Blue Fins Shut Down the Factory (7/7/08)
It was a night of irony for the Blue Fins. Earlier in the day, hockey director E.J. Stern effectively discarded any last shred of integrity by booting John ‘Afternoon Delight’ Probasco from the Blue Fins roster. No one can argue that John was too good for C2. However, although E.J. initially approved John’s presence on the roster – it is rather curious that he removed him right before his team played the Blue Fins.
At the beginning of the game – things were nearly evenly matched. Although the Blue Fins had better puck control and slightly faster skating, the Factory goalie held strong.
Eventually “Even” Stephen Tsotsoros made his move. Playing at center, Tsotsoros controlled the puck and skated freely. He cashed in his first goal, unassisted, to give the Blue Fins the lead. Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker scored the next goal the only way he knows how – hard work. After a nice pass from Dave ‘Grouper, Grouper, Grouper’ Berent, Locker carried the puck across the blue line. He quickly blasted a low shot that snuck under the goalies pads. The Blue Fins now led by 2-0.
‘Easy’ E.J. Darisse played another great game. The Factory couldn’t beat E.J. with any of their shots, so they relied on luck. They did get lucky, twice, and scored two fluke goals. Aside from that, E.J. was as unstoppable as usual.
Tsotsoros scored the next two goals for the Blue Fins. The first one was assisted by Matt ‘Blinding Speed’ Pusateri, and the last was unassisted. It was a great night for Tsotsoros – he not only scored the game winning goal, but also recorded his first career hat trick as a Blue Fin.
The Blue Fins defense was again too strong for the Factory thanks to strong performances from Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey and Mark ‘Skipper’ Ross.
In the 3rd period, the Blue Fins put on a fore checking clinic. After a roughing penalty by the Factory, the Blue Fins dominated the entire power play – setting up camp in the offensive zone. Joe ‘More is More’ Moreschi ricocheted a pass to Rusin who popped it into the net to give the Fins a 4-goal lead.
The Factory bobbled a puck into the net to cut the lead to 3 goals late in the game. With time waning in the game, the Blue Fins Captain got just a bit of revenge: Mike ‘In Your Face’ McGee rifled a slap shot from the right point that sailed into the twines untouched. This goal put the icing on the cake – and all E.J. Stern could do was watch McGee celebrate.
Despite losing their best player, the Blue Fins win the game and take sole possession of first place. Their next game is against 2nd place Carolina Ale House – Monday 7/14 at 9:15pm.