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

David – Chevy, Soupy, Snowpants, Big Ned, Shack, Killer, Bender in Net

Terrorliath – Bullwinkle, Professor, Tonto, Hobbs, Matador, Animal, Terror in net 

For first time in a while, the “Tomcat Algorithm” was doubted last night. It seemed like David vs Goliath. I use this reference because, on paper, David would be a fitting name for these Tomcats, the hard working, good guys we all strive to be like, vs. Terrorliath, the big bullies, looking to crush the little guys. However, not to get religious on you, but this story did not turn out like it did in the bible. Some lopsided games proved very frustrating for Team David. Tempers boiled over a few times, mostly among teammates; nothing to be concerned about, just remember we are all here for a good time. 

Terrorliath took both games 13-7 and 11-8. It was an unreal display of speed, precision passing, and teamwork. 

Soupy, Chevy, and Shack were under constant pressure on D in the first game by the relentless forecheck of Matador and Bullwinkle. “I can’t keep up with these guys” stated Soupy, to which Shack replied, “you’ve got 20 years on Bullwinkle, and 20 smokes a day on Matty, how can you not keep up?!!” Soupy claimed afterwards that he is simply tanking his draft order in preparation for the upcoming Tomcat Tourney, which might be true, because he has been invisible for weeks out there! 

Speaking of the Tomcat Tourney, numbers are looking very good, currently at 26 guys, with a lot of young talent committed so far! We would still like to get a couple more guys to round out the teams. This may be the most competitive tournament ever. Rumour has it a couple Eagles will be returning after a 2 year absence! 

A couple guys are going to be coming out to showcase in the next few weeks, so captains be on the lookout for that. 

Great to see some of tomcats staying a little later to have a few and share some laughs. Hoping for a solid turnout next week, and some more good times on stage afterwards, as that is what it’s all about! 

Until next time, Enjoy Guys! 

Guest Column by H’aida d’Salami

It was a cold February night outside the Kapusta, Inside was like a Miami summer, hot, fast, and sexy. The play was quick and clean, the goals abundant, and the shots a flying. 2 great games, with each team winning one. 

Love Shack – Chico, Hobbs, Sunny, Bullwinkle, Shack, Animal, Griff, Bender in net

Soupy’s Sex Symbols – Soupy, Professor, Hurricane, Chevy, Big Ned, Poppy, Snowpants, Terror in net

In the first game, the Sex symbols got out to an early 5-2 lead, but Love Shack fought back with an unreal second half, taking the game 9-6. Game 2 was a nail biter until the last 10 minutes the sex symbols taking it 11-7. Despite the goals being plentiful, there was a ton of highlight reel saves on both ends, and great defence on both teams. 

Soupy is still looking for responses for the end of year tourney, still a couple weeks to get in. Good turnout so far, but definitely need a few more guys to round out the rosters. Waiting on a few regulars to respond. If you know anyone that would like to play, let soupy or rocky know so we can have them out to showcase. 

Chevy also bought up that the church is starting to sell pierogis again on Wednesday’s, with today being the first day for it. Let’s be sure to come out and pick some up, any way we can support the church! 

Let’s keep it going with a good turnout of guys next week, it has been great to see full bench’s the past couple weeks! 

Enjoy Guys! 

Guest column by Haida d’Salami

The Tomcats saw another week with almost completely filled benches. “We haven’t quite hit mini numbers but we have been teetering the last two weeks,” said Rocky. The Tomcat Algortihm was employed and while at first it seemed to have hallucinated, after two complete games it showed it is balanced and can generate evenly matched teams.

Speaking of teams, here was TomcatGPT came up with:

Bullwinkle’s Blanche Bombers – Falcon in net, Bullwinkle, Animal, Soupy, The Professor, Tonto, Snowpants and Big Ned

Shack’s Noir Nobles – Some guy named Trevor in net, Shack, Rocky, Hobbs, Hurricane, Bender (not in net), Matador, Chevy and Chico

Who’s Trevor the goalie you ask? He looked a lot like Terror, and played very similar to Terror but this guy showed up and was referred to as Trevor or Tremor so the Tomcats are still wondering.

While Trevor and the Nobles really struggled in game one by getting pretty much rolled by the Bombers, game two was a completely different story, seeing the Nobles easily take game two. See, TomcatGPT does workout in the end!

Hurricane was back from his Tequila bender in Mexico but failed to set the all-time scoring record for the oldest Tomcat to ever score a goal…maybe next week???

Young Ned was back out there and had a career game during game 1 scoring 4 goals. Trevor seemed concerned Ned planted himself in the crease all night and never crossed into the defensive zone.

