Off-season changes little

Beetle Boy is a little bigger. Colonel is a little hairier. Scrappy and Doo are a little older. But otherwise not much has changed at the road hockey courts after the three month off-season. And that could be cause for concern, as Sunday Morning Road Hockey embarks upon its 21st competitive season.

Only one goalie, Twizzler, suited up for Wednesday's special summer scrimmage, forcing the roadsters to play a modified game of half-court hockey, a game they'd become all too familiar with last season.

The retirement of erstwhile backup Cowboy Bill, the ongoing injury woes of Pig Farming Goalie, the reluctance of Nibs and the extended absence of Billy Idol has left the league with one consistent creaseminder. That resulted in the devolution of a record number of games last season to half-court exhibitions, and even threatened to cancel the season outright.

"It's worrisome," said Beetle Boy of the continuing goalie crisis after his team prevailed 10-9 in the mid-week warmup.

"There's a lot of uncertainty," said Unabomber. "It's always better when you have the same goalies."

And while the roadsters seem to have devised a workable solution to keep the games going with only one goalkeeper, there's no doubt their character changes, said Thelma.

"You can't cheer one save too well, because the next time it will be against you."

"You want to have your own goalie, you own team spirit," said Beetle Boy. "You want to play to win and when you're running back and forth and everyone is shooting on the same goalie it's definitely not as fun."

"It just doesn't have the same hockey flow," said Unabomber.

The half-court game also presents tactical challenges that can get the roadsters off their game.

"You've got to work on your breakout a lot more because you're always going to have equal coverage, you can't really create an odd man rush," said Thelma, whose speed advantage is largely negated on the reduced playing surface.

"There's probably a lot more running," said Unabomber.

"It's completely different, especially for positioning," said Beetle Boy. "It's about a quick transition game."

Working with the shifty Kid and the immovable Unabomber, Beetle Boy and his mates played a strong possession game and worked the transitions to their advantage to forge their comeback win in Wednesday's summer exhibition.

Twizzler also had a strong game for both teams, making a number of key saves even as the light faded.

Training camp officially opens with a one-game exhibition season Sept. 26. The regular season begins Oct. 3.

Summer scrimmage offers early test

The roadsters will get their first chance to test their off-season fitness at the Summer Scrimmage next Wednesday, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m.

The informal game will give players an indication of the work they'll need to do to prepare for training camp, which opens with a one-game exhibition season on Sept. 26. The regular season opens Sunday, Oct. 3.

Hopefully.

Because there are many uncertainties swirling around the future of Sunday Morning Road Hockey as the venerable league enters its 21st competitive season.

The ongoing goalie crisis which crippled a number of games last season, forcing the roadsters to invent rules variations to salvage games lacking netminders, appears to be worsening with the retirement of stalwart backup Cowboy Bill and nagging injuries to Pig Farming Goalie. The status of sometime shotstopper Billy Idol is also unknown. He was the collateral damage to Elvis' decision to boycott the season because of the new roughened surface on the hockey courts.

The roadsters will also be without the league's sole remaining founding father, the Living Legend, will miss three of the first four weeks of the regular season when he embarks on an overseas scouting mission.

That will leave the continuation of the games in the hands of its new generation of players. Scooby, Doo, Scrappy and Velma have developed into dedicated, committed players, but their young age leaves them prone to Saturday-night distractions like music and booze, often rendering them depleted or outright absent for Sunday's game.

Unabomber defuses comeback

With his thundering slapshot and withering glower, Unabomber is accustomed to destroying and demoralizing opposition goaltenders.

Sunday he got a taste of life on the receiving end, as he backstopped his side to a two-game sweep of the Stanley Stick championship with a 20-17 win in the finale.

The veteran defenceman was pressed to put on the pads when starting goaltender, Twizzler, checked out due to a family emergency. It was only the second time he'd played net in his road hockey career; his first was only two weeks ago. But he wasn't about to let his team's stranglehold on the championship chalice slip away.

