So this saturday, who can play at 1:00?

I am going to see if the rink is available at 1:00. Who can make it for sure?

In: John, Jared, Brett, nick, griff, Billy, Jaz, brad

Out: jb, frendon, Steve, Lenny, darrin

Slow, soft, lackadaisical and above all Disappointing.

I remember the things that were being said going into Montreal last season. "Has he ever had a good tournament?"; Will he ever score the'big' goal?"; And my favorite: "Will he be focusing on offense or defense this year?".And truth be told, he answered all of those questions. It was by far his best tournament he ever had. He scored when we really needed the goals, he created some turnovers in the offensive zone and even had a big shootout goal. With Griff, he was probably our most productive player in that tournament. The Saugus success had finally translated.

But sadly in just a few short months the perception has changed. He has become the man 'running' around with cement bricks on his feet. The one time sniper has lost his edge. Its official. Saying he has lost a step is underselling it.

But to me, the scariest part of what we have witnessed is the lack of results we have seen with his right hand man. They used to be the most dominant pair we had. The chemistry was unmatched.  But the combination has combined for what, a couple goals all year?

Its time for a shakeup. Saugus' Toast is better than this. He has more in the tank than this.

I think.

Call it rust, call it lack of confidence or even call it competition. It doesn't matter. We all know you should be able to carry our scoring, at least a little. We have all seen you be better than this. The last two weeks should be your wakeup call. If not, this is it! (Micheal Jackson style)

No more excuses. Excuses are weak. We know you have better to offer than what you've given. Prove me right.

"3 and 7. And its the best looking 3 and 7 I have ever seen!"

Ok, on to more positive things. Maybe..

Last night was a fantastic win. A win that, quite frankly, we needed badly. Winning really is a great feeling isnt it?

We were short handed. The only thing we had going for us is that we had Brett's moral support from the sideline. And we still came through. Hats off to Borges for lasting for almost the entire game without subbing. And Jared, I loved that block, how WPR didnt mention that is disgraceful. But instead of rehashing yesterday's win, I'd rather look ahead to what needs to be fixed. Despite all of our faults, we can play with anyone in this league. Let's play to win something baby!

We got the win, but we have to admit we were somewhat fortunate. We scored 3 quick goals and did nothing else for the rest of the day except sit on the lead. Guys, Icing has its value, especially when we lack subs. But, I think all of us fall into this trap of "lets ice it and we will be ok". Icing it just gives the other team a free entry into our zone, and lets face it we have times where we couldn't get the ball out of our zone to save our lives. The truth is the best way to protect the lead is to make plays. Making Passes. Taking shots. Playing smart hockey. Thats how you protect leads. And I know we cant do any of those things and it's easier said than done, but icing it isn't the only option. Though, it's better than forcing something. My point is if you give teams enough "free" entries into our zone they will score eventually. Especially when you consider the way our defense and goalies have played.

Passing, grrhh. Not to sound like Ron but we need to shoot more. And it does sound like a funny thing to say when we out shoot every team we play, but we need to be more aggressive with our shots. Now, Im not saying we should take the Nick Burton slapshot happy way of shooting, but we seem to burn ourselves with that extra pass at least a few times a week. In the long run, aggressive play is not the quality that will hurt us. Its the indecisiveness.

Is Borges coming back on d?

Bye week coming up. Let's clean up our game and kick some butt in 2 weeks.

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

Great Win, this week guys! I think that Team meeting was the difference.

Recap Tomorrow, Hopefully Wpr to follow.

Who can play this Sunday?

I know Steve and Lenny are away but Joe can play.  Who else can definitely play?  They will be closed the two Sundays afterwards due to the two holidays, so if we don't play this Sunday we'll wait until January.

Who could play hockey this Sunday?

I am thinking either this Sunday or next.  Preferences anyone?

The Best of Times...

I want you to read that title like it was sung by Dennis DeYoung. High Pitched Singing. No one read  "A Tale of Two Cities", Reggie.

I feel like this past week was in a word: frustrating

Look guys, we made many mistakes. Countless actually.  We gave them many scoring chances. And then we let them capitalize on those chances. And if they couldn't score for themselves I did my best to help.

The Turtle Named Alliance.

As bad as we all played,  we had the chance to win. We should have won.

Think about what we had:

A lead with 1 minute to go.

A lead with 1 minute to go and we had developing 3 on 1 with our best forwards with ball control.

A lead with 1 minute to go, a developing 3 on 1 with our best forwards with control of the ball, while also shooting at an empty net.

And we didn't score. Choke.

It happens (to us only?). I get that. The loss is not on that play. The loss is on the 29 minutes before that.

I bring up that play because it epitomizes what we are. I think if that exact same play happened, but we were already up 2 or 3 goals, we'd score the worthless point. We needed the point so we collapsed. We needed the defensive stop and we crumbled. The team that wanted it more won.

 And frankly, that's just sad.

So it leads me to a poll question this week.

Is the issue physical or mental?

I know what you're thinking, "cant we choose both?"

"Crap teams will always be crap teams until they decide not to be crap teams"

Hockey this Sunday, 6:00. Inside Rink

Hi guys,

Let me know who can play this Sunday.

In: John, Billy, Joe, Lenny, Steve (G), nick, Dale, jaz
Out: brendon

Hockey This Sunday?

Hi guys,

I will be away next week, so we can either plan to play this Sunday, or the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  Let me know who can play this week and I'll know whether to plan it this Sunday or the other one.


Update: We'll plan for the Sunday after Thanksgiving. On the bright side, season stats are finally updated!

It's looking like the Sunday after Thanksgiving will work out better, but here's what we have so far:
In for this Sunday: John, Brett, Billy
Out: Steve, Lenny, Joe, Jared

But I Digest

Its been said that we are a team that lacks the cojones to close the door when it matters. That we are a team that, if given the opportunity, would rather be losing with five minutes to go than have a one goal lead. Some people even say that we cant handle the pressure of a win.

