Windsor Tomcats

The good guy Stevo has amassed ‘many’ accolades, stories, high-light reel goals, and a Stanley’s Cup as a player; prior to injuries forcing him to retire.  This years Tomcat tourney offered a new role – ‘Coach’ Stevo, who after watching endless Tomcat tapes was able to select a tournament team; aptly named Stevo’s Golden Seals.  

A tourney first for Coach Stevo; three teams, and the typical Coach’s headache with a player being unavailable (Matador).  ‘If’ you read the Tomcat blogs, you would have known due to some unforeseen circumstances, Matador was replaced with Solstice and ‘youth’ was added alongside some wily veterans already selected.   

I’m sure the ‘trade’ will be looked at, dissected, and cause many to wonder if the trade itself lead to Coach Stevo hoisting the Stanley’s Cup as a Coach.  Speaking of the ‘win’; Coach Stevo now enters the hollowed Tomcat record book as being the first player, and Coach to boast ‘winning’ a tournament.  That fact is an ‘accolade’ well deserved and my hats tipped to Stevo’s Golden Seals.  

As per usual I continue my streak of NOT correctly picking the winning tournament team.  By this point I’m wondering if teams are thinking my annual ‘incorrect’ pick is similar to the ‘Drake’ curse.  It seems once I pick a team – they have ‘yet’ to seal the deal; but there’s always ‘next year’….to either get it right; or continue the ‘curse’…

For those wondering I have photo evidence Snowpants did indeed arrive ‘on time’ for the tourney.  I also ‘heard’ Matador has already regretted ‘not’ being able to attend; and he’s currently watching via close circuit the ‘after party’ parade and celebration whilst wondering ‘what if’….

A week of rest is likely to follow allowing the Golden Seals to travel the globe with the ‘cup’.  While you’re wondering about scores/highlights and other tournament gossip, I noticed your HANDZONMECAC. 

YURRI

Who would have guessed it was a mere ‘3 sleeps’ till tourney time?  Despite the ‘short’ lay over before the ‘big’ game, play was consistent, crisp, fast-paced and players held nothing back.  Matador was heard (in an exasperated voice) saying; ‘I don’t think I ever run this hard all year’.  

Tomcats are a sturdy and steady crew and Rocky selected ‘very’ even ‘pre-tourney’ teams featuring the Sunny Skiers and Soupy’s Snowmen.  Sunny was surrounded by playmakers Matador, Tonto, Snowpants, Animal, Skippy and the Terror in net.   Soupy had Citico, Bullwinkle, Rocky, the Professor, Bullwinkle and Bender in net.   

Per usual the Tomcat algorithm played out and produced a win for each team – and after all was said and done: the scores were nearly identical.  

Snowpants was reminded the annual tournament expects players to arrive at 8am for a 8:30AM SHARP start time – which has been the case for like ‘ever’….

Speaking of ‘even’ teams; I gotta say after spending weeks crunching stats, watching game tapes and running the teams thru John Maddens XBox hockey; i don’t think I’ve ever seen such balanced Tourney teams.   That said my readers demand I make my annual ‘incorrect’ picks. 

For the tourney I’m going all in on The Rakes (Name not yet picked) crew.  Despite ‘rumours’ of Falcon playing hurt and having missed several weeks (Which caused some Vegas odds to question whether he’d have any playing ‘rust’), on paper I think the Rake has crafted a ‘very’ dangerous team.  

I also can’t help but note the three teams already come in with a 33.3% chance of taking the ‘Stanley’s Cup’; since we only have the three teams playing.  I also wonder how the victors and vanquished will truly feel once a new champion is crowned.  Will this be the year an ‘*’ is added to the record book?   Call me crazy but I think the annual tourney needs to be moved to the last ‘day’ of hockey.   Think about it – play the tourney; crown a champion and end the night with drinks/pizza and comradery; then begin the count down to the ‘next’ season.  