April Year -End Tournament – we have about 20 guys committed. Need to get to 28 ideally. Please respond to Soupy. Captains get prepared to draft in March and think of team names and designs. We need to pull in Hollywood for shorts and maybe coach??? We need 4 goalies and 4 honorary coaches for sure.

Keep checking the beer list. Big Ned brought out his make-up case last night. Please be like Big Ned if you aren’t around on your assigned beer night.

Tomcats Forever

The Big Nets brought out scorers as expected, but it also attracted some new or newer Tomcats. More on the scoring shortly but first the new specimens.

Both Poppy and Swayze, who have appeared on the Kapusta floor briefly before, returned for more action. Great guys on the floor, even better on stage afterwards, which is the true measure of a Tomcat. “Poppy started handing out beer to the boys on stage without being asked,” exclaimed The Matador. “He’s a keeper,” The Matador continued.

And in a brand new debut on the Kapusta floor, the Tomcats were introduced to Knuckles (maybe a custom Tomcat nickname forthcoming). He was brought out by Soupy and was another instant great fit with the boys on the floor and on the stage.

With the swath of newer guys, the coveted Tomcat Algorithm used to evenly pick teams was not used. Instead, the Rockyrithm was leveraged and did not produce the consistent results we see from the time-tested Tomcat Algorithm. The teams ended up as such:

Tonto’s Troost Avenue Titans – Terror in net, Tonto, Chico, Soupy, Poppy, Snowpants, Hobbs, Swayze and Knuckles

Bullwinkle’s Broadstreet Battalions – Bender in net, Bullwinkle, Rocky, Matador, Animal, Shack, Chevy and The Professor

With the Big Nets, we finally saw scores that normally do not occur with regular size nets. Despite amazing diving saves by both Bender and Terror, goals were aplenty, especially for the Battalion. With a slightly off Rockyrithm, the Battalion were are little too much in both games, winning by good size margins.

Annual Tournament:

Heads up on an email forthcoming from Soupy. We need commitment for 4 teams for the year-end tournament on Saturday April 12th. 8am-3pm-ish. Please block your calendars now and respond to Soupy so we can prepare a draft list for the captains and coaches.

Captains again are The Professor, Killer, Kamikaze and Skippy. We will pick a draft order, then once we have 4 willing retired Tomcats to play the role of coaches, these captains will select coaches in order ahead of the draft. This way the coaches can assist in drafting. The draft will occur mid-March on a Tuesday after hockey. Exact date to come.

For now, please commit to block that Saturday.

Until next time, try to figure out the theme behind the team names and as our once heralded president Stevo would always say, “Stay Beautiful!”

Tomcats Forever!

Another historic event for Greece occurred last night to rival The Trojan War…an “all” Greek team of Tomcats faced off against the United Nations on a battle of the 21st century.

The Greeks, nicknamed Shack’s Scrotums:

Shack in net, Animeritus (Animal), Helios, Solstice, Sunny, Soupy and Porneia (Killer)

The Geeks, nicknamed Terror’s TaTa’s:

Terror in net, Snowpants, The Professor, Rocky, Hobbs, Matador and Bullwinkle

With international pride on the line, the pace was quick and hard-driving. A great mix of pretty passes, beauty goals and great saves made for a great game to watch. Without the Sparky clock (still on IR), 2 games of 2 periods roughly 20 minutes per period were played – hard to keep accurate time with a phone on the stage.

The Greeks enjoyed spirited play from the young Solaris brothers who offered a nice balance to the Geeks young Hobbs. “I wish I was as fast on the floor and as slow in the bed as these young bucks,” stated Soupy.

The first game was very close, resulting in a one-goal tilt in favour of the Geeks.

Game 2 slanted a bit more in favor of the Geeks. “While the losses were unwelcome, these do not rise to the loss suffered during the Battle of Plataea,” noted the wisest and future Greek Philosopher, Sunny. “Greece will grow stronger from this battle and ultimately win the War of Kapusta in the end,” proclaimed Sunny as he gathered his team on stage afterwards and cracked open beers for the boys.

Keep checking the beer list, keep responding to Rocky and block your calendars for Saturday April 12th so you can commit to our year-ending annual tournament.

Tomcats Forever!

The Tomcats had the pleasure of have east-coast transplant Bender play last night. However, the former regular stellar goalie did not suit up in goalie gear, opting to instead join the forward line rotation and show off his offensive skills.

Last night also marked the return of young Big Ned from IR. The Tomcats were excited to see Big Ned’s quick and crafty play back on the Kapusta floor. “It’s like he never missed a second,” noted player and talent acquisition advisor Stevo. “He is also my son so I am overjoyed to see him play anytime,” a teary-eyed Stevo continued.