But to me that's the equivalent of saying that we are born losers.

I cant accept that.

I wont accept that.

In fact, the reality is not that we know how to lose but it's just that we dont know how to win.

Call it semantics, but there is a difference.

A Game Overview:

Any warm and fuzzy feeling that you may have gotten from game one is gone now. If you had anything to feel encouraged about, it just blew up in your face. We got smoked. Our butts were handed to us. We were reamed thin, chewed up and spit out. We played like a team of rookies. Scratch that. A team of fat, out shape, slow, over confident rookies.

Our performance was a punch line. It was really 'haha' funny though.

The interesting part about this game was how we started. We actually carried the ball, controlled the tempo, made some good shots and had a few scoring chances. It looked like we would be in for a competitive game. But the other team scored first...second and third.

We were down by 3 with a defense that got turned around numerous times, a second line that 'ran' past their assignment if the other team deked just the slightest and a 1st line that couldn't muster any offense besides the Ron Leger long range slapshot.

A comeback wasn't happening.

But being down 3-2 at the start of the third period gave us hope. The hope deflated about 40 seconds into the period. The other team scored on a bouncy ping pong ball like goal. It was 4-2, it may as well have been 15-2.

Final Score 5-2. With an Empty Netter.

More Questions than Answers:

I think I should preface this before I go any further:

We have a good team. And yes, we were missing a few key players this week. But, we have a fundamental issue. And Im not even talking about the BobCat 'thing' or Brendon questioning the move of MVW over him on the 6 on 5 (which was the right move). Those are bumps in the road. They were both ridiculous, but nothing too big.

Let me just say it: This team never picks themselves up. Never. That's why we never win. Everything snowballs. And you can quantify this theory by looking at a single play or the game as a whole. When was the last time a key scorer struggled and the team managed to pick him up to persevere for the win?? It doesn't happen. the key winger has to score or we lose, period. We never have that "out of nowhere" performance to lift the team up. We live and die with the performance of the few. Thats why we lose. We never have a 'Bobby Keilty' hit a game winning homer or a 'Nick Punto' with a key defensive save. Its the same people carrying the offense every week. 

We are a team that prides itself on hustle and stingy defense (we have done neither the last two weeks btw), but we need to do a better job turning the other teams failed rush into our own offensive breakout. Hard and accurate passes. It starts with me and the defense. I haven't done my job. The defense as a whole has not done what it needs to do. Adjustments need to be made. They have been made. Its time to kick some butt. And it starts on defense.

For some reason stagnant performance plagues us all. But we are better than this.

It starts next week.

Haverhill Cup - Saturday at 1:00

This is what we'll be missing out on if we don't play next Saturday! The only trophy any of us have a chance at winning.(If you look close Nick, you can see your name)

List of who is in: John, Brett, Nick, Jon.

Game on: Sunday, 6:00 inside rink

I'm waiting to hear back from enough people to see if I should schedule the rink this Sunday or next for this month. Let me know if you can make it this week, and if we get enough then I will schedule it. 

Update: Game on, 6:00, inside on Sunday


In: John, Nick, Billy, Brendon, Elliot, Dale, Brett, Warren, Brian, Lenny, Joe, Steve, Bobby (G), Darrin (G)
Out: Mike D, Jared, Brad

No hockey today. Likely next Sunday.

Running Lists - Hockey This Sunday 10/17 at 6:00; Haverhill Cup (Saturday Oct 22nd)

Okay, let's reuse this post for this week: Who can play this Sunday @ 6:00? Also, who is in for the Haverhill Cup on the 22nd?
So I am going to create two running totals and update them here.  One for who is in for this week.  The other being who is in for the Haverhill Cup (Saturday the 22nd at 1:30).

In for this week:  John, Nick, Brett, Brad, Tony
Out for this week: Billy, Mike D, Joe
Haven't heard from: Everyone else

Haverhill Cup
In: John
Out:
Goalies:

Hockey This Sunday. 6:00 Outside Rink

Three weeks is way too long not to play hockey!!  Outside rink this week.

Who is in this week?  Jared's idea in the last post is pretty interesting I think: set teams, but only for a month at a time.  After which, reshuffle them.  I think we should implement it, but would like your feedback.  If we do them then we can start to form them over the course of this week once people say if they're in this week or not.  The other thing to think about: do we do timed games again this year? Did everyone like it?

As I mentioned I am hoping that we start expanding the pool of players this year.  We'll see if that works out.

Anyway for this Sunday as of today:

In: John, Nick, Brett, Billy, Jared, Mike W, Johnny S, Frendon, Elliot, Jon, brad,mike d, Jack (g) Darrin (G)

People I think are coming: Danno, Bobcat, Chris Y
Maybe: Lenny
Haven't heard from: Joe
Out: Griff, Reggie

Pre-emptive Strike

So far, it's looking pretty good for the start of hockey this year.  I've already had several new people asking me when we are going to start playing.  I think we might even get some more.  So here's the deal:

I want to make sure the rink is very "family-friendly" this year. It's vital in order to build our pool of players, and beyond that it's how the games should be. Everyone should play hard, competitive games, but realize that it's only a game and the goal is having fun.  Anyone that doesn't comply won't be able to continue to play.

I will call the rink tomorrow to find out the available times, and then post the time tomorrow afternoon.  Two important questions: 1. What is the format of the games?  2. Who are the starting goalies?

A New Season's Questions

Officially our start date will be Sunday Oct 2nd.  I will check for available times, but it will likely be either a 5:30 or 6:00 start time.  The following week we can either have the Haverhill Cup on Monday of Columbus Day, or make the Haverhill Cup the third Saturday in October...we can talk about that next week.

In the meantime, there are questions to be resolved for this season:

1. Do we keep the timed games format, or do we revert back to 5 goals deciding the winner?


2. Should we vary the captains more - maybe nominating the two captains at the beginning of the week?  And if so, do they make their first pick by that Friday?


