Haverhill Cup IX - April 28, 2018
==================================
[The 2018 Haverhill Cup Championship TEAM]
{Image Credit: Mike Ward and Photoshop ... ok, MS Paint}
Yes, I am holding up three fingers, but have only won two HC. I was holding up three fingers because that's how many points I had.
... Actually, it was a 'W' for Wu-Tang Clan
... Actually it was a 'W' for Charlie Sheen's 'Winning'
... It's entirely possible that I held up one finger at the start, then put out two, then three, and if he kept taking pictures might have gotten up to four and finally just been waving at him.
... I'm going to blame the drone for injuring my fingers and they just stuck that way. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
[Goal-by-Goal breakdown in comments section]
DATE: 04/28/18
| rank | Player | Goals | Assists | Points | Games | Wins | GW | GWA | Team Goals | GA |
|---|
| 1 | Jared | 16 | 4 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 12 |
| 2 | John R | 10 | 9 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 12 |
| 3 | Andrew | 13 | 3 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 19 |
| 4 | Elliott | 4 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 28 | 19 |
| 5 | JB | 9 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 19 |
| 6 | Billy D | 5 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 25 |
| 7 | Griff | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 28 |
| 8 | Nick | 5 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| 9 | Billy T | 2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 19 |
| 10 | Jason H | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 12 |
| 11 | Brendon | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 12 |
| 12 | MVW | 5 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 25 |
| 13 | Mike D | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 25 |
| 14 | Reggie | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| 15 | Scott F | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| rank | Goalie | Games | Wins | Win % | GA | GAA | Shutouts |
|---|
| 1 | Brett | 6 | 5 | 83.33% | 12 | 2.00 | 0 |
| 2 | Dave | 7 | 5 | 71.43% | 19 | 2.71 | 1 |
| 3 | Jack | 6 | 1 | 16.67% | 28 | 4.67 | 0 |
| 4 | Steve F | 5 | 1 | 20.00% | 25 | 5.00 | 0 |
===================
Haverhill Cup Recap
===================
So this was the last game for Nick. Like, ever. He's done. I spoke to him, and this was supposed to be his Swan Song. For Nick, though, it turned out to be more like Brian's Song.
Ok, maybe not THAT grim. I mean, he's not dying or anything. But his hockey career is dead. But remember that line from that movie? (You've all seen it, right?)
At the end, the narrator says that Brian died at age 26 and is remembered as he lived, rather than how he died. So we want to honor Nick's memory and dedicate this Haverhill Cup to his memory.
Maybe we will rename it the Burton Memorial Cup. Kinda has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? It already has his picture on it.
I mean, that is, UNLESS the unthinkable should happen and he came OUT of retirement at some point...I mean, we can't honor anyone who is still PLAYING, right?
Well forget it, because there's no chance of that anyway. He's done. Finished. Where was I? I think I was supposed to be writing a recap of the HC and went off on a tangent...On we go...
The sea was angry that day my friends...like an old man trying to send soup back in a Deli...sorry, there I go again...
For those of you who didn't know this: The regular season means nothing. NOTHING. It's practice. Get all cocky and start thinking you're gonna be flying high scoring left and right and... BAM! Playoffs happen and people actually start TRYING.
Whoops. Some of you forgot that.
Now, you really can't fault Mike ward's team. They battled as noble as anyone ever has without a sub (has that ever happened in the HC before?) and that wasn't their fault...well, it MIGHT have been Ward's fault for drafting a senior citizen...even if he is a fantastic senior...
He shoulda known that Ron was going to injure his back picking up Anvils. I mean, that's a really risky thing to try right before the Cup, don't you think? Well, they did their best, but in the end, the lack of a sub really cost them. Ron's HC value just plummeted in future Auction Drafts for reliability.
Nick's team was all steak and no sizzle. And I mean that literally. I think I saw griff gnawing on a porterhouse in between games for energy...might have been a ribeye...no, wait... a porterhouse serves two. That's what it was.
They went winless in the regular season but you know what? No one cared. As I said, that means nothing and I know I wasn't the only one who wasn't looking forward to getting pinballed between Reggie and Skippy for 14 minutes.
But they just couldn't win when it counted, and time wasn't even a factor, either. Because it all came down to Shoot-out skills, and I'm not one to talk, but they let Elliott single-handledly beat them twice. Ouch. This one's gonna sting for a while. Like a week.
JB's team was all sizzle but no steak. (Is that a saying? It is now.) Gotta put some meat on them bones, kids. You can't get out-muscled in the HC or you're gonna pay. We always said that children were useless in the HC, but not because they don't have any skills.
The rink is smaller, less room to run, more contact, harder to get a speed game going when the defense pretty much never leaves the zone, it's a crapshoot. The Prater boys combined for an impressive 27 points throughout the HC, but managed only 3 combined in the final game.
That's not going to get it done when your opponents score six goals. Don't get me wrong, losing Billy towards the end was a huge blow for team JB, but had they built up a sizable lead, it may not have been a death blow losing him, what with the kids' infinite energy and all...
But alas, JB has yet to get his name etched onto that Glorious Cup. There's always next year...When you're a year older, fatter, and slower, like the rest of us. :-D
And of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the winning team, Team TPJ. Jared got the most out of his team. There was no yelling, no arguing, no crying, no spam, no shirt, no shoes, no service. And they pulled it off.
Largely thanks to Brett standing on his head; he kept opponents to a paltry 2.0 GAA (Is this a HC record?? Seems like it could be...) Meanwhile Jared and Johnny were sniping left and right and no lead was safe from them.
Give JB's team some credit. They kept it close until it was 3-3, and then the floodgates opened. Jason showed that even a $1 pick can be a bargain in the HC as he spanked the children and boxed out opponents like Shaq fighting for a cheeseburger falling from the sky.
It was a team effort. Play as a team. Lose as a team. Win as a team. Celebrate as a team for a whole year. Props to Jared for not taking the bait and switching up his team even though it was tempting. He made the right choice. Just like Sophie. Actually it was nothing like that movie. Forget that. How about another movie? I'll go with Rocky IV and in the words of the Godfather of Soul: "I feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel good!"
