Blue by Two; Series All Even

Tempers ran high in game 2 last night at The Doug as Blue got a much needed road win to knot the series at two. It was back and forth all night with lead changes multiple times but Blue rallied to pull out a 9-7 victory which left the Green faithful booing the Blue players as well as head referee Phil Lacasse who heard the chants all night of "Ray Charles" referencing the blind musician. "It was ugly at times", said Jim "Hazy" Hayes who was picked up at the trade deadline for his veteren leadership, "but the main thing is that we got the win".Goalie Tom "Harry" Harrison was beside himself after the loss and stormed out of the locker room and declined an interview while allegedly shoving a camera man. No charges were filed however. One of his teammates defended Harry saying, "Harry is going in for surgery on friday and that was added pressure to an already pressure-filled playoff atmosphere". Team doctor Rich Rosatto said surgeons would be cutting the hair across Harry's ass, butt, it was routine surgery and nothing to worry about. "We don't expect he will be out for game 3. Tom "TC" Carroll had a hot hand last night and reclaimed the scoring lead, but it wasn't enough to help Green get a strangle hold on the series. Mike "Oagie Ogalthorpe" Farrelly was released on bail and was back in the lineup last night. The game got rough and referee Lacasse almost lost control of the contest. It was reported that he was drinking before the game. This report was not confirmed however and may be just hear-say. Greg "Hernia" Fournier took a monster hit along the boards that sent his stick flying 300 ft. in the air which landed one fan in the ER. Blue jumped out to early two goal lead, but Green fought back and tied it up just before the period ended. Midway through the game, the line of TC, Shemp and Tilly scored three quick goals and gave Green the lead. Blue didn't lose faith and battled back. Joe "Joe" Farrelly registered an assist after firing a blistering slap shot that shattered the toe of George "Dumpin" Chase's skate and deflected onto the stick of Jim "Heathy" Heath who made a nifty pass across the goal mouth to Tom "Philby" Philbrick who buried the puck in the back of the net. Chase said afterwards, "I'm lucky to be alive!" Farrelly scored earlier in game, unfortunately it was on his own goalie.
Dunc "Coach" Walsh ended his scoring drought with a goal and an assist.He almost made it a Gordie Howe hat trick when he and Tilly nearly dropped the gloves. Things got ugly at the end as Harry lashed out at referee Lacasse as well as a few of the Blue players. Both teams argued the calls. TC said, "It's a different game without the blue lines", referring to several missed off side calls. Blue was up on the bench ranting about a Too Many Men on the Ice call that went unseen. The replay clearly showed that Green had seven players out there. "The reffing was bad for both teams", said Dan "Lucky" Luker, "we have to put it behind us and focus on game 3". You can bet the Blue crowd will be noisy for game 3. They'll be putting on the foil! With the series all even, it is more than likely to go five (again). "I think it's THE greatest rivalry in sports", said Philby. That is a NO BRAINER!

Inside The Pucking Files

As the Thursday Night hockey season is winding down, you may find it hard to believe we are well entrenched in the FINALS. Where did the time go? What will we do for the spring and summer?
(Actually, training camp starts August 1rst.) What about The Pucking Files? Do I have to wait until September to start reading The Pucking Files? The answer is:  NO YOU DON'T!  Me and my staff are committed to you the followers of The Pucking Files. We will be bringing you the stories all year long. Find out what your favorite Thursday Night Stars do in the off season. Keep abreast (yes, I said, " a breast") with the lastest developments for the 2012 Black Ice Pond Hockey Championships; Find out the truths and lies behind trade rumors and contract arbitration; See inside the world of The Pucking Files! I'll be bringing you coverage of the Stanely Cup playoffs, NH High School Hockey and Sunday Meetings. We will even take you into the Doug to witness the pagentry of The Cat Show, The Craft Show, The Gun Show and even the Model Train Show. So if you need a fix of hockey all year long, just grab a coldy and log onto........ The Pucking Files. If you need more good memories of the hockey season then you're in luck because the new book "Pond of Dreams" is now available. Relive the wonderment of The 1883 Black Ice Pond Hockey Championship inaugural season. You don't have to worry if you're a slow reader; it's mostly pictures! It is available in hardcover for $40. or softcover for $30. AND, if you become a FOLLOWER of The Pucking Files you will get a $2. discount. All proceeds from the sale of "Pond of Dreams" will go towards paying my brothers fine in the upcoming April 18th trial of The White's Pond Duo. If found "NOT Guilty" then all the proceeds will be donated to The Boys & Girls Club of Concord on behalf of The 1883 Pond Hockey Championship.      Yours truely, Rudzbro

Blue is Green with Envy as Green Takes Game One!

