Earthquake! We shall rebuild.

Why? Why do we do this to ourselves?

10 o'clock at night, while most of America enjoys Monday night football, storage wars reruns and chance to get some Zs before work the next day, we decide that playing dek hockey is worth it.  Good for us.

The truth is we couldn't win last night. If we dominated the North Stars then we just did what we were supposed to do. If we stumbled, tripped up or dare i say collapsed, it would have been another reason to just give up. A reason to finally get a hobby that we are actually good at (checkers??).

So yet another Monday at Dracut has come and gone. A new jersey but the same sad results. A lineup shakeup but with the same incompetencies. Strategy assertions have come in droves but have lead to things unchanged.

Its so much more than just a lack of talent despite that being a major obstacle. Its our fundamentals. We are the Patriots secondary. We back into wins. Beep. Beep.

So now we look to yet another rehashed ranking system. But this time with a twist. This is festivus style.

Frank Costanza: "And at the Festivus dinner, you gather your family around, and tell them all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year!" 

The Airing of Grievances it is. I know what you do well. You know what you do well. I dont want to hear about it. Its time to evolve, become better or at least become consistent at not being inconsistent. Every last one of us.

No sugar coating. We’ll call it constructive criticism.

A poll for everyone. I will put your name and list your 3 or 4 biggest issues and people can decide which one should be your priority to fix.

Any nominations for the first poll?

Weekly Power Rankings

10-15-12

New Format. An actual W.P.R.

From now on each player will move up, down or stay the same each week from this original ranking. Jumping or dropping 10 spots isn’t out of the question.

1 JB – Is the scoring leader and will keep scoring. His shot is his biggest asset and there are very few complaints about the season he’s having so far.

2 Jared – His speed can blowup any defense. His two breakaway goals were a bright spot this past week and keeping that going is a must.

3 Brett – Switching to D to help solidify the core and get it ready for tough games might be a longer process than originally thought but hopefully will pay off.

4 Nick – Needs to be a stud on defense if he’s going to be worth having little offensive upside. I’ve seen what he can do on defense and I’ve been very impressed.

5 Johnny – Has been getting his goals but with JB and Jared doing all the heavy lifting Johnny has been kind of a secondary scorer and creates little for others.

6 Ron – Can score from pretty much anywhere. Except from his couch. He likes the late games but then doesn’t show up for them. Puzzling.

7 Griff – Another couch dweller whose ranking is hindered by such. I actually think he’s a very valuable part of the team. And has things no one else on the Gamewinners has.

8 Billy – Seemed to be making progress in leaps and bounds and even fooled the team into feeling safe with him back there. Back to basics. Need to get back to what you were at the mid point last season.

9 Mike W – Working his way back from a knee injury and you can never have too much speed. But missing the game last night really hurts his ranking.

10 Mike D – Might be switching to wing from now on, but who knows. Have to see how he handles it. A goal last night is a good way to start. Let’s see if he can get enough confidence to take a shot without questioning it first.

11 Zack – I don’t see him moving from the 11 spot anytime soon. Unless someone misses the next 4 weeks straight maybe.

Saugus last week

Great games on Sunday at Saugus. Nice to see everyone again. I think I did OK on defense, but I'm glad I got that goal against Steve. He was on top of his game. Johnny and Brett, what a dynamic duo! And it was so nice to see all the veterans play. I mean, who needs leagues when you have such a good time at Saugus! Hope to see everyone next week!

- And then I woke up and realized that life is a little less fun without having Saugus hockey on Sunday nights. I used to know it was fall when we started playing again. It appears everyone loves the league environment, but I hope that some of you will reconsider starting up Saugus again. Not to rack up stats or to keep time, but to just have fun with some friends. And of course, to argue about offsides and Griff's checking. :)

Like Rose in the sea after the Titanic went down: Come back!

Weekly Power Rankings

10-8-12

Speed Kills

3 Nick – According to the stat guru, Nick was on the bench for the first four goals scored by Guese therefore alleviating himself of all responsibility for the loss that the Gamewinners suffered last night.

2 Borges – A points machine these past few weeks. JB is finishing on more chances than not these days. More than can be said of Brett and Jared

1 Darrin – Fifth goal was a bit on the weaker side, but he made a ton of saves in the first to keep it to only two goals and then his saves in the third were spectacular to give the Gamewinners a chance at pulling out the win. I don’t think there’s another goalie in the league that’s forced to stop more breakaways than Darrin. Then again I don’t watch any of the other games so I can’t really say that with any certainty.

Honorable Mention: Billy T

Billy was sick and stilled showed up and did his best. By the looks of it he was sick with vertigo.

It never gets old

For those that enjoy this as much as I do:

The manning face