Over 30 Hockey League

Joker’s Wild

The fresh new board opens today… Word on the street is that a couple of real estate moguls are looking to invest in a fresh new market of blank playing cards waiting for signatures.

See Tony, Naz or Billy if you want to turn your $10 investment into a $200 win

Faceoff Violations

Last week the league rolled out a new faceoff violations policy and with any change in policy this is something that will be subject to scrutiny by the players…, but also subject to change by league officials.

The league and its officials are looking to clean up the faceoffs and gather feedback to modify or tweak the rule for our specific league needs.  This would be in line with our other league rules like hitting the net in the defensive zone and our new lob rule modifications.

With any new rule… this is a work in progress, we ask for your patience, appreciate the feedback, as we look to enhance the league play…, All while being transparent and clear, as to minimize any of the “gray areas” so we can avoid any in-game (Non “C” or “A”) debating and arguments over calls.

Front Office Request

Every Wednesday the League Director goes out to the (6) captains and asks for their upcoming attendance for Saturday.  Ideally the league would like all the captains to report back by Thursday so he can begin the process of addressing teams’ needs and players from the sub list.

These “fill-in” players are eager to get their foot in the door…, but they too have lives and we would like to give them as much advanced notice as possible when requesting their playing services.

So please…, answer your captains weekly requests in a timely manner, the league needs to conduct business based on your response.

Happy New Year

Gino Tammaro kicked off the 2025 Spring Season with a monstrous 5-point season debut with 4-goals and 1-assist.  Arguably the fastest guy in the league, Gino had the first hat trick of the season but thanks to his teammate Gary Goodwin, (who does what he does best…, and gets in the way), ruined the first potential natural hat trick of the season when he scored his (1^st goal of the season), which was also the game winner.

Gino’s third goal for the hat trick reminded us of an NFL Week #15 pick six by Denver’s Nik Bonitto

This is about the closest video we can get to show the breakdown Steve Silveria had when he tried to send a pass over to fellow defenseman Mike Naczas that was (easily and swiftly) picked off by Gino…, and converted into a “Pick 1”

To break it down even further…. We are sharing the communication breakdown via a still shot showing the exact moment Gino pulled a Malcom Butler, and jumped the play on Steve.

Punk Move (Check)

Hat trick (Check), 4-2 Lead (Check), Under 30-seconds to play (Check).

Gino Tammaro’s 4th goal of the game with just 9-seconds left to play, checks all the boxes for a “Punk Move”

But with less than 10-seconds to play in a 4-2 game… Gino might have just punched his ticket to the “Douche Move” club…, or the “Douchebag Move” if you ask Leo Trombley.

Coming off a very disappointing team loss in the finals where Gino was snubbed for the playoff MVP (despite his team losing) …, he lost it to a guy who played (1) game and scored two lucky floating goals 35-seconds apart.  Gino busts his ass for (3) games, 90-minutes scores 5-goals (including both GWG) and 2-assists…, and loses to two fluky goals.

Maybe Gino is putting the league on notice…, he’s going for the Leading Scoring this season, which is not “votes” based…, but based on actual points and he’s not leaving any room for error.

So Gino…, like Kid Rock says “the critics, the cynics, an' all my heroes in the Methadone Clinic”…. “F-em!!!” (like Ray Dow says).  Score as many “Punk Moves ” or “Douche Moves” as you want this season…, they owe you!!

Nooooo Cap!!

Three weeks ago, it was cheers of “Yeeeeahhh Cap!!” as Brian “Cappy” Capodilupo banked a shot off the penalty box boards and into an empty net “capping” a 3-0 shutout over the #2 seed Phoenix Rising.

Last week it was “Noooooo Cap!!” as the Azores Express #2 Defenseman converted a M*A*S*H dump in by Steve Silveira…, into a M*A*S*H goal off an errant backhand.

“Cappy” took Steve’s dump in…, and for reasons unknown (maybe a brain fart)…, or unsure about his rink awareness, and backhanded one by his own goalie Jake Deehan to ruin his 1^st potential shutout just 42-seconds into the 2^nd period.

Jake who earned the nickname “PJ” (Playoff Jake) during the playoffs was so dumfounded by the errant play that he gave up another goal just 45-seconds later.

The moral of the story for Steve is…, “The Lord Taketh (Gino from Steve) and the Lord Giveth (Cappy from Steve).

RPM Meter

Well, we finally got to see his triumphant (and we use that term loosely) return to action.

After sitting out for an entire season, Rob Sheridan made his 2025 debut for Hammertime. Granted he looked like it was laundry day, and he had $40 worth of quarters in his two front pockets…, but he still managed to be an impact player assisting in both of his teams’ goals…, but not enough to get any weekly star votes.

We’re going to use this “RPM” Chart (Rob’s Progress Meter) to chart his return and his successes of coming off long-term IR…. Hopefully by the time Rob hits the green RPM’s, he’ll be revved up and back in the top three spots on the leaderboard and ready to make a deep run in the playoffs. 

Helping Himself

Now for the other returning Hammertime player who also made his return from a long-term IR stint was Dale McIssac in goal.