Tournament Details:

Arrival: 8am

Tournament Start: 8:30am sharp

Costs:

$20 to your Coach/Captain (coaches to provide full amount for their team to Rocky – $140)

$10 to Jingles for pizza

Game Schedule:

H A

Cribzie’s War Pigs vs. Stevo’s Golden Seals

Stevo’s Golden Seals vs. Rake’s Dragons

TEAM PHOTO

Rake’s Dragons vs. Cribzie’s War Pigs

Cribzie’s War Pigs vs. Stevo’s Golden Seals

Stevo’s Golden Seals vs. Rake’s Dragons

Rake’s Dragons vs. Cribzie’s War Pigs

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

To determine which teams make the championship, it is based on:

⁃ Most Points

– Best +/-

⁃ Most goals for

⁃ Least goals

⁃ Record against the opposing team

⁃ Shoot out

Win is 2 points, tie is 1 and 0 for a loss. Yes, regular games can end in a tie.

Games will be two 10 minute periods (adjusted for having only 3 teams – less overall games). Stop time last 2 minutes of each period. Time between periods is 3 minutes, 5 minutes between games.

If OT is needed for the Championship, refer to Tomcat Rules on the website.

One 30 second timeout allowed per game.

1 minute penalties will be called for rough play.

Referee:

We will have a ref on the floor. Reffing is a tough job. Whatever is called is accepted. We will not tolerate any arguing with the ref.

While you’re wondering if Snowpants will make it in time for the tournament, I noticed your  HANDZONMECAC.  

YURRI

Sunny Spartans – Sunny, Soupy, Nico, Hurricane, Sally, Jingles, Professor, Snowpants, Chico in net

Matador Marlies – Chevy, Matador, Green Giant, Killer, Animal, Splitter, Big Ned, Mayday, Bender in net

The boys brought back “Greek Night” at the Kapusta, only Greek not in attendance was Shack. The 3 Salaris’ we’re passing the ball around faster than Soupy’s high school girlfriend got passed around Petrolia. 

A big night, with 4 spares a side. The Spartans took both games 5-3 and 5-1. The pace was fast, the passes crisp, and the benches were rockin’, as we had some of the best hockey we’ve seen all year! 

New comer Splitter showed why he got his nick name, quick feet and slick hands, he was buzzin’ all over the floor! He claims he never played organized hockey, but I don’t believe it, apparently badminton was his sport…

Making his return to the Tomcats was Sunny’s son, Solstice, or Sally. He got to play with his dad, and his hero, cousin Soupy. He showed no rust, and will be stepping in for the Matador in the tourney. 

It has been nice to some young blood on the floor, with Big Ned becoming a regular, and Sally, Splitter, and Nico all playing. It really pushes the pace of play. Surprisingly, with all the speed, it was a very clean night, and has been such as of late, well done Gents! As Snowy remarked afterwards, no one was injured, however that could have been due to the fact that Chico was playing net, he had no opportunity get injured, or injure others around him! Hurricane also extended his Tomcat record as the oldest tomcat to score a goal, the streak just keeps on going! 

A few shout outs from last night, The Rake showed up with 3 Hot N Ready’s for the boys and ran the clock all night. Sparky came out with his case of beer for the boys even though he’s been on the IR for most of the season! Great guys! This is what it means to be a Tomcat, all around class! 

That wraps it up for this week, be sure to let Rocky know if you are in for next week! Last week before the tournament. 

Enjoy Guys…

Guest Column by H’aida da Salami

From the Minister of Squares, Snowpants:

With the annual tournament just a few weeks away, the speed of play is notching up. The two teams last night both showed speed all night long. There was no let up once hockey started.

Before we get into the teams, an item of note from the last few weeks…guys committing and not showing up without letting Rocky know. If you commit to play, but need to back out, text Rocky. There have been guys the last two weeks that said they were in, drafted to a team, and never showed up and not a peep from them. That’s not how Tomcats operate. Beer fines will be levied against guys who choose not to communicate.

Also, if you have missed your beer night, please provide ahead of the tournament so we are properly stocked.