"I just wanted to be able to step up and give us a chance to compete," said Unabomber. "I definitely didn't want to be the goat and have a subpar performance."

He didn't.

A few big saves early, including a larcenous catch with his trapper of a Living Legend shot aimed for the top corner, gave his team the confidence to flood the offensive zone and build a 6-2 advantage.

A lapse in concentration cost his team six straight goals, putting them down 8-6.

"We relaxed a bit and all of a sudden the other side was getting a lot of breakaways, a lot of guys left wide open, a lot of rebounds and unchecked players," said Unabomber. "I think it was just a case of keeping our focus and try to keep working hard."

Which is just what they did, led by the speedy dynamic duo of Scooby and Kid, who wheeled, careened and charged back in front early in the third period.

"I think we had to dig down and try to play the way we did earlier in the game," said Unabomber, whose side trailed three times but never let their deficit go beyond two goals.

That tenacity seemed to wear down the underdogs, who were never able to administer the knock out punch they needed to even the series and send it to a decisive mini-game.

"Every time we got a bit of a lead, we just relaxed enough that they would be able to jump themselves right back in it," said Cowboy Bill, who joined the underdogs after he missed the opening game of the series. "It was tough to keep momentum going when they'd just keep pushing back."

"I think maybe we sat back instead of putting it away when we had the chance," said Gump.

Never more so than late in the game when they took a 16-15 lead and seemed poised to push on to the mini-game. Again they lapsed. And when Kid lifted a back hand over Gump's outstretched pad on a penalty shot awarded after the Colonel gloved the ball in the crease and tried to stuff it safely in his keeper's pads, it was all but over.

"That ended the game for us," said Cowboy Bill. "It sucked the life out of us completely. We came out of that feeling pretty down."

"If I had made the save there, it would have changed the momentum of the game," admitted Gump.

"At that point they were coming back hard and we were just trying to hang on," said Unabomber. "It was so close at that point and that might have been the straw that broke the camel's back."

Putting Unabomber in net changed the complexion of his team; it also changed their game plan.
"We couldn't really match our lines like we did last week," said Scooby. "We were just getting a lot more tired at the end of the game."
"We took away one of our defensemen and threw him in goal," said Unabomber. "It was immense pressure."
But their opponents were unable to take advantage said Cowboy Bill. "That ended up costing us in the end."

Sunday's loss was also Cowboy Bill's last game of his Sunday Morning career as he moves on to a new job and life in a faraway country.
"It's tough to walk away," said the versatile veteran who played every position during his seven year career. "I"m going to miss it for sure."

Scooby, who dominated the first game and contributed to his team's win Sunday with his speed and tenacity on the ball, was awarded the Conn Stick Trophy as the championship series' most valuable player.

The new Wink Award for regular season most valuable player was presented to the Living Legend, the game's sole remaining founding father who finished his 19th season in the league with three goals in Sunday's game.

The 2010 Stanley Stick champions are: Twizzler, Unabomber, Scooby, Scrappy, Kid, Goober, Beetle Boy

Underdogs hope to ride Cowboy's return

Like John Wayne riding to the rescue, Gump and his mates will be looking to the addition next week of Cowboy Bill to their lineup to propel them to the two straight victories they'll need after they lost Sunday's Stanley Stick opener 20-11.

Cowboy was a scratch for Sunday's game but was placed on a team in anticipation of his return next week. It will be his final appearance at the road hockey courts as he retires to move to a faraway country. And he'll be counted on to bring his physical presence and knack for timely goals to help dig his mates out from the hole they made for themselves.

"He brings calmness to our team," said Gump of his future teammate. "He shuts people down in the defensive zone. He has a lot of strength on the blue line, and I think we were lacking a bit of that today."

"He's really going to mix things up," said Unabomber. "He's strong, he's got a good work ethic and he's just someone they didn't have on their forward lines this week."

"Cowboy is going to be huge addition to that team," said Beetle Boy.

