SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2004 • HNA BEGINNER
LEAGUE
PHANTOMS vs. ICEMEN
Phantoms 4 – Icemen 2
ADDISON, IL – With his four days of playoff beard growth,
Greg “Grizzly Adams I Ain’t” Rolnick, resembled
more of a bohemian college freshman than a superstitious hockey
player with dreams of the Cup. But being playoff time, Rolnick
and the rest of the Phantoms scratched at their scruffy game
faces and put their faith once again in the power of team talisman
Gino Cavallini.
From the opening faceoff, the Phantoms controlled the tempo
of the game, keeping the action deep in the Icemen’s zone.
Sticking to their game plan, they continually dumped the puck
in and used their speed to beat the Icemen to the corners, where
they fought valiantly to dig the puck out and create scoring
chances. Although Rolnick and his linemates were held scoreless,
they had several solid chances.
It was another Phantom right wing who got things rolling this
time around, as Dave Deacon popped a rebound under the Icemen’s
sprawled out goalie for a 1-0 lead.
The second period began with Rolnick gliding to the faceoff
circle, only to be reacquainted with his favorite referee, who
just happens to have a thing for one Mary-Jo “Don’t
Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful” Rolnick. After assuring
the smitten zebra that M-J was indeed at the game, Rolnick hoped
this was some sort of awkward sign of good things to come. Besides,
making nice with the referees is always a solid game plan.
The game progressed much as it had in the first period, with
the Phantoms dictating the action on the ice, but finding goals
hard to come by. Deacon struck again off of a faceoff in the
Icemen’s end, when the puck bounced out to him at the
top of the circle and he deked right, around an Icemen defenseman,
and launched a wrist shot top shelf for the score.
15 minutes away from a shot at the championship, the Phantoms
knew that the third period would prove to be an eventful one.
In the opening minutes of the final period, the Icemen set up
camp in the Phantoms’ zone. As the puck kept barely missing
the net, Phantoms defensemen started throwing their bodies across
the crease like Bobby Orr after scoring the Cup winning goal.
Tido Tongwarin ended up in the front corner of the net, his
hand on top of the puck, which caused chaos to erupt all around
him. One of the referees held her arms above her head in an
“X,” while the Icemen began screaming bloody murder.
Thinking they had a penalty of some kind coming, the Icemen
berated the referee for her incompetence. At this point, the
enraged ref bellowed at the nearest Icemen, “Learn the
signs! Do you know what this means? Before you get up in my
face, you’d better make sure you know what the hell this
means!”
As it turned out, the referee saw Tongwarin’s transgression,
and had called a penalty shot. When the Icemen were informed
of the situation, they sheepishly backed off, as the Phantoms
snickered from their bench.
But the snickering was short lived, as it was now time for AJ
“This Is Not What I Had In Mind” Brandt to face
the Icemen’s best shooter one-on-one. Both benches began
banging their sticks against the boards cheering on their guy.
Although Brandt was an intimidating presence in net, the crafty
Icemen managed to slip one past, and get his team within one.
The Phantoms extended their lead again when left wing, Paul
Schultz, scored after a scrum in front of the Icemen’s
net. Although the Icemen claimed that the puck never crossed
the line, the referees did not agree.
The Icemen came roaring back and scored again to close the gap
to one goal, but Dave Deacon smashed their hopes by scoring
once more for his first hat trick. As he came back to the bench,
he was greeted with chants of “Gi-no! Gi-no! Gi-no!”
When the final buzzer sounded, the Phantoms came out on top,
and now get their shot at the Cobras and the HNA Beginner League
Championship.
Championship Game: Wednesday, May 19 @ 10:10pm in Addison vs.
the Cobras
GAME NOTES: Staying on the referee’s good side (no matter
how creepy), helped the Phantoms as they had one penalty to
the Icemen’s six…Rolnick was held scoreless for
only the third time this season … Victoria “Oh No
You Didn’t” Brandt was restrained in the stands
during the first period, when she threatened to “explain
the truth behind Santa Claus” to a five-year-old Icemen
cheerleader who called her husband a “big doody head.” |