Blue Fin’s Bistro Hockey

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.

Ahhh, the long awaited meeting between the Blue Fins and the Crunch - including Mike and Ryan Twiss.  So now the dilemma - how to capture it in print?  Should the report exaggerate how the Blue Fins played while criticizing Twiss?  Or should this text douse the controversy by not even making mention of it?  (It’s too late for that now, isn’t it?)

There was a wide range of expectations on the Blue Fins side of the puck.  Some expected a physical game, some expected some trash talking, some expected physical play, others didn’t expect much.  One thing was sure - on the other team, the Twiss’s were serious.

Regardless, there were no surprises.  Mike Twiss played strong on the puck, Ryan still skates fast.  Both of them took some ’special time’ to congratulate John ‘Afternoon Delight’ Probasco on his high skill level.  Mike’s wit was as sharp as ever and sent him to the bin for unsportsmanlike comments that had the referee grinning.  Was there reason to be surprised by any of this?  No. 

New man on the sub list - Bob Cwikla - proved his worth right out of the blocks.  He got the scoring going with a breakaway and quick shot.  ‘Afternoon Delight’ followed this up with an unassisted and shorthanded goal.  After this, Captain Mike McGee opened the gun turrets and sent his team out firing.  Cwikla scored another goal late in the 2nd period and was really a great asset to the team.

Probasco haberdashed his way to a 3 goal game.  On his last breakaway, the puck stuck to his blade like glue.  He dipsy-do’d the defender and a quick shot between the legs beat the goaltender cold. 

The third goal, and eventual GWG, was scored by Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister.  Hof bullied his way up the center, kept the puck moving, and made a diving shot just before he hit the ice.  Somebody cue the ESPN music, this one’s for the highlight reel.

Keith ‘White Shadow’ Locker had two goals for the game.  On the first, he fought off two Crunch defenders and then sent an impossible shot towards the goalie.  The goalie fumbled as the shot deflected in.  Locker’s second goal was a result of a picture-perfect pass by Adam ‘Van Dam’ Hoover.  Hoover skated the puck behind the net, and sliced it up the gut to Locker who one-timed it deep into the twines.

Stephen ‘The Show’ Tsotsoros out raced the rest of the Crunch and scored a sweet breakaway goal.  Tsotsoros played a great game both offensively and defensively.

‘Easy E’ E.J. Darisse played a nearly flawless game in goal.  E.J. seems to improve every game, and his coolness on the ice is settling to the Fins defense.  The Crunch spoiled his shut out opportunity by scoring early in the third period.

A bit of sweet revenge was had by the Twiss’s - when Mike assisted Ryan and scored the 2nd goal for the Crunch. 

Matt ‘Wheels’ Pusateri excited the crowd (well, the Blue Fins part) by charging the puck up the left side and firing a laser into the far side of the cage. 

In a surprising move, the Crunch pulled their goalie - apparently to add more physical presence at the end.  Pusateri took advantage, skated the puck up, and passed to Hoover.  Hoover got the freebie to finish off the game.  The Blue Fins win 11-2 and bounce back after their previous loss.

Overall, the game wasn’t the cleanest - but it could have been much worse.  The Crunch, and the Twiss’s, played good hockey.  Mike had some sour, yet warranted, comments for the Blue Fins, but in the end there were ’no hard feelings’. 

Either way, the game wasn’t about one or two guys.  It was about playing hockey and having fun.  Both the Fins and the Crunch did both.

Next up for the Blue Fin’s - The Nailers.  June 30th, 7:00 pm.

Well, apparently we have some readers who aren’t Blue Fin’s, or related….

So to dispell the question about ‘Why are you guys in C2?’  I’ll summarize some of the facts.  Mike, Matt, Mike - please chime in as necessary.

The Factory let many teams move down a league.  Is it just for the summer?   That remains to be seen.

