Over 30 Hockey League

Week of December 26 (Game 1) – In their first four games played this season, Olive Pits has started out slow to find their game, played lackluster at times, and rely on their goalie too many times to make the stops until they found their game as a team, usually in the third period.  The past two games they found themselves down by two goals entering the third period, only to come from behind pulling out a win and a tie.  That all seems to have changed as they routed Snow White by a convincing 6 – 2 score behind a four-goal barrage in the first period.  Goalie Scott Rosato where are you?

In the last five minutes of the first period, relying on the play of their special teams, Olive Pits left no doubt as to the outcome of this game, scoring four unanswered goals.  At the five-minute mark, Ron Aquino took a pass from Dave Parquette to get the onslaught rolling.  Two minutes later saw Dave Parquette throw a wrist shot out near the white line past a surprised goalie.  On the ensuing double penalty power play, Mauro Colucciello took a pass from Dave Costa and beat the goalie from the right circle.  Forty seconds later, Dave Costa’s open shot, off the passing of Mauro and Rick Cassano, from inside the center of the blue line found the back of the net as the goalie “oleyed” his glove at the shot.  Clearly, goalie Scott Rosato of Snow White is struggling and fighting the ball, unable to consistently stop shots when it matters!  Let’s goal Scott, get your game in gear.  Your team needs you.  It’s a mental thing; clear your head!

In the second period, Jason Carrien, coming off IR, got his team back into it at the five-minute mark, set up by Chris Ducharme, but it was short-lived.  Olive Pits answered right back, with thirty-seven seconds left in the period, as Mike Luise scored set up by Pat Pirone and Mauro.

All that was left in the third period was for the game to play out.  With three and a half minutes left, Shawn Mulcahy scored his second goal of the season, set up by Pedro Fontes.  Rounding out the scoring saw Dave Parquette answer thirty seconds later unassisted (although conspiracy theorists are saying that Jim Barber should have gotten an assist).

Week of December 26 (Game 2) – Another team breakthrough was seen as Jake-O-Lanterns, in two and a quarter seasons, played their best all-around team game.  The team was locked in from the opening face off until the buzzer sounded.  Everyone bought into the team concept, played hard, ran all game, back checked, and stay engaged.  For a team struggling to score goals, this game should have changed that thinking as they totally destroyed Shockwave by the convincing score of 8 – 3.  In a statement game, the “Portuguese Power” was overshadowed by the “Italian Paisano.”

In a first period that saw Jake-O-Lanterns come to play, it was Shockwave who scored first, two minutes in, as Dave Wilson scored unassisted.  With two minutes left in the period, Pic scored off the passing of Cappy and Matty Iannello.

The second period broke this game wide open with seven goals scored, six of which were by Jake-O-Lanterns.  The period was the Angelo “Italian Paisano” Deluca highlight show!  First, a minute into the period, Nick Doherty scored off the slick passing of Pic and Cappy.  From the eight-minute mark till the four-and-a-half-minute mark, Angelo scored a natural hat trick (assisting on these goals were George Medeiros, Gino Tammaro twice, and Steve Silveira).  Kato returns!  Thirty seconds later saw Rob Valley scored set up by Dave.  With just over a minute left in the period, Nick scored again, set up by Matty and Steve Silveira.  With five seconds left on a defensive breakdown, Angelo broke in alone to score (even Angelo’s son Maxx could have scored on that gift).  And the rout was on.

1st Star

Angelo Deluca

Under The Tree?

It’s time to recap and take a quick peek around the league to see what Santa left under the tree for couple of Over-30 players;

Looks like Santa left Nick Doherty a couple of one-timers under the tree.., which looked a lot better than his couple of breakaways from 2-weeks ago.

But the biggest gift Santa left for young Nick is the gift of playing on a line with Matty Iannello and Jon Picard.  Nick you want to lead the league in points and potentially goals this season?  Then just do these simple three things; Watch, Learn and Listen to what they have to say.., oh and show up weekly.

Santa couldn’t wrap it.., so he left Angelo Deluca some “Accuracy” in his stocking.

Angelo quickly put it to use by putting 7-shots (on net) that resulted in scored 4-goals being scored against the former MVP Sean Roach.

Matty Iannello woke up bright and early.., quickly raced downstairs in his PJ’s eager to see if Santa left him a new goalie under the tree.., but instead Santa left a box of new offensive weapons that they used on Shockwave last week.