Dale might have walked away with the “L” and 3.00 GAA…, but it could have been easily 6.00 or 7.00 as Dale stood on his head several times to keep his team in it, and he helped himself by keeping his GAA in check after going “0-for-December”

Look for Hammertime to be a contender when Rob Sheridan finally hits the green zone on the “Rob’s Progress Meter” and Dale is 100% healthy and both are locked in with their teammates on a playoff run.  Until then these games are what Allen Iverson calls… “Practice!”

Phantom Goal

Ray Nickerson has long been the king of “Phantom Assists”…, it’s how he rose to the top and became the All-Time Assist Leader, by bribing referees for all those years…, $20 for 1-assist or $50 for 2-assists.  It was a no-brainer for a struggling Referee with a family to feed.

Ray was the All-Time Assist Leader for a long time until Matty Iannello surpassed him, and also took Joe Shannon’s All-Time Goals Leader away from him too, thus solidifying his nickname as “The Great One”…,  Number One in Goals, Assists and Points and becoming untouchable.

Now fast-forward to 2025, Ray Nickerson has a new racket he’s testing out, “Phantom Goals” and stolen valor (and he almost got away with it)…, if it wasn’t for a medaling keen-eyed goalie who dropped a dime to league officials and started an internal investigation.

This should also be used as a Barack Obama “teachable moment” and that everything you read on the internet isn’t true…, and just because you deleted it (or modified it) that the original post still lives in electronic form (somewhere in the cloud).

Now go look at the revised game sheet and award page.  (See what we mean??)

Turns out that “Phantom Goal” was the work of Anthony Petrillo who stabbed his former teammates in the back by scoring the GWG as a fill-in player for Barney & Friends. 

Rags to Riches

You know the old saying “The Rich get Richer”…, well that holds true for Over-30 defending champions the Dominions too.  “The Rich”, an already “stacked” team get “Richer” via “Rich” Pelletier.

We have have to change Rich's league photo to;

After M*A*S*H put Rich Pelletier on waivers…, 4-Captains passed on him, probably because he only had 3-goals and 2-assists in the 7-games he played for them.

The only Captain willing to give him a shot was Dominic DeFrancisco who just got Derrick Power his 1^st championship jacket after 19-seasons and two failed attempts with Legends Last Stand when they were beaten in back-to-back finals by Goodfellas.

Dominic has vowed to give the same effort to turn Rich from “Rags to Riches” with a new 2025 Spring Season Championship jacket…, now we just have to wait for 17-weeks to see if Dominic’s prophecies come true.

Oh, and before anyone starts texting their Captain asking why they passed on Rich…, go check the default forum heading “Truth, Lies and Over-30 Fiction”

1st Shutout

Hey Sean Roach…, the “Pink Shirt Challenge” is over..., you passed!!  You don’t have to rub it in everyone’s face by pitching a Week #1 shutout.

You can go back to a middle of the pack goalie now and enjoy the fruit of your labors…, or you can continue your quest of world domination as the leagues #1 goalie and run the risk of having older and slower defenseman in front of you next season.

There’s a 18% chance that you’ll get Chris Torres defending in front of you next season…., and a 73% chance that your last line of defense is “Get that shit outta here”

So, you’re a champion now…, you can continue to play with house money….,but don’t forget to bet on the futures market.

Tiny Comparison

With Dave Wilson on long-term IR for a lower body injury…, the league had to look for a comparable player for the previous #2 seed Phoenix Rising.

The search criteria was; Veteran – Small – Plays Defense – Plays Forward – Scores Sparingly…, as that is the exact skills listed on Dave Wilson’s draft board card.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…, he’s just fulfilling the needs based on comparables, so enter Tony Mastrocola who will be playing the role of Dave Wilson for the next few weeks while he recovers.

Also, you wanna know the difference between a returning “seasoned veteran” and a new prospect to the league… both filling in off the waiting list?

Look at the jersey of the fill-in player.

The Great Exit

We file this under “Off the Record” because you don’t know when Matty Iannello is telling the truth or a lying prick.

There is a very strong rumor floating around (started by Matty himself) for journalistic transparency, but the rumor is that this will be Matty’s last season (his 55^th) in the Over-30 League.

For obvious reasons he’s shutting it down…, and with all the scoring records with his name next to them (Points, Goals & Assists) every new goal and every new assist are now a new league record (until someone catches him).

Coming into the 2025 Season… Here’s what the rest of the league is chasing for greatness… 563-goals, 847-assists for 1410-points (over a span of 54-seasons)… lets see what he’ll add to his legacy (if he is truly calling it a career).

Now in all fairness… Dan Broderick was supposed to retire 3-years (6-seasons) ago, we even named a team after him that season with Last Call…, but Dan still hasn’t filed his retirement paperwork and there is already talk of a 2025-2026 season for the ironman.

So, will Matty talk about retirement but never file the official paperwork like Dan?

We’ll see as the season progresses and new contract talks for the 2025-2026 season go to arbitration.  But, (if) this is his last season…. Enjoy it, and Phoenix Rising, your expectations just tripled!!  You’re playing with (2) legends of the game that could go out on top…, or they both end up playing with Dominic DeFrancisco next year.