Regardless - there is no longer a B/C.  Teams from B dropped to C1.  Teams from C1 dropped to C2.  The integrity of each division, with respect to skill level, was completely disrupted.

When it came time for the Blue Fins - we requested to play in C1 - but E.J. Stern, the hockey director, forced us to play in C2.  A few reasons were given, but our only choice was to go to C2.

Captain Mike lobbied hard to go to C1, as did Matt, but E.J. Stern would not hear of it.  We told him we were not going to break up the team just to fit into his plans.  Plain and simple - John was staying put.  E.J. agreed.

So yes, John is good - ringer good.  But in C1, we were a .500 team and wanted to stay.

Are we dominating C2?  No way.  We aren’t undefeated, we aren’t winning every game by a lopsided margin.  Maybe we can go back to C1 - but we weren’t given a choice the first time.

So………we’re sure to get continued jabs about John; we’re likely in for a chippy game or too.  But the bottom line - E.J. Stern forced us to play here.  Don’t believe us?  Ask him.

We’ll keep trying to win.  We’ll keep trying to boost morale with these mostly fact based reports.  At the end of the day, we’re just playing to have fun.

Additional clarification - mpusateri:

I’ll try to clarify some things as I was at the captains meeting:

Initially we were in C1(at the start of the Captain’s meeting)  There was a lot of back and forth of the competitiveness of the league.  If you include this season 6 B teams have dropped to C1 because they felt they were not competitive in B. (Don’t get me started on how 6 teams cannot play competively in B, but can in C1 especially with only 8 teams in C1)  So a discussion among several teams ensued about moving divisions, in an effort to even out the playing field for all.  Blue Fins had concerns(which I expressed) that so many B  teams were dropping, and maybe we needed to look at C2.  I stepped out to make a phone call to try to discuss dropping to C2 with our captain and upon my return we had already been moved to C2.  We had a scheduing conflict with the C2 nights and I said that I would go back to my team and see if they wanted to play in C2 or in C1.  Again, I did not fully commit the Blue Fins to C2, and the only reason we even slightly considered it was because we knew whewe were loosing some C1 talent. One of the statements EJ made, was that he expected the Captains to evaluate the calibur of talent on their teams and place them in the appropriate division.   So in the midst of figuring out what division, we recruited some C2 players and C1 players, but felt overall that we were a C1 team and wanted to play C1.   EJ at this point said that he had an even amount of teams in C1 and C2 and would not let us play C1, that it was a scheduling issue(Mike McGee correct me if I’m wrong.  Mike had more discussions with EJ about this as he is our captain) Turns out we ended up with 7 teams in C2 anyways, and have the scheduling issues anyhow.  In fairness to EJ, hindsight is 20/20, and all teams owe it to EJ, to give him the opportunity to fix things come the fall.  This is EJ’s first season, and he walked into a league plagued with problems.  Blue Fins hold no grudges and are not worried.  Also keep in mind there is no A league this summer, so B is probably more competitive for the summer, but it should be expected by ALL that there are some C1 teams that should move back to B  in the fall just as Blue Fins should move back to C1 in the fall.

Mainly we as a team wanted to point out, we don’t enjoy winning 10-2, we didn’t want to be in this position.  Also it was just two seasons ago that we went 1-13, and were getting creamed in C1.  What I can say is 1 or 2 players do make you competitive whether that’s in B  or C1 or C2.  One problem is that the time between seasons is so short that it is incredibly difficult to recruit in such a short time.   Also this blog was created for the Blue Fins enjoyment, we really struggled with posting this type of content as we never envisioned it to be for outside our team, but since others in the league are following it, and since some are upset that we don’t belong in C2, we thought we should publically acknowledge the facts as we see them.  I’m sure there will always be two sides of every story

Bottom line is it’s a “recreation league”  sure it everyone wants to win, wants to be competitve, but lets leave it on the ice, and all go have a beer afterwards!

Matt P.