The Teams:

The White Whirlwinds – Terror in net, Rocky, Matador, Bullwinkle, Kamikaze, Animal, Shinzy (formerly The Splitter), and Snowpants.

The Black Bolts – Bender in net, Soupy, Chevy, Big Ned, The Professor, Killer, and Hurricane.

The teams were very even on paper after making adjustments when guys didn’t show up. The scoring started early and kept a consistent pace. Both teams made sweet passes and great movement with and off the ball – again, there was tournament-like pace being played.

And speaking of the tournament…

Stevo Golden Seals Add Youth

With contract talks stalling with perennial superstar, Matador, the Golden Seals reached into their farm system and called up and up and coming superstar, Solstice for the tournament. “There was no way we were going to give Nylander money to the Madator, The Leafs should not have given that kind of money to a guy that plays on the perimeter, and we were not going to to that with the Matador. He becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1, he can sign with anyone he wants to,” indicated Coach and GM Stevo. In other news, the Golden Seals announced their captains. Green Giant will be the captain at home games along with assistants Big Ned and Jingles. For away Games, Shack will be the captain, with the A’s going to Kamikaze and Solstice.

Please provide your shirt sizes to your captain so they can provide to Rocky who can provide them to Hollywood who can provide them to the shirt maker so all shirts are ready for the tournament.

REMINDER: Tournament is $20 to your captain (which then goes to Rocky), and $10 to Jingles for pizza. Make sure to have your $30 on you that day.

Referees – We still need a knowledgeable and thick-skinned Tomcat to be a ref on tournament day. One on the floor is sufficient and we can always use the extra Coach/captain or a board member to be a stage ref. Please consider helping out!

Rocky is out of town next week so Soupy has the book and will run the show. Rocky will send out the email and you can respond to him. Day of changes next Tuesday need to be texted to Soupy directly. Don’t be a no show!!

Tomcats Forever!

After hockey last night, esteemed retired Tomcats and this year’s tournament coaches Stevo, The Rake and Cribzie showed up to draft their teams. More on the draft in a moment, but first let’s cover last night’s action.

Another two team night dominated by one team which was backstopped by lights-out performance in the pipes by Terror.

Teams:

Black Thunder: Terror in net, Killer, Big Ned, Chico, Matador, Mayday and Shack

White Lightning: Bender in net, Rocky, Bullwinkle, The Professor, Soupy, Animal and Snowpants

In game one, the Thunder took it to the Lightning quickly by getting out to 4-0 lead. The second period saw a quick goal by the Lightning as they finally built some momentum. However, despite ripping shots left and right at Terror, they could not get much passed him. Terror made save after save to frustrate the Lightning. The game ended in a score of 5-2. Fans booed Rocky after he gave up the ball twice, leading to 2 of the 5 goals.

Game two was more balanced and the shot total definitely favored the Lightning. Bender and Terror both making highlight reel saves in this one. Rocky again was booed by the Tomcat fans when we tried to block a pass to the front of the net only to have it deflect off his foot into the net behind Bender. Some fans are starting to wonder if Rocky’s age is catching up with him. This game ended in a score of 5-4 in favor of the Thunder.

Back to the Draft:

Shoutout to the Rake for bringing a 12 pack and snacks for the boys to enjoy during the draft.

The table was set up where the three Coaches/Captains came prepared with their draft boards. Rocky and Soupy witnessed the draft and recorded the details. Here is how the draft went down:

Draft order was: The Rake, Stevo, Cribzie.

The teams for the tournament on February 24th starting at 8:30am sharp will be as follows:

The Rake’s Team (name not chosen yet) and wearing White:

– Falcon in net, Chico, Tonto, The Professor, Nico, Bullwinkle and Soupy.

Stevo’s Golden Seals wearing Yellow:

– Terror in net, Green Giant, Shack, Jingles, Matador, Big Ned and Kamikaze

Cribzie’s War Pigs wearing Black:

– Bender in net, Snowpants, Animal, Chevy, Mayday, Sunny and Rocky

Rumors abound that Soupy was the first pick overall and with that rumor, some in Tomcat nation were overheard Soupy may be a modern day Alexandre Daigle (look it up to understand).

