Windsor Tomcats

Tuesday night, an October evening, felt more like a start of the season September evening in the Kapusta. It was warm and sticky, but the hockey was cool and fast. Another 2-team night that saw the season debut of Tunzie and Rocky, along with the return of The Danish between the pipes. The Danish is back from a 2-year stint with the East Coast Halifax Heathens. He was called into action when all Tomcat goalies were unable to play, and the Zamboni driver was out of town.

“There was no rust for The Danish at all,” said Stevo. “He was flashing the leather just like the good ole’ days,” Stevo continued.

Teams:

Chico’s Croissants – Bullwinkle, Rocky, Stevo, Schooley, LaBamba, Big Ned and Chico

The Danish’s Danishes – Kamikaze, Tunzie, Soupy, Chevy, hurricane, Anvil, Tonto and The Danish

Chico’s team took the first hame 4-2 but the Danishes stormed backed in the second to win it 5-4.

NOVEMBER 2 – Big Net Night – yep, goal scorers dream. We will have a night where we bring out the big nets. To mix it up a bit, lets see the scoring changes when we challenge the goalies to cover larger nets. Do not miss this night. Maybe a mini??

Let Rocky know by this Friday if you are playing next week. check the beer list to see when you are expected to come with refreshments.

Tomcats Forever!

All Windsor Tomcats playing Tuesday night had to show they are fully vaccinated.  The owners of the Kapusta Now Palace, keeping in line with the Windsor-Essex County Public Health Instructions regarding proof of vaccination requirements for persons entering facilities used for sport and recreational fitness activities.

The Windsor Tomcats will of course comply fully and ask that all Tomcats that were not there on Tuesday October 5, 202 to fully cooperate next week and or weeks to come.

TEAMS:Bullwinkle Astra Zeneca’s: Bullwinkle, Snowpants, Ginger Bread Man, Beep, Tonto, Chevy and the Falcon

Sunny Moderna’s: Stevo, Big Bed, Bender, Kamikaze, Sunny La Bamba, Skully and Chico.

First game, The Antra Zeneca’s took the game 3-2.  In the second game, with the Moderna’s leading for a good portion of the game, 3-1, a couple of late goals saw the game tied after the two 12’s were played.  Two over time periods of 2 min each, could not decide it and the game ended up in a tie.

One thing that needs to be mentioned is that “Nice save Chico” was said about 23 times last night.  Not taking anything away from the Falcon, but the slick Astra Zeneca’s were like the five Russians out there making Chico earn his beer last night.

Skully and Bender  made their Tomcat debuts… Skully signed a one-year deal in the off-season for $750,000. Bender was a second round pick in 2017 and has toiled in the minors as a forward and as a goalie. He was shown  the Tomcat goaltending equipment in the Tomcat room…and seemed very impressed.

Schooley‘s play; Schooley‘s rookie card went up $200 after his display last night…He is wearing #15

Bender is a Goalie and is expected to suit up in net in a few weeks. Assigned Number 80

You can feel the snow from the stop. Skully has it going on.

Skully’s rookie card, price has jumped $200.

Beer List:
Beer list is out, please check it out to see when you are to bring your beer.  You don’t want to be ’that guy’ who misses his beer night….Ever.

Not Playing Next Week:
If you are unable to play next week, let Rocky Know.  Beep and Sunny have advised.  Falcon to let us know if he can play mid week, we may need a goalie come Tuesday.

I think Snowpants has a great smile.
I hope you enjoyed today’s blog, thank you for reading, I’m Ophelia Butz

