BlueFins Crush the Crunch (8/4/08)
The Blue Fins increased their lead thanks to a pass from Bob ‘Quickla’ Cwikla to Kenny ‘Scooby-Doo’ Glanville. Glanville deked the goalie out of his pads and flipped the puck in backhand on a goal tailor-made for the highlight reel.
Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister was all hard work and hustle and it paid off early in the 2nd period. He scored his first goal of the night, assisted by Dave Berent, putting the Blue Fins ahead by 3-0.
Matt ‘Speedster’ Pusateri led the defensive effort and repeatedly carried the puck out of his zone to safety. Another slice of the defensive pie was served up from Mark ‘Skipper’ Ross. Ross’s eye-hand skills paid off with skillful poke-checks as well as a pin-point pass that resulted in an assist. Rounding out the Blue Fins protection was Wes ‘That Guy’ Gyure who also played hard despite only 3 skaters to share the load.
This reporter’s favorite player scooped up a loose puck and delivered it past the Crunch minder which increased the lead to four goals.
The Crunch thwarted E.J. Darisse’s attempt at a shut-out early in the 3rd period. Either before or after this goal, though, it didn’t affect the game. Darisse again was at the top of his game and showed why he leads the league in Goals Against, Goals Against Average, Shutouts, and Save % for regular goalies.
Tsotsoros restored the four goal lead early in the 3rd period thanks to more superior locomotion.
Then - ‘THE BODY’ took over:
Mike Hofmeister’s next goal was a result of more hard work. When the goalie failed to smother the puck, Hof raced from behind the net, grabbed the puck, and scored his second of the night.
Hofmeister completed his first career hat trick on the final goal of the game. After a pass from Rusin, Hofmeister skated around the Crunch defense - and scored shorthanded - completing the rout for the Blue Fins.
The Blue Fins end the regular season with a strong win and enter the play-offs in 4th place thanks to a 7-4 record. Their first play-off game is Monday at 10:00 pm against the Wanderers.