Blue Fin’s Bistro Hockey

Amidst a confusing mix of dark blue and purple jerseys, you had to look hard to notice that there were two different teams on the ice. At times it was difficult to pick out the Blue Fins blue jerseys from the Mother Puckers purple jerseys - but this would prove to be the only trait the teams shared.

The Blue Fins played a complete game against the Mother Puckers with their biggest strength being passing. With nearly double the number of skaters, it made the Puckers short bench seem that much shorter.

Kenny ‘Scooby Doo’ Glanville got the puck to Rusin who wristed a shot directly at the goalie, and somehow it trickled in to give the Blue Fins the lead.

Once the Blue Fins grabbed the lead, they never looked back - scoring 3 goals in each period.

Joining his brother - Kevin ‘Two-By’ Mussler scored two goals and nearly earned a spot on the team

Skating with ‘Two-By’ - the ‘Muscle’ line was the Blue Fins best weapon. Playing one of his best games, Adam ‘Van Dam’ Hoover scored a goal by shooting a rebound high over the goalie’s blocker. Eric Mussler not only scored a goal, but played a tough, physical game that the Mother Puckers couldn’t match.

Regardless of what will finally show up on PointStreak, Mike ‘Stone Cold’ Papst played in goal and played a good game. He faced a low number of shots, and was too tough for the Mother Puckers. They did score two inconsequential goals late in the game - but by this time the game was well in hand for the Fins.

The reason Papst was lonely was thanks to a solid Blue Fin Defense. Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey, ‘Steady Gene Cookmeyer, Wes ‘The Hammer’ Gyure, and Captain Mike McGee not only kept their own zone secure - but they stuffed the neutral zone with traffic and guarded the blue line like a chastity belt on a princess.

Back to the first line - Rusin scored his 2nd of the night when Scooby Doo Glanville darted into the corner after the puck. He fought hard, won the battle, and centered the puck to Rusin. Later in the game, ‘Super’ Dave Berent caught a pass from Rusin and back handed it smartly past the net minder.

Rich ‘Hawkey’ Denisi was responsible for all of the goals on his line. Vlad ‘The Impaler’ Potapoff and Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker may not have shot the puck in the net, but they fore-checked hard and assisted on both of Denisi’s goals. Denisi’s best goal was a shot from the slot that went top shelf and sent the water bottle flying off the cage.

The Blue Fins easily triumphed by a score of 9-2. Their next game is Monday at 8:45 pm against Chick-Fil-A.

Well after much procrastination and threatening ‘encouragement’, the blog is back…..

The Blue Fins ended last season on a sour note. Losing to Chick-Fil-A in the championship game wasn’t easy - and not in terms of physical exertion. Chick-Fil-A turned chippy and physical and threw in enough taunting to drive the Blue Fins crazy.

The lone bright spot in the game was when John ‘The General’ Allman ‘helped’ not one - but two opponents take a comfy seat upon their own bench. Confused? Well the non-PC version is that John checked two guys at once up and over the boards into their bench. You can imagine how angry this made Chick-Fil-A - especially since John skated away grinning. [Editor's note: This is my second favorite hockey incident ever - and is tied with the famous Twiss fight.]

This was the third game of the season and the Blue Fins were teetering with a 0.500 record of 1-1.

After the long lay-off because of Memorial Day, the Blue Fins looked like they hadn’t skated in 6 months. Luckily, the Nailers looked equally as bad - so the game was very even. Unfortunately for the few fans in attendance - it looked exactly like a C2 level game.

The teams traded goals in the first period. The Nailers struck first to go up 1-0. The Blue Fins responded with hustle and hard work. Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey pinched in from defense to help the scrambling offense. Eric ‘The Juggler’ Mussler finally scooped up the puck and scored.

In the second period, the Blue Fins took the lead as a result of more offensive pressure. The defense made it all happen - they held the blue line like the young dutch boy, Hans Brinker, saved his Holland town many years ago. Unlike Hans though, the defense didn’t need any help. They held the line and more. Rusin grabbed the puck and centered it to Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister. Hof fired a point-blank shot on net, but it was deflected. Rusin scooped up the puck from the back of the net and looked up to see Defenseman Allman in open ice. Rusin fired a pass a bit too hard, but Allman hustled over and kept in onsides. He fired and the puck hit the goalie. Rusin gragged it again and bounced it in between the goalie and the post.

The other two defenders kept their zone secure as well. ‘Steady’ Gene Cookmeyer and Wes ‘Eerie’ Gyure stopped several would-be breakaways and odd-man rushes, making difficult poke checks look easy.