The coaches should be reaching out to you for shirt sizes and working with Hollywood on shirts. Come prepared to pay your captains $20 and $10 to Jingles for pizza.

NFC Championship Squares:

If you bought squares from Snowpants for the Lions/49ers game (you would have paid in beaver pelts since Snowpants doesn’t trust modern day financial systems), here are the winners:

1st Quarter – The Turk

2nd Quarter – Kamikaze

3rd Quarter – Matador

Game Final – The Professor

Thanks to all who participated!

NOTE: Snowpants is collecting beaver pelts or shekels again for the Super Bowl this time. $5 per square. Reach out to him via telegram if you want to participate.

See you all next week!

Tomcats Forever!

Don’t get excited Snowpants, we are not talking about a menage-a-trois at the nudist resort

Due to low numbers last evening, only 3 runners played on the floor, leading to much more open space and lots of long, crisp passes.

How did the TomcatGPT algorithm select the teams? It didn’t. Who was asked to pick teams? No one. Instead, sticks were thrown to center of the gym floor and were randomly tossed to a side. This old school technique resulted in the following teams:

The Hurricanes – Hurricane (in net no less), Snowpants, Chevy, Big Ned and Animal

The Terrors – Terror in net, Bullwinkle, Rocky, Kamikaze, The Professor and Matador

First game was played with four 7-minute periods and was taken by The Hurricanes.

Game two consisted of two 10-minute periods and also proved The Hurricanes were the superior team.

Speaking of Hurricanes, the Hurricane raised his hand when we were left with only one goalie early yesterday. The oldest player to ever play between the pipes in a Tomcat game did not play like his age. Hurricane made great saves and looked as sharp as our younger goalies. “What type of magic potions does this guy take to be able to perform at his age?” inquired several Tomcats afterwards.

NFC Championship Squares:

To the surprise of many Tomcats, the squares purchased from Snowpants will be used for this Sunday’s NFC title match between The Lions and 49ers and not the Super Bowl. I guess it gives us all some more motivation to watch the game and not the scores at the end of each quarter. See below for the square board. Numbers were selected on stage last evening for all Tomcat’s to witness. Zoom I. To see your name and associated numbers. 49ers across the top and Lions on the side:

Tournament:

Draft occurs next week after hockey. Come on out to see the teams. We are going with a 3-team format due to low commitment numbers. Coaches will be Stevo, The Rake and Cribzie. Saturday February 24th 8:30 am start. Format to be shared shortly.

Almost a mini to start the year but two last minute cancellations drove the Tomcats to play only two teams. Shout out to Bender for playing out instead of the net since we didn’t need 3 goalies!

No rust to shake off to begin the year. The extra pounds gained over the holidays did not slow any of the Tomcats down. A little too much stick action was happening and quickly dealt with, but reminder despite the tournament coming up, let’s keep in mind each of us wants to go home without cuts/bruises or injuries.

The teams were:

Falcon’s Mighty Ducks – Falcon in net, The Professor, Tonto, Hurricane, Bullwinkle, Green Giant, Chevy, Doc and Snowpants

Terror’s Avalanche – Terror in net, Killer, Shack, Big Ned, Bender, Soupy, Animal and Rocky.

Despite Soupy insisting his team looked weak on paper (this is a weekly complaint by the future President…along with the chosen game ball not being at the precise temperature and softness), the Avalanche took both games.

Goalies looked in tournament form with a plethora of great saves all night long.

Speaking of the tournament – not a great response yet with many guys not available. The Tomcats will chase a few more folks down and may have to play a slimmed down tournament (small teams or even make it a 3 team event) if more guys are not available. Please respond to Soupy and Kamikaze ASAP!

Keep your eyes on the beer list and bring your case in early if you have to miss your night.