3. Does Nick take over the entry of the Stats this year?  I have no problem running them like in the past, but I could also configure his computer to allow him to generate them.  Then if I receive the stats from him each week I can work at generating the analysis queries.


4. I am thinking we have a pool of 3-5 people that take turns:
1. Writing a game summary
2. Writing an editorial style post about the game


5. How many young guys do we have start playing with us?  Obviously I've been thinking the Marshmont kid (aka Elliot Prader) can fit right in.  But do we open it up more for a few of the kids in the 14-15 year old range providing they too can fit in?  The game play will suffer a bit, but it will give us a larger pool of players.


6. What are your predictions for the year?  My prediction: Jared leads in points this year.

The long three weeks...

The unfortunate byproduct of the loss on Thursday night is that there is no Hockey scheduled for the next few weeks. Instead of playing this Monday, the only thing we can do is watch the pats...and look to play tennis this week (any takers for Wednesday after work?).

So let's focus on something positive...the Haverhill cup. I was initially thinking Columbus day, but with us not playing I figured we can try to move it earlier now - Saturday oct 1st. That is three weeks from today, and the following week we can start up Sunday evenings. Lots to decide about that though, as well as details regarding the Haverhill cup. I will make separate blogs for each later in the week, but for now, who would be interested in the Haverhill cup on the first?

2011-2012 Player Stats

Player	Goals
John R	26
Jared M	21
Brett D	14
Nick B	6
Jon B	6
Brendon M	6
Ryan G	6
Elliot P	5
Ron L	5
Lenny D	3
Andrew P	3
Billy T	2
Mike W	2
Joe N	2
Johnny S	1
Billy D	1
Brad D	1
Dale A	1
Mike D	1

Player	Assists
Brett D	24
John R	17
Jared M	15
Jon B	7
Billy T	7
Elliot P	6
Ryan G	6
Brendon M	5
Nick B	4
Joe N	3
Andrew P	2
Billy D	2
Lenny D	2
Ron L	2
Bob C	1

Player	Goals	Assists	Points	Games
John R	26	17	43	18
Brett D	14	24	38	18
Jared M	21	15	36	15
Jon B	6	7	13	6
Ryan G	6	6	12	9
Elliot P	5	6	11	13
Brendon M	6	5	11	13
Nick B	6	4	10	15
Billy T	2	7	9	13
Joe N	2	3	7	12
Ron L	5	2	7	4
Andrew P	3	2	5	4
Lenny D	3	2	5	8
Billy D	1	2	3	5
Mike W	2	0	2	8
Johnny S	1	0	1	3
Brad D	1	0	1	6
Dale A	1	0	1	11
Mike D	1	0	1	6
Bob C	0	1	1	2

 

Player	Wins
Brett D	9
Billy T	9
John R	9
Jared M	8
Dale A	8
Nick B	7
Elliot P	6
Ryan G	6
Lenny D	5
Mike W	4
Brendon M	4
Joe N	3
Ron L	3
Cindy R	3
Ariel D	3
Andrew P	3
Johnny S	2
Billy D	2
Brad D	2
Bob C	2

 

Player	Winning Percentage
Bob C	100
Cindy R	100
Ariel D	100
Ron L	75
Dale A	72.72
Billy T	69.23
Ryan G	66.66
Johnny S	66.66
Lenny D	62.5
Jared M	53.33
Mike W	50
Brett D	50
John R	50
Nick B	46.66
Elliot P	46.15
Billy D	40
Jon B	33.33
Brad D	33.33
Brendon M	30.76
Joe N	25

Player	GameWinners
John R	4
Jared M	3
Mike W	2
Brett D	2
Billy T	1
Billy D	1
Lenny D	1
Ron L	1
Jon B	1

Player	GA	Games	Goals Against Per Game
Bob C	4	2	2
Johnny S	7	3	2.333333
Ryan G	25	9	2.777778
Lenny D	24	8	3
Mike W	24	8	3
Ron L	12	4	3
Dale A	34	11	3.090909
Jared M	48	15	3.2
John R	60	18	3.333333
Cindy R	10	3	3.333333
Ariel D	10	3	3.333333
Billy T	44	13	3.384615
Brett D	63	18	3.5
Nick B	54	15	3.6
Elliot P	47	13	3.615385
Brendon M	49	13	3.769231
Mike D	23	6	3.833333
Jon B	23	6	3.833333
Brad D	25	6	4.166667
Billy D	21	5	4.2

Player	GF	Games	Goals Per Game
Andrew P	25	4	6.25
Cindy R	16	3	5.333333
Ariel D	16	3	5.333333
Bob C	9	2	4.5
Dale A	47	11	4.272727
Ryan G	35	9	3.888889
Lenny D	31	8	3.875
Billy T	49	13	3.769231
Ron L	15	4	3.75
Jared M	56	15	3.733333
Johnny S	11	3	3.666667
John R	66	18	3.666667
Brett D	64	18	3.555556
Elliot P	46	13	3.538461
Jon B	21	6	3.5
Brendon M	44	13	3.384615
Mike W	27	8	3.375
Brad D	19	6	3.166667
Nick B	47	15	3.133333
Joe N	35	12	2.916667

Player	GF	GA	Differential
Dale A	47	34	13
Ryan G	35	25	10
Jared M	56	48	8
Lenny D	31	24	7
John R	66	60	6
Cindy R	16	10	6
Ariel D	16	10	6
Bob C	9	4	5
Billy T	49	44	5
Johnny S	11	7	4
Mike W	27	24	3
Ron L	15	12	3
Brett D	64	63	1
Elliot P	46	47	-1
Jon B	21	23	-2
Andrew P	25	28	-3
Brendon M	44	49	-5
Brad D	19	25	-6
Mike D	17	23	-6
Nick B	47	54	-7