Aside from a complete collapse by the skaters that ended in a fortuitous rebound goal for the Nailers - the Blue Fins best player was goalie Mike ‘Stone Cold’ Papst. He stopped a breakaway from the Nailers best, and also stood tall during too many melees in front of his net.

The game and poor skating dragged on and the teams were resolving themselves to a 2-2 tie, lucky to escape such an ugly display of hockey. However, with 30 seconds to go, the face-off was in the Nailers zone. Vlad ‘The Impaler’ Potapoff made a good play to keep the puck in his zone. Then Rusin, like a mule trying to kick his tail, backwards-golfed the puck past the Nailers net-minder to give the Fins the lead.

The Blue Fins win their second game in a row - 3-2. Their next game is Monday at 10:15 pm against the Mother Puckers.

http://www.pointstreak.com/players/players-division-schedule.html?divisionid=28469&seasonid=4196

The Blue Fins ended the regular season in a serious down-hill slide. But somehow, they managed to maintain first place for the first time in Blue Fins history. After a win in the first round, they faced the Mother Puckers who upset Ale House in the previous week.

From the start of the game, the Blue Fins appeared to have the game in control. They were moving themselves and the puck just a bit faster than the Puckers.

Mid-way into the first period, Vlad ‘The Impaler’ Potapoff scored the first goal, assisted by Rich ‘Hawkey’ Denisi.

The second period was all Blue Fins. The always-strong Blue Fins defense kept the quality scoring chances to a minimum. Like Tom Cruise in the movie - Cocktail, Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey served up a perfect mixture of hockey. On his side of the blue line - his icy demeanor chilled the Puckers’ attacks; outside of his zone he carried the puck like an inebriated floozie grips her pina colada.

Not selling the rest of the defense short (but I’m out of colorful adjectives) - Cookmeyer, Gyure, and ‘Chainsaw’ Lavin played equally as well and frustrated the Puckers with 60 solid minutes of play. On the very few times needed, the defense was there to scoop up the loose rebound and clear it from harm’s way.

Adam ‘The Shocker’ Hoover took a pass from Captain Mike McGee and skated directly at the Puckers goalie. He blasted it in for the Fins’ 2nd goal of the night.

The momentum of the game was just starting to turn Blue, until ‘Super’ Dave Berent took over. On a penalty kill - Berent relentlessly attacked the puck. He battled in the offensive zone and fought off 2 defenders. He dropped the puck back to John ‘The General’ Allman who scored shorthanded on a perfect wrist shot.

Now, the Blue Fins had everything going their way.

E.J. ‘The Sandman’ Darisse put on a clinic. Of the 28 Puckers shots on goal - Darisse got a piece of every single one. Darisse piled on to his record season by tallying yet another shut-out - for a league-leading total of 5!

Keith ‘The White Shadow’ Locker grabbed a pass from Fahey, and got just far enough ahead of the Puckers defense to manage one quick shot. It was all he needed and his shot found the back of the net to put the Blue Fins up by a four-goal margin.

The 3rd period was relatively quiet, as the Puckers had little fight left in them. In true Mike McGee form - the Captain got the last goal of the night thanks to nothing but hard work.

The Blue Fins win by a final score of 5-0.

Next week they play for the championship against arch rivals Chick-Fil-A. Chick-Fil-A appears to have figured out the Blue Fins as of late. In their last meeting, they beat Blue Fins relatively easy as they not only scored more goals, but they won the mental battle with a cheap, but smart, physical game. The Fins ‘lost-it’ long before time expired.

The Championship is Monday night at 8:30 pm.

The Blue Fins are in a foot race to try and close out the season in first place. With two games remaining, they have a paper-thin one point lead over 2nd place Weevils.

The Weevils have two rather easy games left, while the Blue Fins play two formidable opponents.

The Mother Puckers have been steadily improving and are now a solid 0.500 team.

The Blue Fins were confident though, and in the first period were skating well and seemed to have things in control. However, when the Mother Puckers scored first, the Fins started to get nerved…..

The Blue Fins tied it up thanks to some hard work by ‘Super’ Dave Berent. Like a waiter passing a check, he wedged the puck through a crowd to Rusin who slid it under the goalie’s pads.

The second goal for the Blue Fins was a smart shot from John ‘Pinball Wizard’ Allman. Rich ‘Hawkey’ Denisi won the face-off to Vlad ‘The Impaler’ Potapoff who got it to Allman at the blue line. Allman sailed a high shot in on net that bounced off several Puckers on it’s way in.

At the end of the first period, it was 2-1 Blue Fins.