For the Blue Fins, it was their first real test in the C2 league.  Labatt’s had been putting up some big wins and notching a lot of goals as of late.

Captain Mike McGee’s strategy was to put his best (present company’s literary prowess excluded) on defense.  It was a sound strategy, but relied on the defense to finish with goals as well.  Taking nothing away from the offense - all six forwards work furiously hard - but are more grind than glamour.

After Labatt’s scored the first goal, Keith ‘THE WHITE SHADOW’ Locker - scored his most spectacular goal as a Blue Fin.  He took the puck over the blue line, took 3 hard strides and buried the puck in the back of the net.  As THE WHITE SHADOW deservingly shook his fist, the Labatt’s goalie appeared to take a swipe as he went by…and such started the Blue Fins woes.

In terms of physical play, the Blue Fins give as good as they get - but only react - rather than provoke.  In this case, the provocation was handled solely by the inept officiating crew.  In this game the Fins visited the ‘Sin Bin’ twice as often as Labatt’s - and it hurt.  Although they only gave up 1 power play goal, playing a man down emptied the Fins tanks too soon.

The game see-sawed back and forth, but with each Blue Fins goal - Labatt’s topped it with one more of their own.

John ‘Afternoon Delight’ Probasco tallied a hat trick thanks to a blistering slap shot and two break aways.  On each breakaway, Probasco had the puck on a string and he had at least a move or two more than the goalie could handle.

Not helping matters for the Blue Fins - the refs and Shrek Jr. allowed Labatt’s star (Barney) Fyfe score 4 goals.  This was only noticed by Captain Mike McGee well after the game had ended.  E.J. ‘Insert Expletive’ Stern promised to ‘Look into It’.  Thanks for the attention to detail, E.J.

McGee, with his back-up stick, and Steve ‘Choo-Choo’ Tsotsoros worked hard to score a hard working goal.  McGee fought off 2 defenders and the Labatt’s goalie and Tsotsoros slammed the puck home - and cut the lead to 2 goals.  (McGee, with his back-up stick, gets the assist - no thanks to Poinstreak!)

Once again Labatt’s increased their lead to 3 and that’s how the game ended.  Other hard working Blue Fins included Joe ‘More is More’ Moreschi - made a key diving poke check and cleared the puck while face first on the ice; Matt ‘Speed Racer’ Pusateri carried the puck well - despite being mugged over and over by the Labatt’s defenders; and finally - Dan ‘The Man’ Fahey returned to the Blue Fins without missing a step.

Next up for the Blue Fins is ‘The Crunch’ - Monday June 16, at 7:00 pm.

Be sure to tune in, as this episode is bound to have a Twiss(t)….or two!

It has been said - that a goal is a goal, and a win is a win, no matter how pretty……..or not.

The Blue Fins Bistro Hockey team played their toughest competition so far - the Weevils.  Player to player, the Fins are, or should be, better than the Weevils.  But - the Fins played poorly.  This game was practically 60 full minutes of bad passing and bad shots by the Blue Fins. 

The exception to this rule was Fins keeper “Daring” E.J. Darisse.  After one soft goal, E.J. melted down shot after shot from the Weevils. 

The Weevils jumped out to a 2-0 lead which held for most of the first period.  It took over 19 minutes, but John “I’m In” Probasco finally scored thanks to a good pass from Adam Hoover (or whoever else passed it - I certainly can’t remember).  This halved the Weevils lead, and after the first period the score was 2-1. 

For most of the next two periods, the ugliness continued - and the game got more physical.  The Weevils may as well have had a pack of dogs - as they were on a fox hunt.  Their target was Probasco.  Verbally and physically, they were successful in baiting him into several discretions which took him off the ice and into the bin. 

Captain Mike McGee intervened and tried to corral Probasco and the Fins.  Although they weatered the storm of penalties, they still could not generate the offense needed to tie the score. 

