Blue Fin’s Bistro Hockey

The Blue Fins Bistro hockey team had their work cut out for them when they played the formidable Labatt’s club with only 4 spare Fins on the bench.

It didn’t take long to figure out Labatt’s game plan.  One of their star ringers, #66, repeatedly outskated every Blue Fin on the ice.  The first period was all #66, and all Labatt’s, as they jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead.  Their star scored two of the goals by controlling the puck, his zone, and the action.

But the Blue Fins are a hard working bunch:  Led by the two best subs in the league – Bob ‘Quickla’ Cwikla and Kenny ‘Scooby-Doo’ Glanville, the Blue Fins fore-checked and peppered Labatt’s until they screamed ‘Uncle’.  Glanville camped out in front of the net and scooped up a skittering pass from Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister.  Glanville snapped the puck into the net like a stale motza ball.

Not long after, Matt ‘Blazing Saddles’ Pusateri passed it to Hofmeister who out skated everyone.  Hof dipsy-do’d the Labatt’s keeper and scored such a pretty backhand goal that he skated over to the scorer’s table and asked to dedicate it to his wife.  (No word on any further scoring by #20 later in the evening.)

Defensively, the Fins skated with only three men.  As usual, Pusateri and McGee played very well.  But this week, they were joined by Mark ‘194’ Ross.  Ross played a good game.  In the first period, he played very physical and cleaned several Labatt’s clocks.   

Although playing on offense, Adam ‘Vapor-Lock’ Hoover made a superb defensive play when he dove for and knocked the puck from a rushing Labatt’s skater.  It did result in a tripping minor, but it was still a great effort from Hoover.

GateKeeper Easy E.J. Darisse had several plays for the highlight reel.  The first was a smart poke check that dislodged the puck from a Labatt’s skater looking for a tricky wrap-around goal.  Another was a snap glove save that required slo-mo replay to fully appreciate the speed of this grab.

The Blue Fins comeback faded early in the 3^rd period as they went down by 2 goals.  Labatt’s iced it with their fifth goal and the Blue Fins didn’t have the gas or the time for another rally.

The Blue Fins lose their 3^rd game in a row.  Their next game is against last place Crunch – Monday at 7:00 pm.

Did I mention superstar John ‘Going Commando’ Probasco?  Well, I just did.

The first 20 minutes were even enough to prevent any markers from being tallied on the scoreboard. Throughout the game, the Weevils used the center of the ice for on-the-fly passing on offense. Defensively, they clogged the Blue Fins passing lanes like a drain in a Liquid Plummer advertisement.

After a little bit of chaos in front of the Blue Fins cage, the Weevils chipped in a lucky shot to give them the lead. Just minutes later, they doubled their lead when the Fins got caught in a Chinese fire drill type line change.

Down 2-0, the Blue Fins were looking for a spark. After Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker stepped up his physical game and landed himself in the sin-bin - Stephen ‘The Locomotive’ Tsotsoros responded. Tsotsoros skated through the Weevils and scored his first short handed goal of the season, assisted by John ‘Hot Sauce’ Probasco……(Yes, for those of you scoring at home - #67 was credited with the assist on this goal. Scoring error? Inside joke? We’ll let you decide….)

With his offense sputtering and failing to produce shots, net minder E.J. “Poblano” Darisse played another great game. Late in the 3rd period - the Weevils young ringer jumped into the Fins’ zone on a break-away. Even with all the seasoned moves he’d perfected in his 15 years of age, E.J. Darisse stopped him cold.

With the game essentially over, the Weevils continued to pressure until the very end. Their 200-lb gorilla tried to show Captain Mike McGee some of his best ‘footwork’ and slammed him to the ice. But while he was being repeatedly kicked by the Grape Ape, McGee fought his way back and took Kong off his feet too. Both teams charged in and ended the melee with the predicatable pushing and shoving. McGee and Monkey-Man were directed to the locker rooms just a few ticks before the game officially ended.

The Blue Fins drop their second game in a row and slip a little bit more in the standings. Their next game is Monday at 8:15pm against 1st place Labatt’s.

The Blue Fins played Carolina Ale House in a battle for first place.  Unfortunately, the Blue Fins were decimated by absence and had only three extra skaters on the bench. 

The Blue Fins hauled in the first catch of the day when Captain Mike McGee blasted a low slap shot from just inside the blue line. 

‘Easy’ E.J. Darisse put on a great show for all the fans in attendance and had several snap-glove saves.  E.J.’s play put the Fins in the drivers seat, and allowed them to really control the game in the first two periods.

Ken ‘Scooby-Doo’ Glanville and Stephen ‘The Locomotive’ Tsotsoros teamed up to light the lamp mid-way through the second period.  Tsotsoros carried the puck down the left side and drew the goalie to his post.  Then he sailed a perfect pass to Glanville who popped it in the cage faster than Shaggy with a Scooby-Snack.

The Blue Fins, like spawning salmon, came out strong – but eventually the short bench began to take its toll.  As the Blue Fins tired, so did the visual acuity of the Wright Referees.  After finishing second in the ‘Father of the Year’ contest to Hulk and Nick Hogan, these two turned their skills to Hockey and the Blue Fins ‘reaped’ the rewards.  After a 5-3 advantage was allowed to tick off the clock, several other infractions were ignored with a simple shrug of the shoulders. 

Carolina Ale House handled the scoring for the rest of the game.  Slowly, but surely, the Blue Fins lead and grip on first place faded away.  

The game was just a few minutes too long for the Blue Fins who just ‘ran out of gas’.  They drop their second game of the season and fall into a tie with Labatt’s for second place.  

Their next game is Monday 7/24 at 9:15pm against the Weevils.

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 3^rd 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 2^nd place Carolina Ale House – Monday 7/14 at 9:15pm.

After a quiet bye week, the Blue Fins looked to get back to form when they met the Nailers for the second time this season.  So since the last sentence leads to a ‘but’….  But it was all upstream for the Fins as they kept the penatly box warm for nearly the entire first period.

Like a wanting John, Keith ‘Smooth Criminal’ Locker frequented the bin like it was a renowned red light district.  Locker skated and hustled hard the whole game.  Not ‘all’ of the penalties were legitimate.  Then again, he wouldn’t get a whole paragraph if he didn’t deserve one or two….

But Locker wasn’t the only troubled Fin and too many minutes were lost in the first period.  Despite their penalty woes, the Blue Fins did manage to get and keep the lead right from the start.

John ‘Afternoon Delight’ Probasco certainly had the moves working.  His control of the puck was unmatched, and the goals came easy.

Bob ‘Silent’ Cwikla was again a great addition and scored a pair of goals.  Playing center - Stephen ‘Not So’ Tsotsoros’ speed was too much for the Nailers and he had another multi-point game.

Goalie E.J. Darisse had another fantastic game.  This net minder has improves every game.  His saves were good - his poke checks were better - his passing was great. 

The Fin’s defense played another great game - not only providing tough back checking - but also were the spark for numerous offensive rushes.  Captain Mike McGee, Matt ‘Wheels’ Pusateri, and Joe ‘More is More’ Moreschi rounded out the defensive effort.

The goal of the game was scored by none other than Dave ‘Push the Grouper’ Berent.  John Probasco fired a laser shot from the point that Berent one-timed in with authority.  The goalie never stood a chance, and unless you were watching - you would have missed this lightning fast play.

The Fins win easily by a score of 7-4 and keep themselves in a first place tie.   Their next game is against the Factory - July 7th - at 8:30 pm.