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!

Heaven On Earth!

And then God said, "Upon this frozen pond you shall build your rinks; And in those rinks you shall fill with those who love to play hockey; And around those rinks you shall place those who love to watch hockey as well as those who love the hockey players; And when all of this is done I will bestow upon them the most glorious of days and the people shall rejoice."

WOW! We can now die in peace because we know what heaven is like. Saint Brownie led us all to the Promise Land. How did WE get to be this lucky? The first annual 1883 Black Ice Pond Hockey Championships was  even better than we could have hoped for. There were NO LOSERS this weekend (except those you don't like to see people happy).  I can't wait to see the movie. It's too bad Charlton Heston is dead; he could've played the role of Brownie. What a crew that made this all possible! The behind-the-scenes people should all get a free pass into heaven. And those Thursday Night guys; those guys are GOOD! How about Smitty! That guy has a career waiting for him after hockey. I'd like to team him up with Bob Norton to broadcast all the Thursday Night games once the league comes to terms with national television networks.  Hats off to the Capitol City Diner team and to The White's Park Hockey Club for taking home a "Hobey".  Also a big salute to The Budmen and Cheers Chiefs for making it to the finals. We should also salute the junior team of Jack Edward's Teeth for taking home a Hobey. Some day they too may make it to the big time on Thursday Night. There were so many great stories from this past weekend that the team of writers here at The Pucking Files will be busy all the way through the off season. This past weekend is proof that God Loves Us.

Preview of Key Match Ups with Jimmy the Geek

I am pleased to have Jimmy the Geek in the office today to talk about some key match ups that will be tough to call in Vegas. Here is my Q & A with Jimmy the Geek.
Q: Jimmy you fat bastard, What do you see as some of the more intriquing match ups in this weekends 1883 Black Ice Tournament?
A: Well Rudzbro, first of all; when are you going to cut that goddamn mullet? Who do you think you are; Barry freakin Melrose? Seriously though, when I look at the card, first thing that jumps out to me is; Who's carrying Thursday Nighters in their line up? I've gotta give an edge to any team with these guys on their roster. I don't believe any of the European teams can play the rugged Thursday Night style that it takes to win Black Ice. I don't see anything on friday that stands out as significant to the odds makers. It is Saturday that things start to get interesting. There are two big tilts slated for 10:35 that could possibly be a preview of Sunday's finals.
Q: What are those Jimmy?
A: I'm getting to that Rudzbro you sonovabitch! The first is in the 50+ Division and it features the host White Park Hockey Club vs. The Turkey Pond Flyers. These two teams aren't known for fair play and good sportsmanship. Frankly, they don't like each other very much and some of the bad Blood goes way back to the old Industrial League. Some of these guys would slash their own mothers if they thought they'd get a "W" out of it. When it comes to speed, the name at the top of the list is Chris McLaughlin. This guy is like the energizer bunny on skates. He could be a difference maker even in the Open division. White's Park had to dish out a lot of dough to get him here ,now we'll have to see if he pays dividends. There is a reason there is budget problem in Concord and McCloughlin's contract is the main reason. If he doesn't produce, he'll be shipped back to Keene on a dogsled. One of the guys who has offered his dogsled for the trip back to Keene is the wiley veteren Steve Arndt who captians the Turkey Pond Flyers. He was seperated at birth from Bobby Clarke also a former Flyer. He'll break down the will of any team with his tenacity and grit. He'll spit in your eye if it means getting the puck from an opponent. The other ageless wonder on the Flyers is solid veteren defenseman Ryan Brandt. This guy grew up in Roso, Minnesota where they used to scrimmage shirts vs. skins in twenty below zero weather. It's so cold in Roso that some residents move to the Artic Circle to get away from the cold of Roso. On the White Park side of center ice you'll find the nasty boys: Gary Mailhot and Bobby Bloody. They don't call him "Bloody" for nothing. Whatch out Governor Lynch! There are no sacred cows in these guy's world. Of course both teams are deep. Just look at these line ups; they're full of Thursday Nighters. White's Park: McLaughlin, Tommy "Painch" (first four letters spell PAIN) Painchaud, George "Dumpin" Chase, The Mailhot Brothers (puttin on the foil)and former Thursday Night star Jimmy "Hay Zee" Hayes who grew up at White's Park and knows his way around that pond. Turkey Pond Flyers: Steve "Arndt going to lose" Arndt, Ryan "don't try playing goalie in a pond hockey game!" Brandt, Gregg "Moose" Moffet, Tommy "Shemp" Champagne, Dan "Lucky" Luker, my brother and Bob Arndt.
Q: Who's Bob Arndt?
A: He's the X factor. This is another Minnesota guy who plays pond hockey all year round. He follows the cold weather around the world just to play pond hockey. The colder it is; the better he likes it. Former Minnesota North Star Lou Nanne called Bob Arndt, "The most tenacious hockey player in the State of Hockey". He is my X factor and why I'm picking Turkey Pond by a goal.

