Blue Fin's Bistro Hockey

The Blue Fins were a little thin when they skated against the Carolina Ale House.  Captain Mike McGee almost had his team ‘govern’ themselves….

But thanks to a celebrity coaching appearance by the fastest man on blades – Kenny ‘Scooby Doo’ Glanville – the Blue Fins were in excellent hands.  Scooby Doo transitioned to coach with class and style – impeccably dressed complete with a suit, tie, and topped off with a wing-dinger of a derby.

The Blue Fins scored first when Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister carried the puck over the blue line on the left side.  Just like a Vegas dealer passes a card, Hof slid a sneaky pass across to ‘Super Dave’ Berent.  Berent easily flipped it in the net.

With E.J. Darisse out – Mike ‘Stone Cold’ Papst once again carried the torch – hoping to maintain the Blue Fins undefeated season.  Stone Cold’s game plan was to stop the first shot and then rely on his defense.  Stone Cold did just that – he stopped every first shot and played a good game.

The second shots and rebounds were gathered up by the constantly present Blue Fins defense – led by Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey, John ‘The General’ Allman and special guest star Matt ‘Wheels’ Pusateri.  

After the Ale House tied the game, the Blue Fins started to roll.  During a power play, Eric “Flex” Mussler hustled hard behind the net, dug it out and made a good shot.  The shot was blocked, but the puck was laying there like a lost wallet.  Adam “The Shocker” Hoover dove at the puck and knocked it in.

Then on the very next shift, the line of Rich “Hawkey” Denisi, Vlad ‘Pan’ Potapoff, and Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker got the next goal – capped off by a shot by Denisi.  There was a lot of traffic and this trio just out worked the Ale House.  The Blue Fins now led by 3-1.

On their next shift following their power play goal, Jeffrey Macfarland and Eric Mussler teamed up to score again and gave the Blue Fins a commanding lead.

Split up by the break in periods, the Ale House scored the next two goals and put them right back in the game (4-3) thanks to a lot of non-skating and confusing line changes by the Blue Fins. 

Then, late in the game, the Blue Fins got a timely power-play.  After Denisi, Potapoff, and Locker worked hard to get the puck into the Ale House zone.  Blue Fins changed lines to get fresh legs on the ice.  Rusin won the ensuing face-off and sent it to Hofmeister.  Hof stopped it with his skate and then shot it low past the Ale House goalie.

The Blue Fins win again and keep their undefeated season in tact.  

Of course the highlight of the night was Coach Glanville.  Coincidentally, cougar sightings are up 670% in the Wake Forest area. 

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

The Blue Fins’ latest challenge to their winning streak came from 5-Hole Sports. 5-Hole has been on the wrong end of some lopsided games, but they hoped to continue last season’s success against the Blue Fins.

The Blue Fins, however, wasted no time after Rusin squeaked down the right side and ricocheted the biscuit into the net.

Scoring his first career goal for the Blue Fins was Jeff ‘Iron Fist’ Macfaland who’s unassisted marker gave the Blue Fins a 2-0 lead in the waning moments of the first period.

In the 2nd period, the heart and soul of the Blue Fins lit the lamp: Kenny ‘Scooby Doo’ Glanville scored the only goal of the 2nd period, assisted by Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey. The Blue Fins surged to a 3 goal lead.

The Blue Fins had to claw their way through most of the game. The offense was a bit chaotic and unorganized. Added to that were 6 minor penalties – some were actually legitimate calls.

A settling influence to the chaos was the Blue Fins’ defense. Fahey, Captain Mike McGee, ‘Steady’ Gene Cookmeyer, John Allman, and Wes Gyure all played well. As usual, they kept the number of shots low – while blocking many more. With no breakaways or odd-man rushes, they offset the chaos and made things easy for Darisse.

There are two reason’s for the Blue Fins’ winning streak – Defense and Goaltending. E.J. ‘The Sandman’ Darisse has the lowest GAA in the league, and proved it again Monday night. 5-Hole’s only goal was a result of a 5-on-3 penalty kill that the Fins nearly killed off.

The final goal was scored by Vlad ‘Yo-Yo’ Potapoff. Potapoff pulls the puck around like it’s on a string, and if he has a few seconds, the goalie doesn’t stand a chance.