So fur, so good – and ‘yes’ ‘fur’ is a nod to the St.Felix Tomcat….Week 2; after 500plus days off went exceptionally well; considering a full two games were played; and games played continued to be very tightly contested affairs.  In case you missed week 1 -really – how could you? – the stands were packed at full capacity; those that did forever etched themselves into the Tomcats history books; and also received that sweet/sweet season opening ‘cool’ (WINK WINK) swag.  Did you see that glorious picture taken?  You bet those players were a ‘stick’ apart for Covid safety concerns; and some of those ‘sticks’ were bigger than others (That’s what she said!).  
The first night was one of excitement; considering that scare about possibly stalling the season due to the double booking.  Glad to see all parties were able to work it out and now we’re full steam ahead! I was really looking forward to seeing which Tomcat would come back sportin an extra few Covid pounds.  I secretly was hoping it would have been Beep, or Snowpants; I mean which Tomcat defenseman wouldn’t want to slow those  two guys down?  Nope; the boys looked pretty good; except poor Skippy – whom after 28minutes looked like he was about to lose his lunch.  Despite a very tightly contested ‘short’ game; in which both goalies looked stellar; Skippy announced his ‘retirement’ from playing net.  When asked he explained it wasn’t fair to the players that his back wouldn’t allow him to give a full nights effort anymore; plus it seems during the season start lapse maybe cardio wasn’t worked on as much as could have been…  Instead it looks like Skippy will switch to a ‘D’ man; and Coach Sealion is already putting together a cardio program; along with keepin a close eye on the rest of the boys.   
Speaking of ‘fit’; did you see Bullwinkle?  DAMN – now there’s a fella that’s been itching to play – having spent the entire off season packin on the muscle whilst not forgetting about the importance of cardio and isometric workouts.  When asked about the change Bullwinkle replied; ‘I was bored during Covid – So I just started working out everyday for like 2hours’.  That work impressed Coach Sealion and several other payers whom only said; ‘Guess we gotta call him the Shredder now’. 
Week 2 has already been reported on; and it indeed went much better.  The arena was cooler; both goalies were in top physical shape; and with the addition of the Solaris boys the pace was much quicker.  As mentioned the lads were split apart; not out of play making ability; rather I think to bring the median age of each bench down as both teams featured some ‘senior’ Tomcats.  Not only did the Solaris boys bring youth; but they also brought out some sweet sweet moves, and maybe even the goal of the night.  You had to be there –  a shot fired over Falcon’s head ricochets off the backboards only to hit poor falcon right in the back and bounced directly into his net.  Pro line doesn’t even have a stat line for that one!  After the game I caught up with Chico and asked about the goal and tight game.  His reply; ‘Coach Sealion always says you gotta save more than you let in’.  Classic!  Genius!    
While you wondering what that season opening swag was; and which of the other Tomcats ‘beefed’ up during the time off – will you be there for  week 3?  Let Rocky know.
Signing off for Yurri: Cura Glans    

With the Kapusta being less of an oven, and with some first night jitters out of the way, week 2 saw more hockey played (4 full periods). The better conditions (and better conditioning) saw the pace of hockey start quick, and stay quick.

The pace was certainly helped by having the young Solaris boys in attendance. The Sons of Sunny were split across the two teams and ensured the elder Tomcats on each side of the floor were kept on their toes with these young whippersnappers flying around with endless energy.

Stevo made his first appearance of the season and did a stellar job balancing the teams for some pretty even hockey all night. While Black won both games, the scores were close. Nice job Stevo!

Reminders:

For those that have not paid their start of year $50, please get to Rocky the next time you play. It comes with a cool gift!

Let Rocky know if you are in for next Tuesday, 6:30pm game start (be there before 6:30pm)

Local Requirements – With recent WECHU directives for sports facilities, Tomcat Management is looking into what we have to do to remain in compliance. Discussing with the hall to ensure both they and us are not in a position to be fined for non-compliance. More to come on this.

Specialty Nights: The BoD suggested having some special nights this season where we add an element of unifier as to hockey…for example, “Big Nets Night,” where we use larger nets to open up the scoring. Stay tuned for dates.

Nope, not a typo in the title. While the Windsor area is known as the 519, the Tomcats welcome everyone to the 559. Last night marked the triumphant return of Tomcat hockey to the Kapusta after a staggering 559 day layoff!! It had been 559 days between games. By far the longest break between official Tomcat games in the club’s 32 year history.

As players entered the Kapusta, you could feel the weight of such a long break lift. Smiles abounded as the fellas were able to say hello to each other for the first time in a long time.

