PLAYOFFS
BEGIN FEBRUARY 12
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Bridesmaids Revisited
Well boys, another season... another close call!
After a season marked by some great stretches and a very respectable
round-robin we ended up on the wrong end of a 6-1 Red win. At least
the oysters, food and drink was good. I sent a quick note off to
Rodney thanking him for the hospitality and the buckets of beers.
Kudos to Aubrey also for getting the fastest, toughest, most skilled
bunch of players this side of Winnipeg out on the ice together and
doing the organizing and beer runs!
Master Plan Carried Out - March 19
The final piece of the Black Aces' year-long strategy is now in
place. After allowing the Red Necks to skate to a gentlemanly 5-2
triumph tonite, preparations are under way for next week's final
playoff game. Having lulled Red into a snuggly state of over-confidence
by sitting our big guns for tonite's match, we can now pull them
out for the next game, the only game that really means anything
now. Tonite? Eh. A mere dawdle, a walk in the park, a nothing game
and no reason to work up a sweat (which we decidedly did not).
A couple of quick goals tonite gave the Red Heads something to
think about, but knowing them it will only give them a headache
and they'll forget all about it by next week.
And don't forget sports fans, aprés hockey dining is scheduled
for Chez Rodney's next week, so let's work up a thirst by crushing
the Reds with our mighty onlslaught of terror. Release the hounds!
Third Time Lucky
Well boys ... after a resounding 7-4 thumping of White tonight
we clinched a third consecutive trip to the finals against Red on
the 26'th. This is our chance to remove any Buffalo Bills-like stigma
and not be runner-up again. [For you newcomers we have lost tight
games to White and Blue in the past two years.]
We are up against Red for the last Round Robin game LATE next week
and then play the EARLY game on the 26'th - block your schedules
now and keep the rest of the evening open as we may head down to
Rodney's Oyster Bar for a few pints and some yuks and shucks.
Tonight was a solid all round effort with contributions from all
of the forward lines - big guns and grinders alike, strong defense
and steady goaltending.
Leafs Get Nolan, Aces Refuse to Deal
Ward - March 5
We'll take it. Call it a last minute change in meal plans... just
as our goose was about cooked, Richard saved our
bacon by stuffing in the tying goal with 0.02 left to go on the
clock. Talk about a BIG goal. Rather than getting 1 point on the
night we drew even and split the 5 points with Blue, not letting
them gain the three points they were already tasting. Even better,
the heroics came with a pulled groin ... third star to Morris
the Therapist! The sad part is we never should have gotten to that
stage as Brian singlehandedly put us up 3-1 with
a big hat trick including two quick ones that had Blue reeling.
Let's just say the intensity was palpable in the third period!
So, where do we stand? After 4 games we have 11 of a possible 20
points. We think Blue has 6 of 15 and White (who were getting drubbed
by Red tonight) will end up staying around 3 or 4 points. The bottom
line is this ... Rich is not here next week. Mo and Pat we need
you back and in top form as next week's game is the big one for
us; the one where we can control our own destiny ... we certainly
don't want to have to take points from Red in the last round robin
game.
Would've Should've Could've - Feb 26
Well guys, we let a 1-0 lead slip out of our hands against the
dirty Red Devils and ended up going down to a 5-2 defeat (4-2 plus
an empty netter). We were missing some key fire power (Brian
couldn't make it, sniper Paul was still savouring
last week's winner, Rich pulled his groin and Pat
- note you're in the "firepower" section Patty - was at
the pub) but played a half decent game that we could have won. No
breaks and some small mistakes cost us big time and as a result
we took our 8 of 10 points and converted it into a measely 8.5 of
15. Next week is HUGE.
Another Brick in the Wall - Feb 19
Another week, another 4 points. After two weeks of the REAL season
we have captured a solid 80% (8 of 10) of available points and are
in great shape heading into a big match-up with Red next week.
Last night's 3-2 victory over White was another solid team effort
with Dave and Mike tallying in
the first and second periods and Paul blasting
a lovely "FQ" below the glove of the White goalie with
time running down. [Not wanting to add insult to injury, Bruce
passed on the opportunity to convert a 15 footer into the open net
with 30 seconds left] Great intensity from the blueline corps tonight
helped Greg and kept us in the game until we got
our legs going. If Dave, Brian
and Al can spend the next week figuring out how
to convert 10% of their chances we should be in for some big numbers
next week!
Right Time... Right Place... Right Results - Feb 12
Uber Hockey was how I heard it described. Da boyz played da system
to perfection and skated away to a 2-0 victory over Blue and MORE
IMPORTANTLY came away with 4 out of 5 possible playoff points.
Richard worked on the practice makes perfect theory
and converted a fine Mo pass to make it 1-0 while
we were down a man and Jeff iced it into the empty
net. The "D" was stellar, Greg didn't
give up a thing and the forwards were very disciplined.
Let's bring the same work ethic to next weeks game against White
and build up our point total. We are on early for next week and
the two after that, then late for the last two.
Great effort team!
Financial Uncertainty Undermines Black Aces - Jan 29
Sudden news of a looming financial crisis plunged the Black Ace's
into both off-ice and on-ice turmoil last night at the Phil White
Gardens. Even the fans picked up on the upheaval and stayed away
in droves. What they missed was a merciless drubbing at the hands
of the Red Turds ... final score ... something in the double digits
-1. It took a total team effort to turn in this result as we all
went a collective -74.
Following the game we learned that the Ace's are rapidly running
out of cash and are in danger of missing the next payroll. Despite
rumours to the contrary the team is not being moved to Hamilton
said team captain Aubrey Spring... "as long
as everybody brings along$20 next week - no excuses" Otherwise,
we move YOU to Hamilton."
The Talk-Show callers were calling for the coach's head but, so
far, nobody can even find him ...
Warriors
Go Down with Barely a Whimper - Jan 15
The Aces stunned the Warriors 3-0 tonight at the Phil White Arena
in front of a packed house (ie Slavko and the Red and Blue teams
as they were leaving). The big win came in large part to Greg
who was superb in snagging any shots that didn't get blocked and
smothering anything left on his doorstep and also because Davey
didn't stop until he had "the natural". [He has this "three"
thing going ... three penalties last week, three goals this week.
Maybe he'll buy us all three beers next week.]
Over the last three games now we have defeated Blue and White and
tied Red, outscoring our opponents 12-6. We have the trap approaching
playoff form and just need to start finishing off a few more chances.
Solid team defensive effort all around.
Black Aces Belittle Blue Boys
For the second straight match between Black & Blue, the Aces
skated to a well deserved 5-2 victory after fighting off 1-0 and
2-1 leads by the Blue team. Another solid game by Greg.
As always ... squared up and stingy with his rebounds. Bruce
got the scoring going with a goalmouth tip-in and Jeff
took advantage of a rare Gerald giveaway to even things up at 2.
Late in the second we blew open the doors in a single shift as yours
truly (Bruce) and Rich tallied
back to back markers on screen shots from the high slot. The defense
then took over and we kept chipping the puck out of danger and frustrating
any Blue comeback chances. Even with Mike and Neil
off in the dying minutes we killed off the 5 on 3 and kept them
in check until Davey buried the empty-netter, bringing
the crowd to its feet and sparking a deafening roar that lasted
long after the final buzzer. See what your missing Mo!
Next week we're on late vs our nemesis Red, the only team to steal
a point from us in the past four games... GET PSYCHED!
[Editors note: Rich wanted you to know that he
was plus 4 but given that he was already on the bench, seated and
unaware that Jeff had tied the game I think we'll
be kind and give him a plus 3.5]
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