Great turnout last night and likely the draw of the annual tournament draft helped to have so many Tomcats in attendance.

Before we get into the hockey and the draft, we need give a shoutout to a couple of retired Tomcats. If you are still trying to figure out what it means to be a Tomcat, here are glaring examples of what makes someone a true Tomcat. First, The Rake always raises his hand to help with hall cleanup, reffing the tournament, etc. Last night, The Rake showed up with hot and fresh king-size pizza for the boys just because. Tomcat MVP move!

Secondly, while Soupy feverishly plans the annual tournament, Hollywood, also retired, spends countless hours helping the Tomcats and the tournament captains getting new shirts designed and made. These guys contribute even though their playing days are done. We should all aspire to live up to these gentlemen!

Now to hockey…

Teams last night were:

Terror’s Tantalizing Titans: Terror in net, Chico (not in net for obvious reasons), Big Ned, Kamikaze, Bullwinkle, The Professor, Chevy, Snowpants and Jamie (Kamikaze’s buddy with a nickname still to be decided)

Bender’s Beautiful Barbarians: Bender in net, Animal, Shack, Skippy, Hobbs, Hurricane, Soupy, Tonto and Smiley (killer’s buddy but not everyone is convinced on the nickname yet).

Very fast paced games with some slight chippiness starting (a watch item for the Tomcat board members). Tournament time brings out some heated play that we all need to check ourselves for. Rocky will be asking referees for the tournament to call this early and often so penalties will be handed out.

The Barbarians took the first game 5-3 while the second ended in a 6-6 tie.

Both of the new guys will be playing in the annual tournament.

Speaking of the tournament, the draft was held after hockey at center ice as tradition dictates. However, big news regarding the captains…For those not aware, Killer has had to have emergency surgery (twice) over the last week. Tomcats are hopeful he makes a fast recovery and encourages all Tomcats to reach out to our good friend. Since Killer was to be a captain and draft last night, but clearly has bigger priorities at the moment, Rocky will take over as captain for that tournament team.

“This year’s draft is one of the deepest talent-wise I can recall,” said soon-to-be Tomcat President Soupy who oversaw the draft proceedings. “First-liners on any other ball hockey team were still be selected I. The 4th round,” added Soupy. With only two spares per team, and with the depth and athleticism, guys better come in great condition!

While names for each teams are being sorted, here are the 4 tournament teams for the April 12th annual event:

Professor’s Team: Terror in net, The Professor, Animal, Eagle, Tweety Bird, Toretto and Smiley

Kamikaze’s Team: Falcon in net, Kamikaze, Tonto, Snowpants, Hobbs, Splitter and Shack

Rocky’s Team: Chico in net, Rocky, Swayze, Big Ned, Sunny, Bullwinkle and LaBamba

Skippy’s Team: Bender in net, Skippy, Dillon (Falcon’s son), Matador, Jamie, Soupy and Chevy.

Games start at 8:30am sharp April 12th. Do not be late. Game schedule to be posted soon. $20 to your captain for the tournament and another $10 for pizza and drinks afterwards. The full $30 must be given to the captains before games kickoff.

Get your shirt sizes over to your captain if they have not asked already.

While we wait and dream of the year-ending tournament (AKA Stevo’s Christmas) are you aware Chico has different shoes for playing forward vs. defense? Here is a picture of the shoe swap out between shifts last night when they moved him back to the blue line:

Great night of hockey last night with Bullwinkle in charge as Rocky and Soupy were not in attendance.

Teams (selected by Bullwinkle Algorithm)

Black – Tonto Matty Hobbs Killer Killers friend (never got his name) Poppy and Bender in net

White – Bullwinkle Professor Sunny Griff Skippy Snow pants and Chico in net

 

Game #1 Black won 4-2. The 1st period there was only 1 goal scored!

Game #2 White won 8-5

 

Great pace all night with stellar goaltending, both goalies making great saves all night.

 

Shoutout to the new guy that Killer brought out to showcase. For now, the nickname is Smiley, and he made all Tomcats smile by bringing a case of beer!

And speaking of beer, we are running low on beer. Seems guys are not bringing their cases when they should (or early). Take a look at the list and if you missed, bring out the beer next week. Beer night is an important Tomcat responsibility.

The Minister of Ball Appropriateness, Matador, thinks we need some new balls – lost a good one at the back of the stage again last night. The Tomcats have tried to resource some locally but they have either been too hard or not the right colour. Th me search continues to find balls that are just right.

Until next week, check the beer list and Tomcats Forever!

 Bullwinkle J. Moose

Poppy’s Pirates – Chevy, Soupy, Hurricane, Tonto, Professor, Bullwinkle, Poppy, Snowy, Terror in Net

Killer’s Deck Hands – Matador, Hobbs, Shack, Chico, killer, Kamikaze, Animal, Bender in Net

On a mild, rainy March night, we had a Battle on the Seas. The Pirate’s came out looting and shooting, rifling shots, making turnovers, and going hard in the corners. By the end of the night, the Deck Hands were left holding their Deck in their Hands yelling “HEY!”. Game 1 saw a hard fought tie 6-6, with both goalies making some fabulous saves. A slight adjustment on both teams for Game 2, saw the Pirates take it handily, 8-5. Another great turnout, with almost 2 full teams! 

Some notable things to mention on the night. We NEED to be aware of going for the ball when the goalie is covering it, or about to cover it. Both goalies had a couple good whacks on the hands, we want to avoid that as much as possible going forward. Also, the pace/level of play in recent weeks has really picked up. A lot more stick work, aggressive plays, and physical confrontations seems to be occurring. It has been great to see the skills and speed of our game improve, but let’s just remember, we are all friends here, we have to work tomorrow, and we’re really all just here for the beer! No incidents yet, but it seems to be trending that way. 

Soupy also mentioned that maybe Hobbs should slow down his shots, as he feels they are too hard, in comparison to his muffin of a shot. I’m sure he will take it into consideration. 

Tournament Update. 

We are currently sitting at 27 guys including goalies, there are apparently 2 players showcasing before the draft, and will then be included in the numbers. Officially, the Draft will be held on March 25. Draft order was selected by drawing cards last night. 

Draft Order:

1. Professor
2. Kamikaze
3. Killer
4. Skippy

Team Order for Scheduling Games

1. Skippy
2. Killer
3. Professor
4. Kamikaze 

Team Colours

1. killer – Black
2. Professor – grey
3. Kamikaze – blue
4. Skippy – White

A lot of options for a number 1 overall pick this year, who will it be? All Tomcats, new and retired are encouraged to come out on draft night and have a beer! 

Next week is March Break, judging by the responses last night, there should be enough guys to play, but that will be determined this weekend by Rocky. Look out for an email, and let him know if you can play. 

Enjoy Guys! 

Guest Column by H’aida d’Salami