Player	TeamStrength
Johnny S	7.65
Billy D	7.45
Nick B	7.17
Lenny D	6.98
Dale A	6.81
Brett D	6.77
Mike D	6.77
Mike W	6.75
Jon B	6.70
Joe N	6.66
John R	6.55
Billy T	6.54
Jared M	6.54
Brendon M	6.53
Elliot P	6.46
Ryan G	6.44
Cindy R	6.37
Ariel D	6.37
Brad D	6.26
Ron L	6
Andrew P	5.89

Player	OpponentStrength
Mike W	7.52
Mike D	7.25
Lenny D	7.06
Ryan G	6.97
Brad D	6.97
John R	6.85
Billy D	6.8
Jared M	6.79
Dale A	6.70
Johnny S	6.69
Brett D	6.62
Elliot P	6.62
Brendon M	6.54
Billy T	6.53
Jon B	6.53
Nick B	6.49
Joe N	6.42
Andrew P	6.37
Ron L	6.37
Cindy R	5.75
Ariel D	5.75

Player	Team Str	Opp Str	Difficulty
Mike W	6.75	7.52	-0.76
Brad D	6.26	6.97	-0.71
Ryan G	6.44	6.97	-0.52
Mike D	6.77	7.25	-0.48
Andrew P	5.89	6.37	-0.48
Ron L	6	6.37	-0.37
John R	6.55	6.85	-0.29
Jared M	6.54	6.79	-0.24
Elliot P	6.46	6.62	-0.16
Lenny D	6.98	7.06	-0.08
Brendon M	6.53	6.54	0
Billy T	6.54	6.53	0.004
Dale A	6.81	6.70	0.108
Brett D	6.77	6.62	0.147
Jon B	6.70	6.53	0.169
Joe N	6.66	6.42	0.239
Ariel D	6.37	5.75	0.625
Cindy R	6.37	5.75	0.625
Billy D	7.45	6.8	0.65
Nick B	7.17	6.49	0.68
Johnny S	7.65	6.69	0.964

Player	Goals	Goalie
John R	12	Steve F
John R	8	Darrin D
John R	3	Jack R
John R	3	Tony A
Jon B	3	Darrin D
Jon B	3	Dave R
Nick B	3	Darrin D
Nick B	3	Steve F
Mike D	1	Jack R
Dale A	1	Steve F
Brad D	1	Jack R
Jared M	9	Tony A
Jared M	5	Dave R
Jared M	5	Rick G
Jared M	2	Darrin D
Mike W	2	Jack R
Ryan G	6	Tony A
Brendon M	5	Darrin D
Brendon M	1	Dave R
Ron L	5	Rick G
Joe N	1	Dave R
Joe N	1	Steve F
Lenny D	3	Steve F
Ronnie L	1	Rick G
Billy D	1	Steve F
Brett D	5	Darrin D
Brett D	5	Steve F
Brett D	3	Jack R
Brett D	1	Tony A
Billy T	1	Rick G
Billy T	1	Steve F
Johnny S	1	Darrin D
Elliot P	3	Steve F
Elliot P	1	Darrin D
Elliot P	1	Jack R
Jazz M	2	Darrin D
Paul S	5	Steve F
Tommy S	5	Steve F
TJ S	2	Tony A
Andrew P	3	Rick G

Player	Percentage of Team Goals
John R	39.39
Jared M	37.5
Ron L	33.33
Jon B	28.57
Brett D	21.87
Ryan G	17.14
Brendon M	13.63
Nick B	12.76
Elliot P	10.86
Lenny D	9.67
Johnny S	9.09
Billy D	7.69
Mike W	7.4
Mike D	5.88
Joe N	5.71
Brad D	5.26
Billy T	4.08
Dale A	2.12

Player	Point Percentage of Team Goals
John R	65.15
Jared M	64.28
Jon B	61.9
Brett D	59.37
Ron L	46.66
Ryan G	34.28
Brendon M	25
Elliot P	23.91
Billy D	23.07
Nick B	21.27
Joe N	20
Billy T	18.36
Lenny D	16.12
Bob C	11.11
Johnny S	9.09
Mike W	7.4
Mike D	5.88
Brad D	5.26
Dale A	2.12

Player	Points Per Game	Games
Jared M	2.4	15
John R	2.38	18
Jon B	2.16	6
Brett D	2.11	18
Ron L	1.75	4
Ryan G	1.33	9
Elliot P	0.84	13
Brendon M	0.84	13
Billy T	0.69	13
Nick B	0.66	15
Lenny D	0.62	8
Billy D	0.6	5
Joe N	0.58	12
Bob C	0.5	2
Johnny S	0.33	3
Mike W	0.25	8
Mike D	0.16	6
Brad D	0.16	6
Dale A	0.09	11

Player	Points Per Week
Jared M	9
John R	8.6
Brett D	7.59
Ron L	7
Jon B	6.5
Ryan G	6
Billy D	3
Elliot P	2.75
Brendon M	2.75
Nick B	2.5
Lenny D	2.5
Joe N	2.33
Billy T	2.25
Johnny S	1
Bob C	1
Mike W	1
Mike D	0.5
Brad D	0.5
Dale A	0.33

Player	GAA
Darrin D	3
Dave R	3.33
Steve F	3.63
Jack R	3.66
Rick G	3.75
Tony A	4.19

 
 

Player	Wins
Darrin D	7
Steve F	4
Dave R	3
Tony A	2
Jack R	1
Rick G	1

Player	Winning Percentage
Dave R	100
Darrin D	70
Tony A	40
Steve F	36.36
Jack R	33.33
Rick G	25

Goalie	Player	Goals
Darrin D	John R	8
Darrin D	Brendon M	5
Darrin D	Brett D	5
Dave R	Jared M	5
Dave R	Jon B	3
Jack R	John R	3
Jack R	Brett D	3
Rick G	Ron L	5
Rick G	Jared M	5
Steve F	John R	12
Steve F	Brett D	5
Steve F	Paul S	5
Steve F	Tommy S	5
Tony A	Jared M	9
Tony A	Ryan G	6

Hey guys

Big board is back and doesn't know how to post a thread! But any who here's the top ten players from this summer league. No offense to to billy miked or ward who have played decent. Tony you were not good, there's just no way around that...

