I hate when that happens ...

Don't you just hate it when your team puts a guy on waivers and he does this?

ST. LOUIS (AP)—B.J. Crombeen scored three goals, including the game-winner with 3:43 to play as the Blues defeated the Nashville Predators 6-3 Monday night.

Doh.

Any Day Now. . .

minor

Chiefs 6pts(3-4-0) 2
LSI 12pts(6-1-0) 5


Although Bill Broad opened the scoring for the Chiefs the scene quickly shifted to a common LSI phenomenon. The most prolific line in the league (I say with absolutely no research) has to be the Mulder and Scully combination of Gabe Rivera and Catherine Levesque, they team-up for the first two Import goals, securing the lead before the first period ended. In the second Gabe gets the assist on Cliff Bogle's goal, Tom Harnitchek scores to put the Chiefs within one. Rivera could not be contained, in the third he scores two more for a total of five points on the night. Bill Broad takes himself out of the game late with penalties.

Silverwings 5pts(2-4-1) 2
Whalers 10pts(5-2-0) 3


Watching this game in person, the speed was overwhelming. Could this be I-league, it looked to be at least a mid to high level D. The first period is sum zero, a Wing goal from James Pickett and a Whaler goal Brad Watson. In the second the Hamster Brian Hamstra puts one away for the Whaler lead. The "C" train left the station as Sergio Castillo ties the game, exactly one minute later the Whalers wrestle it back with a goal from Paul Thurston. With a period left to play, the Silverwings only needed one more juicy rebound, but there would not be another. The Whalers are on a slippery slope, with their history they need the wins to unite the team, but if they accumulate too many points, they could end up in the MAJORs.


Puckers 10pts(5-2-0) 4
Privateers 10pts(5-2-0) 2


The Puckers allow plenty of opportunities, but overcome with a huge upset. Rick Gregory and Rob Constantine score the only two goals of the first period, both for the Puckers. Robert Meassengale cuts the lead in half early in the second, Don Lyle ties the score at the three minute mark. The Puckers find the game winner late in the third with the help of Steve Niekamp. In the third the Puckers tighten the screws and not only keep the 'Teers at bay but net one more goal from Larry Nounemany. Is this the 'Teer's December swoon? What will become of the Privateers after this session? The rumors abound that they may not return, or if they do it may be as a completely different look.

Team Euless 0pts(0-7-0) 3
Grave Diggers 4pts(2-5-0) 4


The switch in goal for the Diggers meant I would make my debut as a forward, masquerading as "Don Ells", amazingly, Billy Quinn's goal (the first of the game) is off my assist (can't say I remember). In the second Euless evens it up with a goal from Robert Massengale (I think that's the correct spelling), but lose the lead to Danny Grimes on the potent Grave Digger power play. The third was a shooting gallery. It started with the quick hands of Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr to put the Diggers ahead by two, then late in the period, Robert Massengale tries to close the gap for Euless. The Diggers fire back less than a minute later with a goal from Bruce Davis. The ill-fated Euless rally ends with a goal from Marie Lindley. Bob Sirkis plays a very aggressive stand-up style, leaving several tasty rebounds but comes up with a couple of game changing stops, inspiring his offense. Another Digger session ends strong, sure they will probably play themselves into a hole early next session, but they always grow together as the season continues. . . It's hard to not have fun with this team.

MAJOR

Ice Bats 12pts(6-1-0) 2
Komets 9pts(4-2-1) 1


The strongest Komets team in recent history roars onto the ice, playing for a place in the play-offs, Scottie Baldree leads the charge as per usual, scoring the opening goal unassisted. Chuck Dolbee resurrects the Ice Bat resolve, evening the score before the period ended. In the second, Mitch Gnatowsky takes the lead for the Bats in the last two minutes. The Komets prefer to ride a lead into the third, and cannot find the extra gear they need to save the game, they lose to the league favorite.


Snipers 3pts(1-5-1) 3
Stickmen 7pts(3-3-1) 4


Wiry Kevin Cook opens the game with a Sniper goal setting the tone for the Sniper bench, could this be the night? The Sticks respond with a goal from Damon Flores to close the first. Just fourteen seconds into the second the Snipers beat Blubaugh again, this time it's Chris Davis. The Snipers follow that up with a goal from the omnipresent Jamil Al Jabri. The Sticks regroup with goals from Wil Dobson (Whore!) and Todd Smith. The final five minutes of the middle frame, both teams batted each other around looking for weaknesses, with no results on the scoreboard. Back in the corner, Burgess Meredith slapped the Sticks in the face, cut open their eyes and sent them into the ring for the final round, the upstart Snipers continued to deliver blow after blow but it's Steve Hart who lands the knock-out for the Stickmen. Matt Walker shows glimpses of greatness in the Sniper net. Blubaugh gets his second win of the night.