They're going to need it.

The underdogs took advantage of some opportune bounces to jump to a 3-0 lead, including a goal that Velma knocked in off a big bounce over the net off the end board, and another that deflected off the Living Legend's shin pad as he guarded Unabomber's breakout pass.

But as quickly as they built it, Scooby singlehandedly destroyed it, spinning out of the corner to score three straight goals and get his side even.

"He's getting older, he's getting stronger, he's a man now," said Gump of the young centerman who rejoined the league in the second half of the season after a year away in a distant country.

"Scooby was just a rock star today," said Beetle Boy. "He was playing smart and getting the shots when he could."

"We had control, but then I thought we had some mental breakdowns," said Gump of his side's squandered advantage.

His side toughened up enough to rebuild their advantage to 6-4, but that's the last time they'd taste the lead as Twizzler put his finally put his debauched week in Las Vegas behind him and shut the door on his overmatched opponents.

"Twizzler found his rhythm, so we knew we could allow them the first shot and then he would take care of it," said Unabomber.

"He kept us in the game early when they were peppering us with shots," said Beetle Boy. "When you know you have the goalie back there and he can save it, then you're able to take some chances and push a little bit in the offensive zone."

That's exactly what they did. Scooby and Kid cycled out of the corners and through the crease, creating seams for the likes of Scrappy, Unabomber and Goober to get scoring opportunities. Beetle Boy, meanwhile, was solid in the defensive zone.

"Everybody worked hard and played smart," said Beetle Boy. "We always had somebody back, we didn't give up many odd man rushes or breakaways."

For Gump and his mates to win the Stanley Stick, they'll have to first win game two and then a decisive mini-game to ten. That's exactly what happened two years ago, when the game one losers stormed back to win the mini-game 10-4 after tying the series with a dramatic 21-19 overtime win in game two.
The possibility of history repeating itself isn't lost on Gump, who backstopped his team to that stunning comeback.
"I'm pretty positive about next week," said the veteran goaltender. "I feel like I've got a good handle on the shooters now and if we can shut down the cross court passes, then I think we can be successful."

Although both Nibs and Goober missed the 10:30 card draw, they were placed on teams because the game hadn't yet started.

While Sunday's game lacked some of the end-to-end intensity of previous Stanley Stick openers, things got feisty towards the end when Colonel jammed into Twizzler as he drove hard to the net. Beetle Boy and Scrappy were also on the receiving end of flying elbows.
"We just have to turn a blind eye to that stuff," said Unabomber. "At that point the game was in our control, so we're not going to take the bait."
"We've got to channel that energy into making smart plays," said Gump.

Stanley Stick preview: Goaltender consistency is key

The Sunday Morning Road Hockey season is finally underway. Too bad the two-game Stanley Stick finale begins next week.

In a year of unexpected retirements, lackluster attendance and goalie challenges that scuttled more games than ever before, Sunday's intense, hard-fought regular season finale served as a bit of an appetizer for the feisty feast to come. It also gave the roadsters a glimpse at the keys to Stanley Stick success.

Making his first start between the pipes in three weeks, Twizzler's got stronger and more impenetrable as the game wore on. But some defensive lapses and wavering concentration at key moments cost his side, as they squandered a mid-game comeback to lose a 20-17 heartbreaker.

At the other end, Nibs atoned for his unexplained absences the past month by playing a steady stand-up game in his first goaltending start since November. Time and again he stifled scoring opportunities by renowned snipers like Lak Attack and the Colonel to give his team the chance to win.

In this season of unrest and disinterest, it's going to be the goalies who could be the difference-makers as players pay for the sins of their sloth with waning fitness and suspect timing.

"A hot goalie can make all the difference," said Unabomber, whose tardy appearance at the court was just enough to earn him eligibility for the championship showdown series. "Some of the guys aren't in the shape they're used to being in at this time of the season, the timing is off a little bit, so it brings some wild card factors."