On we go!

10. Slobcat- a very nice season for bob, was able to grill lots of hamburgers and brought beer the past few weeks.

9. Brendon- bb would like to see him step up against good teams, but if he could really focus in on that hard for check he's a very valuable player. Think mike ward minus obnoxious penalties.

8. Griff- missing games is unacceptable. But beyond that griff was a little hit or miss this year, especially coming off that great tourney in Montreal. He shoots it 100% of the time he touches it...your not Jared.

7. Nick- typical nick, great defensively and don Sweeney esk on offense. The transition game is bothering me, I mean big board. And we thought Johnny was the worst at face-offs?!?!

6. Eric- matched up against weaker lines Eric has disappointed this year. I get it he's awesome and very talented. No one can play with him, including you Brett, so if he's not scoring problems arise. He is great at killing penalties, perhaps his best attribute.

5. Jb- he played defense mostly this year so not sure what wpr was expecting by way of scoring. He was just a defensemen right nick? Really needs to stop chasing the opposing player when they have the ball...it's dangerous for one but it's also painful to watch you run.

4. Jared- scored goals and gave you what you expected, except for a couple of crap games early.

3. Joe- good job Joe, we all thought you were mediocre, you played great every game. That check was awesome and the play of the year. You also might be our goalie in the playoffs.

2. Johnny- most underrated player this year. Johnny has his legs back and it's great to see, in our only loss last week jr was our only player who showed up and he's been a consistent scorer at center...here's another fact, Johnny would lose a face-off against that fat, bitter ref.

1. Brett- Brett ran the league which was very convenient. He provided upbuilding recaps to get us thru boring Tuesday workdays. He blew up lines because a couple players were bored. Good job Brett

There ya go big board is back and hates iPads!

TIMEOUT+LISTENING=CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!

I've played on many teams and been a part of many timeouts. They are all mostly generic..."run hard and no letup" "play like it's 0-0" "play smart". And during all of these timeouts the captain says his thing and may tell a player to do something different. Everyone else listens, or pretends to, and keeps their mouth shut. But on only one team will you find fighting, bickering, the attempt 2 reason during a one minute timeout. Yup you guessed it Odd Man Out!

Now Jared and I sit there listen and take the critism during timeout for our other team. We are known as the TEAMWORK TANDUM ! We are always reasonable and keep the team abalance unit. And what does that get us that The New Hamphire The Alliance, or Odd Man Out never could.......... A trophy! a big one!!!!

Who's stopping you?

The Alliance name comes with a reputation. It doesn't matter who dons the uniform, it’s a curse; a plague. Every "Alliance" team is a group of overreacting, overanalyzing, band of "hockey" players. But it’s the trait that we lack that haunts us the most. We lack the killer instinct. We are incapable of sealing the deal. So many times we have come close, but couldn't close. And for a period over the weekend, I believed that we finally found a team with some mojo. We finally had the team that could completely shut the door. If we hustled and battled for every ball, we could wear down and tire out any team we played. The only snag was if we tired out first.

Weeks of discussion and overanalyzing of the "dream team" went into this tournament. But one thing that was never really in question was the lines. John, Nick and Brett were always together. The almost B-Team consisting of Griff, Borges, and Jared was the other logical line. But, after one bad game, against a great team, all that was tossed to the side. We needed a jolt. And apparently, the line change was what we needed. We dominated in game 2 against a solid snipers team. We played our game and dominated. There really is no other way to describe it: Pure domination.

So with the stage set, the question the team was asking amongst ourselves was:

“Can the dominance continue?”

But, to me, that wasn’t the question at all. The question was: ”Were we going to pull an “alliance”?” Were we going to become fat, happy, look too far ahead and collapse under the pressure after a team surprises us?

What is the answer to that question? Patience. Just give us time. We will collapse.

Game 3: The Voice Reason v.s the Eye of the Tiger

Ah, yes…Just rethinking the events of this game makes my blood boil again. These guys were hacks. And frankly that’s pretty much all I remember about them.

For starters, they had a Goliath as their D-man. He was a real brute. A Fat head. A punk. He was a detestable display of the cheap “I can’t beat you with skill so...” mentality. He was a real life Biff Tannen. He was 6’ 3’’, 250 pounds (ish) and he had an amazing shot. He did de-pants (spelling?) Tony a couple times before we adjusted and blocked his shot for the rest of the game. The big stupid never did adjust. Couldn’t have been easier to defend.

Besides having the Ogre on defense, they had a small “insignificant piece of dust” at winger. He was an instigator, a hack, a cheap shot artist, a tripper and a whiner. Think Jimmy Nelson, except this guy would actually hustle a little bit (doh!). Every two minutes, you’d either hear ”ref???!!” or his arm would go up looking for a call or my favorite move: the look at the ref. Yeah keep staring, that’ll get you a call. For crying out loud, just play the game!

But despite having such despicable hockey players on the other team, our team managed to stay calm, cool and collective. That is, until one player became tired of their shenanigans.

Now, if I were to ask you before that game, who was the most likely to get ‘fed up’ and react to another team, how would you have replied?

Let’s make the answer multiple-choice:

A) Griff

B) Ryan

C) Ryan Griffin

D) The guy married to Melissa

E) The son of a Carron

Let’s be real here. There wouldn’t have been any other answer.

Now, what if I asked the opposite of that question: Who was the least likely to dare I say retaliate?

“It was the most inspirational thing I have ever seen…John Riley had a fire lit under him? The entire team was emotionally charged after that” said one player.