Then, with time waning in the 3rd period - the Fins had less than 2 minutes to light the lamp.  Taking the face-off in their own zone, Rusin won the drop and sent the puck to Dave ‘Push the Grouper’ Berent.  Berent held the puck, giving Probasco time to break up the ice.  Berent rifled a perfect pass up the center to Probasco.  Probasco out raced the Weevils and faked the goalie with two moves, and a quick flip of the puck. 

The Fins tied the game and pushed the ever exciting conclusion to a shootout. 

Steve ‘Loco’ Tsotsoros was first to go.  He skated directly up the center, got the goalie sliding to his right, and then scored five-hole.  Probasco was second, and despite a post-shot collision, he scored to tally his third goal for the game.

On the other side of the shootout, ‘Daring’ E.J. Darisse shut down the Weevils.  After a stellar performance in regulation, he made the shootout look easy and stopped both Weevils attempts. 

With their 3rd win in a row, the UNDEFEATED Blue Fins lead the league.  Their next game is Monday, June 9 at 8:30 pm against Labatt’s. 

Ozzy Osbourne wasn’t singing when Chris Bily came home against his former team.  Excluding their ex-teammate, there weren’t many ‘plus-es’ about Team Factory.  This team is being coached and managed by hockey director E.J. Stern – who is ‘The Man’ that has done nothing but make life difficult for the Blue Fins.  Team Factory’s skaters look liked victims of an explosion at the Good Will – barely two players wore the same jerseys and half of the team wore ‘pennies’.

Captain Mike McGee laid out the game plan – play hard, play smart, and if Team Factory are as bad as they looked – show some respect.  So much for planning……..

Team Factory came out playing the body more than they did the puck.  This reporter’s favorite skater got in a minor shoving match with Team Factory’s feeble enforcer.  This game turned out to be a very physical contest and made the Jackals look like nice guys.

Adam Hoover and Steve “Not-so” Tsotsoros got things going for the Fins when Tsotsoros made a perfect pass that Hoover easily put past the goalie. 

Maybe it was Team Factory’s short temper, or possibly E.J. Stern’s coaching - but after Jon Probasco scored on a blistering slap shot – they tried to muscle him down with ‘incidental hits’.  Probasco’s answer was a second goal that put the Blue Fins up 3-0.  

Could this report ignore the Blue Fins sloppy play and turn into an unfounded ego-boost?  We’ll let you decide….

The first offensive line was anchored by Captain Mike McGee, who moved up from offense.  McGee forechecked well and the newly-engaged Dave ‘Godfather’ Berent peppered the goalie with shots.  

Defensively, Matt ‘Wheels’ Pusateri scored a power-play goal when he broke through Team Factory’s defense and fooled the goalie out of his pads.  Instead of sliding in the easy shot, he took his over-priced stick, flipped it over, and ‘stick-balled’ the puck into the net.  (Alas, it was no backhander though.)

The second offensive line was buzzing and bookended the Blue Fins scoring.  Keith ‘Blue Collar’ Locker assisted Steve Tsotsoros who scored the final goal of the night.  

Oh yeah, there was another E.J. at the rink Monday night.  E.J. “Easy E” Darisse made history for the Blue Fins.  His 0.00 goals-against and 100% save percentage gave E.J. the very first shut out in Blue Fins Hockey history.  

The Blue Fins maintain first place and are sitting at 2-0.  The rubber hits the road when they next play Carolina Ale House.

It’s only been a few weeks, but a long road for the Blue Fin’s that landed them in the C2 league.  Finally, the Blue Fins returned to the ice - a little slower, a little heavier - but never more ready.

Several new skaters joined the Blue Fin’s, and if I knew all of their last names, I could keep writing like some 2nd-rate sports reporter.  Steve ‘Not McGee’ - a pile of speed and skill who is also Mike McGee’s brother in-law; Joe “More is More” Moreschi - a gritty defender formerly of Comstock Homes, and Keith “Blue Collar” ‘Something’ - a hard working forward brought in by Mike Hofmeister.