The Blue Fins extend their winning streak to four games and remain all alone in first place. Their next game is Monday – 9:30pm against MotherPuckers.

For the Blue Fin Bistro Hockey team, the Tuesday mornings don’t sting nearly as bad after a win. So far this season, Tuesdays have been good – the Blue Fins were 2-0 following the late games on Monday night.

Their ‘lifetime’ record against the Weevils is about even, with as many wins as losses.

The Blue Fins started the game strong. Vlad ‘Peter Pan’ Potapoff carried the puck across the blue line, through two defenders, and blasted a shot on goal. The Weevils goalie made the initial stop, but the rebound was gobbled up by Rich ‘Hawkey’ Denisi who nearly ripped it through the back of the twines.

The next offensive line followed suit when ‘Super’ Dave Berent muscled out a defender and passed the puck over to Rusin, freezing the goalie on the post. Rusin’s orangutan reach made short work of the open net. The Blue Fins now jumped to a 2 goal lead and sensed the Weevils goalie was starting to unravel.

A few minutes later, Denisi returned the favor back to Potapoff who scored the Blue Fin’s 3rd goal of the period. Defenseman Wes Gyure also assisted.

On the far side of the blue line, the Blue Fins defense took care of business. Gyure and ‘Steady’ Gene Cookmeyer were very offensive minded, jumping in on several rushes. Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey and ‘Cagey’ John Allman played just the opposite with a stalwart defense of the neutral zone and back. The two Malcolm’s – Captain Mike McGee and Kevin ‘Flavor Flav’ Lavin were the happy medium of pinching and out skating Weevils attackers.

Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister delivered the knock out blow when Berent mailed a puck from behind the net directly to Hofmeister’s stick. Hofmeister’s blast was too much for the goalie to handle. At the end of the second period, the Blue Fins had a cushy 4-0 lead.

Both defensive lines made an easy night for the subbing Mike ‘Stone Cold’ Papst. Some may recognize the name as champion goalie of the Vipers, Crimson Tide, Beer Goggles, and Shockers. Others may have seen his name on a registered offenders web site. Papst pitched a shut out for the first two periods and let only two goals in total – thanks to amazing glove saves on three very good shots.

The Blue Fins won their 3rd game in a row – 4-2. [Webster's: Winning Streak - 3 or more consecutive wins.] After three games, the Blue Fin Bistro Hockey team is alone in first place. Their next game is Monday at 11:00 pm against 5-Hole Sports.

The Blue Fin Bistro hockey team took on last season’s champions – Chick-Fil-A. Their previous meeting was a meaningless game for Chick-Fil-A and they purposely forfeited it, in order to let their ringer play one last time. But the Blue Fins won the game anyway, and hoped to make it two in a row.

Captain Mike McGee had his team ready for round 2 of Blue Collar Hockey. There are no pretty boys or superstars on this version of the Blue Fins. Just a Baker’s dozen of hard working guys ready to out-work and out-hustle their opponents.

It took less than a minute for the Blue Fins to put their plan into action. Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister sandwiched the puck against the boards and fought off the Chick-Fil-A defender. He dug the puck out and bounced it back and forth between himself, Rusin, and ‘Super Dave’ Berent. Berent stuck with it, and slid a great backhander underneath the goalie’s pads. The Blue Fin’s took the early lead at 1-0.

While half of Chick-Fil-A’s team was vulnerable to poke checks and steals, the other half played a physical game. Their ‘thug’ – #15 – visited the penalty box more than his mother frequents the cookie jar. Last season, he took former Blue Fin Tsotsoros out of the game, and the season, thanks to a cheap hit. This game, however, he took himself out of the game with 5 penalties and now a pending game misconduct for his next game.

The Blue Fins defense played solid. When they didn’t have the puck – they took it away from Chick-Fil-A. When they had the puck, they skated and passed it up the ice. Leading the defense, as usual, was Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey and also newcomer ‘Cagey’ John Allman. Allman knows the game and keeps his team going on and off the ice.

The Blue Fins defense played a near perfect game. Chick-Fil-A did manage a few odd-man rushes and a pair of breakaways, but were stopped cold by the Blue Fin’s jailer – E.J. ‘The Sandman’ Darisse. Darisse played a great game. He had a tempered balance of staying in his house and skating out to play the puck. He played every puck well. In a typical game, the goalie relies on his ‘best friend’ (the goal post) at least once or gets a lucky bounce or two along the way. But in this game, E.J. did it all himself.

