Over 30 Hockey League

Week of November 24 (Game 1) – With both teams struggling to find wins and stuck in their own losing streaks, something had to give in the game between the Rhinos and Gang Green.  Most players follow, while a select few step up and lead by example.  With his team missing four players, it was captain Dominic Defrancisco of Gang Green who did just that and led his team to a much needed 4 – 3 overtime victory over the Rhinos to FINALLY end that 6 game losing streak and take a giant step towards clinching a playoff spot.

Things looked very positive for Gang Green in the first period as Cappy took a pass from John Carey and Pat Pirone six minutes in to open the scoring in this game. However, on an ensuing power play a minute and a half later, the Rhinos evened the score as Niko Vramis scored an unassisted goal.

In a back and forth second period, it was the Rhinos catching a break three minutes into the period as Jim Clarke’s wrist shot from the point had eyes and went through a screen out front for Jim’s first goal of the season, set up by John Kelleher and George Medeiros.

The third period saw both teams play desperate hockey leaving it all out on the rink.  Halfway through the period, Dominic channeled his inner Doug Sedille on a brilliant individual wow effort and came out of the right corner, stickhandling past three defenders to score the tying goal.  Right after a penalty on Gang Green expired with three minutes to play, the Rhino’s Alex Leone left all alone out front converted a Jim feed giving his team the lead.  With less than two minutes to play, John Colucciello scored his biggest goal all season out front as he was set up by Ray Nickerson and John Carey.

With momentum on their side, early in overtime, Dominic stamped his impact on this game taking a feed from Cooch to FINALLY lead his team to a much needed win and kick that losing streak monkey off his team’s back!

Week of November 24 (Game 2) – Seeing the team right ahead of them winning in overtime and now falling two games back for that final playoff spot, Coach’s Corner desperately needed a win to stay in the playoff chase.  Unfortunately for them, they stayed close for two periods but finally succumbed to Black Hole by a 4 – 2 score.

Like Gang Green before them earlier, things started out positive for Coach’s Corner as three minutes in Todd Bryson converted a rebound out front, set up by the hustle of Angelo Deluca and Luigi Derenzes.

In the second period, Black Hole answered less than a minute in as Rick Cassano was set up out front by Mike Luise and Sergio Costa tying up this game.  Undeterred, two minutes later saw Angelo give momentum back to his team as he was set up by Ray Dow and Tony Medeiros.  However, before they keep this momentum going they forgot to cover Matt Farrell out front as he found a seam after a defensive turnover to re-tie this game on an unassisted goal.

With both teams playing the third period wide open and Coach’s Corner playing more desperate hockey, it was Jason Carrien’s surprising unexpected goal, set up by Naz, from his defensive zone near the white clearing line on a slap shot that eluded the goalie less than three minutes into the period.  The goal stunned Coach’s Corner for a few minutes.  However, with just under five minutes to play in the game and having a 5-on-3 power play advantage, Coach’s Corner threw everything but the kitchen sink at Black Hole but failed to convert.  During this power play, the combination of goalie Jeff Deharo and Jason on defense proved to be the difference.

With Coach’s Corner pressing with the goalie pulled, a fortunate bounce sprung Sergio Costa on a 2-on-0 break, off the passing of Naz and Mike Luise to score into the open net with thirty seconds to play.  Sergio may just have made the “play of the season” but not passing the ball over to Jim Barber for an easy goal (earn your career best goals Jim).

Road(s) to the Playoffs (or not)

Based on the current standings (above)..., here’s a look at the importance and some potential roads to playoffs (or not) with only 3-weeks to play.., here are the scenarios:

• If Coach's Corner wins all three of its remaining games and Gang Green loses their last 2-games, Coach's Corner gets in with 10-points to Gang Green's 8-points.

• If Gang Green wins 1 of their remaining 2-games, and Coach's Corner wins 2 of their last 3-games, Gang Green gets in with 10-points to Coach's Corner 8-points.

• If Gang Green loses both games and Coach's Corner wins 2 out of 3 games, both teams are tied with 8-points, but Gang Green advances based on the first tie breaker of most wins.

Also keep in mind this scenario; If the Rhinos lose both of their remaining games and Coach's Corner wins all three of their games then both teams would have identical records of 4-6-1-1 for 10-points and head-to-head record would be 1-1-1.  The 4th tie breaker would apply and would come down to which team has less goals against overall.

Legalized

Tell me if this is just a coincidence (or not)

The first week that the State of Massachusetts legalized recreational Marijuana both Steve "Cheech" Iacoviello and Walter "Chong" Maslak are both absent from their teams

Bumble Tuna

Hey Jason Carrien those shorts keep getting shorter and shorter..,(and) we'll let Ace Venture tell you;

Do us all a favor and put some pants on and while you're at it shave that caterpillar off your upper lip.., players are starting to ask if you are doing 70's retro gay porn.

~Bumblee Tuna

Media Monopoly

League Officials are calling for an investigation and have accused the Webmaster and the team of anonymous reporters that Black Hole has Monopoly on the forum.

League officials asked the webmaster to comment on this and in his typical denial self said.., "How many times do I have to say it.., I post what is given to me.  If you want more media coverage for other teams.., then tell them to do something news worthy."

