Blue Fin's Bistro Hockey

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.

When a team is leading the league in Goals For, Goals Against, Save %, and Shut Outs…..there is usually another statistic they lead in:  Wins.  The title already states it, so there is little place for drama in this write-up.  The Blue Fins won their 5th game in a row by defeating Mother Puckers.

It was a slow start for the offense again.  The first period’s only goal was scored by Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister – assisted by Dave Berent.

Thanks to E.J. ‘The Sandman’ Darisse – that was all the scoring the Blue FIns needed.  Darisse is having a stellar season – leading the league in no fewer than 5 netminder categories.  To the untrained eye, Darisse’s saves often look routine.  But when he slides to the side and directs the rebound hard into the boards, or when he controls the bobbling puck and settles it down between his pads – there is really no questioning his abilities.

Before the game started, John ‘QB’ Allman sized up the Puckers and targeted their scorers.  Allman and the rest of the Blue Fin’s defense once again ruled their zone.  They kept the shots on goal to another low  – less than half what the Blue Fins put up.  A late scrambling play by Captain Mike McGee assured Darisse’s league leading second shut out of the season.

Scoring for the Blue Fins was finally plentiful.  Hofmeister not only got the game-winning-goal, and not only tallied a hat-trick, he added 3 assists as well for a game-high 6 points.  Hofmeister is now leading the league in scoring.

‘Super Dave’ Berent scored 2 goals and an assist.  His first goal looked easy after he crossed paths with Hof and used the screen to put the puck top-shelf into the lonely twines.

Rusin, Potapoff, and Gyure also scored goals – with assists to nearly half the team.

The Blue Fins dominated to the end and won 8-0.  They are certainly enjoying their winning streak and success.  However, they know that this can change like the wind and there’s only game each season that matters – the next one.

Monday at 10:45 against the Cropdusters.

http://www.factoryicehouse.com/PDF%20Files/C2.pdf