Brewzers 6pts(2-3-2) 2
Patriots 10pts(4-1-2) 3


A scoreless first period leads into a heated exchange between goalies at center ice as "diva" Mike Moore taunts SNH reporter Jon Ellis over perceived besmirchment in the press. Moore gets the first laugh, when Steve Daniels makes an incredible redirect on the Eysermanns shot to put the Brewzers on top. John Newell puts the Pats on the board before the second ends. In the third Eysermanns gets one of his own on the rebound, but the roaring Brewzer bench is silenced when Brad Allen sends it to overtime late in the third. The Pats playoff hopes are kept alive when Kendall Bernard finds the twine with less than a minute left in the overtime period. Somewhere along the way, Dallas Lehr made a save of his own against a hard Brewzer shot, maybe he saved the game?

DFW Titans 6pts(3-4-0) 1
Blue Devils 10pts(5-2-0) 2


The Blue Devils hold fast to their playoff hopes, could this be a three-peat (*check stats to make sure they won last two before posting!)? Despite a strong James Barber start in the Titan net, recording a shut-out first and third period, and allowing only two goals on twenty shots, the Titans have been quashed. Steven Hart puts the Devils on the board first with an early goal in the second. Kenneth Rawson ties it up just a couple of minutes later, but in just two more minutes, Jay Peters ends the Titans' season. Look-out for the Devils!

P.S. Look for my post on playing out this week, hopefully with some video! Hope I didn't misspell too many things, can't make Blogger work for me tonight. Happy hockey!

Mike Moore's Goaltending Clinic

I have heard from Tom Yockey that Mike Moore's Goaltending Clinic may very well make an appearance at one of the practices at the beginning of next session. There will be plenty of opportunities for returning goalies to have their game inspected by the clinic staff, and there will be a spot for at least one lucky goalie-curious player, equipment provided!

How much would you pay for just such an opportunity? $500? $400? $300? I don't know actually. . . I haven't got the word yet on whether there will be an additional charge to the I-league fee. Billy Pye may make an appearance, a little bird tells me, if that does anything for you. Of course everyone wants to know. . .

Will Mike Moore be there?

The short answer is yes. . . probably.

His manager has informed the staff at SNH that Mike is not to be approached by any of the players or fans without the escort of his bodyguard. The schedule does call for a one hour photo and autograph session before the clinic begins, photos for the autograph session will be available for $10 each.

bciii

P.S. Seriously, this thing is going to happen, I need to know how many Goalies to start planning for, so RSVP to stickysaves@gmail.com

Which way did it go?

Saw this on a Stars blog and couldn't help but steal it.
This is one season to be thankful you didn't buy the season ticket plan.

In other news, we've arranged a Sunday morning pickup game at the NYTEX rink. (see link at right) It's 8-10:15 a.m. tomorrow, and $15 CASH ONLY at the door. Two goalies are committed.

Get off your lazy rump.

BC

Thanksgivings

In the spirit of the season, I thought I might review some of the things that I am thankful for. . .

1. I am thankful that I discovered and, debatably, learned to play hockey before I got to old and out of shape to enjoy it. Several years ago I was working with Brandt Eng. when they won the contract to build a couple of ice rinks for the Dallas Stars organization. I worked extensively at the site in Euless and became infatuated with every aspect of the game. After the completion of the job, I moved to the Barnett plaza tower and during my lunch break I would often practice skating at the Tandy Center rink. I met Cody Bateman, who managed the rink there, he has since moved on to manage the AAC ice. Good Times!

2. I am thankful for the drop in the price of gas. The trip from Burleson to Euless was becoming quite a drain on my budget. Since this is supposed to be a positive, thankful type column, I won't get into what gas prices may be masking. . . or the rest of the economic issues buffeting us about. . . I have a job.

Thank you Gas!

3. I am thankful for pumpkin pie. I could easily eat the largest pumpkin pie available, and now the public demand for pumpkin has spawned an entire pumpkin food group. . . bread, shakes, lattes, ice cream, rolls, cookiez wwqefg80uh ftg sorry, wiping the slobber off my keyboard.

4. I am thankful for the BCS.

5. I am thankful for my lovely wife, she is so understanding of my obsessive compulsive tendencies. Whether it is hockey or running or music or National Geographic collections, she rarely complains. I love her, so much!

6. Petroleum Jelly. Running for a long time tends to produce some very uncomfortable chaffing, in very sensitive spots.

7. I am thankful for the opportunity to write this column, and to have a great group of friends like all of you to share my tiny thoughts with, and play a great game with, and even have a drink with every once in a while.

8. I am thankful that the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade finally made the viewing for adults just a bit more entertaining. . . I got Rick rolled.

Enjoy your time with the family, if you have the chance, we'll see you again whenever the schedule ultimately says.

bciii


The HCS rankings (only one computer on this poll)

TOP 15

1. M Ice Bats, 10 pts
2. M Komets, 9 pts
3. M Blue Devils, 8 pts
4. M Patriots, 8 pts
5. M DFW Titans, 6 pts
6. M Stickmen, 5 pts
7. m Privateers, 10 pts
8. m Lone Star Imports, 10 pts
9. M Brewzers, 5 pts
10. M Snipers, 3 pts
11. m Puckers, 8 pts
12. m Whalers, 8 pts
13. m Chiefs, 6 pts
14. m Silver Wings, 5 pts
15. m Grave Diggers, 2 pts


Honorable mention to Team Euless (zero points)

The End is Near!

