Friday, April 27, 2007

4/27/07 The Celebration Continues....

A message from Pipes (click here bitches).


Tall MF Gary and One eyed Pete



Dino & Mac enjoy a Tecate!


Lemon stowes his gear


Kid & Tmac rocking the house


A ginormous Thank you goes to the hottest Asian wife on the squad for the tri tip sandwiches. You are a Pig for life (I use the term Pig affectionately of course). Mangler...what is your wife doing with the remote control? Who's your daddy?

Thursday, April 12, 2007

4/10/2007: 2007 Silver A Championship (Game 2), Year of the Pig

Like the knights of old, Pigs are often highly regarded for their chivalry and pureness of heart, and will often sacrifice their own well-being for the greater good (Mac…how is the couch treating you?). Yup, 2007, Year of the Pig . So it is written and so it shall be as the Pigs took to the ice one last time in pursuit of the coveted Oakland Silver A Cup. With symbols of glory’s past (look past the hairy man breast) and the anticipation of future glory the team suited up for Game 2.

Tired from the long and lonely drive from Santa Barbara earlier in the day team Captain Mac did his best to pump the team up, “Smoke your cigars, drink your Patrone, but bring you’re ‘A’ game…we haven’t won shit yet.” Game 1 hero and Superstar Goal Tender Pipes had this to say: “I’m in their head boys…play like this is your last game on earth.” And so we did.

Tmac drew blood only a minute into the first frame. One pig on the bench noticed the 21 year old phenmom wink in the direction of a Blonde spectator politely cheering in the stands. Ahhh. The love however was short lived as an unidentified Pig Nation member (looked a lot like Lemon’s littler brother?) swooped in and the two were not seen thereafter. Two more Pig goals were tallied as the Pigs exited the 1st period up 3-0. “Keep the pressure up…the longer we keep them from scoring the more they’ll over think and give up good shots for bad passes” Pipes piped in after rejecting 9 1st period shots. The Pigs kept grinding in the 2nd extending their lead to 4-0 all the while letting Pipes play out of his mind as he stopped another 8 shots. The Pigs struck again at the 1:00 minute mark to open up a 5-0 lead. Things got worse for the vVault squad when Denny Longshore used an old
Jedi mind trick on a cocky defenseman forcing him to score on his own net pumping the Pig lead to 6. The force turned on us a little when the word "shutout" escaped center Rob Herrick’s mouth from the bench halfway through the 3rd. Seconds later, as if Pipes had been tied Milhouse style to the goal posts and rendered powerless to make a save, vVault scored their 1st and only goal of the series. Denny Longshore, a true believer in the saying “you are only as good as your last goal” wanted to end things on a high note as he tallied a goal off a sweet one timer feed from Mac and the Pigs closed out the game with a 7-1 shellacking of the once feared vVault to win their 3rd Silver A Championship in 10 years.



Let the CELEBRATION (click it...save it...play it with media player) begin. Fantastic season boys. Awards and season recap to come.



2007 Silver A Champions


Team Celebration



Kid sandwiched by a couple of MVPs


Dino and Mac


Tmac pours the Patrone



Kid mixes with the Mangler & Dangler


Unidentified Pig skriting off to Nashville

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

4/3/2007: 2007 Silver A Championship (Game 1)

Things happen for a reason. The Pigs, having appeared in 2 prior Championship series (1999, 2003) and eventually winning both, make their 1st Finals in 4 years and against the #1 seed vVault squad. Losing the 2 prior meetings against the #1 seed vVault (18-1-1) the Pigs (15-4-1) came in with a familiar game plan of “chip and flow” yet now fueled by 3 hungry offensive lines, two solid defensive lines and anchored by Germany bound goaltender Pipes. The fuel for these lines came from Papi’s gametime speech entitled “Short Shifts Sink Enemy Ships." While not quite Churchill's "Battle of Britton" the time (vs action) based message really struck a chord with Wisconsin born Centerman Denny Longshore. “You mean I don’t have to handle the puck, check an opponent, and get a penalty before limping back to the bench?” a relieved Longshore replied. The Pigs took this plan and a 1-0 lead into the 3rd period with the lone goal coming in on a 5 hole “what the f&^%$” dribbler from Rosie. "I knew fresh legs would make a difference" sneered Mac from the bench in reference to his decision to keep Rosie off the ice during Sunday's OT win against the Edge. The Pigs short shift philosophy paid dividends early in the 3rd as they continued to chase down pucks and hurry vVault puck carriers. Tmac made it a 2-0 game with a beauty early in the 3rd and the Kid tapped one home a moment later to extend the lead to 3-0. Rosie, with those fresh legs, closed it out with the final goal and Pipes recorded his 2nd shutout of the playoff run stopping all 25 shots faced earning him top Pig honors. The defense played outstanding with the Lemon/Mangler and TG/RPM pairing chipping pucks out with calculated brilliance. Seems every game a new hero emerges. The post game Pig Nation celebration was clearly one of the best in recent memory. Pulled Pork sandwiches were the main course as prepared by Dino’s lovely wife. While pork may seem cannibalistic anything goes as 2007 is the year of the Pig. Yes things do happen for a reason. Game 2 slated for 4/10/2007.

