2013; A Year to Remember or Forget

As 2013 draws to an end, we look back at the events that made headlines and made it a year to remember. We start with the 2013 Black Ice Pond Hockey Championships. There was plenty of cold weather on hand at White's Park this year. We watched as The Turkey Pond "Assholes" Flyers were scolded for not playing nice with other children. It must have had an effect on them as their docile play on sunday allowed the Hobey Stick to leave town with NYC's St.Nick's Athletic Club. In the 35+ division, The Budmen lost their Hobey Stick to the Coor's drinking guys from Agawam, Ma. Jack Edward's Teeth did the Capital City proud by threepeating in the Open Division, but then brought shame upon themselves by not lending a helping hand in the clean up process. The White Park Hockey Club was also given a Knob Award for their failure to help in the clean up or set up efforts.
In the NAHL, Blue was crowned Champions by defeating rival Green in a game seven. John "Stuffy" Stevenson's squad played a sound two way game and Green never could get anything going. Stevenson and company couldn't get over their championship hangover, however,  and got off to the worst start in franchise history this fall, which cost "Stuffy" his job as his struggling Blue squad was in last place in the eastern conference going into the Christmas break. Meanwhile, Gary "Toe" Blake surprised everyone this summer when he announced his retirement. The winningest coach in NAHL history, "Toe" set the standard for modern day coaching. He implemented the "dump and watch" system which  is used by all teams now in the NAHL. "The Toe" was replaced by "The Thumb" as first year coach Tom "Thumb" Flanders took over the reins of Green and has his club in first place in the NAHL. Thumb's name is being mentioned whenever the conversation of "The Bud" comes up. In other NAHL news for 2013; Dunc "Coach" Walsh became the first two-time winner of "The Vic" as league MVP. The unanimous choice of the hockey writer's club, Walsh showed why it pays to put in a  50% effort game in and game out.
In the CCHL this year; The Windmill was crowned champion after they shut out Buffalo Wild Wings in the finals. The first finals shut out in CCHL history earned netminder Mark Crowley the MVP of the playoffs. Tim "The Timinator" Walsh was crowned the CCHL scoring champion after a slow start was followed by a red hot second half of the season. So far this season, "The Timinator" is being touted as "The Timidator" because of his timid scoring pace so far. Matt "Nads" Nadeau finally got his first CCHL victory just last week. News of his success reached around the globe and even toppled a government or two.
Perhaps the biggest story of 2013 was the rescue of Moe Rudz from a slave labor camp inside North Korea. Moe was abducted by North Korean forces while on a panda safari in China that unsuspectingly crossed into N. Korean territory.  Joe "Joe" Farrelly arranged a rescue of the eccentric billionaire. It included the derailed rescue attempt by Mike "Hipshake" Farrelly and Moe's younger brother Mark Rudz. The two were forced to parachute out of their plane "The Knat" after it was sabotaged by Poon & Tang, the notorious North Korean spys. Mike Farrelly's amazing story sold more copies than the Bible and the Koran combined. "G.I. Joe" Farrelly's forces overwhelmed Korean troops and rescued Moe Rudz. This saw the NAHL season open it's season in Seoul, South Korean and thus open the Asian market to NAHL hockey.
2013 is surely a year to be remembered even if you want to forget it.