"Goaltending is usually the deciding factor," said Doo.

"It's all about goaltending," said Scooby. "It that goalie isn't saving shots at the end of the game, it just kills you."

Of course, just who those goaltenders will be is as mysterious as the reasons behind this season's struggles. Sophomore shotstopper Twizzler has been a stalwart, but he missed the past two weeks nursing an ankle injury. Sunday, he struggled early but once he regained his feel for the crease, he came up with some huge saves that allowed his team to climb back into the game and take their first lead at 10-9.

"Twizzler was playing like an all-star today," said Unabomber. "Our team had a decided advantage in scoring opportunities and he kept them in it. Sometimes that's all it can take."

At the other end, Nibs made some key saves but he's unlikely to play next week, as regular rearguard Gump is expected to take his position between the pipes. But Gump's attendance has been inconsistent, and coming off another off week, he could have trouble early as he regains his goaltending legs.

In fact, a number of players could find themselves lagging in the intense atmosphere of the Stick when competitive desire can pay dividends on the scoresheet.

"I think it will be obvious who's been here all season preparing and who hasn't," said Doo.

"I think even today the fitness level of some of the players was showing towards the end of the game," said Scooby. "A couple of guys who haven't been around may end up hurting their teams a bit."

Lak Attack announced at the end of Sunday's regular season finale that he will be unavailable for the Stanley Stick championship series. Another player not expected to start is Cowboy Bill, whose Sunday Morning Road Hockey career came to an ignominious conclusion last week as he left in disgust rather than play a modified half-court game; he's retiring to move to a far-away country.

Paul One was an unexpected starter in Sunday's game. The veteran forward made only his second start of the season and is ineligible for the Stanley Stick. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in February.

Another veteran who is ineligible for post-season play, Elvis, will see his career-long streak of Stanley Stick championships ended at eight, the most ever for a roadster. He played one exhibition game, and the special Hall of Fame Game in February, as he elected to sit out most of the season because of the difficult conditions presented by the new, rougher surface at the hockey courts.

As always, the Stanley Stick teams will be decided by a card draw that is scheduled to take place at 10:30 a.m. Any player who isn't present for the card draw will not be put on a team.

Late season lull puts Stick in peril

With two games to go until the cards are drawn for the beginning of the Stanley Stick championship series, Sunday Morning Road Hockey's regular season should be reaching a crescendo.

Instead, the league is on the ropes as key players continue to miss games or, as was the case Sunday, the lack of a second set of goalie equipment prevented the playing of a proper game despite perfect weather and a court of full of eager roadsters.

That has many of them wondering whether the players will be up to the challenge of an intense, hard-fought finale, which is set to begin in two weeks.

"It makes you wonder about the Stick, if it's going to be the high calibre we're used to," said Gump, who declined to strap on the one set of goalie pads to save himself for an ice hockey game later Sunday.

And that may be part of the problem, said the Colonel; players don't seem to be making the commitment.

"You do need a commitment," said the veteran forward who's known for his intense play during the Stanley Stick. "It's going to be frustrating for those of us who are right on our games and ready to go."

A lingering injury to regular rearguard Twizzler, and the ongoing absence of Nibs, who's now missed three consecutive games for no apparent reason, has been a double-barreled blow to the league, depriving it of a stalwart shotstopper and a capable backup with the second set of equipment.

"It's really disappointing," said Cowboy Bill of the late season lull. Especially as Sunday's game was to be his last regular season tilt before he retires to move to a faraway country with his new bride. "To us stalwarts (the Stick) has meant something for a long time and it seems like the league is less committed to it. As the Stick rolls around you're less excited for it because you're not even sure who's going to be here."

The lack of intensity as the season gears up for its championship showdown is vexxing, said Beetle Boy, who was so discouraged by Sunday's sham he left before a scrimmage to salvage the day could be properly organized.

"This is bad," said the self-confessed fair-weather forward. "I'm befuddled by this whole thing."