Over 30 Hockey League

Week of January 19 (Game 1) – This game was drawing a lot of pre-game interest and discussion as Gang Green came into this game with Black Hole as more than a match for the defending champs.  Little did anyone suspect that Black Hole would jump out to a commanding three goal lead and pull away in the third period for a convincing 5 – 2 victory.

Picking up where he left off from last season and having the hot (Vulcan) stick, Jim Barber scored his second straight goal of the season a minute and a half into the first period, as he was set up by Matt Farrell and Sergio Costa.  With just over a minute left in the period, Joe Mancinelli was sent in down the right wing by Shawn Wyatt and Bob Snyder and beat the goalie far side for a two goal lead.

In the second period, the key goal of this game came less than two minutes into the period as Shawn ripped a shot from the left wing that found the back of the net, as he was set up by Joe.  Thirty seconds later, Ray Nickerson was set up on the wing by Cooch and Mike Surette, giving Gang Green some momentum.  From that point on, Gang Green increased the running fore check on the defense of Black Hole, with multiple scoring opportunities, but the defense and goalie Jeff Deharo stood in their way (plus the fact that Gang Green passed the ball too much giving up some quality shots).

Just over two minutes into the third period, Matt scored the first of his two goals off the passing of Rick Cassano, seemingly putting this game out of reach.  However, three minutes later Gang Green had life as Brian Kehoe was set up by Dominic Defrancisco.  Any momentum generated by this goal was short-lived as Gang Green pressed, a shot was taken that was blocked by Naz and the rebound went right to Matt for a breakaway down the left wing out running the defense and beating the goalie far side for the dagger through the heart of gang Green.

Week of January 19 (Game 2) – Mixed Nuts rebounded from their opening blowout loss of the new season with a different game strategy as they jumped on the back of goalie Sean Roach and rode that horse to the finish line, breaking open a tie game late in the third period for a close 3 – 1 victory over the Rhinos.

In a back and forth first period with scoring chances limited, halfway through the period, Mixed Nuts took advantage on the power play as Matty Iannello was set up by Tim Hickey and Mauro Colucciello and ripped a wrist shot far side from about thirty feet out dead center past the goalie.

During the second period where both teams had scoring chances but failed to score, it was the Rhinos who carried the play and pressed the attack.  However, this is where goalie Sean Roach started to take over this game single-handedly with timely key save after timely key save.  If not for Sean’s play, Mixed Nuts could easily have been trailing in this game by a few goals.  Little noticed during the second period was Matty using a new Mylec stick he recently ordered from Mylec.com online only to see the blade of the stick break off…………they don’t make them to last like the old Mylec 204 stick models anymore do they Matty?

Sean almost had a shutout against the Rhino's on his birthday.., but Jimmy Clarke ruined his birthday present.

We'll we hope you at least enjoyed your Cold Cuts... Whooooo!!!

Prescription
If Dave Costa had a fever.., the only prescription he'd need is "More Cowbell".., but he doesn't have a fever.., he was just playing terrible and the only prescription for playing terrible is "More Gel".

Dave's hair looked like somewhere between Jim Barber and Sergio Costa.., he just didn't have enough gel to play like the #2 Defenseman in the league.  Every time he rushed the ball he'd get broken up and even his empty net goal was ugly.

As Dave was falling he flipped the ball out of the zone.., then fell down and when he came to, his team was celebrating his goal.., which (for the record) was not a "Punk Move", or a "Bush League" goal.., it was just an "Ugly Goal".

Mail Order Bride
The love of Matty Iannello's hockey success now comes in the form of a mail order bride.

Matty has turned to the Internet for his beloved Mylec plastic blade sticks.., or as the kids in the Cambridge League laughed and once said; "Look at that guy's stick, it's plastic".   That was before "The Great One" he went on to school them in the art of street hockey.

One of Matty's two new mail order brides made her debut and quickly paid dividends by scoring the first goal of the game with a (get this) a rare Slapshot that went top corner on Scotty Rosato.., the fake news media had Matty scoring with a wrist shot on the game summaries (above).., but it was a rare Slapshot that blew by Scotty.

Another MISI Award
Shortly after scoring a goal with his new Mylec.., Matty Iannello had to bid farewell to a stick that lasted for about 12-minutes of actual playing time.

But as they say.., "One man's trash, is another man's MISI Leading Scorer Award"

We now have enough backlogs for at least three more seasons of the MISI League.

Secret Weapon
In last week's Forum it was leaked that Black Hole Defense Coordinator Mike Naczas had a secret weapon that he would deploy during Jason Carrien's absences.

However.., last week with Steve Iacoviello out of the lineup we got a sneak peek at their secret weapon which they are calling "The Pisano #24 Project" as Ricky Cassano joined the "Shutdown Defense Brotherhood" and collectively they held the Top 3 Points Leaders to only a single point (each).

Ricky played a key factor is shutting down Dominic "The Dominator" DeFrancisco.., so much so that you could see Dom's frustration. It was like watching Portugal battle Italy with Italy claiming victory.

Upon Further Review
An official message from the League Director office. 

As Director, I have consulted with the league offices in Saugus to clarify what "is and what isn't" an assist. As there are monetary considerations involved in certain goal scoring on the game sheets, I wanted to make sure no "Phantom Assists" are credited to a player if not valid.

The NCAA Official Ice Hockey Statistics Rule book was sourced as reference and clarified as follows per Article 2 rule A.R. 5:

A.R. 5. The Blocked Shot.

Player A1 blocks a shot in his defensive zone. The puck rebounds to Player A2, who passes it to Player A3, who scores.

RULING: Credit Players A2 and A1 with assists. Explanation: Despite it being a defensive play, Player A1’s block resulted in the change of possession and led to a goal being scored."

Thus, in abiding by this NCAA rule, on Black Hole's 5th goal scored by (Player A2) Matt Farrel, originally listed as unassisted, has been revised to include (Player A1) Mike Naczas who will now get credit for a "Blocked (get that shit otta’ here) Shot" assist on the game sheet. 

If there are any complaints by any players as a result, the league will refer them to this NCAA rule.