Referee Mike Naczas woke to find Santa left some Christmas Balls hanging off the tree for him.., (but more on that later).

There was a little confusion at the North Pole as Scotty Rosato and Sean Roach ended up on Santa’s Naughty List as he instructed his elves to put lots of “Coal” in their stockings.., but those little elf ears thought Santa said put lots of “Goals” in their stockings to share and spread some Christmas cheer with their opponents last week.

One final Christmas note:  Please don’t tell the kids in the league like Nick Doherty, Matt Farrell and Dave Parquette that Santa isn’t real.., they’ll be crushed to find out he doesn’t exist.., just like the Jake-O-Lanterns chances of making the playoffs aren’t real either.

Lockdown Advice

New State rollbacks kicked in last week.., and if you’re confused about the lockdown we’ll let Ricky Cassano’s kid explain it to you... especially to you Matty Iannello listen closely to his advice to you at the end.

Full Disclaimer.., that’s not Ricky’s foul mouth Italian kid.., but that’s what those lil’ Italian bastards sound like.., and we’re pretty sure that kid is going to end up whacking someone when he gets older.

No Snooze Alarm

Olive Pits didn’t need the snooze alarm last week as the defending champs came out firing early and often last week by scoring (4) unanswered goals in the first period.

They used their BYE week wisely as they came back rested and eager to climb up the standings.

This week’s matchup between Olive Pits vs Jake-O-Lanterns is already being labeled as a marquee matchup to see how the new top line in the league from the Jake-O-Lanterns is going to fair against the top defense in the league with Olive Pits.

Now I know what you’re saying… “but the Drama Queens only have an impressive 6-goals against.”

Yes! That is true.., but they have the “Best Goalie” in the league not the “Best Defense” in the league.

Rainbow Ends

Returning off IR was Snow White’s top defenseman Jay Carrien.., However the moral boost they were looking for was quickly squashed by the aggressive attack of Olive Pits

But as for Jay.., we saw what both ends of his “Emotional Rainbow” looked like.

At one end it was nice to see Jay jump into the offensive attack and bury his team’s first goal of the game and celebrate with a fist pump.., however on the other end wasn’t a pot of gold but a tantrum instead (steaming from a non-call) which left him walking back to the bench without his stick and arguing about the non-call the whole way back.

For the record; the jury is out on if it was a penalty… and with Jon Picard no longer Refereeing, there’s been a lot of missed calls (and a lot of missed assists!!)

Unassisted Goals

We play in one of the best “Invitation Only” street hockey league that has endured the test of time with 29-seasons and counting.  Not many leagues can boost that they have 28-seasons of player stats and championship winners.

Like anything with historic data… you want that data to be as accurate as possible, so when the next generation (or the retired generation) reflects back on it.., it paints an accurate picture of a players success.

Last week’s games had an unprecedented (6) “unassisted goals”… and without video review we’re left wondering if they were (6) unbelievable “individual” efforts… or (2) referee’s not watching, investigating and properly documenting the assists.

#APM

We now live in a society where people love to be “Social Justice Warriors”.., and now someone needs to step up for the “undocumented assisters” and fight for their points because their points matter too.  

#APM - AssistPointsMatter is a new organization that will expose your “undocumented assists” that you were screwed out of by demanding full internal investigations when a player complains that his (or hers) efforts go undocumented.

What do we want?....“OUR POINTS!!!”

Where do we want them?.... “ON THE SCORING SHEET!!”

If you think you we’re screwed out of points.., and have a compelling argument as to why you got screwed we want to hear from you.  But the easiest way to ensure you are rightfully credited it to say something to the officials immediately after the goal is scored. 

Nightmare

We all had that nightmare about being in public wearing only your underwear. Then you wake with a sigh of relief that it was only a dream

We’ll that dream was a reality for Ricky Cassano as he (woke up) and showed up to hockey wearing only his compression pants.

We always thought that would be something one of our senior players like Ed Nigro or Dan Broderick would do.., but Ricky beat them to it.  You think he would have noticed the extra breeze when he stepped outside of his house.

We’re checking with the Saugus Police Department to see if he has to register as a sexual offender.

So everyone remember.., before you race out of the house, look down to make sure you’re wearing shorts and/or pants.

High-Stick?