The second period was about puck control. The Puckers acted like frustrated Republicans as they tried to get past the ‘Congressional’ blue line of the Blue Fins. The Blue Fins defense democratically stopped them in their tracks. Gyure, McGee, Cookmeyer, Allman, and Fahey not only played a stingy game on defense - but they were able to navigate the referees’ exaggerated calls and stayed out of the box all night.

The offense, however, was not so lucky. They visited the sin-bin 6 times - and thanks to a 5-on-3 penalty kill - the Blue Fins gave up the only other goal early in the 3rd period.

But luckily in the second, they added to their lead.

Denisi skated the puck in, and had a 2-0 break with Potapoff. Denisi glided, paused, then took the shot - ricocheting it off the goalie’s pads.

Just seconds later, Berent and Hofmeister attacked the net. The puck bounced every-which-way and Berent chipped it over the goalie, bouncing it off the minder’s foot and into the net.

After 40 minutes - the Blue Fins were comfortably up by 4-1.

In the third, the Puckers cut the lead to a dangerous two goals on the 5-on-3 power play. Eric ‘Mad Dog’ Mussler got flagged for a very questionable interference call that all of Blue Fin’s ‘fans’ boo-hooed. (Well ok, there was only one fan… but she was real loud and sounded like fans - plural).

Responding to the skimpy two goal lead was Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker. His first goal came after Wes ‘The Hammer’ Gyure’s perfect pass sprung Locker on a break-away. Locker blasted the puck 5-hole and it was too hot for the goalie.

Then, Potapoff put on a show. He danced his way in on net, and put the puck on Locker’s stick like a pat of butter on a dinner roll. Locker was on a roll and easily scored.

The Puckers had a final chance to score, when the skater that scored their first two goals had a beak-away chance for a hat trick. But as this season’s best goalie - E.J. ‘The Sandman’ Darisse made the save. Darisse played very well and occasionally took a leisurely, but nerve-wracking skate around his zone to play the puck.

The Blue Fins win 6-2 and maintain first place and their one point lead.

The final game is for first place - if the Blue Fins win, they will have gone wire to wire for the first time in team history. Their final season game is Monday 4/6/2009 at 8:45 against Chick-Fil-A.

http://www.pointstreak.com/players/players-team.html?teamid=173025&seasonid=3629

Following a complete collapse against the Weevils, the Blue Fins next opponent was equally as menacing. Chick-Fil-A are the reigning champions, and in their last game - a flimsy 1-0 lead held for over 50 minutes of skating.

The Blue Fins were still slumping at the beginning of the game - and Chick-Fil-A made minced meat of them early. They went up by a score of 2-0 after the Fins failed to challenge them in front of their own goal.

The Blue Fins apparently were still feeling the wounds from last week’s loss. Slowly but surely, the Blue Fins started to find their way.

It started with an onslaught of forechecking by the offensive line of Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker, Vlad ‘The Impaler’ Potapoff, and Rich ‘Hawkey’ Denisi. They berated the Chick-Fil-A team in their own zone.

If only Custer had held like the Blue Fins defense covered the blue line - this made the offensive efforts even more effective.

John ‘The General’ Allman, Kevin ‘Chainsaw’ Lavin, Gene ‘Slow Broil’ Cookmeyer, and Wes ‘The Hammer’ Gyure worked hard to get to the loose pucks and open ice.

The next offensive line of Eric ‘The Muscle’ Mussler, Adam ‘Shocker’ Hoover, and Jeff ‘TBD’ Macfarland kept up the pressure and continued to turn the tide.

The second period ended without scoring - the Blue Fins were having real trouble finding the twines. In a rare battle of goalies, through 20 min EJ ‘The Sandman’ Darisse was actually losing to the Chick-Fil-Weeble-Wobble netminder. Darisse, however, was done fooling around and played the final two periods Stingy - yes, with a capital ‘S’.

Finally - Denisi got a loose puck deep in the zone, to the goalie’s right. Denisi only needed a glimpse of twines - and he got it. He ripped one over the goalie’s shoulder to put the Blue Fins back in the game (2-1).

The Fins kept shooting but continued to have difficulty scoring. Midway through the 3rd, Captain Mike McGee made his move. After catching a pass from Rusin, he bulldogged his way across the blue line - practically dragging two defenders with him. He protected the puck as long as he could - and as he got dragged to the ice - he gave the puck one last poke. His diving shot somehow found a hole and the Blue Fins tied the game.

A few questionable penalties forced the Blue Fins to skate short-handed for the last half of the 3rd period. The game ended in a tie - even after a hard fought 4-on-4 overtime.

The Blue Fins are almost out of their slumber and maybe in the horizon they can see their old selves. The fun continues next week when they play the Ale House at 8:45 pm.