The Blue Fins were clinging to their one goal lead, but maybe with a loose grip. In the third period, the Blue Fins tallied three penalties – one of which was a 2-man advantage for Chick-Fil-A. Fortunately, the loose grip was just enough. In rapid succession, the Blue Fins killed off a 5-on-3, followed by a 5-on-4, and finally an extra skater from the pulled goalie.

For over 59 minutes, the Blue Fins held onto their 1 goal lead and won their second game in a row. The Blue Collar Blue Fins are winning games with determination, not dazzle, but it’s working. They are cautiously off to a solid 2-0 start. Their next game is Monday at 10:25 against the Weevils.

It wasn’t anything close to a wedding but when the Blue Fins took the ice for their first game, they were fully engaged in the new season.

As Captain Mike McGee assembled his team in the locker room – there were several new guys as well as some Fins from the past.

Their first game was against Carolina Ale House.  This team had restocked as well, including several members from a past championship team.  

Rolling through three lines of skaters, most of who had not played together, was challenging for the Blue Fins.  Ale House, however, worked well together and scored just 30 seconds after the first puck drop. 

Three minutes later and the Blue Fins were going nowhere fast when Ale House scored their second goal to make it 2-0.

Rich ‘Hawkey’ Denisi and the Blue Fins got a lucky break.  The shot wasn’t lucky – that part was all skill.  The lucky part was that the ref saw the puck go in and hit just inside the post and come right back out.  It easily could have been ruled to have hit the post.

Just before the end of the first period, Ale House restored their 2 goal lead – the score was now 3-1.

In the 2^nd period, it was the Blue Fin’s turn to score early.  E.J. ‘Sandman’ Darisse made a nice pass to Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey who fired across the rink to a hard-charging Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister.  Hof, followed by his linemates, were on a 3-0 breakaway.  But when the goalie foolishly left an opening, Hof capitalized and scored.  

After giving up 3 uncharacteristic goals in the first period, the Sandman woke up.  The saves came like rice at a wedding, yet not even rice grains could get by Darisse.  Darisse essentially shut the taps on the Ale House for the rest of the game.

Wes Gyure, Gene ‘Steady-Eddy’ Cookmeyer, and Dave ‘The Godfather’ Berent combined forces and truly got a lucky bounce.  Gyure’s shot bounced off an Ale House skate and slid past the hapless Netminder to tie the game at 3.  

Briefly the Ale House regained the lead, but Gyure tied the game for the second time on a clean, sniping wrister that found nothing but net.

Denisi scored the eventual Game-Winning-Goal on a great pass from Hofmeister.  As the pass arrived, Denisi slammed it at the goalie and found just enough gap to bang it past him.  The Blue Fins now led 5-4, and kept their foot on the gas.

Hofmeister scored his second goal of the night after charging the blue line and getting a lucky bounce off his pads.  Hof broke in, alone, and patiently waited for the goalie to commit.  He did, and Hof neatly flipped it past him.

With the game nearly over, Ale House’s futile attempt to pull the goalie was answered brutally by an empty net goal by Dave ‘The Godfather’ Berent.

The Blue Fins played crazy, discombobulated hockey for the entire game.  They didn’t out-skate or out-perform the Ale House – they simply out-worked them.  Final score – Blue Fins 7 – Ale House 4.

Last week the Blue Fins ended their season with a loss in the first round of the play-offs. (sorry, no report) It was a tough loss in a shootout.

This week, they played 5-Hole Sports as a consolation game. The attendance differential was no consolation to the Blue Fins, who dressed 7 skaters to 14 for 5-Hole.

What was – and always is – a consolation for the Fins is netminder E.J. ‘The Sandman’ Darisse. The Sandman played brilliantly. He faced a lot of shots and kept his team in the game. You could see the lift it gave his team every time he made a great save. Strengths by Darisse were his trade-mark poke checks and puck sweeps….not to be out done by his ability to pass the puck out of his own zone.

