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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 "Howie-Les" Report!
2017-03-13: Mighty Pirates 8 vs. Cyclones 2

With eight goals on the board, it would be easy to give all the credit to the forwards. However, in this game, the defensemen were the key to it all. Non-stop skating, brisk, accurate passing... it was a thing of beauty. J. Besant, S. Klein and T. Turner rotated a three-man "D" unit like never before... truly monsters on the ice. And, the Pirates (8-10-4) would end the regular season with a convincing 8-2 win over the division-title winning Cyclones (12-5-5).

That being said, a single game, team record 17 points combined from the line of Mutch (C), J. Klein (LW) and Gallivan (RW) should not be discounted, nor the relentless forecheck of the grind line featuring M. Sager (C), D. Turner (LW) and Phillips (RW). D. Turner and Phillips were magnificently reading the play of their opponents, and Doc M. Sager was standing up at the blueline like Trump's wall only wish it could be!

The Bucs certainly weren't expecting a big win on this night, especially with divisional scoring champion #74 Nyhoff and playmaker #66 Haas on the Cyclones semi-shortened bench. No, the Pirates just wanted to compete and keep things respectable.

Yet, on this, the night we celebrated Johnny Mutch joining D. Turner as the only Pirates to have played 400 career games, Mutch would thrill the crowd with two goals and four assists for six points! Actually, it was just a crowd of three Cyclone fans. And, the woman that was jumping, smiling and clapping as the game started soon was pouting and had her face buried in her phone. Sorry about that, nice lady.

And, maybe because he joined the team the same year as Mutch, Gallivan felt he needed to get in on the fun. He scored four goals and added two assists for six points, joining Mutch as the only two Pirates to have hit the 400 career point mark. It was a big night for the Pirates... and they only had nine skaters there to share in it live.

With the shortened bench, J. Klein would be moved up to forward... and what a move that was. He scored twice and added three assists for five points, pushing him into the final top 15 divisional playmakers for 2016/17.

Right from the drop of the puck, there was a magic in the air. Smooth, relaxed strides and calm puck movement was the name of the game. After just a few shifts, Mutch would find J. Klein, who powered a shot on goal. The rebound bounced perfectly to Gallivan who deposited it into the yawning cage.

Nyhoff was skating as strong as ever, but the Pirate forechecking was immaculate.

As the period wound down, T. Turner made an incredible pass cross-ice from the point to Gallivan, who chopped the puck over Hébert for a 2-0 lead. Before the period would end, a small lapse in forechecking at the blue line allowed Nyhoff to walk in and cut the lead in half.

End-to-end action would continue well into the second period when J. Besant hit a streaking Gallivan. Hébert made the stop and the puck flittered over the net. Gallivan picked up the puck, faking out a defender, and the goalie, for a wrap-around goal to complete the hat-trick.

J. Klein and Mutch would team up for dandy passing minutes later to extended the lead to 4-1. And, minutes after that, T. Turner would hit Gallivan with a another beautiful breakout pass. Gallivan's low shot from the blue line would find it's way through the five hole, and it was now 5-1.

A Phillips chance was thwarted early in the third, as the Pirates continued to roll quick shifts.

There was a scary moment, as J. Klein was being chased on a breakaway. Hébert made the initial stop, but in the sheer speed of the event, J. Klein couldn't stop looking for the rebound and rolled over top of the 'keep. Looking a little dazed, Hébert managed to continue... for now.

Some nice neutral-zone penalty-killing saw Gallivan carry the puck into the offensive zone, dishing off to Mutch in the slot. His gorgeous, short-handed snapshot was unstoppable. The Cyclones would make use of the power-play, however, making the score 6-2 with 9:33 to go.

After serving his sentence, J. Klein would pay it back after his brother neatly kept a puck alive at the blue line. S. Klein would find Mutch deep in the zone, and his quick pass into the slot was easy pickings for J. Klein. 7-2.

Another penalty for your heroes saw an unusual event take place. The Cyclones pulled Hébert... with 7:38 on the clock! Strategy? Or was the 'keep injured on the earlier collision? It turned out the be the latter, as Hébert was in considerable knee pain. According to Twitter, he seems much better today... hopefully a good sign for the Cyclones playoffs!

The Pirates would only score once in that time period, a rare empty-net short-hander from J. Klein. The final score, 8-2.

A tremendous way to end the regular season... but, you know all the teams will be gunning for the Pirates in the playoffs now, which start next Monday! First up, the Pirates will take on Exposed (0-0-0). Two weeks later, they will face the Highest Puck (0-0-0).

The Pirates started the regular season with a 1-8 loss... and finished it with an 8-2 win. Let's see what the playoffs bring!

Click here for round-by-round playoff coverage, standings, previews and recaps!