Well, we knew someday it was going to happen, but no one expected it this soon. Thursday Night Hockey has lost it's time slot to Concord Youth Hockey. The 9:30 p.m. time slot has been a target of the youth hockey's midget division for some time now and after a tense meeting last week, the city decided to give the slot to the kids. What does that mean for Thursday Nighters? It means we don't get on the ice until 10:30 p.m. It is not what league officials were hoping to hear. Thursday Nighters are not happy campers. Yesterday they took their anger to the State House as players and their fans marched in front of the dome and demanded their right to skate at their usual time slot. Traffic in downtown Concord came to halt as thousands of hockey fans gathered to express their displeasure with the decision. As one fan said, "I live for Thursday Night Hockey, but I do have a job to go to on friday morning, so a 10:30 start time is unacceptable." The protest did not fall on deaf ears however. Thursday Nighters have an allie in the capitol and a powerful one at that. Governor Lynch overturned the decision with a stroke of the pen and the 9:30 p.m. time slot was returned to it's original league. "Hey look", said the Governor, "As long as I'm in charge Thursday Night Hockey will get what they need. These guys bring in huge revenue to this town and Concord should be grateful to have them. On thursday night I put all the paper work away and head down to The Doug to catch "the best" working their magic week in and week out." When word hit the street that Governor Lynch had overturned the ruling, the mood changed from anger to joy. One women with tears in her eyes summed it up perfectly, " I feel like I was given a second chance at life", she said. Another mom told us, " I didn't know what to tell my children; they dream of growing up to be a Thursday Night Star and I let them stay up late to watch the games and drink beer afterwards. They are usually a mess in school on fridays, but at least they go. If it got moved any later, I would probably have to home school them and give em fridays off to sleep in. Now, they will be able to get their education and earn a G.E.D. Thank you Governor Lynch!" The mob piled into the Barley House, Cheers and even the Gas Lighter. They partied until the wee hours of the morning. Governor Lynch declared friday "a snow day!" (wink). So enjoy your April Fool's day off Concord!
Another change coming to Thursday Night Hockey is a crack down on cheap shots to the elbow. Far too many of these hits have gone unpunished and league officials finallly took a close look at the matter that has been going on "way too long". After Jim "Purple Haze" Hayes was hospitalized with a cheap shot to the elbow, the league could no longer ignore what was shamefully "acceptable". "I don't want to point fingers", said Phil Lacasse who is the head referee for the league; "but, I was told to just let them play". Hazy is done for the year and that leaves a bitter taste in his mouth (which is above his elbow). "We can't tolerate this any longer",said Joe "Joe" Farrelly, a spokesman for the league as well a candidate for the Burns "Hugger" Hovey award as the league's best defenseman. "Our skill guys like Tom "TC" Carroll need to be able play with confidence that they're not going to get whacked on the elbow everytime they touch the puck", said GM Gary "Toe" Blake, the architect behind the champion Green team. "TC" won the Cecil "Swoop" Luckern award for most goals scored. Toe Blake is up for the Bud Luckern award for coach or GM of the year. "I think now that this ruling is in place, we're going to see a lot more scoring and that's what the fans want to see", explained Phil "The Commish" Stewart. So, goaltenders take notice. You'd better bring your "A" game next season!
On monday The Pucking Files will be announcing it's individual awards. Find out who will take home "The Vic" Stanfield award as league MVP. This and much more coming up this spring at The Pucking Files.
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