Reminder to all Tomcats – If you run into former NHL players at Shotz, please try to not start any more bar fights. We still are on the naughty list at Shotz for the Christmas melee in 2022! We all know Tomcats can easy take down any NHL player, so find comfort in knowing that and just buy the guy a drink instead!

Tomcats Forever!

The Tomcats ended 2023 with the usual festivities…hockey (in this case a mini), followed by drinks and pizza in Kapusta VIP Room. However, with esteemed Tomcat alumni in the house for the event, the Tomcats also honoured Stevo’s retirement (recall, Stevo walked away from his historic career at the end of last season). Stevo’s number was raised to the rafters with other former Tomcat legends, and made front and center in the Kapusta Ring of Honour. Rocky stated while other numbers in the rafters are available for recirculation, 19 will not be. That will always be Stevo’s number! A toast was made and Stevo led the Tomcats in singing Tomcats Forever!

The Tomcats also did a ceremonial ball drop letting Stevo have the honours to commemorate the night:

Sparky, still in IR, came out to enjoy the evening and quickly resolved last week’s issue with the Sparky Clock. But the third game, the lights were back on!

Special shout outs to Soupy, The Turk and Sealion for all coming with a bottle in hand to share with the boys! Also, LaBamba, who played hockey, left to play another game with Red Deer Antelope’s of the Alberta Premier league, then flew back on his private jet for a drink in the Kapusta VIP Room, also brought a case to share. Kamikaze brought out mixers so we could enjoy the liquor. Finally, the Minister of Pizza, Jingles made sure the right amount of pies arrived just in time and toppings that were approved by The Turk. Thanks for being great Tomcats gents!

Our second Mini Tournament of the season was played with the teams selected by the fabled Tomcat Algorithm were:

Doc’s Dashers wearing red (then yellow) – Bender in net, Jingles, Sunny, Doc, LaBamba, Big Ned, Matador and Killer (remember to hit send Killer)

Chevy’s Comets wearing black – Falcon in net, Animal, Rocky, Soupy, Nico, Chevy and Shack

Bullwinkle’s Blitzens wearing white – Terror in net, Green Giant, Tonto, Kamikaze, Snowy, Bullwinkle and The Professor

Games were all tight with fast paced action still continuing from the past several weeks. The first couple of games required manual time intervention so thanks to Chico (IR due to large ball syndrome) and The Rake for managing time for those games.

While games were all close, the Comets won the mini (like that really matters).

The Kapusta camera crew caught a nice moment after Stevo arrived. He made his way through greeting all the guys and ended the hug line with an embrace from his son, Big Ned. The fans needed Kleenex.

The Tomcats would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We will pick back up in January on the 16th. We will also immediately begin planning for the February Annual Tournament, now officially referred to as Stevo’s Christmas.

Tomcats Forever!

Not by design, but last evening became a throw back event. Not because Hurricane was in attendance. Oh no. But because the Sparky Clock stopped functioning (SOS Sparky, SOS!).

Without a functioning score clock, the old flip score chart was dusted off to track score. Some of the “less tenured” guys asked will we keep track of time? Those of us old enough to remember recall prior to the Sparky Clock, games were a “First to 7” format. Rocky declared “first to 7 wins!”

The teams were selected using the Bullwinkle Algorithm and were:

Snowpant’s Snowflakes – Terror in net, Nico, Soupy, Jingles, Chico, Matador, Kamikaze, Killer and Snowpants of course.

Green Giant’s Evergreen’s – Bender in net, The Professor, Hurricane, Rocky, Shack, Bullwinkle, Tonto, Chevy and Green Giant of course.

Game 1 took 45 minutes to reach a winner with the Snowflakes taking it 7-5. Game 2 was agreed to only be played to 5 anticipating another 45 minute game. That game too was won by the Snowflakes.

Really fast-paced hockey all night with each team having two full line ups. As usual, goaltending was spectacular.

Next Tuesday – Rocky needs to know all who are attending hockey and those just coming for drinks and pizza afterwards. Many Tomcat alums expected to attend. Watch for the email from Rocky and respond promptly. $10 covers hockey, pizza and drinks (Tomcats will foot the test).

