The CuppaJoe grinders win their second game of the season against the SmokeEaters in a 3-2 game. With good puck movement and the ability to hold much of the play in the SmokeEaters end, the Cuppa Joes were able to take an early lead when PSP took a breakaway pass from Cracker and made good on it when he slipped the puck past a sprawling SmokeEater goalie.  In fact it was Paul’s line involved on every goal this game. The Sheppard, Schmidt and Houghton Trio, the SSHT line, amassed 7 points between them in this victory.

Next game is up when we play the 5-1-1-1 Shockers Tuesday at 9pm.  We handed the Shockers one of their ones in 4-4 tie on September 8.  A victory can be in hand if we play smart and stay out the box, as last meeting we  tallied 12 PIMS against this bunch.  This upcoming game, however, Tim the ‘Tude will be in the net instead of in the box.

In the goalie race this season the Save Percentages are almost dead even with Tim at 0.880 and Peter at 0.883, but Peter is ahead when it comes to goals against allowing an average of 2.83  as compared to Tim’s 3.16.

Time to air out the gear, gentlemen. The weathernetwork says Thursday is going to cloudy with sunny breaks at 19C and breezes out of the south-west at 5km/h. Perfect weather to stretch that gear out on the patio and let the stank loose. Perhaps burn of a little of that cloud cover with the fumes emanating from your jock strap.  It’s also a good time to do an equipment check. For those of you that haven’t played since April; heres a quick reminder of what to look for and how to put it on:

• Helmet (Nickason you need to buy a new one after that last encounter with the end boards)
• Facial Protection; either visor or cage.
• Mouthguard:  (buy a new one, that one is not supposed to be green)
• Neck protector (optional but looking more attractive the older I get)
• Shoulder pads
• elbow pads
• gloves
• Stick
• cup (aka The Can)
• hockey pants (or Cooper-Alls for the true veterans)
• shin guards
• socks
• Jersey
• skates (get them sharpened now, not at the rink)
• towel
• soap
• shower sandals (just ask Gord why)

The first game is this Friday, September 5th at 8:15pm voisus the Vancouver SmokeEaters.  Tim Von P is making his debut in net. Have you signed up online yet?!  Do it. Now.  Because they wont let you play without the pretty little sticker.

We’re starting off the New year on a typical foot: at 10:30pm!  That’s right fellas, you get one day to recuperate then you’re thrown into the mix with a 10:30pm game against the Vancouver Smokeeaters.

January 2nd, 10:30pm on Blue A against The Vancouver Smokeeaters.

I miss two games and all hell breaks loose.

Well the first one sounded good. Rumour has it, that if I had had time to post a Grinder Girl that game the 3 stars woulda went something like this:

1st Star - Peter with a well-deserved shutout and Jacques-Plante-esque saves.
2nd Star - Harry! (breaking the no-stars to spares barrier) with stellar performance on D
3rd Star - Troy with the game’s only goal (nice assist Rob)

But then, game two happened: A loss, Lots of penalties and copious amounts of bench bitchin’.

We’re ahead of schedule girls. This usually doesn’t happen until Mid-January, early February. Are we losing sight of the reason we come out to play already?! You senile old bastards are getting harder and harder to appease every year. Remember:

• It’s for fun.
• We claim to our wives it’s for exercise and that we earned that last beer.
• It’s to be able to tell our co-workers that we belong to a team.

But if you guys can’t play nice with each other (or with the other team for that matter) then we’re gonna have to do something drastic, like join the 35+ league, or (don’t tell Bob I said this or he wont shut up about it) start our own league.

So let’s strip our game down to the basics, gentlemen. Lets go out to be competitive, and to win, but drop the “at all costs” notion. Respect your fellow team-mates, and respect the other team. Too often we accuse ourselves as dropping to their level and yes we do have to learn to skate away once in a while, but admit it, take a close look at yourself, we start a lot of the shit as well.

Play the game hard, play to win, but cut out the crap and listen to your teammates when they tell you to relax. Perhaps you ARE cross checking in front of the net (Santa) , Perhaps you ARE too critical (Gord) , Perhaps you ARE taking long shifts (Dave), Perhaps you ARE taking it too personally (Andy), Perhaps you ARE too skilled for this division and should ease up on the competition (Glen).

Anyways, until morale improves all you get is naked men:

I’ve been slippin’ on my duties as of late but I’m here to make it up to ya.The roster is decimated this coming Friday night with Frank, Brad, Peter, Tidy, Bob, Gord and Guy all out of the line-up. HOWEVER, the farm-team is loaded with top quality prospects as we welcome to the lineup: Goats in net, James, Stace, PSP, and Rob Valero….

As a way of thanks,I offer to you this week’s Grinder girl:

It’s game day, (tomorrow) (Friday March 2 at 10:30pm) and we face the boys named Sydney yet again. We’ve had mixed results against the Sydney Millionaires, some bad, and some not so good. But all of that is behind us now. We’re at the point we want to be at. We’ve finally made it. After 6 or 7 or 8 losses in a row we have finally made it to the “point of no return”, it can only get better from here boys; We’re at the bottom of the pile! No place to go but up!

The forum sparked some sparse, but good, points over the last couple of days.The one that stood out in this journalist’s mind was the one that he read while sober.

There was also a wee little ditty about a clean sheet of ice and enjoying the game and I think that particular comment hit the nail on the head. Fellas. Let’s re-group. Re-Focus. Re-Hab. And put the past 6 years, weeks behind us. Lets forget about all the bickering. Lets forget about the recent dose of losses. Let’s forget about the on-ice chatter and bad penalties.

Let’s now focus on the positives; the hockey stenched air, the bitter cold of the arena, the cramped dressing rooms, the stick across the ribs. Hold it, let’s try again.

Lets now focus on the positives; the crisp air of the ice arena (now I think I got it), the sheen of the freshly scraped rink, (ah yes, here it comes) the sound of the first blade cutting into the freshly frozen layer of ice, the joy of of the outlet pass that results in the breakaway, the gospel-ring of the puck ricocheting off your own post, the good natured banter of your team-mates on the bench, and the glorious feeling of netting one behind the cock-sure goalie….

This is the game we were raised to love. This is game for which we push aside all our daily worries and place on a pedestal. This is the game we love to play; win or lose. But especially win.

Step onto that ice with all the dog days behind us. Open up and tell yourself, “this is the game where we shine.” Shout it out loud gentlemen. “This is our game!” Shout it together! As a team! As the victors of the 10:30pm Friday game vs Sydney Millionaires on Blue A - tickets available at TicketMaster for a a small service fee, or sign up at Best Buy for presale activity and an endless onslaught of weekly newsletters- (where was I) - Oh yes, whatever the outcome gentlemen, play hard, play as a team, and hold your head high (unless its raining and then tuck your chin into your collar for the sensible protection against the precipitation) for the inevitable tailgate!

edit—–

INCENTIVE!

Here’s a little incentive for y’all to have the game of your lives. This is a preview of the 3-Star image that is scheduled to be posted. Here’s your chance to be associated with one of the most gorgeous hockey fans ever.