Blue Fin's Bistro Hockey

No $5 foot long for the Blue Fins. No A-train. Without the services of their normal stud goalie (Yes, I mean Papst), the Blue Fins had to rely on a sub goalie.

It was the teenager from the Puckers. He plays with his Dad, and his Mom often comes to watch. I remember a game when a girl from the other team lost control and crashed into him. He landed on top of her, and luckily didn’t get hurt. I was standing next to his Mom when she yelled ‘The woman is supposed to be on top!”

In their first play-off game against the Ale House, the Blue Fins got off to a very rough start. They couldn’t get it out of their zone, and this resulted into two early goals for the Ale House. Even though the game was less than 10 minutes old, the Blue Fins were feeling like the game was over.

Slowly….very slowly, the Blue Fins started to get the puck out of their zone.

Blame it either on lack of sleep, or Keith Locker for his generosity at Ziggy’s – I can’t remember who scored first for us….so let’s go with this:

One of the goals – Scott McCandles skated the puck in, and made a pretty good attempt on goal. The Ale House goalie stopped it, but couldn’t control it. Kevin Mussler scooped up the loose change and scored.

This was huge – the Blue Fins were back in the game and started to play like it. There was a lot of forechecking by both offensive lines, and the defense dominated the ice.

The Blue Fins next goal was from James Gardner. As smooth as you see on TV, Gardner carried the puck into the zone fired a high wrist shot that sailed cleanly past the goalie.

The game stayed 2-2 for a long time, despite the Blue Fins getting called for penalties that they shouldn’t have. The Referee Zerckle, is a P.I.A. and it started to have an effect on the Blue Fins. They started to unravel as the PIMs started to stack up.

Regulation time ended 2-2, and the Blue Fins luckily started the 5 minute OT with a 4-on-3 advantage. However, John Allman got called for a very questionable move at center, supposedly grasping the puck, and the Blue Fins faced the last 2 minutes short handed. Allman did make a legal play….it was not a surprise that Zerckle didn’t agree.

After the OT period, next was a 5-man shootout, with Blue Fins shooting first.

Blue Fins – miss

Ale House – miss

Blue Fins – goal – James Gardner – he made a really sweet move, but he said he lost the puck. It looked great anyway and he may just be modest.

Ale House – miss

Blue Fins – goal – Kevin Mussler. He made it look easy. Chuck Fyfe told all of you that Kevin would score!

Ale House – miss….The Puckers Goalie was on! He was looking unbeatable!!!!

Blue Fins – miss

Ale House – goal

Blue Fins – miss

Ale House – goal

Blue Fins – goal – Rusin.

Ale House – goal

Blue Fins – miss

Ale House – miss

Blue Fins – goal – Keith ’5-hole’ Locker – He was nervous, but he nailed that puck in low and looked good doing it!

AH – miss. Puckers goalie made a great save. This kid hung right in there.

The Blue Fins advance to the next round of the playoffs…..

They play none other than their nemesis – Chick Fil A. Monday 8:45 pm.

Now that the Blue Fins are fully stocked, their game against the Carolina Ale House would be their first true test. Ale House’s strong will and big defenders always result in an uphill battle.

On paper, the game didn’t tally up as a goal tending battle – but after a 2-2 first period, both teams were struggling to get a lead. Mike ‘Stone Cold’ Papst had one or two mental lapses – well, maybe three in total. But overall he played a very solid game. He didn’t have to worry about controlling rebounds, because he didn’t give up any.

Even without the infamous Rich Denisi, the Blue Fins got their share of PIMs. Unfortunately for Jason Myers, the Ale House goalie, most of the aggression was mistakenly directed his way. Kevin Mussler’s shoulder mysteriously found Myers for a blatant interference call, followed later by Captain Mike McGee whose face mask located Myer’s swings.

Defensively, the Blue Fins were able to handle the short handed situations. James Gardiner played another solid game, and exuded a steadying influence on his team when he had the puck. Gene Cookmeyer always got to the puck in the nick of time. On the other line, Wes Gyure quietly played a flawless game, while John ‘The Ladies Man’ Allman paid the ladies their due….

Kevin ‘Ricochet’ Mussler should start buying lottery tickets, or taking more shots. For the second time in two games, Mussler fired the puck into a crowd and after several bounces it found pay-dirt. Allman, standing back at the point, calling for the puck – shrugged his shoulders and smiled as he realized that Mussler doesn’t need any stinkin’ points.

Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister’s goal, made him look almost as good as his mirror. Hof picked up a pass from Rusin, slid in behind a screen, and before the goalie knew it, the lamp was on.

Monkey-see Rusin followed Hof’s example and found the far side of the net a few minutes later to put the Fins up 3-2.

Spreading out the scoring for their line, Dave ‘The Godfather’ Berent scooped up the puck after Hof hustled to keep it in the zone. Berent slyly backhanded it to the goalie’s left, catching him completely off-guard.

The star of the game….like every game – was Kenny ‘Scooby Doo’ Glanville. Still reeking of wrecked cougars, Scooby scored his first goal on another back-handed razzle dazzle that he topped off with a fly-by of his own bench.

