Windsor Tomcats

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!

There was confusion of the night was about Big Nets or Big Ned. Some fans arrived early wearing Big Ned jerseys, with signs asking him to marry them. Others came hoping to see a high scoring affair with extra real estate around the goalies. In both cases, fans were disappointed. Not that the hockey was great…in fact, there were at least 4 saves made last night that will easily secure a spot in the TSN Top-10 Saves of the Year. However, Big Ned was a scratch due to still being on IR with an upper body injury. And despite some incredible scorers on both teams, Chico and Falcon simply locked down the big nets and made them seemingly smaller than the regular nets.

And as mentioned in last week’s blog, the Sparky Score Clock is still not functioning, so the evening was played Old-School with games to 7 and the trusty old flip score board. We’re hoping Tomcat Management can get a hold of Sparky to fix the clock soon.

The teams were very evenly matched with each hitting the #7 first:

Falcon’s Dominators – Falcon Hasek in net, Tonto, Hurricane, Bullwinkle, Soupy, Doc and Snowpants

Chico’s Cujo’s – Chico Joseph in net, Killer, Rocky, Hobbs, Animal, Shack and Chevy

Couple of house keeping items:

1. We need to plan an empty run soon
2. Chippy/Choppy play has been increasing (although last night was fine). Tomcat Management are monitoring and will call out guys as needed
3. Look out for Tomcat Holiday event at the 519 Beerhouse
4. Last night of season on December 17th. All current and former Tomcats invited for drinks and pizza at the end of the night. Rocky will be away so Soupy will be in charge.

By Harry Ballsonue. 

I read the article ‘where have  all the Tomcats’s gone’ with great interest.  I no longer cover the Tomcats as a sports reporter, but I follow them as a fan…religiously (Tomcats Forever and all that Jazz).

So I looked to see if I still had any old contacts in my phone, and I did…so I contacted Stevo. 

He told me that a guy like Skippy, who works in a place with a lot of young people being hired should be recruiting people for the Tomcats.  He also added that the Tomcats organization is probably doing a recruitment drive as he’s noticed some new names playing Tuesday nights. And then he mentioned that he’s glad he’s not playing anymore because he’d be afraid to play against the ‘Spitter’ guy.  “Who wants to be spat at?” asked Stevo.

Stevo also mentioned that he always thought he could play for 40 years, but it just was not in the card.  His impression was that once he couldn’t play out on the floor, he would’ve considered playing goalie. However, his knees just do not permit him from getting up and down like he could 20 years ago (someone will remember his Dominic Hasek style when he had to play in net).

He did say he will try to get some Tomcats to come out on the Christmas pizza night…not to play but to have pizza.  “You should see lots of Tomcats that night.  Once  a Tomcat always a Tomcat, especially when it comes to pizza and beer,” added Stevo with a wry smile.

While you’re thinking is it “Spitter” or “Splitter,” and while you are thinking about hockey, pizza, naked women and Santa Claus, do you think I could put my Harry Ballsonue?

It seems almost every other week poor Rocky is scrambling to find enough players to even have a game go on, but now we’re scrambling for goalies as well?   Just what exactly has happened?  Did we not generate some relief with the addition of ‘young bloods’?   Is the organizations ‘core’ players maybe getting ‘too’ long in the tooth?   Do players simply have too many outside competing interest (Jobs, childcare, ‘honey do list’). 

So many questions, so many theories.  I wonder what the over/under is on having a ‘mini-tournament’ this year?   

Let me start:  First mini will be next week with the very highly anticipated ‘big net night’.  Who doesn’t want the opportunity to ‘light the lamp?’.  I’m pretty sure some players who’ve ’yet’ to notch a goal will have ‘plenty’ of opportunities….

Second over/under:  A Tomcat night of hockey absent  of the preferable 3 spares a side ‘WILL NEVER’ be canceled for lack of ‘attendance’.  The Tomcats have, and always will find a way to prevail. 

Tomcats forever, and forever a Tomcat – truer words haven’t been spoken, and it warms the heart when you see new and ‘old’ veterans out in the public ‘proudly’ rocking the Tomcat swag.  