What bigger news stories are there than;

• Sergio Costa has come out of nowhere to lead the league in points.
• Jim Barber has scored in every game (except two) and leads the league with 11-goals.
• Mike Naczas was promoted to Defense Coordinator and is playing shutdown defense under his command.
• Jason Carrien has to be walking away with multiple awards this season.
• Jeff Deharo is on pace to win another goalie award (if the Defense Syndicate allows him too)

You want to hear more about Walter Maslak pointless season.., or how Shawn Miville is 33rd on the leader board.

If you or your team wants more press, then we suggest you listen to the League Director when he says "Do Something"

Sting Operation

Were the referees getting bonus pay for calling penalties or were they part of some elaborate sting operation last week to try and goat players to violate the "Zip It or Sit It" policy?

In the first game alone the Referees called 8-penalties with 7-different infractions that included; Hooking, Interference, Slashing, Tripping, Checking, Delay of Game, and a Misconduct.., we didn't know if this was a hockey game or a prostitution sting.., as we thought we heard Ric say.., “Hey Baby you looking for an argument?”

Easy Come, Easy Go

Pink Stick Bag Challenger John Coluciello should be seeking 1-goal with 2-games left.., rather than 2-goals with 2-games left and it’s all thanks to Pat Pirone. 

“Cooch” had an early goal disallowed by the referees because of an interference call by his own teammate and the league’s elder goon.

With the mounting pressure and only 2-games to go.., will Ray Dow carry for another season or will Ray have the luck of the Irish and only carry it for only a single season?  

“Who knows what evil (and goals) lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”

Going Blind?

Speaking of Pat.., Is Pat Pirone going blind.., or showing signs of early dementia.., or is he still relying on his natural instinct to dig at the goalies?

Last week several reporters watched as Pat was digging like a dog with rabies at goaltender Scotty Rosato.., the only problem was the ball was 8-feet behind him in the corner.., and the whole time Pat was digging and digging at nothing.

Chopped

Looks like Ray Nickerson is auditioning for the TV cooking show "Chopped".., the only problem is we're not sure if Ray knows the "Chopped" is about food and not hockey.

The funny thing about Ray.., when he gets into these heated battle moments.., he turns to see if he's battling a friend or a foe.., which his brain then converts to either a chop or a hug. 

Wanna hear me say it?

Jim Barber arguably maybe the winningest Over-30 Captain in the League's history.., but according to his Defense Coordinator Mike Naczas he's.., 

No.., No.., we'll let Rocky himself tell you;

After arguing with his defense core about going with either 6-3 or 5-4 the ALD said the Captain was spineless to make the obvious call and go with 6-3.., and left the decision to the Defense Coordinator as the Captain was "Afraid" of the backlash.

Individual Effort

There is no "I" in team.., but there are (3) "I's" in "Individual Effort" and in "Dominic DeFrancisco" and that's what it took for the Gang Green Captain to do when he first tied the game at 2-2 by carving up the Rhino's defense down low and evening up the score with a beautiful individual effort.

Then in OT "The Dominator" (which also has an "I") goes back to work again and through sheer desire to turn their 5-Game losing streak into a 1-Game winning streak buries the GWG OT Goal which is like 8-fantasy points if you have Dominic on your fantasy hockey team.

No More Bad Guy

Cruising to an eventual 4-2 win Sergio Costa with a 3-2 lead, the ball on his stick, an empty net in front of him and his Captain Jim Barber on his left buried the 4-2 empty net goal to secure their 6th straight win.

When Sergio asked his Captain why he didn't call for it to keep his streak alive.., the Captain said "Because you're leading  the league in points and you deserve it".., to which Sergio replied "Yeah but an assist is a point as well and if you called for it I would have slide it over"

But the real reason Jim didn't call for it is because nobody likes the bad guy.., so say goodnight to the bad guy!

Long Shot

No we are not describing the odds of Coach's Corner beating Black Hole.., last week's "Long Shot" was in reference to Jason Carrien's "Long Shot" from about 8-feet into his own defensive zone that beat a stunned Dave Giusti in a goal that turned out to be the GWG for Black Hole.

For Coach's Corner Captain Dan Broderick it was just Reason #916 from his new book "How many different ways you can lose a hockey game".

Rolling Stones

If a Rolling Stone gathers no moss.., then the BYE Week will gather no win for Black Hole.

Black Hole has been on a roll for 6-weeks now and we'll have to wait another week to see if the BYE week has any effect on their current winning streak.

The odds of them winning a 7th game in a row are stacked against them as teams returning from the BYE week are just 3-8.., but; Black Hole is one of the 3 teams to win after having the week off.

Tune in 5:00PM on December 8th Black Hole vs Mixed Nuts as to what could be a triple threat; 

• Proclamation rubber match of the season
• Potential battle for 1st place overall
• Possible championship matchup preview

One BIG Misstep

Last week Gang Green defenseman Mike Surette was forced to watch his team break their 5-game losing streak without him. 

When asked why Mike was watching instead of playing.., the big man said he was suffered a "lower body" injury that was sustained while falling down some stairs in his house.

Although there were no eyewitnesses we did get the actual audio from Mike's neighbor security system and we had an artist draw a simulation of the incident.

What you are about to hear is real actual audio of Mike Surette and viewer discretion is advised;

We are also checking the neighbor’s security camera footage to see if Gang Green Captain Dominic DeFrancisco was caught on camera earlier in the day sneaking into Mike's place and tampering with the stairs (or removing the handrails).

Retraining

With the BIG Man sitting on the sidelines and the Christmas season upon us.., let's take a moment to remind Mike Surette how to navigate safely though his house.., and let's put it to some classic Christmas music;