Mona Shores Blogger Reviews the Game

Casual fans of Mona Shores Sailors hockey could not be blamed if they didn’t notice the changes with the Sailors Monday night at the opening Regional Playoff game against the coalition forces from Muskegon Catholic Central, Spring Lake, and North Muskegon at the Lakeshore Sports Centre. It seems for the past week, the MS players got together in a show of unity and agreed to grow out peach-fuzz-like playoff beards, almost to a man, for their game against the Crusaders/Lakers/Norseman, a.k.a. The Crusaders, in what had been billed as the Battle for Pat Rabbit’s Hat. Under the harsh lights of the Lakeshore Sports Centre, when the Sailor’s student-athletes stood still and you looked closely from the proper angle, you could nearly see the new growth among the more pale-faced athletes. School administrators and coaches alike looked the other way during the week, understanding the importance of superstition and tradition in hockey, as well as the intimidation that only untamed facial hair brings to a sporting contest. Perhaps the most impressive beard of all was that of defenseman Brendan But Don’t Break Sturr, as you can see by the attached photo.

It’s unknown whether the Sailors victory could be attributed to the razor boycott or the revealing of the black playoff jerseys, but whatever the reason, Mona Shores was relieved to escape the Lakeshore with a 3-0 win over the inspired Crusaders. MCC, with outstanding goaltending by freshman Tommy Marine, fought off a firestorm of shots by the visiting Sailors, who held a precarious lead of 1-0 after two periods. Early in the third period, in a play which could have changed completely the complexion of the game, MCC wristed a puck off the glass from the red line. After hitting a mullion, the puck took a wacky Lakeshore bounce and looked to be headed for the left side of the Sailors’ goal after Scottie "Mr. T Starter Kit" Tiefenthal had shifted to the opposite side of the net to play the puck carrier. Instead, the puck skidded wide, laces out, as it crossed over the goal crease within inches of disaster, or elation, depending upon where your loyalties lie. Personally, I was somewhat torn, since MCC is my alma mater, but MS is my new public school home.

At the 4:07 mark of the first period, both teams played musical benches in a battle of wits to gain a lineup advantage before a face-off in the Crusaders zone. Players looked fatigued and the referees perturbed at the shuttling of personnel from bench, to ice, to bench, and back to ice again before the merciful drop of the puck. David "Chicken of the C" Coppock introduced himself to Marine with a forehand to backhand goal at 5:51, with assistance from Kyle "Mini Sticks" Hicks and "Bad Bret" Grevel. At 9:37 in the first, a Sailor high sticking penalty led to a coast to coast rush up the ice by Adam Pieczynski on the powerplay, with a save by Tiefenthal. The Sailors countered that attack with a nifty rush of their own with 3:34 remaining, when Tyler "Hand Model" McCarl dished to JC "Big Boyd", then back to McCarl; shot/save by the Gamper-like Marine.

Sailors shots continued to grow faster than the hair on Sturr’s face in the second period, with the Sailors outshooting their rivals by a tally of 14-4 in the second. Undeterred, Pieczynski, who regular readers of the WMHSHBlog may remember from his Robin Bouchard-style scoring streak, twice barreled in on Tiefenthal unmolested, including going airborne on the second play to avoid a Sailor defenseman, and drove the puck in one-on-none, save for Tiefenthal, who saved it. In between Pieczynski’s advances, two point-blank Sailor shots just a goalie’s stick length from the net in front of Marine were cast aside. A Sailor interference penalty with 8:15 remaining in the second led only to multiple blocked shots by Shores’ defensemen, leaving Tiefenthal unscathed. It wasn’t until with 5:23 left in the second when two would be scorers for the Crusaders were presented with green and golden scoring opportunities from out front of Tiefenthal, but both shots went wide. With the score still 1-0 Sailors, fans on both ends of the bleachers wondered if Pat could pull a Rabbitt out of his hat in the third.

But the third period, despite opening with the first "M-C-C" chant of the night led by my traitorous but loyal Catholic fan father, belonged to the Sailors. Shores blasted away, taking chinks out of Marine, who had more saves at this point than Billy Graham on a Sunday morning televangelist marathon. Five and half minutes in, Taylor "More Moves Than U-Haul" Moore, who also has more goals per calorie burned than any Sailor player, solved Marine like an egghead with a Rubik’s cube, on a rebound goal. Less than four minutes later, Moore took a perfect pass from Grevel at center ice. It took a couple of strides before Moore realized the puck was on his stick, but once he did, he went wide right around the circle, and dipped his shoulder on the backhand before pushing the puck in the net on the forehand side, before brushing his shoulder off like a gangster.

MVP pucks were handed out by Sailors coaches both to the scorers and to Ryan "Rhinoplasty" Mylenek, who was a close second to Tiefenthal on the Sailors with 8 blocked shots. Final shots were 42 - 10 in favor of the Sailors. The hit of the game went to Drew "Scotch Guard" Skocelas, who lambasted a Crusader inside the MS zone with such force that all public skaters on the adjacent rink simultaneously fell over.