The other reason the Blue Fins were in this game was their defense. Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey not only locked his wife out of his house, but he locked 5-Hole out of his zone. Gene ‘Steady’ Cookmeyer was a calming force – he controlled the puck, slowed the play down, and gave his team the time needed to move the puck up the ice. Matt ‘Blades of Steel’ Pusateri certainly played good defense – but also was able to light the lamp.

Pusateri’s first goal was an uncharacteristic fore-hand shot that caught the goalie by surprise on an unassisted break-away. His second goal came in the third period to give the Blue Fins the lead.

Earlier, the first goal of the night was scored by Rich ‘Hawkey’ Denisi. Denisi had a 2-0 breakaway with Rusin on his right. Denisi went left, stutter stepped and slowed the puck a bit which froze the goalie. He then pulled the puck past the goalie and scored thanks to a picture-perfect deke.

In the 2nd period, Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker chased a bouncing pass from Rusin and outraced everyone to the net. He blasted it and the keeper never had a chance.

Two 3rd period goals by 5-Hole sports gave them back the lead, and the Blue Fins could not get the tying score.

The Blue Fins finish another season without their ultimate goal of a championship. Captain Mike McGee has already begun the process of re-signing his players with the hope that the team chemistry will continue to grow and subsequently translate into more victories – and most importantly – more fun.

When Captain Mike McGee stepped on the ice Monday night, he made an important observation. The opposing team, Chick-Fil-A, dressed their ringer, #4, that was officially removed from their team not once, but twice. McGee reeled in the referees and Chick-Fil-A knowingly chose a forfeit in order to allow their ringer to skate with them.

So although the Blue Fins already tallied the win – the condescending attitude and statements by Chick-Fil-A, ‘We don’t need the points’ didn’t leave the Blue Fins satisfied.

The first period was chaotic, as the game started early and not all of the Boys in Blue were on the ice. After a full 5 or 6 minutes, the Fins finally settled down the lines and got down to business.

For the second game in a row, Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker got things started. Locker proved that the top shelf is good for more than J.D. when he hammered a shot over the goalie’s left shoulder.

Kenny ‘Scooby Doo’ Glanville – even if he didn’t get a goal – deserved an ‘A’ for effort. Glanville peppered the goalie with shots, slapped at rebounds, loose pucks, etc. Glanville was getting frustrated as he just couldn’t seem to light the lamp. But when Rusin won a faceoff in their own zone – Glanville took the puck and blazed down the ice. He broke free and fired a shot too fast for the goalie to handle. ‘A’ for effort – but ‘A+’ for this goal.

Chick-Fil-A – although they had ‘nothing to play for’ were certainly putting everything that had into the game. With 14 PIMS to their credit, the Chicken Burgers played anything but clean. Unfortunately, Stephen ‘The Mystery’ Tsotsoros took the brunt early in the game and left with a possible torn MCL.

The Fins took advantage of the PIMS mainly by wearing the Chickens down and controlling the puck. Finally though, they used the power play to help their number on the scoreboard. Rusin drew the face off back to Bob ‘Quickla’ Cwikla who beat the goalie where he supposedly couldn’t be beaten. Cwikla blasted a slap shot from the right side and buried it deep into the twines.

A 3 goal lead is cushy, but no guarantee against the first place team with a B-level, or better, player.

Another thing wasn’t cushy either – the Fins Defense. Yes, with a capital D. Led by Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey, Gene ‘Hot Hands’ Cookmeyer and ‘Roamin’ Wayne Roan, they felt it when McGee was forced up to offense because of the injured Tsotsoros. The Fins D stopped the Chickens at every turn. Cookmeyer was steady and controlled the puck in his zone. Fahey was a master at the pinch. Amazingly, this guy seems to have a view of the future because when he takes the puck in, he’s always right. Roan thankfully battled through some nagging injuries and added strong back checking.

The player of the game for the Fins was EJ ‘The Sandman’ Darisse. Even at the end of the game, when the Chickens sent their ringer in trying to score, Darisse stood tall. Darisse faced many good shots and answered with great saves each and every time. One was a quick flair of the right leg pad, several other saves came thanks to his lightning quick glove.

Against the # 1 team, against a B level ringer, against an army of skaters – Darisse got a shut out at the perfect time.

Despite the forfeit, the Blue Fins earned a 3-0 victory because of hard work and clean play. The Blue Fins enter the play-offs riding high, thanks to a 3-game (technically speaking) win streak….