Before the game even started, the Fins were counting chickens and expecting an easy win.  (Please note, no chickens were harmed in the filming of this game.  Choked a little, sure - but nothing serious.)  After the game started, the Nailers showed that it was going to be a competitive game, and the Blue Fins may have spoken too early. 

On his very first shift - “Blue Collar” Keith chipped in his first goal as a Blue Fin.  Just like his name, this guy is all about hard work.  Not to be out done (and actually not in this order) but the other new Fins contributed as well - Steve ‘Not McGee’ scored thanks to some serious puck handling and skating; and Joe ‘More is More’ Moreschi careened a shot off a hapless defender’s skate that he is probably still ‘kicking’ himself about.

The game did get close as the Nailers inched to within two goals early in the first period.  But any line led by Captain Mike McGee is going to be tough.  McGee is more about his play on the ice, than his words of wisdom.  He played hard on defense - keeping the puck out of his zone with good back checking and smart passing.  Also on defense, Matt ‘Wheels’ Pusateri displayed at least one extra gear.  His speed got him a nice goal in the 2nd period when he backhanded a low slider through the five hole.

The Blue Fins best defender all game - was their net minder ‘Easy E’ E.J. Darisse.  E.J. outplayed the Nailers goalie, and was impossible for the Nailers shooters to ‘pin down’. 

With or without their unbeatable defense, the Blue Fin’s had plenty of scoring this game.  Adam Hoover got a well deserved goal from the left side after several hard shots.  This reporter’s favorite center also scored two goals on assists from Mike Hofmeister and Dave “Push the Grouper” Berent. 

His first goal was nice, but the play of the game was when Jon ‘State’ Probasco kept the puck onsides and made a pass from his knees to Berent.  Berent snagged the puck and fired it to Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister.  Hof caught it, did a quick spin, and fired it past the Nailer’s goalie for his second goal of the night.

The Blue Fins piled it on and won by a score of 10-4.  Their next game is against ‘Team Factory’ - Monday night at 8:30pm.  This is predicted to be an ‘interesting’ game as they meet one of their former players for the first time………

The Blue Fins played their last game of the season…..they think.  After losing their first play-off game, the Fins were matched up against the undefeated and dominating Ziggy’s.  Why they played Ziggy’s - instead of another first-round play-off user - is anybody’s guess.

The Fins played hard in the first period and after 20 minutes were only down 2-0.  Even in the 2nd period, when Ziggy’s started to widen their gap - the Fin’s were playing better than the score indicated.  Easily half of the goals were flukes or broken plays. 

As the game waned on, and the gap widened - the Fins tank emptied.  Slowly, but surely, the game became out of reach. 

Defensively, the foursome of Pusateri, Roan, Probasco, and Hudson tried to baffle Ziggy’s #9 with 30 second short-shifts.   The ’strategery’ floundered a bit for the defense, but was a great example of ‘thinking man’s hockey.’

The offense could not get anything going.  Notable performances were tallied by Adam ‘Spandex’ Hoover and Kenny ‘Scooby Doo’ Glanville.  Hoover played hard every shift and was the hardest working Fin in the pond.  Glanville really shone in the 3rd period.  His best effort came as he and #9 chased the puck into the boards.  Glanville outmuscled him to the puck, chipped it past him, and carried it into Ziggy’s zone. 

Ziggys’ shut out was thwarted by Probasco thanks to a one-on-two attack that ended by sliding the puck in 5-hole. 

With just a few bright spots, the Blue Fins ran out of gas and couldn’t get more than the one goal.  The Fins dropped the last game of the season 7-1.  (or is it the last?) 

No season wrap up yet…..I’d hate to hold up the ‘Dewey Wins!’ newspaper just yet…….soon to come will be a season wrap up and detailed player-by-player review.  Facts will be optional.

