Blue Fin’s Bistro Hockey

The Blue Fins’ first two games were like most of my dates - no chemistry, awkward, and certainly nothing past first base. But against the Weevils, things started to gel for the Blue Fins.

Stephen ‘The Mystery’ Tsotosros made it all around the bases and scored first on a great shot from the left side.

The Blue Fins were skating and passing so well, that when the Weevils tied the game, they barely even noticed. The Fins kept rolling and poured in 4 straight goals by Rusin, Tsotsoros, Kenny ‘Scooby Doo’ Glanville, and Vlad Potapoff to take a 5-1 lead.

Glanville’s goal was all about hustle as he scampered past the goalie and slammed in the loose puck. Potapoff put on a show by dancing through 2 defenders and snapping a wrister cleanly into the twines.

The Fins were flying high, thanks to the superb defensive efforts of Gene Cookmeyer, Mike McGee, Dan Fahey, and Wayne Roan. Throughout the first half of the game, the Blue Fins were in complete control.

But then, the dreaded 5 minute let-down reared it’s ugly head…and stuck around way too long. Even E.J. Darisse couldn’t keep his team in the game. E.J. made some great saves, as is always the case, but the Blue Fin’s were going the wrong way fast.

The Fins suffered nearly a complete collapse as the Weevils steadily erased the goal deficit. Several shorthanded and unassisted successes gave the Weevils the next four makers. With under 3 minutes left in regulation, the Weevils tied the score with the momentum going completely their way.

But after skating hard all game, Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker came up with the play of the game. After a scramble and chaos in front of the Weevils cage, Locker scored the Game Winning Goal with less than 2 minutes to go. The Blue Fins escaped with their lives and tallied the first win this season, 6-5.

Their next game is against 5-Hole Sports - Monday night at 10:45pm.

By most watches, the puck dropped at 9:30pm EST, but not all.  In a rare mix-up - Blue Fin’s MVP goalie EJ ‘Big Ben’ Darisse had the wrong time in his PDA….  What?  A departure from the usual overload of respect for the Keeper?  Well, EJ is like clockwork - never skips a beat, never a no-show.  He’s certainly earned a margin of error.

Usually, the Blue Fin’s have an outstanding 6th man in the way of a fan.  But in this case, the Blue Fin’s 6th man was a skater.   The defense rotated the extra skating duties - but the best player on the ice for the first 14 minutes was none other than Matt ‘Blazing Saddles’ Pusateri.  Pusateri essentially handled the goaltending on his own and did a superb job.  How superb?  Shutout-superb!  

Pusateri didn’t do it alone.  The Blue Fin’s skated hard, took short shifts, and gave nothing less than 110%.  It was a true team effort and they did what they needed to do - they kept themselves in the game until EJ arrived.  

Like any good story…….strike that.  Unfortunately, the first period was the high point for the Fins.  The rest of the game was more up-hill than the first.  The Blue Fins, after breathing a sigh of relief - sat back and settled into a very choppy, uncoordinated game.

Chick-Fil-A (formerly the Factory) had retooled their team.  Overall, they had an improved roster.  This was especially true thanks to two ‘overachievers’ who probably work in jewelry selling wedding bands and other circular type objects typically worn on the fingers.  

After falling to a 2-0 deficit, Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister tipped in a slap shot from Pusateri.  The stick may have been a bit high, but with eye-hand coordination like that - he more than deserved the goal.  

The next three goals were tallied by Chick-Fil-A and gave the Blue Fins little hope of a come back.  

A final bright spot for the FIns - new comer Vlad “The Package” Potapoff scored a late goal for the Fins.  Potapoff is the complete hockey player with a solid work ethic and clear head.  He will be a great asset for the Blue FIns.  

The next game for the Blue Fins is Monday 9/22 at 10:45pm against the Weevils.  (Which is in like 64 minutes since I wrote this so darn late!)

After a disappointing loss in the championship last season, the Blue Fins renewed their quest for the elusive final victory.

The Blue Fins retooled with three new players that arrived with high skills and higher expectations. Chris Sakell, Rich ‘Hawkey’ Pietrzakw, and Gene Cookmeyer.

Skating against the Nailers, the Blue Fins seemed to have the fire-power they were going to need to win the game. They were skating with the best the Nailers had to offer - but were just a little ‘out of synch’.

The first goal was scored by none other than Kenny ‘Scooby Doo’ Glanville. [Interesting note....Point Streak says 'Melvin' instead of Kenny. You may remember in the movie 'Scooby Doo' - the confusion between 'Melvin Doo' and 'Mister Doo' (Scooby)...] Anywhoo, Dave ‘The GodFather’ Berent made a great backhand pass across the net to Glanville who slammed it home for the ‘Maiden Voyage’ goal of the season.

When the Nailers tied the game in the first period, it didn’t seem to concern the Blue Fins as they fully expected time and skill was on their side.

But in the 2nd period, the Nailers scored two more goals to go up 3-1. The Blue Fins put themselves right back in the game

Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker, Rich ‘Hawkey’ Pietrzakw, and Stephen ‘The Locomotive’ Tsotsoros were relentless in their attacks on the Nailers. The result was a shot by Tsotsoros and a tip by Hawkey as the puck dribbled through the legs of the hapless Nailers netminder.

The game was in reach - but the Blue Fins couldn’t really get the chemistry going. The Nailers clogged their zone with defenders, and the Blue Fins could not break through. Meanwhile, the Nailers flooded into the Blue Fins zone like illegal Mexicans over the border. The Nailers put in another goal to restore the two-goal lead just before the 2nd period ended.

In the third period the Blue Fins scrambled and skated hard but could not turn the light on. The unsettled and uncoordinated Blue Fins came up short 4-2.

Their next game is Monday at 9:30 against Chick-Fil-A.

 

 

For those of you who couldn’t figure out the attachment link to the mailing list, here’s a couple of shots of the sweater hanging behind the bar at Blue Fins Bistro. Thanks again Dave for your sponsorship!

Okay, I had to just post this