On Rink 3 fans are going to get their money's worth with this match up. It features two premier teams from the 35+ Division. Capitol City Diner vs. Cheers/Oral (not to be confused with Cheers/Annal: Adventures on the High Seas {the B movie}). Capitol City Diner is built on speed and speed kills. They too are stacked with Thursday Night talent; Tommy "Berg" Bourgault, The Cummy Brothers, Andy "BTO" Bauchman, also Scott Jocelyn, Gene Patnode, and Jason Aziz. On the other side of the ice Cheers/Oral may knock a few teeth out of their opponent's heads. Dr. Rich will fix you up on monday. This line up features Thursday Nighters Dave "Tilly" Tillitson, Dunc "Coach" Walsh, his brother Mike Walsh, Clint "Eastwood" Casavaugh, "the Good Doctor" Rich Rosato and two of Concord's favorite sons, Bruce "the Rooster" Gilles and Lee "Leebo" Blossom.
Q: Who do you see in this one Jimmy?
A: Again, not an easy choice but I'm going to have to go with Cheers/Oral. You gotta like the name; it's got smiles written all over it. Toothless freaking hockey smiles! You look at this line up and it's full of sore losers. These guys don't like to lose and they will do whatever it takes to win (except Dunc won't backcheck). I don't know Dunc's brother Mike but if he's a Walsh and he's from Concord then he's pretty good. It's going to be tough to slow down Capitol City Diner and I don't know if that'll happen. What I see is a run n gun game and if that happens, I see Cheers winning this gun slingers match. For me, the X factor is Leebo. Did you know he was the captian at BC? And, he's in the NH Legends of Hockey along with buddy Bruce. You have two legends on one team; Wow! I think Leebo is going to have one of those Legendary performances. And if he doesn't, there is plenty of firepower in that line up. If Capitol City Diner can get a couple of breaks and get a lead at half time, they could pull off an upset.
Q: Hey Geek; Do you see these two in the finals?
A: No Mullet Boy; I only see one of them in the finals. You can't forget about The Budmen who have a relatively easy schedule until Sunday. That is a dangerous line up!
Q: Who's on that team Geek?
A: Where have you been Bozo? The Budmen is like a Thursday Night Special. It features The Philby Brothers, Chris "Brownie" Brown, Jim "Heathy" Heath, Scott Summerville (not Thursday), The old pro Joe "Joe" Farrelly, and the softest hands in hockey Tom "TC" Carroll. You've got everything on this team; hustle,size, veteren leadership and skills up the ol' Whazzoo!
Q: So, you see The Budmen and Cheers in the final of 35+?
A: No, I didn't say that Rudzbro. There are too many teams that I don't know a thing about (mostly europeans). I'm just saying this; if these two play the way they are capable of playing, they SHOULD be the last two standing on Sunday.
Wow Jimmy!, you sure are a Geek! Thanks for coming here today! Well hockey fans this is going to be some kind of fun. So pour yourselves a Black Ice Ale or better yet let em pour you one in the beer tent or even at one of Concord's many watering holes and enjoy the show! Look for more insight into the 1883 Black Ice Pond Hockey Championships all week long at The Pucking Files.