The game was real laugher. This team stunk. It went down in the score book as an 8-4 win, but that didn’t give it justice. With penalties coming from every direction, to both sides, many goals were missed (that was one sided) and everyone was involved in the party. (Almost) Everyone had multiple goals.

The highlight of the game was Jared’s penalty for taunting. Well worth the penalty shot that Tony stoned them on.

Game Notes:

* Nick only played for what felt like ten minutes because Borges kept pulling him because he wanted Nick to “calm down”

*Griff was the most relaxed and rational player (seriously)

To be honest, this game was a lot of fluff goals. Not that they weren’t good goals. What Im saying is we could take nothing really out of this game because the team we played was just awful. But we felt that maybe, just maybe, this was a game that could light a spark that would carry us throughout the play-offs. Hopefully this was a game that would solidify a united effort. In our next game, all this would be blown up and forgotten. The Power of a time Out

Next: The Timeout that will live in infamy.

"He's choking how, everybody's joking now..."

We cant play a game like game one. Our team is not highly skilled or highly talented. We are built to out hustle and out work. We have to use our "intimidating size" to win battles in the corners, create turnovers and hopefully capatalize on opprotunities. We dont have the ability to out skill teams. Our success starts and ends at defense. And, frankly, we lost game one because of soft goals and a loose defense. Scoring was not the issue. If we score 7 we should win. But we didn't and change was needed. That's what the captain wanted. "Oh Captain, My Captain!"

Ok, I'm going to be honest. I had no idea who the captain was until a few games later when the infamous timeout occurred, and I'd like to think that's been smoothed over. But seriously, im not over it. But we can talk about that later. After the melt down in our first game, change was decided. A shake up. But was it for the better or just a complete overreaction?

Game 2: That's what Im talking about

Game two was going to make or break everything. How could we possibly continue to enjoy ourselves if we started 0-2? And lets be honest, if we lost, Jared would have been a wreck for game 3.

It was a game we needed to have. On the surface, the big change was moving Griff up to offense and Borges D. But it was actually more than that. Jared was now playing with John and Brett with Griff. Big shakeup. And it was just what we needed. Borges was instant offense. He managed 2 goals early. One was a quick shot from the point and the other on a penalty shot. We wore the Snipers out. It was a masterful effort by the entire Alliance Team (woops!).

It was actually a very close game (3-1 at the half)until we made it into a laugher as the Snipers became tired out (and uninterested). 10-2 Final. Smiling faces again.

Let me apologize now. Game 3 recap will be much better. I really had nothing for this. I had something completely different last night but I just couldn't make it work the way I wanted. It would have been cold hearted of me to leave it as it was. I scrapped something together, just now, when my original Idea fell to pieces. I couldn't invest anymore time into this disappointment. I had to move on.

To me this picture was the most bothersome....Who was defending this guy?? Obviously we have no idea who was out there, or the situation. Maybe the Dman had the ball behind the net? Thats the only thing I could come up with. But based on what goalie is doing, I'd say thats not the case. I was debating...is that Tony?

Confidence Shattered

The most hyped up tournament to date. The "dream" team was well represented. We had everyone we wanted. In the role we wanted. It had to work out, or panic would ensue. The 2011 Montreal Tournament needed to end with a win...it had to. All of the hype. But so many questions to be answered:

1. Were they right by replacing Tony with Dave Riley a few years back?

2. Will Johnny finally step up?

3. Could Jimmy beat Nick in an arm wrestle?(hint: tehheee..no)

4. What are the odds that Griff is more rational than John Riley?

5. Could Borges manage to gain more weight over the weekend?

6. What do you find more cool to have on your car...ugly plaid lining or a hook on both ends of your car?

7. Will the fat slob realize you don't take this guys' seat without me blowing it way out of proportion? (yeah I wouldn't have said a word if someone else took it. Fwiw, I felt bad when I wrote this.)

8. What's a choke hold?

9. Can the b-team manage to not be the worst team in muckers? Yeah, muckers. Real Question.

10. Any guesses on the AVERAGE time of a John Riley shower? 34 mins. No exaggeration.

11. What is Dehydration? Dr. Robotnik wrote "humiliation=dehydration=asthma attack."

12. How many sideline girlfriends of the other team will say to Brett: "no he didn't (fingers snapping, of course)?

13. Why aren't we elite?

14. How many balls can Tony cover up? Call the Wambulance.

15. Eric, what's it like to have one of your ankle's now be a kankle?

Despite so many questions it really only comes down to one. Could we finally win one of these things?

Game 1: Reality Check

Early morning game time of 9:20. Out too late the night before. Didn't have a good night sleep. Jared didn't get us all breakfast. Did I cover everything from the excuse rolodex?

Game One would ideally be the "warm up game" A way to get the blood flowing, the heart pumping, and your legs under you. Yeah, none of those things happened. From the beginning, it was an absolute onslaught of shots. Corners picked. Passes going tape to tape. An absolutely extraordinary street hockey team. We somehow managed to not only keep up but we scored the first two goals. Maybe we were the great street hockey team? "Let's not be crazy" said one player. "I wouldn't say we were lucky but the first goal was trickled in by Johnny and the other was a beautiful shot by JB."

We were up 2-0 with a long way to go. A very long way to go.

I'm getting tired just thinking of it. 2 on 1 after 2 on 1. Tony was playing in front of net that seemed to be 15 feet wide and 20 feet tall. Not meant to be a dig on Tony...maybe. The point I’m making is these guys were unbelievable at times. Spin moves? Check. In between the leg self passes? Check. Breaking Borges’ ankle on a give go pass? Check. The Flying V? Check. Spinning Nick around on a one on one battle? Double check. I think I saw number 27 walk on water. This team. Just wow. Wow. “Some would say jaw dropping” said one player. “I just ran back and forth. They stood still. There passing was so crisp. Tape to tape wouldn’t give it justice.”

