The Cuppa Joe Grinders

After that disconcerting effort on Halloween night which we can now hopefully attribute to hitting a sugar low after scarfing their children’s candy all night long, the Grinders showed an underlying spark within their 2-1 win on Monday night which hasn’t been there over the past couple of weeks. All is right again in the Grinders camp.

It was great to see the hard work and intensity required to not only win, but to be competitive and have fun. Checking in the offensive zone was predominant on Monday night by the forwards. This played an integral part in the 25 to 19 advantage in shots on goal. The intensity seemed to come naturally as demonstrated by Guy who fell into a 5 -minute penalty for body checking. But the game was ultimately controlled by the Grinders defense.

The Know Stars had difficulty controlling the puck over the Grinders’ blue line. Numerous plays were being broken up before any offensive pressure could be accumulated. And once they did get in, the breakout plays by the Grinders were actually working. Sometimes even with a pass.  And on those familiar occasions when the only target the d-men had was the wingers’ ass, they were able to create room and skate the puck out.

The stand-out play of the game was provided by the defense during a short-handed situation. The smooth and effortless way that Stealth Santa maneuvered the puck up ice through the opposing team was a sight to behold.  And when he lost the puck on the offensive blue line, the poise and calm he showed to sweep behind the defender to regain possession was a lesson in the wonders of confidence. After seeing Santa split the defense and get a shot on goal it’s no wonder that Mats is buying him underwear.

The forward line almost matched this effort with a display of unselfishness described by their humble leader as “I was great.”  In fact it was a great play by Gordie, who held the goalie to the side expecting to see a backhanded shot, but instead, presented a soft, feathery, flat, GPS guided, nicely weighted, puck-had-eyes-and-a-map, tape-to-tape pass. “It was perfect” said Gord.  The puck was laid out to Jason with nothing-but-net in front of him. Jason missed. As he did the previous game. In fact that one was a beautiful setup by Gordie as well. He’ll tell you so.

After the first attempt, Jason must have been thinking, “&*%K, I hope he passes to me again.”  After the second he must have thought, “&*%K, he might not pass to me again.” Later in the game with Gordie controlling the puck in the offensive zone, covered by two men, Jason wide open in front, Gordie decides to make a move and scores a goal. Jason was thinking, “Phew.”

But no worries for Jay or Gord, who understand that this web page emulates the Grinders attitude on ice. Play hard and expect a few cheap shots but remember its all in good fun. Jason can also comfort himself in knowing that he had a strong hard fought game and ended up with a point anyway. After all he does control the stats page.

All is right again within the Grinders camp. Almost. If we can only figure out why Frank doesn’t stick around for post-game beers anymore.