A traditional 2-team night started off very quickly, as if no time had ever been taken away. The teams were:

Black Beauties – Skippy, Beep, Anvil, Tonto, Soupy and Bullwinkle

White Wonders – Chico, Killer, Hurricane, Lizard, LaBamba and Snowpants

Only a 2-period game was played as the Kapusta was stifling hot and the boys needed to ease into the season. Score? Who cares (but it was close). All that matters is the Tomcats are back (remember, Tomcats Forever).

Huge shout out to Hollywood, the birthday boy. While not able to play due to injury, and on his birthday no less, he showed up to grill some sausages for the after-game celebration. He also brought a 12 pack to boot! What a guy!

Also a shout out to Sunny for bringing some beer (guess which brand?). The Rake made a brief appearance as well to help clear the gym floor due to voting taking place the day prior. Many others showed up early to help clean as well, so hats off to all those that helped. As always, Snowpants does all he can to set up and teardown. Never has to ask. Tomcat spirit personified!

Start of the year gifts were given out…Tomcat logo on anything is the motto:

Despite huge challenges, the Tomcats are back. Let Rocky know your status for next Tuesday by this Friday

Howie Feltersnatch

Unfortunately, bad news. As hard as it seems to believe this, the Windsor Tomcats have been kicked out of the Kapusta. Yes, the hall has rented out the gym several nights a week to a baseball group who have set up batting cages that cannot be moved or disassembled easily. They have guaranteed quite a bit of money each week to the hall through March of 2020. As of right now, the Tomcats have no home. We just were notified on Sunday and the BoD mer last evening.

In order to save the season, we need every Tomcat to use your connections and social media to solicit other locations we could play ball hockey. We want to leave no stone unturned.

Please give this some thought and provide me your ideas.

We are pretty upset with how the hall handled this. We have supported them in many ways (food purchases, golf tournament, etc) and they just give us the boot after 30+ years. We ask that all Tomcats no longer support the hall in any manner after this.

Stay tuned for next steps. For sure, we want to find a way to get the Tomcats back together this fall, even if it means we play outdoors or gather for reasons other than hockey.

Sorry for the bad news, but we will work to salvage what we can.

Tomcats Forever right?

As Tomcat Management continues to prepare for the season, we are seeking permission to do a pre-season clean up of the floor, stage, Tomcat room, etc. Confirmation is forth-coming. When given the go ahead, we will look for some dedicated Tomcats to come help one evening to ready the Kapusta for September 14th. More to come shortly.

Start of Season Gift – Per usual, we have a gift planned for the start of the season when you pay your initial dues. Due to COVID, the gifts may not arrive until the second week of hockey (sorry about that). Everything takes longer right now 😦

Injury Report – Word from training camp is that Rocky May start the season on IR due to a rotator cuff injury suffered while climbing the Himalayas on a recent expedition. No timeline set for recovery but rehab is already underway.

Hockey Stick Clearout – At some point early in the season, the Tomcats will ask each player to gather their sticks from the Tomcat room. Any stick not claimed will be moved to the other room on the other side of the stage because we simply have too many twigs to deal with and they always topple over and create a mess. Maybe we end up donating those to father/son flag making duo in London that the boys at SSN so graciously have supported??

The surveys have been completed and the results are in. As long as local guidance allows for indoor sports come September, the Tomcats have 23 full-time and 8 part-time guys willing to play this season. Understandably, a few Tomcats have opted out or are taking a wait-and-see approach. Sadly, a few Tomcats never responded to the survey so they will not be playing as well. 

As of now, we have 3 goalies that are full-time (available most nights) and an additional 3 that can come out occasionally. 

So unless restrictions change with the Delta wave, the Tomcats plan to end their 19-month layoff on September 14th. We will reach out before that to confirm final count for the first night. 

REMEMBER the Tomcats COVID guidelines:

1.  We will not breach the 25 cap limit and have some level of cleaning protocols in place. 

2. We will not ask the vaccination status of players that decide to play

3. We will expect each player to attest that they will not attend on any night when they are experiencing symptoms. This will be a signed form on the first night and we fully expect no one will breach this. 