Rob Valley sorry you had to serve a penalty for the “high-sticking” call on George Medeiros. Although it wasn’t intentional every stick 5-feet off the ground is a potential high-stick on George.

If anything you should have been penalized later in the game for almost stealing Jon Picard’s stick out of his hands in front of the net.

The Big Debate?

Last week during the Shockwave vs Jake-O-Lanterns match-up we had a debate take place between periods that had players, refs and league officials arguing their points.

What was the debate?

While in their defensive zone a Shockwave player (intentionally) flip a clearing attempt so high that it hit the ceiling.

Although it was not called at the time.., a debate erupted as to whether or not that is a delay of game penalty.., or a lob violation.

Some say it was just a lob violation while others called it intentional and should be considered a Delay of Game Penalty because it occurred in the defensive zone.

Remember the Over-30 has its own set of modified rules such as the Delay of Game for hitting the defensive zone netting.., or our Zero Tolerance Policy.

So after further review with Toronto and the Over-30 Officials… hitting the ceiling (regardless of intent) will not be a Delay of Game Penalty.  It will fall under the Lob Warning Rule with the first offense being a “Lob Warning” and subsequent offenses will then result in a Delay of Game Penalty

Awakened

We still have the images of Jon Picard screaming “Wake Up!!” during his debut game as a player.., Well 3-weeks later the Jake-O-Lanterns woke up by playing their best game of the season last week.

The offense was wide awake for their re-tooled line combinations.., but still one player wearing orange was a little sleepy at times.

Jake Deehan must have had a Christmas hangover with visions of sugar-plum fairies still dancing in his head because he made a save on Rob Valley’s that was shot from his own zone.., but the rebound subsequently shot straight up and with some patterned “Luigi DeRenes Backspin” it landed and spun backwards into the net.., and as not to try and top himself but then while he was yawning over the pending blowout victory, he somehow let a Dominic DeFrancisco shoot a slow-roller from the opening draw in the 3rd period.., and it just roll right by him.

Jake.., Jake.., Hey Jake.., time to wake up your team is leaving on a road trip to the playoffs.

Dazed and Confused

Like the opening line from Led Zeppelin song.., John Carey was left “Dazed and Confused” on his unsportsmanlike penalty.

Referee Mike Naczas sent the typically quiet Shockwave defenseman to the box (as requested by upper management) to ring up players up for excessive chirping.., but John Carey?

John is the equivalent to a quiet neighbor sipping sweet tea on his porch and being shot during a drive by because his next door neighbors are Gang Members.

We get it.., John was a mere Guinea Pig to test his new authority.

Next time try ringing up a real high profile and notorious gang banger.

What Goes Around...

Like my mother always preached growing up.., “What goes around.., comes around”

Two weeks ago Shockwave was “going around” and scoring at-will on Snow White’s goaltender Scotty Rosato including a 7th goal with just 23-seconds to play.

We’ll Shockwave you can blame Dave Wilson for the “come around” as the Jake-O-Lanterns were equally scoring at-will with the final and 8^th goal coming from a biblical David and Goliath moment.

The smallest player in the league George (David) Mederios had a last minute breakaway against the biggest guy in the league Sean (Goliath) Roach. However instead of a boulder in a slingshot.., it was a hockey ball going top corner that had the little fella winning the one-on-one battle against the giant. 

But just like Dave.., shame on you George for an 8^th goal breakaway in a 7-3 game with only 1:13.., the only top corner you should have shot for is the top corner on the scoreboard behind Sean.

Orange you glad?

Hey Matty Iannello..,

Knock, knock!!

(Matty) Whose there?

Orange?

(Matty) Orange who?

Orange you glad…You listened to the Forum writer(s), who called for your resignation on defense and petitioned for Jon Picard to join you on a line.

With Nick Doherty on the left wing your line just became the most dangerous line in the league.

Viewer Submission

This week’s viewer submission doesn’t come from an Over-30 player.., but rather the child of an Over-30 player

The child in question (who also retains anonymity) was standing in line at the Burlington Mall waiting to meet Santa and ask him to bring their father more hockey skills for Christmas.

While waiting patiently and social distancing on their iPhone (because even 8-years olds have iPhone these days) they were startled by a tall creepy elf yelling at the kid to “put their mask on if they want to meet Santa”

Thankfully that person quickly took a photo of their creepy encounter with one of Santa’s Mall elf’s.., and now they no longer believe in the Christmas magic or Santa.