While we all watch, wait and determine how much ‘gas’ to give on any night – sans a bench full of spares, let the betting begin on which ‘non-typical’ scoring Tomcat will ‘score’ next week….

Cleo Vulva

The Tomcat Blog returns after a 1 week hiatus. Last week was a quiet one, as the tomcats played 3 on 3, due to a lack of players. Bullwinkle was running things last week and when asked why there was no blog written, his response was, “Je ne parle pas Anglais! 

I can only read and write the Italiano, so I no make a de Tomcat Blog. Anche, I was too a busy a running a circles around all these young Fugasi’s on the Kapusta Kow! Capiche?” 

A simple, “I didn’t have time” would have sufficed, but ok! 

Doc’s Devils – Soupy, Doc, Matador, Animal, Hurricane, Tonto, Shack in Net

Snowpants’ Saints – Chevy, Snowy, Bullwinkle, Kamikaze, Hobbs, Splitter in Net

Last night was full of energy, and hard play. A couple incidents to be aware of and try to keep the play clean. The Tomcats put out a call last minute looking for a goaltender, and Tomcat newcomer, Splitter stepped up to play! He did not disappoint, making save after save. The Soupy Algorithm worked wonders, as both games were tied, 6-6 and 2-2, respectively. The “Saints” certainly didn’t live up to their name, as the aptly named “Dirtiest Player in the League” Kamikaze, was up to his old tricks.  Word is, Stevo is still feeling the effects of the Kaze’s stick work years into retirement. 

Hobbs showed why he got his nickname, as he was Fast and Furious around the floor! A beauty goal and some great playmaking. Shack had a highlight reel desperation behind the back glove save to stop a sure goal. The play on the tomcat floor has been on another level this year. Great passes, unreal goals, and playmaking unseen since the golden era of the early 2000s. 

The Tomcats had to go old school for the second game, as the Sparky clock stopped working. The old wooden flip board was brought out, prompting youngin’ Splitter to say, “I’ve never seen a score board like that before!” Sparky will be called in to repair, hopefully for next week. 

One of the Saints goals was on a 2 on 1, with Soupy back on D. Shack, in net, was quoted after as saying, “The scorekeeper’s should have marked that goal mid-play, with Soupy as our last night of defence.” It should be noted that during the play, soupy tried his patented spin-o-Rama back hand pass, right on the tape of the opposing team. Soupy said, “1 out of 10 times, it works every time!” 

Tomcat legend Hurricane’s goal scoring streak came to temporary end last night, as he did not record a goal. He had to leave early with an apparent upper body injury, causing some tomcats to question if he was just trying to save $5…hoping for a quick recovery. 

Looking for a date for the Tomcats Xmas party, prolly 2nd or 3rd weekend in December. 

Enjoy Guys. 

Guest Column by Haida d’Salami

And the decision is….hockey was fast once again.

Kamikaze’s Kamala’s – Falcon in net, Shackpack, Chevy, Skippy, Big Ned, Kamikaze, Matador, Rocky and Animal

Tonto’s Trumps – Terror in net, Bullwinkle, Doc, Soupy, Hobbs, Tonto and Snowpants

As we are all now aware, the Trumps were victorious taking both games. “Roger absolutely stood on his head for the Trumps” noted an exasperated Chevy. “We could not get anything by him’” added Big Ned. even though early polls called these teams even, the results swayed much more in favor of the Trumps.

While we love seeing the pace of hockey really pick the last few weeks, we are also running into chippy/choppy play. Guys need to play the ball and if you happen to be up against someone faster than you, simply do your best but do not grab them, lean into them, put your stick between their legs, chop at them. There as an incident last night where this type of play led to frustration and came to a head. PLAY THE BALL and keep your hands on your stick and that stick down on the ground. Simple really.

Bullwinkle is in charge next week as Soupy and Rocky are both out. We are looking for our first of two Big Net Nights to occur on Tuesday November 26. Plan accordingly.

Also, we are looking to arrange Tomcat Night at the 519 Beerhouse as a holiday gathering. What Friday or Saturday night will work for most? Let Rocky or Soupy know.

Until next time, Tomcats Forever!