Green's Cummy Comeback

Pre Christmas Lube

North Pole Dancers

Green rallied from a 6-2 deficit to defeat Blue 9-6. Led by Mike "The Little Cum" Commerford's four goals, Green scored seven unanswered goals to stun the Blue crowd at The Doug. Midway through the second period it looked like everything was coming up Blue to the delight of the home  crowd. That is when Mike "The Little Cum" Commerford went to work. Commerford used his speed to undo the Blue defense and his accurate shot to light the lamp. He earned first star of the game by tallying four goals to go along with four assists. Commerford has now moved into third place in NAHL scoring just behind Jeff Cain and Dave Carlson. Blue's rookie coach Tom "Painch" Painchaud went with a shortened bench which paid early dividends, but the strategy seemed to backfire when Blue ran out of gas midway through the contest and Green  began to take control of the game. The second star went to Tom "Philby" Philbrick who tallied twice and wore down the Blue D with his relentless forcheck.
The NAHL decided to try the two referee system. It went well with Bill "Hawkeye" MacDougall seeing the call and Phil "The Whistle" Lacasse blowing the whistle. Green defenseman John "Bigfoot" Reagan may not agree as he argued a missed call after he took a stick to the chin which required multiple stitches to close the gash. Reagan was experiencing concussion like symptons and remains in Concord Hospital for observation. He is expected to be released before next thursday's rematch. The third star of the game went to George "Dumpin" Chase for his strong play from the backline.  Chase was a plus nine on the night. Not only did he dump, but he also chased.  All three stars received lube jobs from Tiffany Claus and front row tickets to the North Pole Dancers Christmas extravaganza.
This week in the CCHL; Matt "Nads" Nadeau notched his first CCHL victory of his career as Cimo's defeated Windmill in an OT thriller. Windmill stormed out of the gates to grab a 5-0 lead after the first period. Nadeau rallied the Cimo's troops and they fought back to tie the game at six with just three minutes left in regulation. Nadeau scored twice for Cimo's , but it was Tom "Badger" Carroll who ended the OT on a breakaway, going to the backhand to light the lamp and lift the crowd out of their seats. The team carried "Nads" around the rink on their shoulders, much to the delight of the Cimo's faithful. News travelled across the globe and celebrations took place in nearly seventy countries. North Korean president Kim Jong Il has invited Nadeau to be his special guest along with Dennis "The Worm" Rodman.
In game two; BWW remains atop the standings as they made it six in a row by downing Cheers 10-7. The first line of Banga, Williamson and Richards led the way for BWW. Travis "Gang Bang" Banga  tallied twice along with Mike Richards and "Flyin" Ryan Williamson led all scorers with four goals. D- man Nick Dominici scored twice for Cheers. Tim "The Timinator" scored a goal, but, many are wondering what's wrong with last season's leading scorer.  Walsh has managed to find the back of the twine only fourteen times so far this season which puts him far off of his pace from a year ago. Perhaps Santa will bring him his scoring touch to carry him  through the second half of the season.
Look for The Year-in-Review next week on Pucking Files. From all of us here at The Pucking Files, we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanuaka, a Kwazy Kwanza and a Sweet Ramadama Doo!

Ever Green

The new Mrs. Claus

Last thursday Green got back to it's winning ways by stopping Blue's winning streak at one. Referee Phil "The Whistle" Lacasse was serving a one game suspension for failing a breathalyzer test thirty minutes before the game. He was replaced by Bill "Hawkeye" MacDougall who called it by the book. Blue got out to an early 5-1 lead, but Green stormed back to tie it. Blue then scored two, only to see Green tie it up again. Green finally grabbed the lead in the 3rd period and hung on to a 9-8 lead with minutes remaining. Blue pulled their goalie at just the wrong time and Green added an empty netter to seal the deal.
NAHL Goal Scoring Leaders
1. Jeff Cane
2. Dave Carlson
3. Brian Tillotson
4. Dave Masinek
5. Greg Fournier

In the CCHLCheers downed Cimo's 6-3. Corey "The Cockroach" Laroche had the hat trick. In game two, BWW defeated The Windmill 7-5. The line of Richards, Williamson and Banga scored five of BWW's seven goals.
CCHL Standings                    CCHL Goal Scoring
1. BWW        15 pts.               1. Richards     23 gls
2. Windmill    12                     2. Faretra        22
3. Cheers        11                     3. Laroche      21
4. Cimos         02                     4. Williamson 21
                                                5. Walsh         13

