan base, and TSN and Rogers Sportsnet find themselves once again facing the prospect of replaying tapes of old and long-forgotten matches of little importance between teams faded into distant memory, they could do worse than turning to a reprise of the contest that marked the beginning of the 2006 TNHC Monday Dry Division Pool A playoffs on March 13, 2006 between the Mid-Ice Crisis and the Mighty Pirates on RINX 3. Two teams who cleave to the principles of "Good Guys, Great Game," this contest truly demonstrated what kind of hockey (and sheer fun) can be generated by well-balanced teams, a good attitude on both benches, reasonable officiating and even a great ice surface. All of the ingredients of adult non-contact recreational hockey were there for the fans and players alike to enjoy.

And to make Howie even happier, Pirate Brand Hockey® was also present and accounted for. Sadly four Mighty Pirates were not available to "lace 'em up" for the first playoff game, but the other eleven skaters were there to support Matthew Lella in net, and support them they did! While Dave "Tower of Power" Turner, all-time Pirate leader in games played, missed a rare critical game due to travel plans, Richard Bingham continued his brave fight against a crippling case of BPPV, and Jim Jezioranski inexplicably did not turn up for the game, Auby Mandell — who could not play due to back problems — did appear before game time in the locker room and stayed to stand behind the Pirates on the bench to direct and focus their efforts on the game. Talk about service above and beyond the call of duty!

As a result of these challenges, Captain Mola decided to deploy his forces strategically, to concentrate speed and consistency on the front line, and solid defense in back behind the forwards. Jonathan Gallivan and John Mutch took the center, Shaun Leggett and Nick Perri the right wing, and Mark Sager, el Capitano and Les Klein shared the left wing, while Mark Cooper, Paul Matusek, Rob Kwinter and Blair Dimock took charge of the MIC blue line and the MP crease. The Mid-Ice Crisis also had a good turnout for the game, and as a result, it looked to all observers like this game was going to feature speed, power and great teamwork. Of course, the Pirates did have the advantage of inspiration from Captain Mola's daughter, who contributed two fabulous posters urging her favorite team to victory, with classic Pirate slogans such as "Shiver Me Timbers!"

And so it was. Pirates and Crises exchanged control of the puck throughout the first period, with good defense and good offense pairing off against each other. The deadlock was not in fact broken until Jonathan Gallivan came through with 2:27 left in the first, taking one of his patented head man passes from Cooper and Matusek who had executed their own patented brand of breakout play to clear the puck and give JG his chance up front. Jonathan did not miss as he raised the puck over the goalie's shoulder. But true to form, the Crises came storming back and taking advantage of some Pirate scurrying in front of the net, potted the tying goal with just one second to go in the first period.

The play continued in the second, with even chances and scoring opportunities for both sides. Nearly halfway through the period, the MIC scored again to take the lead on a defensive breakdown at the Pirates' blue line which allowed a breakaway to occur, but just over a minute later, Shaun Leggett — just back after missing two games with the travel bug — made no mistake pouncing on a huge rebound given up by the MIC net minder after Captain Mola unloaded a canon from the right face-off circle. Less than a minute later, however, the MICs responded again, their scoring line putting another one past the defence and Lella to take the lead again. But in a game so perfectly balanced, you would expect the Pirates to find a way to respond - and so they did. And when the ebony and black are looking for a goal, they go to the man with the hot hand (or foot). With just 50 seconds left in the second period, Rob Kwinter took control of the puck in the Crisis's end, shot a cannon at the goalie from the point, that instead found Shaun Leggett's skate and bounced in. The goal counted — there was no kicking motion — preserving the tie going into the third! That would in fact prove to be Shaun's 100th point as a Pirate, leapfrogging him instantly to Hall of Fame status in Pirate lore as just the fifth player to have achieved that milestone in the Modern Era.

In the third period, the excitement continued, and it was the Pirates who took the lead on a lovely give and go between John Mutch and Jonathan Gallivan, started by Mark Cooper from the back line. There was pandemonium in the stands, but the Pirate loyalists were silenced exactly halfway through the frame when the Crisises came back to tie it up. There were chances galore throughout the third, as the goalies made spectacular saves to preserve the deadlock as the clock wound down.

And so it went into overtime. With new rules to contend with (four-on-four and changing on the fly only), the Pirates and the MICs were improvising as they went. And then the Pirates faced a huge crisis of their own — Mark Cooper was called on a tripping penalty with 2:08 left in OT, meaning that the Pirates had to play the rest of the frame with one man short — three on four! Somehow, they kept their cool and managed to dump and rag the puck until the end of regulation play.

But in a season where the Pirates logged a record seven ties, it was almost inevitable that the first playoff game would also end in a tie - but this situation cannot be allowed to stand in the playoffs. There must be a winner and a loser. Moving on into uncharted territory, both teams prepared for a shootout, and the goalies prepared to receive them. Truly, Captain Mola could have chosen any of the eleven skaters that night, they were so ON! But the team went with the tried and true, and John Mutch, Jonathan Gallivan, Nick Perri, Blair Dimock and Vito Mola took the shots. All good choices, looking at the stats, though Shaun Leggett and the missing Jim Jezioranski could have added some more pop to that lineup. And while Jonathan managed to get the rubber to bulge the twine for the Pirates, two of the MICs got past Matthew and took the game by an official score of 5-4 (why isn't it 6-5, can someone explain this to me?).

But what a game — it was one that this correspondent called incomparable — even, perhaps, the best Mighty Pirate game of all time. Yes, there were a few penalties, but they were legitimate and came in the heat of the contest, and not out of meatheadedness. This was everything that True North Hockey claims to be - good, clean fun; competitive hockey where either team could win; a contest to remember and celebrate no matter the outcome. And though they wished it had been the other way, the Pirates did sincerely wish the Mid-Ice Crisis players good luck in the playoffs. Who knows? It is certainly possible that these two teams could meet again in the finals!

In order to get there, however, the Pirates have to get past the Tigers, who have also been playing well towards the end of the season. And the entire division will be watching again, as these two perennial rivals take the ice on Monday, March 27 at 7:10 in RINX 2. Given the efforts that both teams have made to change the nature of their rivalry into a sincerely friendly one — an effort that was by and large successful in their last outing — it could prove to be every bit as interesting and fun a game as this one was against the MICs. Be at RINX to check it out, because one team will come off the ice with another game in the offing, and the other gets to hit the showers and get ready for the Blue Jays home opener on April 3, with only summer hockey, baseball and — though it boggles this reporter's mind to figure out how — golf to amuse them until next fall.

GO PIRATES!!! VIVA LOS PIRATAS!!!

Howie