we got killed.

not a lot to say other than…

we got killed.

SI usually has a strong roster and this game was no exception.  what KILLS me more than the loss is having a lackluster showing from our roster for a 400pm game.

final…  SI 9 — HH 1

the battle of the bottom of the barrel.

and another loss for HH.

1130pm game. we started with only 7 skaters — with an 8th showing up in the first period.

i thought we played as good of a possession game as we could with that many skaters. we did a fair job of “owning” our blue line. we scored early. (yay, me.) we just could not keep up without a good bench.

adam — amazing, yet again.

my goal was a tip and control off a shot from bobby. (btw, good luck with your mba, bobby!)

i got into it with the refs — AGAIN. this time starting from a slew of weak, one-sided calls on us. bobby had two penalties in the first 10 minutes… continuing with an important faceoff in our zone that should have been on my strong side… and then a quick whistle, when the puck was clearly loose that i argued for… which, in turn, got me tossed from ensuing faceoff. which, by way of my colorful commentary, got me tossed in the box for two. it continues to amaze me how much the refs at chelsea piers could care less about what they are doing. no icing calls based on phantom “tips”. constantly out of position. no explanations. for the $75 a game they make and the $8200 a season our team puts up, i expect better. really.

HH loses to cobra kai by a score of 3-2

not accounted for? that’s right. i’m not sure we actually showed up in a 9-1 loss to kpmg.

i would love to list all the things that went right during the game… here they are:

…

and that’s it.

i am honestly not sure what has happened to this team — especially since we clicked and started so well this season — but i am determined to help fix it. i have been working on some new defensive and breakout schemes for the team — “new” actually being a misnomer as we have no schemes now other than “get it out!!!!”. from there, i will tackle the offensive zone. i am really hoping we get a lot of guys out for practice on the 27th…

next game against cobra kai (that’s right, grasshopper…) on sunday at 1130pm.

ugh. i’m not sure what has happened with the homer’s this season. we started strong. felt good. and then… loss after loss…

we fell to 3-7 on the season last night losing 6-1 to the menace.

we only had 10 total skaters — 6 up, 4 back — and with a team like the menace, i think you need a third line. we came out pretty strong, but you could see the tiredness by the middle of the second period and that’s when the game went from 2-0 to 5-0.

great goaltending by adam — yet again. even with 6 goals, the guy was a force in net.

on a personal note, i lost three faceoffs in a row, in the defensive zone. the last time that happened i must have been in pee wee. i was “off” on my draws all night. had a coupla nice moves toward the net. one try from behind the net that i should have gone wraparound on. a 2 on 1 with brian that broke down in the crease.

as a team, we had our chances.

unfortunately, it was kyle’s last game of the season as he is headed out to colorado to be a river guide for the summer. he is one of our top 3 D-men and he will be missed….

it’s great to play your friends.

i have a bunch, certainly, at chelsea, but the pylons seem to be the all-star roster of the folks i have really gotten to know.

in our first game against them this season, we went to overtime and won on a fluke goal just before the OT period ended.

this time around, we continued to show that we cannot play with a lead, gave up two quick ones and lost by a score of 4-3.

i think we could have taken more advantage of the pylons not having their regular goalie, but, then again, the replacement was nine foot tall.

honestly? i would rather lose a game like that than win a game like last week’s. most of the time.

we are now 5-6 and in some serious need of wins to make the playoffs.

homer’s heroes took down the red menace on sunday night by a score of 8-4 bringing us to 5-5-0-0 on the season.

i want to say it was a great, fun time, but, frankly it was not.

the game was rough from the start — which, honestly, is fine.by.me. as long as the game is called fairly. and, certainly NOT to my credit, i blew my stack at the refs in third period.

one of our guys — danny — is pretty dang fast, has amazing stick skills and a great finishing ability. he tends to get rocked every game we play — partly because other teams have no other way of stopping him and partly because he’s a damn hot dog. after three or four “non calls” in the first period, danny was again whacked in the offensive zone. he certainly took some retribution license on that and was assessed two minutes. slamming the penalty box door got him another ten. and so begins my witty report with the refs.

fast forward to the third period… danny is on a semi-break to the net, moving fast, with an opposing player behind him. the opposing player jumps up, wraps his arms around danny and tackles him head first into the goalpost. the opposing player got two minutes. begin.bitching. i’m yelling up and down about “intent to injure”. i’m still yelling when i get to the faceoff circle and the ref tries to toss me from the faceoff. i tell the guy that i’m the home team and i get to put my stick down last — which does NOT go over well. he tosses me and i can’t keep my mouth shut using some choice words that my mother would not be happy about.

now i’m in the box. i’m not sure for exactly what or for how long, but i’m there nonetheless.

i ask the other ref what the penalty is for and how long it is. he, in turn, does not give me that information and uses similar “non mom” choice words to indicate that.

i ask about the penalty assessed on the “intent to injure” play. i indicate that some people need to go to work the next day and that i think the call was bs. he, in turn, uses choice words.

then i turn to my bench and indicate that i must not have brought enough money this week.

which gets me tossed.

whatever.

we pay over $8000 a SEASON to the rink for these games. the refs make upwards of $65 a GAME. i have been in a bad mood plenty of times, but if they don’t love the game and they are not able to explain themselves… i have no tolerance for that. this is, effectively, beer league. this is not my job. (as much as i would like it to be!) letting a game get out of control is both senseless and dangerous.

anyway. we won. woo.

homer’s heroes took on the team from sports illustrated last night. it is always a ’surprise’ when we play them as it seems they have a bench that extends both deep and wide — walking into the rink, craig remembered two of the times we played them, one where we got crushed and the other where we crushed them (we put roughly the same team on the ice both times…)

the game was close this time around, though.

the final was 8-5 (with one empty netter).

the difference? two goals from SI inside the last two minutes of the second period, making it 6-4, after we had just tied it at 4. mentally, that was tough.

brian had a BOOMING slap shot goal from the mid point in the third to get us to 6-5.

personally…

i scored a sweet redirect from close in on the net. (brand new dad) fordo worked the puck out of the corner and swung it straight across the crease where i redirected it at full speed right under their goalie’s right pad.