There is no poll. Don't worry, we'll have more soon!

Stay tuned!

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 Reach .500 — and Remain Undefeated!
2010-11-22: Mighty Pirates 3 vs. Smell The Glove 0

The Mighty Pirates (4-0-4) now sit precariously atop the Gilmour Division in the TNHC Toronto Monday Night Gilmour Division, with what amounts to a .500 batting average — they have won exactly 50% of their eight games. The crazy thing is that they are still undefeated — their other four games have all ended in ties! But the juggernaut is starting to roll at last, with the last three games ending with wins — not big wins, mind you, but convincing wins nonetheless. The team is starting to mesh now, with the newbies learning from the veterans what makes a good team great, and what turns a group of random individual efforts into a well-oiled machine.

The civilized 8:00pm game time was an advantage to both teams, as the two benches were equally matched in number. With 13 skaters available for the Pirate side, you just knew it was going to be a fast-paced game. And there was palpable excitement in the locker room as the Aubster (Mandell) made his long-awaited season debut, having missed much of last season with a host of maladies, and as Phillips returned to the ice after undergoing cutting-edge eye surgery. The excitement was tempered by the fact that the legendary grind line was going to be short one man again with Sager catching the rays in Cartagena. In addition, Kwinter was victimized by airline schedules and unable to get back in time for the puck drop, and the Sturgeon-ator was under strict doctor's orders to rest his back to relieve a pinched nerve. No subs were available, so Captain Mola made do with four defensemen (J. Klein, Butler, Besant, Sousa); a Grind Line Redux (Phillips centering Turner and Klein); two additional lines (Mutch centering Gallivan and Mola, and Hine between Mandell and Jezioranski), with Steve Cushing, the able rent-a-goalie between the pipes.

The game was a barn-burner, with the Glovemen keeping up the pressure very well. The Pirates, however, drew first blood with 2:27 remaining in the first period, on Besant's first goal of the season (and the game winner, as it turned out), a blast from the slot on a nifty feed from Hine. The Pirates scored again, midway through the second, when J. Klein carried the puck well out of the Pirate zone, and fed it to Mutch, who made it across the blueline, handing off to Mola. The goalie anticipated a pass to Gallivan, but El Capitano smartly got off a wicked snapshot for an important 2-0 lead midway through the game. While the Smellies continued to press, the W was sealed in the third period when, with just under four minutes left to play, Mandell launched a wicked slapshot from up close on the backside of the net after Jezioranski hit the post on a power shot of his own. To this reporter, Mandell's return to the ice was stellar, and he looks like he hasn't missed a shift, let alone nearly an entire year!

The game was also memorable in that it was a very clean affair — a couple of incidental penalties to the STGs and none at all to your heroes — which was all the more remarkable given the animosity which boiled to the surface at the very end of the last meeting between these two clubs. But while both teams worked hard and played hard, it was all collegial and professional, without any mean edge whatsoever. That shows a positively mature side of both teams, and was welcomed by all the players — and the myriad of fans in the stands as well.

The season, now into its middle age, continues on Monday, November 29, with the dreaded 11:15 pm game time in RINX 1 against the Blades. These two teams have played six games against each other since the 2007-2008 campaign, and while the Pirates lead the series 3-1-2, the Blades are riding a four game unbeaten streak and will be looking to break the Pirates' perfect record. Be there to enjoy the fun — at least when the Pirates play, you know they have their hearts in it — not like some NHL teams we all know and love.

GO PIRATES!!! VIVEN LOS PIRATAS!!!
Howie