The Blue Fins hoped to exact a bit of revenge Wednesday night when they skated against the undefeated Ziggy’s team.

Just prior to the season….Mike Meehan chose to leave the Blue Fins ‘to play with his old team’.  Surprisingly though - the first time they played Ziggys this season - and saw Mike Meehan on the ice, his response was - “Well, you guys aren’t good enough.  That’s why I left.”

Despite the fact that Ziggys dropped to the C league because the competition was too tough in their original league, they did not see the irony of going undefeated….

The Blue Fins started the game with a lot of effort.  Every skater wanted to win, but knew it would take nothing less than hard work.

With a bit of razzle, and a dash of dazzle - Ziggy’s made the first two goals like easy - and soon after, scored a third to jump out to a three goal lead.

But thanks to a great poke check, Mike ‘Hammer’ Hofmeister stole the puck from Ziggy’s star player.  He made a quick pass to Dave ‘Move the Salmon’ Berent who slid an off-speed shot past the goalie.  (3-1)

But the Ziggy’s ringer took offense to Hofmeister’s steal, and proceed to put on a show - skating end-to-end and scoring.  (4-1)

 From there, the Fins lost composure and spent - or wasted - too much time trying to ‘even the score’ with the Ringer and Meehan. 

Not even two break-away goals by Jon ‘Youngblood’ Probasco were enough to keep the game close. 

Star players in the losing effort were Matt ‘Pinky’ Pusateri and Captain Mike McGee on the defensive side; while Wes ‘Restraining Order’ Gyure, Chris ‘CSI’ Biley, and Mike ‘Shaggy’ Horne shone brightly on offense.

The Fins’ next contest is Wednesday, 8:45pm, against Vincent’s of Raleigh.

After last week’s disappointing loss, the Blue Fin’s Bistro hockey team was looking to rebound against Carolina Ale House.  Coming into the game with a superior record, the Blue Fins were favored to win it.

The Blue Fins treated the Ale House like a health inspector with an axe to grind.  Jon ‘Mr. Hockey’ Probasco played defense, with an offensive mindset.  He repeatedly skated the puck out of his zone which he converted into the first two goals for the Fins.

 After Mr. Hockey made it look easy, the rout was on.  Wes ‘Choir Boy’ Gyure chimed in with two opportunistic goals.  The second he scored on a rebound - the initial hard blast by ‘Master Blaster’ Biley was too hot for the goalie. 

The rest of the Blue Fins defense played very agressively - Matt ‘Speed Racer’ Pusateri and Dan ‘Lock Box’ Fahey both repeatedly jumped in on the offensive rush. 

Goals were plentiful - Kenny ‘Scooby Doo’ Glanville, Rich ‘Smooth’ Kessler, and Biley all scored goals of their own.  Earlier this season, the Ale House’s regular goalie sudddenly quit - and the pipes were being manned by one of their skaters.  He was obviously chosen for his sheer size.  Unfortunately for the Ale House, his skills as a goalie were about as good as those of his college carousing days.  [single guy, likes Dungeons & Dragons, lives with his Mom]

The man who led the Blue Fins on this historic night, was Mike ‘The Body’ Hofmeister.  Entering this season, he held the record for goals and points scored for the Blue Fins, but his latest scoring drought had extended past a handful of games. 

Hof returned to his scoring ways by skating hard, lowering his shoulder, and crashing the net.  [It's all about hard work, boys and girls.]  The first goal was a blistering shot from the left side.  The second time he turned the light on was a power-play goal; the third was a snap pass from Dave ‘Cheese Fries’ Berent that Hof shoveled through the goalie’s pads.

 The Blue Fins doubled up on the Ale House by a score of 10-5.  They didn’t play their best, but they had more than enough and the game was never in doubt. 

 Their next game is against the Bulldogs - Wednesday night at 8:15 pm.