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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.

Rock Star-less Pirates Battle Hard - and End up with Tie #5 of 2010-2011
2011-01-10: Mighty Pirates 5 at Steelheads 5

Yes, we have all heard the Pirates say — many times in their storied past — that sometimes a tie feels like a loss, and sometimes it just feels like a tie. But last Monday night's tilt with the Steelheads (6-4-5) was fraught with emotion long before the puck dropped, even long before the door to the freezing dressing room #3 at RINX 1 was opened up to your heroes, long before the bye week, and long before the holiday break. The fact that the Pirates were upwardly relegated from the lowly Gilmour Division of TNHC's Toronto Monday night hockey to the loftly Ellis Division (tying a team record for most division changes in a single season at one), sharing the spotlight with high-powered teams such as the Drunken Monkeys, the Steelheads, the Tigers, the Komets 2.0 and the Aeros — all hockey legends in their own right — was daunting enough, and now the reality was upon the Pirates at last.

It is a wild understatement to say that the tension in the dressing room was palpable, and the Mighty Pirates (9-0-5) were feeling decidedly negative about their chances. Though the Pirates held a commanding 8-2-0 lead in the all-time head-to-head series against The Steelheads dating back to 2004, the Steelheads had taken 2 of the last three contests, including a solid 5-0 drubbing back in February of 2008. The news that Mandell was going to be out again due to his back and the last minute cancellation of rock star and erstwhile iron man Gallivan caused even more consternation in the ranks. However, Captain Mola wheeled and dealt, talking Tassone into lacing up the skates for the game as a sub, and crafting another work-a-day set of lines to take up the challenge. With the Sturgeon-ator between the pipes, he sent out Gio, Besant, J. Klein, Butler and Jezioranski on defence, and three full lines consisting of the Grind Line (Sager, Turner and Phillips); Mutch, Leggett and the Captain; and Sousa, Hine and L. Klein.

The Steelheads showed their skill immediately off the first face-off, as the puck spent virtually all of the first three shifts in Pirate territory. It felt very much like the Pirates were going to be required to show their passports to cross the Steelheads' blue line, and the Steelheads underlined that message by potting the first two goals in the game to take a commanding 2-0 lead. It was after that second Steelhead goal that a noticeable change took place in the mood on the Pirate bench. Rather than anger and a sense of hopelessness — a reaction that might have been not unexpected under the circumstances — a different attitude emerged, one that said, "Okay, let's have some fun out there — and if we are going to play, let's focus on good old-fashioned Pirate Brand Hockey®!" True to form, a spectacular end-to-end effort by Hine resulted in the first goal of the game for the Pirates, and — okay, we admit it — the fans went wild (both of them!). Not long after, Mutch managed to put a second (or third) effort between the legs of the Steelheads (enormous!) goalie, and suddenly, the game was tied.

Not to take anything away from the Steelheads, they suddenly themselves realized that perhaps this game was not going to be a walk in the park, and they settled down to their outstanding game of puck-handling and passing. They sport a highly skilled defensive squad, and they use the defence as a way of setting up the attack. Sure enough, they quickly put up two more goals and once again took the lead with the score 4-2. However, the work ethic of the Pirates was undeterred, and soon thereafter, Sousa found himself standing in front of the sprawling Steelhead goalie with the puck on his stick, and he lifted it high to score again. Then Mutch and his line went to work again, as Leggett stole the puck from an attacking Steelhead forward at their own blue line, and fed it to a streaking Mutch, who put it in and made it a tie game once again.

And then came the coup de grace, as J. Klein put the go-ahead goal into the back of the net after a furious scramble in the Steelheads end! The Pirates still did not lose their cool, but neither did the Steelheads, and in the dying minutes of the game, they let one of their young buck superstars take the puck again, who managed to score the tying goal with under 2 minutes to play. But the Pirates know about ties, and with superb effort managed to keep the pressing Steelheads away from the net to preserve the 5-5 score.

So, all observers can agree that this tie felt like a win! And against all odds, the unbeaten streak continues, with the Pirates now 9-0-5 (possibly breaking a season record for most ties — but we will have to let the official statistician confirm this!), and a tiny dose of confidence has raised its head among those that wear the goldenrod and ebony — and their legions of fans. The fact remains that this is a tough division, and certainly, an effort equal to or better than Monday night will be required for every game from here on in. But two other points must not be left unmentioned: there was only one penalty during the entire game (against Hine, who agreed that it was the result of a foolish move on his part); and — hey — it was fun!

The fun continues this coming Monday, January 17, at 6:10 pm on RINX 2 against the Komets 2.0 (one can only imagine what 1.0 was like). Be there to see how the miracle season continues to unfold. Beat the traffic and get their early — those seats are sure to be filled to capacity!

GO PIRATES!!! VIVEN LOS PIRATAS!!!

Howie