Drama Queens – After losing in 2020 Spring Season Finals, they underwent some chemo therapy between seasons to remove a malignant tumor and by all accounts are cancer and drama free. The biggest change comes in the crease with the addition on Jake Brum and upgrade at center with Manny Nunes. The only team improvement still needed is a smile on Mike Surette’s face (settle down Francis)
Olive Pits – The defending 2x Champions (and the only team not touched in free agency market) started out a little rocky but have recently settled down and are showing signs that they are serious about their once in league history attempt at a ”Team Three-pete”
Jake-O-Lanterns – With two previous back-to-back seasons of missing the playoffs.., the 3rd time could be the charm them as their biggest offseason acquisition was the addition of new leadership. Jon Picard swapped his stripped jersey for Mike Naczas’ #73 with the “A” on it. Jon immediately took the team from “woe are we”… to “4-3” with 9-points he has them in 3rd place… something the previous leadership couldn’t do. Add to that another legitimate defensive upgrade in Steve Silveira.., they now have a real shot at not only the playoffs, but the finals.
Shockwave – Built around a legendary defenseman, they too got an upgrade with a points producing defenseman in Rob Valley and added another “non-Portuguese” forward with a ton of hustle and grit with Dave Wilson. However the key to their success this season is goaltender Sean Roach who’s started this season with an unprecedented 2-4-1 record and a whopping 4.00 GAA. They are also last in “Goals For” with (23) so they need to pick up on the scoring as well.
Snow White – The fairytale team is playing like a Stephen King Nightmare… Their #1 defenseman Jason Carrien is on indefinite IR, their goaltender Scotty Rosato is struggling for the first half to find his former self.., but the key to their success is not the goaltending.
Snow White’s focus needs to be on filling the “Tall” void on defense and not by filling it with one player but a conscious team effort on defense. Then new players like Pedro Fontes and Tony Fosco need to help ignite the offense and the secondary scoring.
Leading Scoring Race – Currently Ray Dow is leading the pack with (16pts).., but like the Tour de France, there’s a tight pack right behind him all vying for the #1 spot. So keep peddling Ray
Leading Goalie Race – The new BMOC (Big Man on Campus) Jake Brum should run away with this… so if the trophy store offers a discount for early ordering you can save a few bucks and order it now.
MVP Race – Total crap shoot at this point in the season… but we’ll trow a few names out at the midway point to spark some conversation. First up; Ray Dow (16pts) and having a phenomenal season.., Jake Brum (BMOC) and one of the main reasons that the Drama Queens are in 1st place.., Jon Picard if his leadership carries them to the playoffs.., Dave Costa is the best player on Olive Pits and their driving force to success.
MVD Race – This one is too close to call (always is)… but when you see defenseman around the league logging major minutes and putting up points. It could come down to a complete body of work and not just the top points getter.
In Summary – With all the “opt outs” and additions around the league this this is probably one of the most balanced season in recent history. All (5) teams have a shot at the playoffs… but only (1) will not make it and it typically comes down to the last week of the season (and tie breaker advantages). So how you play now depends on your seeding come April. The all-important Points, Head-to-Head Battles, Goals For, Goals Against.., play each week like your playoff berth depends on it.
Slippery When Wet
That’s the title to Bon Jovi’s 1986 multi-platinum and best-selling album.., but it’s also a valid Hockeytown warning when it rains out.
Just a cautionary warning.., when it’s raining outside (it tends to rain inside) so be advised of the wet spots which may (or may not) have been indicated by white “X’s” on the dek.., those “X’s” were probably their equivalent of a Hockeytown waiver.
The spots typically are the same corners.., so if it’s wet please advise your teammates and the other team of the potential hazard areas.
PUP List
Shockwave’s woes continued last week with their 3-straight loss (and their 2nd) without their Captain at the helm.
With their Captain Dominic DeFrancisco appearing on the “Physically Unable to Perform” list that equates to Shockwave being on the “Physically Unable to Win” list.
New Bermuda Triangle?
While Dominic DeFrancisco appears on the “PUP List” his fellow Captain Jim Barber was added to the “PUS List” as he is just “Physically Unable to Score”.
Last week Jim missed a wide open opportunity from Mike Luise in pretty much in the same spot where fellow Captain Matty Iannello whiffed on his empty net opportunity the week before.
If one more Captain whiffs an empty netter in that same spot the league will open a paranormal investigation into whether or not (that spot) is the new “Bermuda Triangle” where good passes go missing.
Portuguese Power Adapter
Looks like Sergio Costa is plugging right in and adapting to Shockwave’s Portuguese Power.
Recently acquired on waivers Sergio who started the game all bundled up like he was looking for the sky lift line.., It wasn’t until the voltage started flowing and warming him up.., that Sergio got hot and ditched the hat as the new “Portuguese Power Adapter” who plugged-in the only 2-goals for Shockwave’s 3-2 loss.
Portuguese Drive By
Saugus Police were notified last week of "Shots Fired" and a reported “Portuguese Drive By Shooting”
Elder Lopez blasted a dump in shot that hit fellow “Portagee” Tony Medeiros so hard that it had him dropping to the dek almost instantly. Tony was lying on the dek for so long that we thought he was going to get a police chalk outline drawn around him.
When the Referee’s asked the Italian players on Olive Pits what happen.., they all replied with the same Italian rhetoric.., “Do we look like rats.., we didn’t see anything”
Gotta Be The Shoes
Like Ricky Cassano racing out of his house in basically his underwear.., Ray Dow bolted from his bachelor pad with the wrong footwear for last week’s game. Ray had to find a Size 9 suitor to borrow their kicks.., and it reminded us of the time Jason Carrien showed up in moccasins. Fellow Size 9’er Jim Barber had an extra pair of New Balance that he lent Ray.., and they immediately paid dividends as Ray scored just 57-seconds into the game… he went on to score 2-goals & 2-assists to factor 100% in his teams offense… so you know what that means?