Teams as chosen by souprockGPT:

Black Ice – Falcon in net, Chico, Bullwinkle, Professor, Griff, Soupy, Rocky and Chevy

White Snow – Terror in net, Tonto, Bender, Shack, Snowpants (fitting), Big Ned, Sunny and Animal

Very evenly matched teams with both games staying close throughout. Ultimately, due to the scoring duo of Chevy and Bullwinkle (Thunder and Lighting), the Black Ice prevailed in both games.

The Sparky Clock remains on IR until Sparky returns from his southern hemisphere sabbatical in March. Until then, old score chart and games to 7 will be played in homage to how Tomcats used to do it.

Upcoming events:

1. Another Big Net night to be planned
2. Annual Tournament – remember, we are FINISHING the season with the big day. Saturday April 12th. Look for communication shortly and get ready to commit. A draft will be held in March. Captains are Professor, Killer, Kamikaze and Skippy. Each captain to draft a coach (retired Tomcats to be named) and then their team.

Beer List – check the list and bring your beer on your assigned night or earlier.

Until next week, stay warm and Tomcats Forever!

Here we go, Tomcats 2025 is off and running. The first night of the new year saw some great passing, clean play, and a familiar face made an appearance. A little short on guys due to it being the first week back, the boys had 1 spare a side. 

Bullwinkle Bulls (in a China shop) – Matador, Bullwinkle, Killer, Snowpants, Chevy, Chico in net

Tonto Titans- Soupy, Hobbs, Tonto, Professor, Animal, Shack in net 

The age old story of good guys vs bad guys was oh so true last night. The Bulls (bad guys) lived up to their name, high energy, hard on pucks, and the occasional shoulder to the jaw hit, they came out flying! They took the first game 7-4 on some great goals by Matty and Snowy. To add some insult to injury, after Matador scored a beauty deek goal, he ran up to soupy, double middle fingers right in his face and said, “that’s the same move my son used on your 6 year old at practice last Saturday. He couldn’t stop it, and neither could you!” That is the kind of passion we need at Tomcats. 

Snowpants was sporting a new helmet (tuque) for last night game, which might have saved a concussion when he tripped, completely on his own accord, hitting his head on the floor…safety first boys! 

After a brief break, the second game started, Chevy set a 25 minute timer for 810, (Sparky clock to return next week) to which Matador complained, “no one’s gonna score 7 goals before that!” The Titans took this as motivation and potted 7 goals in no time, thanks to some great passing, tight checking, and just being all around GOOD GUYS. 

The titans won 7-2. 

Hobbs was quoted after, “we must have peppered Chico with 50 shots that game, and our goalie stood on his head. But ya know, When I first started playing Tomcats, Soupy said to me, hockey is not about playing good defence, it’s about scoring that highlight reel goal, the defence will take care of itself…wise words, from a wise man.” 

After hockey, and familiar face appeared on stage. Bender, fresh off his sabbatical in PEI, where he’s been living with lobster fisherman at a legal brothel, came out to greet the boys, a case of the Maritimes Alpine beer in hand. He is home for a bit closing a few deals, and soupy believes he convinced him to come out and play next week. We’ll see if he makes an appearance. Tomcats can always use another goalie. 

In other news, Killer, Stevo, and Tonto attended a “fish fry” at their local Essex Legion. Unfortunately, they missed the fish part of the evening due to it being sold out by the time they got there. Rumour is the delay was due in part to Killer being late, as he couldn’t decide which outfit to wear, the Snowy leather pants, or The Rake joggers!…but that’s just a rumour… 

Looking for a couple more guys for next week, as the play continues, until then, Enjoy Guys! 

Guest Column by H’aida d’Salami 

The boys finished off the Last Tuesday Night of 2024 in great fashion. Almost 2 full teams of guys showed up, The play was fast, and the games tight. The Mistletoes took both games, 7-4 and 7-6 respectively, with some unbelievable saves by both goalies, Terror especially stood on his head, evening using his massive “member” to stop a Soupy one-timer. He was quoted as saying, “If I didn’t hang so low, that was a for sure goal! I’ll get Mrs. Terror to take care of it when I get home.”

Chico’s Christmas Miracle – Soupy, Doc, Bullwinkle, Snowy, Professor, Solstice, Chico, Chevy, Falcon in Net

Matador Mistletoes – Sunny, Shack, Kamikaze, Hobbs, Matador, Tonto, Animal, Terror in Net

Tomcat Legend Sunny returned from “retirement” and showed no signs of rust. The Mistletoes moved the ball around faster than a fat kid on cake! Shout out to Solstice, who was a shot-blocking machine, his shins battered and bruised by the end of the night. 

