The Cuppa Joe Grinders

We play against someone tonight at 9:45pm on Green A. And so far everyone is being responsive and responsible and calling me and using their “pleases” and “thank-yous.” It’s the kinder, gentler Grinders. And because you are being such good little gentlemen, here’s a preview of the 3-star picture that will go up after tonight’s game.

So be nice to each other, show up, play hard and you get to see the rest.

Its game day night. 10:30pm on a Tuesday vs a strong team that we are 1-1 against. Have an afternoon nap and wash your power bar down with a red bull because you will be getting lots of ice-time. No-shows for this game include; (in order of importance) Santa, Tidy, Geiber, Bob, Frank, Leng and Jason C. But have no fear Tosh is here, and apparently he’s really gonna show up this time. Along with Goats and his younger “kid” brother – I don’t know his name but he’s young and healthy and has promised a hat-trick! Okay, no he hasn’t. But Kuznak has promised a shutout  oops can’t say that for fear of jinx! Okay, no he hasn’t.

PSP, Where are you!?!?!?!

Game Tonight at 9:00pm Burnaby 8 Rinks on Blue A at 9:00pm.

The CuppaJoe Grinders face the Burnaby Chiefs in their third meeting this year. Although the teams are fairly evenly matched in terms of skill (according to player stats) and their records are similiar as well, the Burnaby Chiefs have won both previous meetings. The last game the Chiefs came from behind to tie it up and then win with mere seconds left on the clock in OT. With Tanchak, Tidy, Kuznak and Geiber out of the lineup for tonight the Grinders call-up Stacey “a-lotta-movement-not-much-of-it-forwards” Schoffer for the wing and Geoff “Goats” Gauthier in net.

Check out all the recent additions to the website that have happened over the 10-day break we suffered. In addition to the blog-like entries on the home page, the Grinders Girls Page has a recent entry that will certainly pique your interest, and the Grinders Virtual Trading Cards Page sees a lot of Action Shots in the trading cards; photos courtesy Goats.

Once upon a time there was a boy named Sydney. All the other boys made fun of Sydney because his named sounded so queer. But Sydney paid no nevermind and went about his way, doing his own thing, in his own way. One day, Sydney became very rich and put together a hockey team and called it the Sydney Millionaires.

All the other teams made fun of the Sydneys because the name sounded so queer. One day, The Grinders played a game against the Sydneys and took a 2-0 lead going into the third. But the Sydneys paid no nevermind and went about their way, doing their own thing, in their own way, and won the game 3-2. They became rich with joy.

The Grinders got mad. Mostly at themselves, although they would never admit it because thats not the way macho hockey players think. They want to take their frustration out on someone else, blame others, and make them suffer. It’s cool to be that way if you are a hockey player. It gets you excited for the game ahead.

Tonight the Grinders play the Sydneys again and want retribution. Thats a big word that means they want to get even, although the Sydneys did nothing wrong. But thats okay because this is sport.

Sport is about doing better than the other guys, and beating them, and winning, and making the losers feel bad about their loss, and getting more goals and points than your team mates to win the scoring title, and drinking more beer after the game than anyone else, and telling your family you scored yet another goal to extend your scoring streak even though you didn’t because you know they will never check and you need them to believe that you can at least succeed at SOMETHING in your lifetime so you can feel like the big man around the house.

It’s a Friday night showdown between the All Blacks and The Grinders, 9pm on Blue A. In 6 games over our recent history, the Grinders have a 5-1 record but don’t let that fool ya. All games have been tough, fast and close, except for our final meeting back in the 05/06 season when the All Blacks scored 5 goals to beat us. They only had 15 shots on net, perhaps Crazy Wayne didn’t have one of his better performances that night, but their stars Keenlyside (77) and Zaragoza (11) stepped up and got most of their points.

This should be a good game fellas.

In the rematch of the week The Crackers outskated and outhustled the Grinders in a 7-4 game that had oodles of fans out to watch. The positives in this loss were the return of Reggie’s hands, the hustle of Tanchak and Leng, the team effort on the shift change and the puck movement.

The competition is better than we expected way down here so we have to keep perspective on why we are out to play; for the pleasure of hockey and getting out with our friends. 7 years together with a solid core of about 16, personalities will shine forth every once in a while in all of their glory. Let’s remember to respect one another and to NOT take this too seriously. Yes, we want to win. Yes, we will give it our all. And Yes, we will make mistakes. Let’s encourage and not bitch.

Remember when we would come off the ice after a loss smiling?

Big game tonight as we face the Mighty Atoms for the second time this season. We managed to pull out a win earlier this season. They will be looking for retribution and a win (Much like the Crackers) so let’s keep our heads and keep positive.

Mr. Geoff (Goats) Gauthier is joining us in net tonight as Mr. Kuznak is suffering an upper body injury.