But we kept up the fight. Though it was a losing battle. Griff and Nick couldn’t handle the North Stars pressure and the surface to get the ball out of the zone. No outlet could be found. No winger seemed to get back. In fact, watching the video again, there was only two consistencies in the game: Mistakes all around and, without fail, Griff would be yelling the phrase “get back!” every two minutes.

And despite how awful we were, we lost by two goals. 9-7. Including one empty netter by the North Stars. We tried to get into a scoring battle with a team built to score. We cant win that way. We’re just not that good. We knew we had to play better defensively or we couldn’t last in the tourney for long. It was time for a complete overhaul of the lines by the team captain. Change was needed.

We thought we could play with them. The next day we realized we probably couldn’t.

　 Coming Soon: Game 2: A stroke of genius by the captain?

Food for thought

Back in May 2010 Frendon wrote:


"If I end up on your team, or the B team or whatever...If I can make 10 or 15 plays that help set up goals, then I'm happy. You have to be realistic."

So...did he reach his quota?? Keep in mind he didnt say which team he'd be setting up. :)

Just wanted to say...

Go B's!!!!



And for those who didnt hear T&R's audio, it really was an excellent review:

Link

Season Finale: Sunday - Inside Rink at 6:00

Who is in?

Hockey this Sunday. Do you guys want 6:00 inside or 7:00 outside?

Let me know who is in and what your preference is.

Also, I've updated all of the stats except the Player Cards.

Hockey This Sunday 6:00, Inside Rink

Let me know who will be there. We will likely not play the following week due to the Memorial / aux pioneering, so hopefully we'll have a good group this week.

In so far: John, nick, mark, Billy, Brett, jb, Jared, darrin, jack.

Out: Frendon (have a nice vacation btw)

Hockey this Saturday at 7 outside rink

Who can make it this week? I need to know so that I can book the rink. This is one of the "every other" Sundays where we can't get the rink, so it has to be on Saturday. Hockey is on for 7 tonight outside rink.

People in for Saturday: John, Nick, Brett, Brendon, Billy, Darrin (G), Lenny, Cindy (she made me type this), JB, Jared, Dale (I think?), Joe,steve.

Haven't heard from: Brad, Griff, Chris (should I even mention his name anymore?), Warrin, Ariel (if Brett lets her play).

Maybe: Mike D

Out: Mark

Root Canal> Having to Pass to a winger who wont do his job!

Dear Readers.... (yeah, i'll admit it, I couldn't write that with straight face)

No recap yet, Im in a ranting sort of mood.....(hint: There is a point to this rant, please read my entire 15 page ramble and allow me to miss apply my whole theory. Please read?)

Practice makes perfect?

For as far back as I can remember I was told that I may stink at something but, if I keep trying, I will get better. I was told:

"Dont worry Nick, with practice, you will hit the toilet"

or..

"A wrist shot is easy, you will figure it out."

and my personal favorite...

"If you keep working with those free weights you will have six-pack abs."

Ladies and Gentleman, I have news for you. I still miss the toilet (and the net). Sadly, because my Alkaline levels are so low, I cant figure out the wrist shot motion. And I still dont have "dreamy" washboard abs.

What gives!

You know what this says? The adage is crap. Garbage. You are either good at something or you're not. You had the skill from the start, it just needed refining. The only reason you get better is because you understand the concept of not only what your goal is but how to achieve it more effectively. Not because you practiced. It's why Bobcat's practice sessions never brought home a trophy...no amount of practice would have been good enough. We stink. Allen Iverson was right. Practice? Who needs it?

Did you know that I have a perfect example to prove my theory that practice only gets you so far???

When you think of how I get the ball out of the zone...what do you think is my bread and butter? Do I pass it up the middle or up the boards?

Its religious. Up the boards. Up the boards. Up the boards. It doesnt take a brain surgeon to understand where to stand. Its not like a monkey could do it(well Koko probably could with some practice) but its not a hard concept. It's my go to move. My "oh crap, Im in trouble, get it out" move. One job! Stay in front of your point guy. Be available for a pass up the boards. Be an outlet for your d-men. Not hard. So why every week, do I, see the same crap play? Its infuriating. Everyone else seems to get it. Every week I say the same thing..."im going up the boards, be ready". Help me out! I "practice" with you every week. You should get how we should play together as teammates by now.

Now dont get defensive (no pun intended). I can hear your defense again now..."not all those passes are good"

Well, Brendon, really? Of course they aren't all perfect. Some of those passes stink worse than Borges' hockey gloves. This has nothing to do with either of our skills. It has to do with your constant pursuit of always having to be behind your guy at the point. It has to do with either your complete lack of hockey sense, laziness or constant pursuit of the hope of a breakaway. Nothing like the smell of a stat, eh?

I've got news for you, you have been playing long enough to know what you should be doing out there. Im not going to rip someone for a physical mistake. Bad passes, Bad shots...it happens, its acceptable. We all had several of those tonight. But the same mental mistake week after week, over and over again? Really? How many times does it have to be said?

For the 100th time, stay in front of your man at the point! Its your one job in the defensive zone. I feel like you're smart enough to realize that.

There's Always Next Year

Hockey this Sunday - 5:45 Inside Rink

Well the Patriots sure take care of any question about what time we'd play this week. Now that the meetings have switched we'll have to start after 5:30, so 5:45 seemed the most logical time. Anyway, it's nice to get back to a normal schedule. Let me know if you will be there.

Mom's Spaghetti

Im sitting here, wearing my Tom Brady jersey, watching Gary Tanguay on sports tonight (yeeahh!). The frustration is mounting. The anger is building as I listen to every petty and infuriating excuse that comes out of his mouth. "Some people said 7-9, others 8-8, no one expected 14-2...we have a great future...a young defense that just gained valuable experience..blah..blah." What a giant load of crap. Crap! I don't want to hear that. I want to hear anger and bitterness. I want to hear complete and utter disdain for every player involved in this debacle. Quit glossing it over. As I think about last night's game, I cant help but make comparisons to our latest hockey tournament. I was going to recap our games on Saturday but I have to get this off my chest.