The Weevils are the hottest team in the league.  The Blue Fins are the #1 team in the league.  

Immovable object v. unstoppable force? 

Not exactly.  Lack of mobility on the ice is not a good thing – but was the one thing the Blue Fins did well against the hard charging Weevils.

For about 56 minutes, the Weevils out-skated, out-hustled, and out-played the Blue Fins.

The goals the Weevils scored – they deserved them.  A few times the Blue Fins didn’t challenge the skater in front of their net, and the Weevils punished them with good shots.  E.J. ‘The Sandman’ Darisse played well – but there were just too many opportunities for the Weevils.

The loan goal was scored by Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister.  He worked hard all the way down the ice and got enough daylight to get off a slap shot.  The puck found its way in the net, and for the next few minutes the Blue Fins looked like they were going to bounce back.

But the Weevils were the team that responded.  They squashed the comeback like a fat lady squashes her skinny, sickly husband on Jerry Springer.  

Is there such thing as a good loss?  Maybe.  Did anyone expect the Blue Fins to go undefeated?  Doubtful. 

The Blue Fins drop their first game of the season 5-1, but remain all alone in first place.

If the Blue Fins want to keep the respect they’ve earned – they’ll get their opportunity in short order:  Next week they face an equally eager team when they play Chick-Fil-A at 10:00pm.

The Blue Fins were a little thin when they skated against the Carolina Ale House.  Captain Mike McGee almost had his team ‘govern’ themselves….

But thanks to a celebrity coaching appearance by the fastest man on blades – Kenny ‘Scooby Doo’ Glanville - the Blue Fins were in excellent hands.  Scooby Doo transitioned to coach with class and style – impeccably dressed complete with a suit, tie, and topped off with a wing-dinger of a derby.

The Blue Fins scored first when Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister carried the puck over the blue line on the left side.  Just like a Vegas dealer passes a card, Hof slid a sneaky pass across to ‘Super Dave’ Berent.  Berent easily flipped it in the net.

With E.J. Darisse out – Mike ‘Stone Cold’ Papst once again carried the torch – hoping to maintain the Blue Fins undefeated season.  Stone Cold’s game plan was to stop the first shot and then rely on his defense.  Stone Cold did just that – he stopped every first shot and played a good game.

The second shots and rebounds were gathered up by the constantly present Blue Fins defense – led by Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey, John ‘The General’ Allman and special guest star Matt ‘Wheels’ Pusateri.  

After the Ale House tied the game, the Blue Fins started to roll.  During a power play, Eric “Flex” Mussler hustled hard behind the net, dug it out and made a good shot.  The shot was blocked, but the puck was laying there like a lost wallet.  Adam “The Shocker” Hoover dove at the puck and knocked it in.

Then on the very next shift, the line of Rich “Hawkey” Denisi, Vlad ‘Pan’ Potapoff, and Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker got the next goal – capped off by a shot by Denisi.  There was a lot of traffic and this trio just out worked the Ale House.  The Blue Fins now led by 3-1.

On their next shift following their power play goal, Jeffrey Macfarland and Eric Mussler teamed up to score again and gave the Blue Fins a commanding lead.

Split up by the break in periods, the Ale House scored the next two goals and put them right back in the game (4-3) thanks to a lot of non-skating and confusing line changes by the Blue Fins. 

Then, late in the game, the Blue Fins got a timely power-play.  After Denisi, Potapoff, and Locker worked hard to get the puck into the Ale House zone.  Blue Fins changed lines to get fresh legs on the ice.  Rusin won the ensuing face-off and sent it to Hofmeister.  Hof stopped it with his skate and then shot it low past the Ale House goalie.

The Blue Fins win again and keep their undefeated season in tact.  

Of course the highlight of the night was Coach Glanville.  Coincidentally, cougar sightings are up 670% in the Wake Forest area. 

The Nailers were the only team that the Blue Fin’s had not played this season. Historically, the Nailers have played the part of the Mallachi brothers…….while the Blue Fin’s jerseys were colored a bit more pink, enscribed with ‘Tuscadero’….

Captain Fonzie McGee had a bit of juggling to do. Three star fins - Dave ‘Potsie’ Berent, Mike ‘Ralph Mouth’ Hofmeister, and Dan ‘Chachi’ Fahey were out for the game. Meanwhile, the Nailers had their regular goalie [Heinz] skate out and subbed in the pesky Brad Curtis at goalie.

After Fonzie McGee pulled his switch-blade comb out to tidy his ‘do’ - he realized two things - 1) his team would be fine and 2) his hair was perfect - as usual.