One more night left in 2023…come on out for a great Tomcat tradition!

Just Around the Corner:

The annual Tomcat Tournament is not too far away. Early in the New Year an email will come from Soupy and Kamikaze looking for commitment. Date is Saturday February 24th. For the first time ever, teams will be picked (and COACHED) by 4 retired Tomcats! Suits behind the bench giving teams orders and setting lineups and strategy! Will be another new and interesting wrinkle to our annual tradition. You want to clear that weekend now!

Tomcats Forever!

Tomcats are considering a nickname change for Soupy…the new-daddy-yet-again showed up to play only 4 days after the birth of child number three and his first daughter. Mom and baby are doing fine. Also doing fine is Soup Daddy as he was on a scoring tear last night. Soup Daddy was finding the back of the net all night, leading all scorers. Some Tomcats believe the fresh new supply of breast milk may be aiding in his elevated level of play.

And the scoring record for the Goal Scored by the Oldest Tomcat, held by Hurricane, continue to fall to none other than Hurricane himself as he popped in a couple more.

Teams:

Soup Daddy’s Stroller Pushers – Terror in net, Soupy, Hurricane, Animal, Bullwinkle and Green Giant

Snowy’s Bassinet Brawlers – Bender in net, The Professor, Rocky, Big Ned, Tonto, Snowpants and Chevy

Teams were fairly even but the Stroller Pushers proved to be too much and took both games.

For the Brawlers, Chevy had the hot hand. The motto for the evening was “keep fueling the Chevy.”

Play of the night came from The Professor when he split a defender by passing the ball through the defender’s legs, quick spin move, couple of ball moves and went top shelf on Terror. Watch for it on ESPN Plays of The Day.

Next week – Time to load up empties from the Tomcat room and bring them back to the beer store. Soupy willing to offer up Chico’s services for this.

December 8th and 19th – Let Soupy know about your attendance at the 519 Beer House on the 8th and let Rocky know about the 19th. 19th is last night of hockey followed by pizza and drinks downstairs.

Until next week,

Tomcats Forever!

The Tomcats provided their input on the completely overdone movie franchise by playing one of the fastest paced nights of hockey many can remember.

Not sure if there was something in the water this week but each team, every player, was moving at pace typical of the annual Saturday tournament. It to say the games were chippy…they were not. Very clean hockey, no funny business, but really, really fast moving.

The track teams were made up of:

Bender’s Bugattis – Bender in Net, Kamikaze, Bullwinkle, Animal, Hurricane, Soupy and Rocky

Falcon’s Ferraris – Falcon in net, Killer, Matador, Chico, The Professor, Snowpants, Doc and Shack.

The Tomcat Algorithm worked again as game one was won by a single goal for the Ferraris and game 2 was a tie. ChatGPT has nothing on the Tomcat Algorithm!

As with most weeks this year so far, goal tending was stellar. The Bugatti’s total the most team shots in a single night on record, but only put a few past Falcon. The legend was in top form it seemed. The planned and controlled reps for the aging Falcon appears to be working.

Also a historic night as 4 scoring records were broken! 4 in one night! You see, Hurricane scored 4 times and each goal he scores breaks his own record by being the latest goal scored by the oldest active Tomcat. Last night’s record is likely to fall again in the near future.

Solid Tomcat – Due to only 2 teams playing, the Terror was asked to sit out. However, the Terror came out to return some gear he borrowed and also help set up despite not being able to play. That guy is a true Tomcat! Any Tomcats ever ask themselves did I set up or tear down tonight? You should always do at least one each night.

Watch for email from Soupy for December 8th – gathering with significant others at The 519 Beerhouse in Tecumseh. Always a great time.

Final night of hockey is December 19th. Pizza and Drinks after hockey. All Tomcats old and new can come out. Give Rocky a heads up if you plan to attend so we can coordinate pizza order with Jingles.