The night was capped off by the boys enjoying beers and pizza on stage afterwards. 5 members of the Tomcat Alumni showed up, Stevo, Turk, Sea Lion, Sheepdog, and the Rake, as well as a few players who were unable to play, Skippy, Killer, and Big Ned. Great to see these guys out! Thanks to the Turk, who brought out a bottle of vodka for the boys. 

As expected, “Tomcats Forever” was sung beautifully. Stevo gave the honour of “ziggy zaggy” to his son Big Ned, who absolutely nailed it! Way to go Noah! 

The Tomcats are off for the Xmas Holiday and will return January 7, 2025. Rocky will send out an email in the new year to see who’s in for that night. 

Reminder, the Tomcats are getting together with wives invited, this Saturday December 21 at 730 pm at Schooley’s bar The 519Beerhouse (formerly Sir Richard’s) at Banwell and Tecumseh. Looking forward to seeing everyone out there! 

Hope everyone has a Safe and Happy Holiday season! Merry Christmas, and Tomcats Forever! 

Enjoy Guys. 

Guest Column by Haida d’Salami

Last night marked the end of The Professor’s sabbatical where he spent over a month studying a remote Pygmy tribe in the jungles of New Guinea to uncover groundbreaking truths about their social structure, language, and possibly their thoughts on existentialism.  When asked about his adventure, The Professor stated, “it didn’t go as planned. I was asked to participate in a ceremonial dance and it was all going well until I tripped over my own feet, cranked my knee and crashed into a sacred totem, accidentally triggering the release of hundreds of brightly colored beetles that were apparently an offering to the jungle spirits.” The Professor went on to say, “The Tribe Elders ran me out of the jungle on a sore knee so now I am back with Tomcats wearing a brace and hoping for the best.”

It didn’t take long to see the knee was little concern as The Professor looked to be his old self, slashing and dashing around the floor.

Also making a comeback, albeit not from a New Guinea expedition, was The Terror. Taking several weeks off due to injury, the Terror looked to find his form quickly between the pipes. First game was a little tough but was not simply due to shaking off the rust. The Tomcats trialed a new ball, different color and slightly softer. While the players felt it was too sticky, the goalies noted the shots seemed faster and harder to spot. For the second game, an old orange ball was used, and Terror and team’s fortunes changed dramatically.

Teams were:

Chico’s Orange Orioles – Chico, Shack, Doc, Tonto, Hobbs, The Professor, Chevy and Soupy

Terror’s Pink Pirates – Terror, Rocky, Matador, The Splitter, Bullwinkle, Animal, Snowpants and Kamikaze

Announcements:

New Rule – Snowpants storytime is only allowed after the first round of beers on stage after hockey. There are no stories before hockey or during game breaks. Official rule book to be updated in the near future.

Last Week – Next week is last week of 2024. Pizza and drinks after hockey. Let Rocky know ASAP if you are in for Hockey, Pizza or both. Word on the street legends Stevo and The Sea Lion have already committed to attending the after party. We hope to see Hollywood, Cribzie, The Turk, The Bundura, The Rake, etc. also attend. Sparky is also likely to return and maybe fix the clock!

Empties – Looking for a few good guys to come early next week and help Soupy and Chico load empties into Chico’s truck to clear out the Tomcat room.

Tomcats Forever!

Another low turnout night and there was a bit of a scramble to find goalies. Thankfully Shack and Soupy answered the call. One might think the scoring was going to be easy with call-ups in the net. One couldn’t be further from the truth. Games were long (read further for more details) as these two made it tough to score.

The Sparky score clock is still out of commission (Sparky – we need you) so old fashion games to 7 were played (at least initially). The first game took one hour due to these netminders acting like iron gates!

The second game was only played to 4 and still took a while. In the end, each team took one game by a single goal, so very even teams. The teams were:

Soupy’s Short Handers – Soupy in net, Snowpants, Hobbs, Skippy, Matador and Chevy

Shack’s Solitary Soldiers – Shack in net, Animal, Rocky, Tonto, Killer, Bullwinkle and Doc

Speaking of Doc, he got the game ball scoring three goals on the night.

Killer also showed up wearing his new clothing line (look for these soon a SportChek):

Tomcats are still looking to pick a night to meet up for drinks and laughs at the 519 Beerhouse. A Friday work for most?

Only 2 weeks left in 2024. Rocky will be late next week and will miss last night. While Jingles is MIA, can he still help with arranging pizza for last night? All current and former Tomcats welcome on last night for drinks and pizza after hockey. Let Rocky and Soupy know who will partake (December 17th).

Tomcats Forever!