Jeff ‘Big Mac’ Macfarland made a great move at the blue line, hustling to get in front of the play, and keeping the puck on-sides. He dropped the biscuit like a flap-jack and sniped it into the back of the net to give the Blue Fins the lead.

It was no surprise to anyone that the Nailers’ Lonnie ‘I’ve got the first name of a girl’ Renfro played his usual chippy and cheap game that always compliments his weak skating and defensive abilities. He started off with a blatant tripping penalty and then began working on Rich ‘Hawkey’ Denisi during the 2nd period.

But before Lonnie Anderson could Malachi-crunch the Blue Fins, Fonzie McGee hit the dashboard and got things running in the 2nd period:

Macfarland made a great pass up the left boards to Adam Hoover. Hoover carried the puck across the blue line and threaded the needle with a perfect pass to Rusin. Rusin took a small break from blogging and scored.

Next, Vlad ‘Peter Pan’ Potapoff was working in front of the net while Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker was behind the cage. Locker chipped a pass out to Potapoff who upped the tally to 3-0.

Locker broke through the Nailers defense and was all alone on mini-breakaway. The result was another goal for the Fins that finally broke the Nailer goalie’s composure.

The final goal of the 2nd period was all highlight material. Rich Denisi carried the puck and made a move on Heinz that literally knocked him off his feet. Then, Denisi deked Net-Minder Curtis and went around him, capping it off with an easy backhander.

The Maytag man was E.J. ‘The Sandman’ Darisse. It was another ho-hum game for Darisse. He only faced 10 shots - stopping them all for a record 3rd shutout this season. For those with the home-scoring kit - Darisse now leads the league in Shut-outs, Goals-Against-Average, Save-Percentage, and Goals-Against. In fact, his GAA and GA are less than half of the next best!

The low 10 shots were thanks to yet another strong defensive effort. Led by McGee - his fellow defensemen (’Steady’ Gene Cookmeyer, Wes Gyure, Kevin ‘Chainsaw’, and John ‘The Bulldog’ Allman) stymied the Nailers. Bulldog Allman was thirsting for a challenge and welcomed a 3rd period 4-on-4 followed by a 5-on-4 penalty kill that ended sourly for the Nailers.

These latest PIMS were thanks to Lonnie ‘I’d die my roots if I had hair’ Renfro who finally got to Denisi. Luckily, John ‘The Big Ragoo’ Probasco was wearing the very slimming black/white vertical stripes and called the incident fairly and rationally. (yes, this IS the same Probasco!)

The cherry on the top came when the Nailers pulled their goalie late in the game to try and break Darisse’s shut-out. The Blue Fins answered when Wes ‘Feel that Breeze’ Gyure carried the puck up the ice and scored an empty netter.

The Blue Fins win again by a score of 6-0. They are now in first place by 2 games as they begin the second half of the season. Their next game will be a major challenge - next Monday they play 2nd place Carolina Alehouse at 10:45 pm.

Blue Fins versus Cropdusters was a matchup of experienced skaters against a true C2-level team. The Blue Fins expected a lopsided victory with a lot of scoring.

Counting chickens is never a good thing…..but in this case the Blue Fins did get their wish and had an easy game.

Several questions lingered before the game…..Would EJ get another shut-out? Would anyone get a hat-trick? Did Matt Pusateri really father the Octuplets?

Continuing his career-best season - ‘Super’ Dave Berent scored two goals. His first goal was rocket that hit the twines like he shot it out of a potato gun.

Also scoring two goals was defenseman Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey. Dan is either doping or playing a lot of hockey - because you can practically see him get better with every shift.

The Blue Fins defense wasn’t challenged much in this game - and John ‘The General’ Allman added to the defensive point total with a goal and an assist.

One question was answered in the 2nd period when E.J. ‘The Sandman’ Darisse let in the Cropduster’s only goal. Darisse stopped the other 16 shots with ease and continued his strangle-hold on most goaltender categories.

Other Blue Fins that scored were Hofmeister, Potapoff, Denisi, and Eric Mussler. Mussler also had an assist for a solid 2-pt game.

Like a sleeping giant, Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker finally awoke from his Rip-Van-Winkle like slumber. Sure, he visited the sin-bin - but more importantly he scored 2 goals, ending the season-long drought.

The Blue Fins won 10-1 and raised their record to 6-0.

They are still alone in first place…..but the alert status is at DEFCON3, for several reasons: 1) They are leading the league in PIMS. 2) The last string of victories were against weaker teams - and even the most disciplined teams fall back into bad habits. The next few games should prove if they still have what it takes to stay in first place.

Their next game is Monday at 11:00 pm against the Nailers.