May 1 1999
I Files
IN MY OPINION My take on the 1998/99 SeasonThe Bluedogs silenced all people who were inclined to disbelieve
that they weren’t the best team in the league by trashing the
Renegades 11-2 back on October 23rd 1998. The Renegades came into
the game with a perfect 5-0 record, including an opening night 6-5
victory over the Bluedogs, but were soundly beaten by a 9 goal margin
the second time around. It was the turning point of the Regular
Season. The Bluedogs went 12-1-1 the rest of the way while the
Renegades were an ordinary 7-5-2. It was also on that evening that
we witnessed the impact of the 2 newest members of the Bluedogs,
super rookies Keith "Mama’s Tavern" Myers and Darren "USA shorts"
Roberts.
These 2 guys rookies propelled the Bluedogs from a good team (97-98)
to a great team (98-99). While Roberts is an opportunist who looks
for open floor in order to unleash his howitzer every time he touches
the ball, Myers is a more complete player; he can play defense with
the best of them, he passes the ball with accuracy, has deceptive
speed and has (arguably) the hardest and most accurate slapshot in
the league.
The third pillar in the Bluedogs foundation is goaltender Regent
Proulx who has now won the best goaltender in the league award for
the 3rd consecutive season; he led the league in every major
goaltending category.
When you watch the Bluedogs play and ask yourself how they do it,
look no further than Keith Myers, and Darren Roberts (and Regent
in nets of course), even though Kim Nethersole and Allan Ramdeen
finished 1 and 2 in team scoring. (Roberts only played 9 games mind
you). Mike Callaghan is another tower of power on the Bluedogs;
while he has a more conservative style of play than Myers, he makes
few mistakes on defense and is also one of the top offensive
defenseman in the league. Off the "ice", Callaghan is a class guy
all the way and one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. And what
to say about Mike Murphy, the elder statesman of this league, who
gives 110% every time out. Murphy exerts more energy in one game
than most guys half his age, and is in better shape too. Think
you’re going be that good at age 46? Think about it.
After playing 2 hard fought games and winning the championship for
the second year in a row, the Bluedogs limped into the Inverness
with a variety of bumps and bruises. After faking injury for 2 games,
Allan Ramdeen walked into the Inverness pub at a brisk pace, showing
no signs of bumps and bruises.
Allan Ramdeen, the innnovator of Ballet Hockey
Now on sale at the CASC Souvenir Shop, the Allan Ramdeen Ballerina
Tutu. Yes, with this ultra tight fitting bright pink tutu, you will
be able to perform all of Allan’s death defying dives that no referee
can resist.
"The tutu makes a big difference. Allan gets all the calls"
Eric Boghen, CASC head referee
For a limited time only, with the purchase of the Allan’s Ballerina
Tutu you will receive absolutely free a special edition video
entitled "My life on the Trinidadian diving/swim team, the early
years"
What else. I have written extensively about the Renegades, so I’ll
keep it short. We weren’t too far away from a championship this
season, so I feel that were only a couple of personnel changes away
from regaining the title. After a 2 year hiatus from this league,
it would be nice to get Billy Gorsky back for a full season. He’s a
high impact player than make the difference at crunch time. A full
season from Darryl Vineberg would also be a definitive asset. An
offensive core of Darryl Vineberg, Billy Gorsky, Peter Knapp, Paul
Iacurto, Ian Fotser and Joey Lazzara is downright scary. Hey Theo,
you better recognize our greatness and you better order some more
net mesh cause there’s going to be some serious holes as a result
of all our goals.
One more thing: keep your shot down Chris
Now on sale at the CASC Souvenir Shop, the Chris Nadeau Leap Hockey
Stick. Yes, with this custom made barley shaft, cold filtered hockey
stick, you too can shoot the ball just like Chris and hit the net
once every 4 games!
Nothing was working right for the Four Aces in the first quarter
segment of the season. They began the season 0-5 and were in total
disarray. Enter Free Agent Gary Laxton and Philippe Gaudreau (from
the Renegades) and the Four Aces became an overnight success. Jimmy
"Red Light" Garoufalis took over all hockey operations (replacing
Jack Lotti) and brought player stability to the only CASC franchise
that has kept its original name from the first season. Garoufalis is
the best Greek goaltender in the CASC and a former McDonald's
employee of the month (ask Garoufalis for details). An overly
zealous and greedy Garoufalis was fired as a short order cook at
McDonald's as his attempt to revolutionize the fast food industry by
adding feta cheese and pitted black olives to Big Macs miserably
failed. "My master plan would have worked had I used stuffed olives
instead of pitted olives" said a nostaligic Garoufalis
Just minutes before he got fired, Garoufalis was caught in the
storage room emptying out Special Sauce bottles and filling them
with Arachova Tzaziki. Garoufalis was immediately asked to clean
out his locker and leave the premises, but not before pissing in the
pickel barrel when nobody was looking.
"I like playing Ball Hockey but I'd rather be flipping hamburgers.
