Players don’t like the mini tournament & LaBamba Solid on and off the Floor
…by Harry Ballsonue
Snow Squalls: Snowpants, Crow, Cribz, Bulldog, Sparky, Hollywood and Jingles
Sunnyville Huskies: LaBamba, Lovie, Rocky, Shamus, Falcon and Doc
Stevo’s Stingrays: Stevo, Chevy, Razor, Junior, the Matador, the Rake and Killer
Playing in only half the tournament, Lovie Edgar four peated on Tuesday night, winning his fourth mini tournament, playing for the Sunnyside Huskies, “It is an honour to be bestowed on me, I have to thank my teammates, I am only one player, and there is no I in team” Lovie had said.
In a second controversy in as many tournaments, the Polish ref and time keeper, kept stopped time, in the second set of games and playing 7 minute periods, it was to be 5 minute, no stop time periods for the last three games. “I did not know, no one told me”, stated a bewildered Kevin ‘Jingle’ Kuprowski. “It is my fault, I assumed he knew, I take full responsibility for it” indicated mini tournament organizer and hated man, Stevo Jaworiwsky. The controversy was that the Stevo Sting Rays were leading 3-2 with what appeared to be no time left on the clock, but when inquires were made, Kuprowski stated that 2 minutes and 9 seconds still remained in the period, but two and half minutes before, he had indicated that there were 2 minutes and 36 seconds left. The Huskies scored a goal to tie the game and then the game was stopped. It was kept a tie so the Husky fans would not demonstrate in the streets, turn over cars and burn buildings. When Junior was asked about it, he had this to say: ” The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know My name is the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon thee”.
And speaking of the mini tournament, it has been made open by a number of players that they do not like the mini tournament format, Mike Menzel, Ken Cribley, Ray MacDonell and Chad Comartin all very respected Windsor Tomcats do not enjoy the format. “I just don’t like the sitting around” indicated Mike Menzel. When I spoke to the very much hated Stevo Jaworiwsky, for organizing these events, he was confused and a bit taken back by the fact that guys did not like the tournament, “I don’t know what to say”, Jaworiwsky said, holding back tears, “I try to make it the best I can for everyone, I don’t know what to do then, do we tell players that they are no longer needed? If we do that, who do we cut”? Jaworiwsky asked. One option, as suggested by Ken Cribley would be to have the first 18 guys play, “guys know it starts at 6:30, first 18 through the fire escape door play” Cribley had suggested. “I don’t know what we should do” stated Rocky Comartin, then added, “what would some options be?” Some options would be to cut roster players for next year. It could be done by the attendance list from the start of the year. “We invited 5 new players this year to play full time, Soupy, Crow, Doc, Skippy and Shamus because attendance had dwindled off last year. This year we had injuries at the start of the season with Louis Koenigsberger and Paul Poisson” Stevo Jaworiwsky had stated. Poisson only made his very first appearance last night for the year.
If you ask me, I like the format, guys seem to work hard and they get a good cardio workout going. Out of the 24 weeks the Tomcats play, they have had 4 mini tournaments, that means 20 Tuesdays’ they had regular hockey and correct me if I’m wrong on March 8 there were no spares. So the only solution would be to those who do not like it, when you show up, say, “ahhh mini tournament, I’m out of here” and leave.
Like it or not, 95% of the guys were still on stage at quarter to ten having a pop, even Bulldog and Rocky stayed and had a vodka drink, so something has to be right with the Tuesday night hockey….even if it is just socializing and what’s wrong with that?
As customary, in the mini tournament, the three star selection was made: #3 Razor MacDonell, #2 Falcon Menzel and #1 Hollywood Jaworiwsky.
One star that needs mentioning, even though he was dressed quite weird last night, with some sort of Los Angeles Skid Row look going on (just missing the shopping cart) was Vince ‘LaBamba’ Vlaminck, who was super solid on the Kapusta Kow Floor playing his usual Nick Linstrom way and then pulled a super solid at Purples and ordered pizza for the boys. The super solid star goes to LaBamba Vlaminck!!
And speaking of solid, Skippy Renaud’s night for beer, still out with the hand injury, has his case of Tyskie (Premium Beer from Poland) dropped off at the Kapusta Kow, the man just does not go with a regular case of Molson Canadian..he goes with a tasty beer from Europe and two more solids to add, David “Crow” Crawford and Matty ‘the Matador’ Youssef brought 15 Bud Light ‘just because’. This is the Tomcat Spirit alive and very very well. You got to love these boys….I know Tomcats won’t be cutting these guys!!!
And I wonder, if Stevo was not there one night and 22 guys showed up would you play a tournament or play with 6 spares aside I wonder this, as you are leaving in a huff because too many guys showed up as I put my Harry Ballsonue!
Windsor Tomcats 
the falcon thinks some clarifications need to be made in this article,
First off, the falcon doesn’t think Stevo could ever be a hated man around the tomcat locker room, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. He is the TOMCATS, and for the falcon he helps bring one of the few shining moments of the falcons week. As for hating the mini-tournaments, the falcon doesn’t hate them ‘per-say’ but incase you haven’t noticed, the falcon is kinda old and out of shape, so that sitting between games really stiffens the falcons joints.
the falcon wants everyone to play and have a good time, if mini-tournaments is what it takes then the falcon will always bite the bullet.
The Falcon will always show up no matter what the attendance is, or what is decided.
Secondly, how does the falcon subscribe to Juniors sermons, that was very inspiring. Is there a church somewhere that the falcon can go and listen to him on a regular basis.
I second Falcon…Stevo is THE MAN in the organizatiion. As well, I will always show up no matter the format. I just don’t like the down time between games. Maybe I can be drafted by multiple teams so I can stay on the floor all night? 🙂 I can try to score goals for both teams when they play each other…wait, I did that last night already.
On the flip side, these huge turnouts are showing interest in the Tomcats is growing and should be encouraged. So come one, come all and we will play tournaments as needed.
Peace.
Hate is such a strong word. My ‘preference’ is to play a regular game, but I can certainly understand that these mini-tournaments have to be played to accommodate everyone when we have a bigger than average turnout.
How about just having Razor and Falcon in net all night and just putting a different team in front of them for every game??
Every team would get 3 games with Razor and 3 games with Falcon.
This may come as a surprise, but I love the tourney format. Over the course of a night you are playing the same amount of hockey, just with breaks in between.
Guys need to take shorter, harder shifts instead of lollygagging for 7 minutes at a time. This way you still get the same amount of playing time and also keeps the level of play up. Playing with 4 or 5 spares when you have guys who take long shifts is horrible. Sitting on the door side in under these circumstances could lead to pneumonia…
The more the merrier. I think the camaraderie and stage discussions have been the best I have seen as a Tomcat when we have these tourneys. Guys stick around and have beers and then pile over to Purple’s in a gaggle. Good times.
Ray’s idea of 2 goalies is fine by me if it keeps Falcon’s wheels greased. Mikey can play out, although he was the first star and he will block the same number of shots playing defence anyway, just without pads…
Finally, Stevo has to get the credit for these tourneys. Everyone, and I mean everyone, hates having 4 or more spares. It ruins the night. Stevo wasn’t enamored with the idea but still tried it out. He is old-school, but realizes change is always happening. I like the forward thinking displayed by our fearless leader. That is what will lead the Windsor Tomcats organization into the next century.
I love Harry Ballsonue and his insight. He is a magnificent writer and knows the game of ball hockey.