Blue Finds Their Mojo

It took eight weeks, a new coach and a new gm, but Blue finally got a win this season. Getting off to their worst start in franchise history, Blue ownership decided it was time to overhaul the team and it paid dividends immediately. Former Blue standout Tom "Painch" Painchaud was behind the bench for the first time since replacing John "Stuffy" Stevenson. New gm Mike "Garbo" Garafalo shuffled the deck and put a new faster line up on the ice. Green was used to having their way with Blue this season. Green seemed to be in shock as they watched Blue skate around them all night long. Goaltender Kenny "Rebel Without a Rebound" Dean faced seventy shots and stopped sixty one of them. Dean saw more rubber than an assembly line worker at a condom factory. Down at the other end of the ice, Kenny "Don't Ya Glove Em Madly" Bradley was stellar between the pipes. Bradley was flashing the glove all night long, robbing point blank shots from "TC" Carroll, Clint "Eastwood" Casavaugh and Jim "Heathy" Heath. It wasn't until the third period that Green finally broke the shut out bid when Joe "Joe" Farrelly rifled a slapshot from the point to light the lamp. Bradley earned first star of game for his stellar play. Ryan "Silky" Brandt was named second star of the game. Brandt had two goals and two assists and played shut-down D all game long. Chris "Brownie" Brown also scored a pair from his blue line position and his rough physical play kept Green away from Bradley's crease. Brownie's play earned him third star honors. Blue got off to an early 2-0 lead, but they blew the game wide open when Phil "The Whistle" Lacasse called Green for "Too Many Men on the Ice". Blue went to work on the powerplay and moved the puck with ease around the offensive zone. They scored to go up 3-0. "It just seemed to open the flood gates for us", said new coach Tom "Painch" Painchaud. Blue piled it on as Green was back on their heels for the rest of the game. Green added a couple of meaningless goals at the end to make the score 9-3. "If it wasn't for Dean, we could've have scored twenty last night", said Andy "BTO" Bachmann. "It felt good to get that first win under our belts", said Painch. "There is still plenty of time left in the season to get back into the playoff hunt", said new GM Mike "Garbo" Garafalo. Tom  "Thumb" Flanders suffered his first loss as a coach in the NAHL. "I think we learned that you can't take a night off in this league. It's just not an option". .............................................................................

  

Week 9 in the CCHL saw Cimo's win streak come to an end. After an amazing one game run, Cimo's finally came back down to earth when Matt "Nads" Nadeau was reinserted into the line up. "Nads" is still searching for his first career CCHL victory. The story has grown so big now that it's like a media circus whenever Nads takes to the ice. In Russia he is known as "Nadia". In North Korea he is called "Wong Chi" which translates to "man without victory".  In Saudi Arabia he is referred to as "Abu Saha" which means "no wind".  BWW made it four wins in a row by defeating Cimo's 8-4. BWW has won four in a row and are unbeaten in their last seven. "Flyin" Ryan Williamson found the back of the net four times and league leading goal scorer Mike Richards scored twice. For Cimo's it was Phil "The Whistle" Lacasse and Tom "Badger" Carroll eaching lighting the lamp twice. BWW sits atop of the CCHL standings.
In game two, fans were treated to a nail-biter. Windmill hung on to defeat Cheers 4-2. Both teams got stellar goaltending from their backstoppers. The veteran Mark "The Wall" Crowley was solid for Cheers and James "The Wizard of Moz" Mozkos was equal to the task for The Mill. Captain Gavin "You Betcha" Faretra had a pair of goals for Windmill including an empty netter to seal the deal in the waning moments of this tight checking affair. "Hawkeye" MacDougal and "Slick" Nick Lacasse also scored for The Mill. For Cheers, it was "The Timinator"  and "The Cockroach" who found the back of the net. "The Wizard of Moz" showed a little magic in the final minute of the game by keeping the puck out of the net during a scramble in front just before Faretra put the game on ice by scoring into the vacated Cheer's goal.

Nad's Fan

CCHL Standings
1. BWW     13 pts
2. Windmill 12 pts
3. Cheers      9 pts
4. Cimo's      2 pts

Goal Scoring
1. Richards   21
2. Faretra     21
3. Williamson  20
4. Laroche   18
5. Walsh  13