Green continued it's regular season dominance over Blue in game one of the playoffs last night much to the pleasure of the crowd who packed "The Doug" (Everett Arena) all decked out in Heineken green. "It was a sea of green", said Todd "Philby" Philbrick. "The crowd was so loud that I could hardly hear myself think", added goalie Tom "Harry" Harrison. That was probably a good thing! Harry was solid in net for Green but, Blue backstop Kenny "Can I get some LOVE" Bradley was spectacular in a losing effort. He stopped all but two of the first fifty shots that he faced in the opening five minutes of the first period. Captain Dave "Tilly" Tillotson opened the scoring for the Green attack. He added a second goal just minutes later and Green never looked back. "It was a total team effort", Tilly told reporters after the game, "but you have to admit that my two pretty much sealed the deal", he added. Tilly had been whispering in the ear of Gary "Toe" Blake about who he wanted to see in the line up for this playoff push. He got his wish as he dealt from the bottom of the deck so to speak. What a line up it was; Tilly, Clint "Eastwood" Casavaugh, Todd "Philby" Philbrick, Tom "Shemp" Champagne, George "Dumpin" Chase, Tom "Berg" Bergault, Mark "My Brother" Rudz, Jeff "Kano" Kane, Tom "Painch" Painchaud, Chris "Brownie" Brown and Greg "Hernia" Fournier made up this potent Green attack. "I picked up some guys at the trade deadline that know how to win the big games", said G.M. Blakey. "Berg", "Painch" and "Dumpin" are all fresh off of Black Ice championships", he added. "These guys know what it's like to hold a "Hobey", said Hernia. Despite Green's territorial advantage, "The Bradley Wall" was up and at the end of the first period Blue found themselves down by only two goals. "We didn't panic", said Dunc "Coach" Walsh, "we knew if we got a few opportunities we would be right back in the game". Coach was handed an opportunity at the beginning of the second which would have gotten Blue within one, but perhaps he SHOULD have panicked because he had Harry down and out, but he couldn't bury it thanks to my brother's backcheck. "I guess I should have put a little more on it", Coach told reporters as he tossed an empty Bud Light can toward the trash bucket

(which also missed it's mark). Green put any hopes for Blue at bay as George, Shemp and Rudz added three quick ones in one shift. "That was a dagger in our hearts", said Kurt "The Kaiser" Gillies. Green continued the onslaught. Blue tried everything to get back in the game. Heathy was launching rocket propelled grenades on Harry from all over the ice ,but Harry was solid in a Harry sort of way. Jack "Jackhammer" Fraiser even tried a Hail Mary pass from his own end zone but Harry wasn't fooled. "He's no Tom Brady", Harry joked after the game. "It was lousey reffing", griped Dan "Too Late" Earley. "We were short-handed all game thanks to bad reffing", complained Andy "BTO" Bauchman. Blue will have to go back to the drawing board and try to shake up their line up before game two. Green isn't getting too excited however; they know it will probably be a tough series and they expect Blue to come out with a vengence in game two. In the meantime; Enjoy this one Green fans! It's one step closer to the ultimate prize.
OH BROTHER WHERE ART THOU! I don't know if anyone noticed but, where were the brother acts last night? A league that boasts of it's "family values" was suspiciously without any of the brother tandems in last night's contest. No brothers Farrelly, Philbys, Tillys, Cummys or Rudz. It has been reported that legal troubles has again reared it's ugly head in three cases. It seems that the Supreme Court has overturned Governor Lynch's pardon of the White's Pond Duo. The euphoria that permeated the city when Governor Lynch pardoned two of Concord's leading citizens has turned to anger when it was announced that the Supreme Court had overruled the pardon. Tensions are high in the Capitol City right now. "We have to let cooler heads prevail", said attorney Dan "Lucky" Luker. "We don't want another Eygpt situation", added Greg "Moose" Moffet who heads the defense team for Rudz. "It's outrageous!" Mike Farrelly said as he was escorted back to maximum securtiy prison following the ruling. "We're not going to let him rot in there", declared Chris McLaughlin. "I am filing an injuction against the court ruling as soon as I get back to Concord from Keene (where he plays in a vastly inferior hockey league). As far as the other brothers missing last night: Reported as "lower body injuries".

Blue Victory Gets Them Into Playoffs

Last night the Everett Arena crowd saw Blue get an important victory to guarentee them a spot in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they grabbed the final playoff spot and will have to face first place Green. Last night also marked the return of veteren blueliner Greg "Hernia" Fournier (pictured back row right). Hernia had retired, but his recent association with the Black Ice Pond Hockey Championships had him believing he might have a few years left in his old warhorse body. It was rumored that Fournier had this planned all along and that his only interest was to be playing in the meaningful games at playoff time. He is a proven playoff performer and has been referred to as "Captain Clutch", Mr. March, Mr.Playoffs, Mr.Rogers and Dr. Dolittle. The Philbrick Brothers led the attack for their respective teams but stellar goaltending by Brian "Smitty" Smith gave Blue the victory. Smitty had Tom "TC" Carroll stonewalled all night. "I couldn't seem to solve the Smitty puzzle", TC said. "It's frustrating because you want to help your team, but it just wasn't my night". TC still leads the league in goals but barely. Next week is when things should really heat up. Gary "Toe" Blake is trying to make a deal before wednesday's trade deadline. Get there early next thursday because it will be standing room only.

Thursday Night Limps Back Into Action

With many of the Thursday Night greats still nursing sore backs, pulled groins and hangovers, the Thursday Night season resumed on life support. Playing 8 on 8, Green resumed it's dominance over Blue last night. The boys from Capitol City Diner may have spent too much time celebrating their Black Ice championship because they could not pull out any of the magic that followed them throughout last weekend's tournament. They were important last weekend but they were impotant last night. The return of Tom "Harry" Harrison was marked by his John McEnroe like tantrum in which Harry's goal stick was reduced to kinling. Johnny on the spot Heathy handed Harry a defenseman's stick and Harry backstopped Green for the remainder of the tilt. Joe "Joe" Farrelly said of Harry's performance, "He played like Eddie Giacomin once Heathy gave him the stick". Harry will have to make a trip to Everett sports for some new lumber. To all you Black Icers: GET WELL SOON!
FYI: Brownie has booked a huge half time show for next year's 1883 Black Ice Championship. It is reported that the musical guests will be The Black Ice Peas.

Wow! Now that's entertainment!