Game 2 concerns:

1) Mac has reported that he will not be in attendance and will be on vacation with the family thru 4/11. The team will launch a shock and awe campaign to ensure they are not without their captain as the Pigs skate to glory on 4/10. Really Mac the couch is not a bad place to sleep.

2) Pipes will be in Germany for Game 3 (if necessary)…putting even more pressure on Mac.
4/1/2007: Edged; Vegas

The Pigs playoff journey continued Sunday night vs the Edge. Confidence was not all that high after watching Tall Gary and Gracie drag their asses into the locker room hot on the heels of a Vegas weekend. After three periods, 14 penalties, and 63 shots on net the score was tied 3-3. The Pigs would however have to start the 5:00 OT with the Mangler serving time in the box for an ill advised penalty at the regulation buzzer. "What a Jackass!" With time running out most Pigs were gearing up for the dreaded “shootout” in which we are 0-3 lifetime. With the clock showing 10 seconds left the Pigs find themselves deep in the Edge zone. Six seconds left Tmac fondles the puck in the corner…4 seconds left he passes to Dino skirting along the far post. 3 seconds left Dino flirts with the puck…massaging it slowly back and forth with his stick…tempting the clock as it ticks down to 2…1….he shoots….he scores! Buzzer sounds and the Pigs advance to the Championship with a 4-3 OT win. “I couldn’t see the puck” the one eyed Dino said after the game…”I felt it and hoped for a happy ending.” “That was just like Tall Gary’s shot against the Skateful Dead back in the 2003 quarterfinals where Obus feathered a pass to Tall MF Gary who buried a shot with about :11 seconds remaining in regulation ultimately catapulting the Pigs to the Cup,” recalled an unidentified Pig Nation fan after the game. Interestingly enough here is how one amateur sports writer saw and wrote up the game highlights:

>|Pipes| leg save on the breakaway.
>RPM's center ice steal, turn and gun for a top shelf wrister goal.
>Dennis's opening tally to get the ball rolling.
>Robb & Rosie fore checking & mucking
>Mangler's nasty snarl.
>The Vegas twins holding down their lunch and keeping the Edge offence at bay.
>TMac distracting 3-4 guys on the ice so the rest of the pigs could get open.
>Kid thinking about his Blog.
>Lemon with the Dangle
>Papi with the stiff shoulder in front of the net.
>(Mac) trying to find a lane and organize an impromptu power play.

I'm sure there is somebody I have forgotten to mention but if that's the case that person obviously didn’t do anything special last night.

What a douche this writer is. Dino I got your back brutha! The Pigs will face the #1 seed vVault in the 2007 Silver A Championship series (best 2 out of 3) starting Tuesday April 3rd. vVault won both regular season matchups vs the Pigs. Go Pigs!

Note: Rosie did not get a shift in the OT period. Mangement gambled deciding to keep him on the bench saving his legs for the vVault series. We'll see if this strategy pans out.

Monday, April 02, 2007

3/30/2007: Age & Treachery overcome Youth & Skill in Round 2; The Cyclopes Commeth

The 2nd round of the 2007 Silver A Oakland Hockey Playoffs continued as the Pigs faced off against the Whalers. Scoreless after the 1st period both teams settled back into their natural flow patterns. The Whalers being a relatively young squad had a clear speed and possibly a slight skill advantage. Unfortunately the youthful Whalers also amassed a whopping 12 minor penalties for the following infractions: Roughing (8) and Unsportsmanlike (4). The more mature and cerebral Pigs were not without sin as they tried to slow the Whalers down with the following 8 minors: Tripping (4), Holding (2), and Interference (2). In the end the wise Pig fueled by Pipes, Herrick, & TMac (our Youth & Skill player) were able to put this thing away 5-0 (recorded score was 5-1 however we know the truth). Dino (of 80s mullet fame (see 10-13-2006 post), almost a game time scratch due to an off ice stick injury, enters the game with limited vision in one eye (pictured below looking half transgender/half ex-Pig “Deaf Ron”). With his 3rd period goal to give the Pigs a 4-0 lead a great story of Pig heroics begins. Enter the Cyclopes…semi final game scheduled for April 1 vs Edge.