Have you ever tried to make a peanut butter sandwich without bread? Just like Bily – all you do is end up with a handful of goop. Chuck Fyfe is definitely the bread that keeps his line together. Chuck fired a puck on net that beat the goalie. Luckily for the goalie, the puck wedged between his foot and the post and didn’t quite make it in. Unluckily though, Scooby Doo saw it before he did and slapped that puck like a…….[never mind]. (…I think you know where I was going here….)

Rounding out the scoring, Scott ‘The Fire’ McCandless got the hardest working goal of the night after he chased the puck down the right side and somehow flipped it in.

With a final of 7-3, The Blue Fins string a rare two wins together. Their next game is Monday 8:45 against the Nailers.

…..but much better than Chuck E. Cheese. Chuck Fyfe played a complete game Monday night when the Blue Fins played the Titans. Fyfe’s smart passing and good positioning put his name on the score sheet for assisting on 3 of his line’s 4 goals, but also helped his team to control the puck and keep it in the Titan’s zone.

In addition to Fyfe, the other offensive star was Kevin Mussler. Mrs. Mussler used to pin notes to his shirt so he wouldn’t forget important things….yesterday’s note would have said ‘Remember your hockey stick, your jersey, and your small cup.’ But once Kevin got all the gear together, there was no stopping him. He scored a hat trick thanks mostly to hard work, and just a shred of luck. He also assisted his brother Erik on a goal after he passed the puck to the center. Erik settled the bouncing puck just enough to get it past the Titans goalie. Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker didn’t score any goals, but skated the entire sheet of ice like a madman….

Also riding on the offensive bandwagon, Rusin chipped in a couple of goals himself and then crafted a wonderful game write-up. The first goal was delivered on a skillful tip from a legendary player. #20 returned to the Blue Fins after too long of an absence. None other than Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister claimed his rightful place on the team he helped create. Last week, Hofmeister scored the first Blue Fins goal of the decade. Against the Titans, he scored two more, underscoring his status as a natural goal scorer.

It was easy for the offense to shine, thanks to the Blue Fins defense.

Captain Mike McGee played solid on Defense and relentlessly pinched in on offense. Wes Gyure, Gene Cookmeyer, and newcomer James Gardiner also dominated on defense. Cookmeyer predicted the Titans moves better than a meteorologist watching doppler. Guarding the blue line like the Mexico border, Gyure fired pucks like he was shooting illegal aliens. Gardiner, in his first game as a Blue Fin, carried the puck through the zone as smooth as silk.

The fifth defender, Goalie Mike ‘Stone Cold’ Papst, played a great game. After snaring a slap shot with his lightning fast glove, he also thwarted a break-away with a monstrous leg pad block.

The Blue Fins get their first win of the season by a score of 8-1. After 2 games, their record is an even 1-1. Their next game is Monday night against the Carolina Ale House.

After falling flat in the playoffs, the Blue Fins limped into the last game of the summer season riding a 4-game losing streak. Not many players showed up for this essentially meaningless game. It’s as if the Fins stormed Normandy – they’ve already lost a lot of good men for next season. The team and it’s energy are deteriorating….

Seven Blue Fins skaters played against twice as many Mother Puckers, who were just as eager for a win.

The Puckers struck first, after Goalie Mike Papst’s knee locked up and opened the net up for an easy tap-in. This game was going to be an uphill battle for the Blue Fins.

The Fins flexed their Muscles. Check that – Musslers. Well in this case – Musslers = Muscles. Kevin Mussler tied the game thanks to an assist from John Allman mid-way through the first period. Mussler then followed it up with one of the first break-aways of the night and gave the Blue Fins the lead. At the end of the first period, the Blue Fins actually led the game 2-1.

In the 2nd period, Wes Gyure smartly pinched in to grab the loose puck. He got it to Rusin, who blindly back-handed a shot past the goalie thanks to his knuckle dragging limbs.

Then Rusin got the pass over to Glanville – who slowed it up a bit. The puck hopped over his stick but Eric Mussler was right there. He fired the puck past the goalie to give the Blue Fins a comfortable 4-1 lead.

But with only 7 skaters….the Fins had to come up for air. They watched as their lead steadily disappeared in the 2nd period. When the puck dropped for the 3rd period – the score was 4-4.

The Blue Fins held up well though – and for over half the period, the score remained tied.

Kenny Glanville got the lead back and scored to make it 5-4.

Eric Mussler scored a minute later to increase the lead to 2, but the goal did more damage to the Puckers attitude than it did to the score.

The Fins kept up the pressure throughout the period. Their defense – led by John Allman – kept the pressure on the Puckers and made passing look easy. Gyure and Gene Cookmeyer followed suit and outskated the Puckers to almost every loose puck in the 3rd period.

What few shots he did face in the 3rd – Goalie Mike Papst stopped them all and protected their lead.

Their superiority on defense led to more offensive pressure. The Fins scored four more goals, for a total of six unanswered scores in the final period. Rusin scored his 2nd of the night, while both Eric and Kevin Mussler tallied hat tricks. Gene Cookmeyer unveiled his offensive flair and scored the final goal of the night.

The Blue Fins win their final game of the season 10-4.

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.