4. Will track attendance should we ever need to contact trace

5.  If a positive case is determined, there will be a 2 week pause of hockey. 

On another note, there is some discussion about turning the Tomcats season into a summer league and play outdoors. The thought is we would play beaches throughout Windsor/Essex County to take advantage of our warm temps and outdoor sports are always safer. Future decision to be made but the Tomcats are in talks with several potential prospects should we switch to this new approach:

By Harry Ballsonue

“Good evening Canada and hockey fans from coast to coast welcome to Tuesday night Tomcat hockey.” Foster Hewitt if doing opening for Tomcats 

“Bad Attitude is like a flat tire, if you don’t fix it, you won’t go anywhere.” Church Sign

“It is time for me to say goodbye.” Harry Ballsonue

A little bit about me:
Hobbies: I love fishing and I love NASCAR, I love tinkering on my 2000 Monte Carlo.  My dad had a 1970 Monte and would take us for ice cream when we were kids, it was the only time we were allowed in that car.  

Family: I have been married three times, and have three sets of kids with three wives, my first wife, Lan Ju and I have a 25 year old Cyanide and 23 year old boy named Deck, My second wife and I, Dandan Ho have three children together, Petula  (age 14) Geranium (age 12) (Says she wants to be a peeler)  and Willow (age 10) and now with my third wife, Mei Chen, we have the 3 year old twins, Slayer and Norm.

Favourite Tomcat Moment: I have a few, Ditty Streaking at a tournament, Stevo throwing a tantrum and yelling, “This is suppose to be fun and I’m not having any” and all the tee shirts, jackets, torques, shorts, hoodies, cozies, beer bottle openers and track suits that have been unveiled over the years. 

Started in Journalism: I wrote for the high school paper, but got my first big break writing for the St. Felix, then with newer technology, moved to the Tomcat website.

Favourite Band: Deadeye Dick, Beautiful South and the Counting Crows 

Favourite Tomcat: I have had the pleasure to meet hundreds of Tomcats over the years, and if you needed a list of all of them I do have it, over a hundred.  But my favourite has to be Crispy.  He always had a smile for me and would give me a quote when I needed it.  Bucko comes in a close second with his famous, “I’m not playing travel ball hockey anymore” and in third place comes Sunny, a truer gentleman I have never met, no wonder he is labeled as the franchise player.

What do you plan to do with yourself, now that you will not be covering the Tomcats: I have been  taking some online Automotive classes to work on my Monte Carlo I also recently did an online motorcycle course, so I hope to get my motor cycle licence and boot around.

Top 5 Favourite Movies:  In order, 1) Raiders of the Lost Ark 2) The Dark Knight 3 )Jaws 4) Wizard of Oz 5) Porkies 

In ending, I thank those that have given me quotes in the past and were not afraid to weep openly.  I also thank those you provided the Tomcats Web Site with their information on ‘Meet the Tomcats’, it was a great feature so thanks for participating. Thanks for reading.

My favourite photo that I was able to photograph all these fantastic people in one place…..what a moment.

Some Twitter humor:

While you are checking out my new place (photo below) do you think I could put my Harry Ballsonue for the last time?

Harry has gone fishing…..thank you!

All Tomcats are invited to swing by Rocky’s this Sunday evening to hear some cool classic rock performed by an even cooler bunch of kids. Returning to 2672 Paul Martin Court Sunday, August 15th from 6-8pm, the amazing Leave Those Kids Alone will perform. Grab a lawn chair, a cooler of drinks and come on by.

This cool band brings their music to neighbourhoods throughout Windsor/Essex for free, so also consider tipping or donating during the event. The Tomcats need to support such talent coming from this area!

REMINDER: If you have yet to respond to Rocky about playing this fall, he needs to k is ASAP. About 22 guys are committed but would like a few more, and hopefully 1 or 2 more goalies.

August 3, 2021

By Chuck Fina

The annual ride Her Cup was held at the Willow Ridge Golf and Country Club on August 2, 2021. It was a gorgeous day out and fans were lined up at the crack of dawn to get autographs from the Sea Lion and his riding partner, the Red Squirrel as Hatchie’s Humpers were set to take on the May Day Marauders in a nine hole better ball and a 9 hole match play tournament.

