League Announcement
As we start our descent to the 2021 Déjà Flu Season this will be the last two weeks of open rosters.
After March 6th the rosters will be closed and it’s a “play with what you have” scenario.., even if its 11 vs 5.
The league will be using the next two weeks to take a look at a couple of potential players for the 2021-2021 Draft.., but after that.., like every Chinese menu says “No Substitutions”
Reprieve
We decided to give the self-proclaimed “Great One” a reprieve from the pressure of scoring his 508th.., and let him have some “fun” last week with “Captain Fun” and the rest of Olive Pits, who only had (1) legitimate defenseman in the lineup against Shockwave.
Despite his shaky start.., Matty’s prolific passing was a much needed anchor for the defenseless Olive Pits.
We asked Dave Costa, an award winning MVD recipient.., who made an appearance to watch Matty’s performance.., and he said “Yeah, he’s a solid 2nd line defenseman.., but I wouldn’t use a high draft pick on him..., he’s a 6th round pick like another GOAT we know.”
Accolades
With Matty Iannello filling in on defense for Olive Pits.., League Officials wanted to take a moment to recognize other drafted forwards who have made the sacrifice of dropping back on defense for their team during a time of need.
Pat “Put me anywhere” Pirone has played major minutes on defense this season.., while not forgetting his roots of where he came from.., ”The Penalty Box”
Vulcan CEO John Kelleher is pulling triple duty for his team.., John’s the Captain, a forward and played a lot of defense so far this season. We asked John about his triple duty and he said “Vulcan Gen5 Sticks are on order.., so if you want one of these limited edition sticks you better get in the queue quickly”
Veteran Tony Bono quietly plays wherever his Captain needs him and you’ll never hear a peep out of him. This season he’s spent much of his time playing defense so the Drama Queens can groom Donny Maccini into a power forward for the playoffs.
A real “Veteran” Dave Wilson was drafted to play forward for Shockwave but with two of their defenseman opting out.., Dave has been spending his active duty time guarding Sean Roach from enemy attacks.
Goal & Assists?
We’re not sure how to score this one.., if Olive Pits Goaltender Dave Giusti scores on himself.., does he get the Goal and the Assist?
Last week Dave went 5-hole on himself in an attempt to cover the ball up.
Dominic DeFrancisco was given credit for the goal from a shot that Dave actually scored on himself.., but why did Rich Pelletier and Dan Broderick get assists on the play when Dave scored 5-hole on himself?
M*A*S*H
Don’t look now but the 2x Defending Champs are looking like they belong in a M*A*S*H tent.
Olive Pits is getting weaker by the week: Dave Costa is out on IR list with a lower body injury.., Mauro Colucciello is on the PUP list.., Ed Nigro is on the MIA list.., and last week both Jim Barber and Dave Parquette were nursing hamstrings during their 4-3 loss to Shockwave.
We reached out to Captain Jim Barber about the 1-2 slump with Dave, Mauro and Ed out of the lineup and he said “it’s all about the magic number.., even with the loss we clinched another playoff berth.., we might even try and finish 4th to get the Drama Queens in the first round since no one else can beat them.., and it will ensure our spot in the finals”
Richy Rich
If Rich Pelletier was 50+ he could have converted his luck into fortune as last Saturday Rich was the luckiest guy on the dek by scoring two odd-man goals for Shockwave.
Since he’s not 50 and cannot win the AARP Award.., he’ll have to settle for some free coffee instead as the Dunkin Donuts Player of the Week.
First Rich capitalized on a Ricky Cassano mental lapse.., as Ricky’s pass to the point on their powerplay ended up turning into a shorthanded goal for Rich.
Then just 20-seconds later with the tables turned this time on a powerplay.., Rich fires a BB off the draw top corner on Dave Giusti just 2-seconds into the man advantage
League Historians will have to check the archives.., but Rich’s shorthanded and powerplay goals just 20-seconds apart might be a league first.
“Passed”
Turns out Rick Cassano didn’t need the assist on Rich Pelletier’s shorthanded goal to earn his “Passed” patch for his 2021-2022 Team Jersey.
Ricky passed his challenge with flying colors.., no dramatic last game heroics.., and thankfully no more begging league officials for his weekly points.
Just one question Rick.., while on the power play (and in front of Kellie) when you coughed up that bad pass that resulted in a shorthanded goal.., that goal was a massive momentum swing that started a series of unfortunate mistakes for Olive Pits... the question is;
“Why didn’t you turn around to Kellie and beg her for that assist?”
Caution White Lines
Welcome back John Howland who hasn’t been around the dek much lately.., and we could clearly see that his gears and chains were a bit rusty.
We just want to convey to John to be cautious around the white lines on the floor.., they might have gotten a little thicker since back in the day when you ruled the defensive zone.
“What are we talking about?”
John was witnessed by many taking the ball up from the defensive zone and shoveling a pass to his left and then falling “ass over teakettle” to his right for no apparent reason.
It seems John like his passing moves.., just like he likes his eggs in the morning.., “over easy”
Epic Fails
Both Johnny Mastrocola and Timmy Hickey had “Epic Fails” last week as both players missed wide open net chances. But the biggest “Epic Fail” belonged to Scotty Rosato and his attempt to help his team on a powerplay.
Scotty came all the out to the side boards to try and play a shorthanded dump in.., but Manny Nunes and his speed made him pay by stealing the ball and stuffing into an empty net.
Just like my mother used to say… “Nothing good happens after midnight”. That same logic applies to goaltending… “Nothing good happens when a goalie leaves his crease”
Superman Save
Snow White’s Tony Fosco gets the “Superman” Dive of the week award.., as Tony laid out a full length dive to prevent an empty net goal.
It was a great individual effort and save to keep it 3-1.., but it was all in vein as Manny Nunes padded his stats by stuffing in another empty-netter opportunity with just 29-seconds to play.
Analytics
If you paid attention to the forum last week you would have bet the farm on the Drama Queens 4-1 win over Snow White.
Analytics calculated and predicted the 4-1 final score.., and the same Analytics say that Matty Iannello will not score against Jake Brum this week.
1991
Did a Deloren crash into Hockeytown last week? We ask because looked like the Dan Broderick from 1991 for a brief moment.
Last week Dan completely undressed Dave Parquette (a player half his age).., as the old man deked Dave at the point before walking around him and in on a scoring attempt.
Dan’s efforts had players on Olive Pits hoping he scored just to complete the awesomeness that was Dan’s 1991 signature move.
Dave you can add that to your hockey resume.., you got deked by a Hall-of-Fame Legend who has his name on a banner in Leominster. That’s should be considered a badge of honor.
Game of the Week
Typically it comes down to the last week of the season to determine who gets the final playoff spot.
Unfortunately for Snow White.., that breaking point is coming with 5-weeks left to play as they are in a “do or die” and a “must win” situation this week vs Shockwave.
With only 4-games left (8-points) to earn.., if Shockwave wins this week and jumps up to 11-points.., that means the only way Snow White will get into the playoffs is if they (win their last 3-games) and Shockwave (loses their last 3-games) for the rest of their seasons. Otherwise any Shockwave win or Snow White will punch Shockwaves ticket to the playoffs.
If Snow White chokes this week.., then they can start booking vacations and tee times for the first two weeks of April because the fairy tale ending will be over.
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