I miss that scene" admits Garoufalis
From Week 6 through Week 18, the Four Aces went 9-3-1 (including
a victory over the Bluedogs) and became a force to be reckoned with.
Sean Marcellin took over the scoring lead and finished the season
with an incredible 94 points. He won the scoring title in a cake
walk. But an unfortunate injury sidelined Gary Laxton for the rest
of the season courtesy of ….you know who it is. We’re all glad that
you got tossed from the league. Laxton was smoking hot with 29
points in 8 games. His loss really hurt the team and they never
recovered. Marcellin and Laxton was the top offensive duo in the
league.
The Aces lost their last 2 games of the Regular Season and bowed out
in the second round of the playoffs in a 10-2 blowout versus the
Renegades. Marcellin did not show up for the final game. The Four
Aces started poorly and finished poorly, with a good run in between.
Expect more personnel changes for next season. "Red Light" Garoufalis,
the master of collusion, is a ruthless and scrupulous owner who will
stop at nothing to bringing his franchise a championship. "The
Stephane Cyr incident will not repeat itself" says Garoufalis.
The expansion Dragons had an inconsistent inaugural season, winning
their first 2 games but struggling the rest of the way, going 4-16-2,
including a 7 game winless streak to end the season. Lack of goal
scoring was the Dragons Achilles Heel all season long. The Dragons
finished second last in the league in goal scoring with 188; rookie
Ralph "velcro stick" Reiber (see 10/19/98 article for more velcro
info.) accounted for 40 of these goals, but failed to make the
players around him any better. His 4 to 1 goal to assist ratio
speaks for itself. He finished 3rd in league with 40 goals, but his
meager 11 assist total is the lowest amongst the top 30 point
leaders (with a min. of 18 games played). He led the league in
penalty minutes, which tells you something abut his style of play.
His pet move is the wrap around, which rarely results in a goal but
always creates a scuffle in front of the net after the whistle is
blown and after he has smashed/speared into the goalie; it’s a good
thing that you guys wear equipment. We forwards aren’t so lucky.
Just ask Gary Cohen. Let’s play Ball Hockey for fun and
let's not vision Ball Hockey the same way a matador visions a
bull.
Ralph Reiber, the runaway winner of the 1998/99 Velcro Stick Award
Rajesh Patel had a solid rookie season, finishing 12th in league
scoring and 3rd in assists. Kamlesh Patel and Salim Karmali also
finished in the top 25 leading scorers. Nicholas Kohner and Rafik
Patel are 2 of the most underrated players in the league. Ronan
Nathan provides steady goaltending. The foundation for success is
there; the Dragons play a fundamentally sound game. They just need
to add a little bit of goal scoring to become serious title
contenders.
The old Heat. What a salmagundi of hot heads that was. They quit the
league in protest of someone’s suspension. Are the old Heat car
insurance brokers? They style of Ball Hockey is reminiscent of car
accidents; they have the "no fault" concept down pat. It’s never
their fault, never was their fault and never will be their fault
(the future tense does not apply as far as the CASC is concerned)
The old Heat, insuring your piece of mindGet a piece of the rock with the Old Heat
You’re in good hands with the Old Heat The Old Heat, earning your trust since 1997 And like a good neighbor , the Old Heat are there"It Ain’t my Fault"
Silkk The Shocker from the album Made Man .The new Heat are an antithesis of the old Heat: guys that play Ball
Hockey for fun and that understand the notion of sportsmanship. What
a refreshing change. J’espère que vous serez de retour dans la ligue
la saison prochaine.
The Blizzard are a journalists nightmare. They just play Ball Hockey
and are never involved in any controversial player personnel issues.
Talk about boring. There are no Inverness Bar rats or Internet
junkies on the team, so we don’t really know a whole lot about them.
Could you guys please cause some trouble!
After a very mediocre first half of the season, the Blizzard picked
up the pace in the second half and finished the season with a very
respectable 3-2-0 record. They made it all the way to the Semi
Finals before bowing out to the eventual champion Bluedogs.
Chris Callihoo, winner of the Rookie of the Year award, finished 4th
in the league in scoring and tied for 1st in goals with 42. The other
main offensive weapons are Stephane Cyr, Jocelyn Plouffe, Stephane
Gobeil, Frank Wolfe and high scoring defenseman Bob Staric. Wolfe
had a strong second half of the season and made a smooth transition
from an overly feisty and aggressive player to a high scoring finesse
player. He finished 1st in the league in playoff scoring and has all
the talent necessary to finish in the top 5 in league scoring for
next season.
In nets, Leonard Luedu had a steady season and won the Most Improved
Player award. Luedu is still bitter over the fact that I didn’t
update the Web page for the week that he registered his only
shutout of the season (it was the only week that I didn’t update
the Web Page, BTW) Sorry about that Leonard.
Stay tuned for more I Files throughout the off season, including
the World Cup of Ball Hockey report.
Thank you for reading the I Files