Hatchie’s Humpers ruled the day, destroying the May Day Marauders 12-2. “ We got rinsed”, said Captain May Day shaking his head in disappointment after the match.

“The Red Squirrel was solid. Good dressing room guy, funny,great stories, ‘A’ golfer drives a nice truck and plays golf the right way. Unfortunately, I drafted the Big Easy first overall and I found out the morning of the tournament, the Big Easy was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. Apparently, he got his hand stuck in a pool skimmer. What I don’t understand is the guy plays left- handed, right- handed, why couldn’t he play one handed”, asked May Day. A big thanks to the Red Squirrel for filling in last minute. He is automatically in for next year’s tournament.

Chevy and May Day were forced to partner up and this skewed the balance of the teams a bit. “ We held our own, but the Sheep Dog was on fire”, said Chevy. “ That and we couldn’t catch a break all day. I hit a pitching wedge in stead of driver on 18 and I hit it 200 yards into a creek. Other than using my putter, 200 yards is the absolute shortest I can hit a golf ball.”.

Stevo and Big Poppa vs the Red Squirrel and the Sea Lion was a grueling brawl all day with a back and forth affair that was entertaining for the fans who came out to watch.

Hatchie was dominant all day long making clutch putt after clutch putt. “ The irons weren’t crisp today, but the Tecumseh Wedge ( putter) was red hot ”, said Hatchie. Hatchie was huge for his team. He even brought his own leaf removal crew with him. Hatchie hates leaves on the green so he hired 2 guys who were on the way to work on  a farm on a green bus. “We luv Hatchie, man. He pays us all ‘da weed we can smoke for cleaning ‘da leaves and he play “Buffalo Soldier” on his stereo and he give us ‘da stereo after. Hatchie be stay wit my ‘sista’ when he down to play ‘da Jamaican Open”, said Delroy who along with Fitzroy took care of Hatchie’s leaves.

After the match, the teams celebrated on the patio. Stevo went missing for a time but after an hour, he returned to join the group. “ I was with the chef getting his taco recipe”, said Stevo. “ As you know I am working at a private golf course. I am the manager of all the fairways. I’m thinking I can use my skills to be the food and beverage manager as well and if we had these tacos on the menu, they would be a hit”, said Stevo.

Big Poppa was trying to get the guys to play a 9-hole scramble after diner but the guys were golfed out. “it’s a beautiful day out here and I think it would be fun”, said Big Poppa. Big Poppa is recommending some format changes to next year’s tournament. The commissioner will consult with veteran Big Poppa before the tournament format is announced. A big thanks to Big Poppa for taking care of the engraving for the Ride Her Cup.

Low scores for the day were Big Poppa and Sheep Dog with 78 and the Seal Lion with a 79. Put her there!!!

Sheep Dog was offering words of wisdom to Dora, our server who just graduated from the paramedic program. “ Believe in yourself”, said the Sheep Dog to Dora. “ I have 6 university degrees and haven’t worked a day in my life. Believe in yourself”. Sheep Dog’s bill was $200.00 compared to the other guys eating for free.

A few final notes, the commissioner heard some back-door whining about invitations not being sent out for the Ride Her Cup. A mass e mail went out a good month before the tournament. We have the tournament every year on the Civic Day Holiday. Respond to the e mail and express interest or put the date in your outlook for next year and/or reach out to the commissioner ( preferably not the day of the tournament). As always, the commissioner’s office does not answer questions so if you have any, save them. Questions will be answered the day after next year’s tournament.

This year’s Gordon’s Gin League Banquet will be returning to the Rock Bottom now that covid-19 is over. If you played at least one Monday in the league or in the Ride Her Cup, you are automatically invited to the banquet.

The Tomcat BoD will be meeting over the next week to discuss plans for the 2022-2022 season. The ever evolving pandemic looms large so we will continue to look for a way to get Tomcats back on the floor, while taking all precautions and adhering to all local requirements. Stay tuned for an update after the meeting.

Tomcats Forever!