"You only get one shot"?

Every Tournament seems to get a lot of thought. The players and their attributes are debated to no end. How do they fit? Can our goalie carry us? Can we conjure up enough offense? Can the defense make the key stops? Its like a giant puzzle. But the key is balance. Some years we feel that we have the right "mix". Other year's it's sort of a "this is what we got" kind of thing. Well, that is exactly what happened this year. A whim. A last ditch effort to be the last team standing for the first time. The calls went out at 5pm on the Friday before, could this be our time? Could the monkey finally be off the respected back's of the Alliance? Could we actually pull one out?

The Puzzle is the Key.

So what was the team that Jared pulled out of his..hat?

(G) Tony A

(LN1-RW) Scott F (LN1-C) Mike D (LN1-LW) Jared M

(LN2-RW) Paul (LN2-C) Brett (LN2-LW) Tommy

(D) Borges (D) Nick

Not bad. Not bad at all. But how would it compute with results?

The Same Old Song and Dance

How else would you expect it? Domination. We devestated teams. No team had a chance to score with regularity. With scores that ranged from 3-1 to 5-0; It was our equivalent to 45-3. We were on top of the world. We actually had conversations that started with the phrase "We can do this!". But none topped my personal favorite when we called ourselves the literal "favorite". In fact, confidence was so high that some decided to "throw" the fourth and final game because we already had our play-off spot. I mean, why would you spend a game building chemistry and refining skills when you can take it easy? In reality, we had created our "equivalent" bye. So it leaves me asking: How could a well rested team that was considered the consensus favorite blow it? It just sounds too familiar.

Sigh

Nothing like awakening a sleeping giant before "battle", eh? Well, unlike Tom Brady, the goalie for the other team actually plays better when the "bear is poked". It seems as if a battle for a specific side of the rink was all it took. Borges attempted to gloss over the "argument" with some playful banter (there is another word for that, it ryhmes with Ray) but it was to no avail. The disgruntled goalie's nostrils stayed flared and it was game on.

The game was fantastic. Phenomenal. Highly competitive. Highly entertaining. The other team couldn't sustain pressure. The problem was that despite immense pressure on our part, we couldn't get the ball to hit twine. We hit posts, we hit the boards, we hit our own teammates, our shots were blocked, but most of all we hit their goalie. He was everywhere. It was like trying to sneak a cookie past the fat kid at lunch. It was almost impossible. We were down 1-0 with very little time on the clock and we tied the game! Could we be seeing the memorable comeback? The game that would push us into our first championship. The game that would end our reign as the equivalent San Jose Sharks. But alas, another excuse. It was a stupid shot from the point. The shot hit the boards to the right of the net, bounces out to the opposite, or left side of the net, conveniently hitting the stick of a streaking winger, for the other team, who manages to back hand the ball into the net due to a poorly position goalie. Did you get that? This was in overtime, mind you. Heartbreak isn't the word. Torture wouldn't begin to describe it. I would kill for the feeling of disappointment instead. Another Year. Another Year.

Failure.

I for one, am done. A Team vs. B Team wont due. Im sick of being the San Jose Sharks or dare I say the 2010 Patriots. Dominating the Regular Season has been done...to death. Its time to dominate when it matters. Its time to put it all on the line. It's time to walk away from one of these things without a Gary Tanguay like excuse. Woulda Coulda Shoulda. No more! No more! It's time to get the job done!

But maybe...just maybe...Im the last one to realize the inevitable. We always find a way to lose.

We Have Options This Week...

So far from who I've heard from: Steve F, Brad, Griff, Brendon, Billy T, Brett, Nick, and myself - all can either do or prefer Saturday at 3:00. Waiting for confirmation from Jared, Darrin, Mike D, and Jon for that timeslot. If that's what we have with those guys it's at worst $24 per person for two hours (not including goalies).

Update: Game On. 2:45 in Dracut on Saturday. We should have ten guys (with Borges although I still haven't heard from him) and Casey said he can get us more guys...Casey is the guy who runs the rink.

We have: John, Nick, Brett, Jared, Griff, Brad, Brendon, Mike D, Billy T, mark, Steve (G), and a goalie that Casey is getting us.

The address in Dracut: 1734 Lakeview Ave, Dracut MA, 01826

Casey can get us more guys if you want. Let me know what you think. Also, please be there by 2:45 since there is a group after us.

Hockey this Weekend - Could be Sat @ 4:00 or Sunday @ 8:00

There will be Hockey this week. To avoid the conflict of interest that is Pats game on Sunday, we are shooting for a Saturday Game-Though Sunday would be an option if enough people actually prefer it.

Who would be in for hockey the day before Rex Ryan sticks his wife's foot in his mouth?

Here's the deal: the only time available in Saugus this week is Sunday at 8:00. It looks like there would be enough support since we'd catch most if not all of the Pats game. I am still trying to get a rink for Saturday around 4:00 and will find out today if I can. If not then we will play Sunday.

Videos

My Apologies...

As it worked out, there were not going to be enough people for hockey yesterday afternoon (I think we would have had 3 on 3). For the people that I didn't get to text or call back, I apologize for that. I either had caught a bug or I was having a reaction to the pain medication I took for my back and I was in bed from 3:30 on.

So when it comes to this week, I will be leaving for a few days for work on Saturday, so the only day I can play is possibly Friday evening. I'm not sure what the availability of the rink will be, but I can find out. Dave will be here until Sunday, so if you guys wanted to play Saturday then someone can try to schedule a game for that day.

I will be back the following Thursday so I will be more than ready to play hockey that weekend. We can decide Saturday or Sunday that weekend since the Pats will be playing their first playoff game at 4:00 that Sunday.

But for now, let me know if you want to try for Friday, and stats are now up from our last game.

No hockey today guys. I will plan a game for next Sat / Sun when I'm back.