Minor:

Puckers (3-3-0) 1
Team Euless (2-4-0) 5

The Puckers faced-off with another Euless mutation, Patrick Haley of the Privateers makes the first Euless goal. Steve Niekamp ties it up in the second, but Brewzer, Joshua Sutton puts Euless back on top before the period is over. Sutton scores another in the third sandwiched by two goals from Daniel Howard. The first in a night filled with upsets, the Puckers hold fast to .500.

Grave Diggers (1-5-0) 4
Chiefs (3-3-0) 0

After handing the 'Teers their first loss of the session, the Chiefs had a hangover, I also loaned a jersey to Chief goal tender, Josh Ayala, tainted with knock-out gas. Steve Smith launched the Digger assault with the lone first period goal. Randy Chappel followed it up with the only score of the second. At just over two minutes into the third, the Diggers added two more goals, another from Chappel, and one from Supergirl. . . finally she scores! The Privateers shrug at the dominating performance of the Diggers. There is some dispute over the Digger roster. . . of course! Look for a goal tending change in the next Digger game. . .

Silverwings (1-4-1) 0
Privateers (5-1-0) 2

Speaking of the Privateers, a big bounce back game, the score masks the story of the game. The wings generate only five shots on net, while the 'Teers throw twenty-two hot ones at the net. Patrick Haley scores the game winner half-way through the first period, but Eric gets his Spivey senses going to hold the Privateer offense off until Robert Meassengale cranks one past him late in the third. Although that last sentence might be un-diagramable, The Privateers have regained their form and will likely play their way out of J-league in a few weeks.

Major:

Komets (4-1-1) 3
Blue Devils (4-2-0) 0

The mighty Blue Devils looked to assert themselves against the upstart Komets, but the whip is reversed. A scoreless first leads into an active second, where according to Blue Devil's net minder, David Blubaugh, the defense collapsed. Three Komet goals in less than three and a half minutes: Scottie Baldree, Mike Bierwiler, and Dustin Nation. The nugget from this game is the fact that the Komets hold onto the shut-out despite being outshot, that kind of defense and goal play will do them well in the play-offs, if the play-offs started now the Komets and Ice Bats would be the top seeds. Unforunately, no one knows exactly when or where a lightning bolt will strike. We do now, professor, we do now.

Ice Bats (5-1-0) 2
Stickmen (2-3-1) 1

How about those Bats? The Sticks were not favored in this game, but they put up quite a fight, which started at Blubaugh's net. He faced thirty shots, compared to ten shots generated by the Sticks. No one scores until the third period when Bats forward Damon Lacey takes the lead in the second minute. Lunchbox sends it to overtime with his goal in the closing minutes of regulation. In overtime the Bats continue to swarm the Stickmen's net until David Tratham banks one of the right post, off the back of a prone Blubaugh's outstreached glove, and into the net for the win. The second period was full of theatrics, resulting in the removal of one Stickman and two Bats, one being their undisputed scoring leader, Eric Petty. No word as to weather any suspensions will come out of this.

Brewzers (2-3-1) 4
Snipers (1-4-1) 1

The Brewzers and Snipers have an incestuous battle with predictable results. . . sort-of. One of the most unlikely occurrences, Snipers' scoring is lead by one Jennifer Leonard, she scores the first goal of the night, the only of the first, and sadly the only from the Snipers. In the second, the Brewzers make the most of the last four minutes with goals from Jamil Al Jabri, Steve Daniels, and Brit "Backhand" Broostrom. With their spirits beaten out of their sweaters, the Snipers give-up one more in the third, this time to Jamil's little brother, Nidal. It's unlikely these teams will matchup again at anytime in the near future, welcome to J-league Snipers!

DFW Titans (3-3-0) 4
Patriots (3-1-2) 3

With the door left open by the Blue Devil's loss earlier in the evening, the Pats were licking their chops. After a scoreless first they draw blood with an early second period goal from Jeff Eagle and a late one from Bryan Brookman. The Titans manage to cut the lead in half before the period ends on an Ellis mental hic-cup. In the second minute of the third the Pats reclaim their two goal lead with a goal from Brad Allen. The Titans take it back with the ill-advised play of Pats' defenseman Dallas Lehr who deflects a shot into Ellis pad for a wide open rebound and resulting goal from Mark Schacht. In the tenth minute of regulation, the Titans throw in a shot off an offensive face-off, and pound the rebounds, one after another, until they come up with the tying goal off the stick of Mac Miller. In over time Justin Mason sets-up from a bad angle on the bottom of the right circle, then looks Ellis off, with a quick shot between the pads the game was over.

P.S. If you would like to read about the near death match between me and my sister in the half-marathon outside of Lubbock a couple of weeks ago, she writes it up here. Or my take here.