EXTRA! EXTRA!!... Read all about it.
Finally, the curse is no more!
Yes, they finally did it! They finally looked that damn curse straight in the eye and kicked its ass all over the rink in the process. Ironically, Dave “the anchor” Hill and Gary “Stonehands” Goodwin finally won their first jacket together on the same team and once and for all put an end to all that “curse” talk. They can now proudly walk around and finally call themselves champions of the Over-30 league.
It took the Boston Red Sox 86-years to break their own curse. For Dave, this was 17-years in the making, while for Gary it was 10-years in the making. Many a player has tried to lead both Dave and Gary to the promised land of Over-30 championships and jackets, however, none has succeeded. Prominent names and legends of the Over-30 league such as Matt Iannello, Joe Shannon, Ed Nigro, Dan Broderick, Scott Young, Steve Witkus, Jamie Byrne, Denny Beaupre, Bill Mack, Rob Sheridan*, Doug Sedille, Jon Picard and Mark Micale have all tried and have all failed. The only two players who can boast that they were the first-ever to bring a championship to three of the longest suffering players on that dreaded curse list, are Franco Grutti and Dave Curcio. The only ones! They achieved the holy hattrick of winning Mike Fleming his first jacket back in the spring of 2006, and now have surpassed that by winning Dave and Gary their own jackets in the spring of 2010. Congratulations to both Franco and Dave (aka The Curse Breakers) on their historic accomplishment. You will forever go down in Over-30 lore as the true good luck charms of the league.
Congratulations to the Bad Call team, on winning a historic championship, as they soundly and emphatically defeated No Chance in hell by the score of 7 – 4. Even though Bad Call finished the season in third place with a 6-6 record, it was always stated that if they could find a way to come together as a team, they had the most potent offense in the Over-30 league. And what a time for them to come together, but in the playoffs, as they were without a doubt the best team in the playoffs. The combination of their big guns of Franco Grutti, Dave Curcio and Tony Medeiros each scoring timely early goals in the playoffs, together with solid goaltending which bricked up the net from Scott Rosato, along with the stepped-up franchise quarterbacking defense of Ray Dow (looking more and more like a true number 5 back there on defense), all played major roles in this run to the championship. Bad Call was not afraid to trade chances with teams and give up goals; they simply scored more on their scoring chances while limited the other team’s chances.
Heading into the playoffs, you would not have considered Bad Call a championship caliber team, as they suffered two one-sided losses and limped into the playoffs sporting a 1-2 record in their last three games of the regular season. However, they did gain some huge momentum when they defeated their opening round playoff opponent on the last game of the season by a 6-4 score. That game set the message and tempo to carry Bad Call on their winning playoff run. For No Chance in Hell, they held a grip on first place from the first week of the season and never let go, as they lost only one game all season and were the clear cut favorites to win this season’s championship. There was no mistaking their focus as they defeated their nemesis and defending champion Six Feet Under all three times they faced each other during the season. With veteran leadership, aggressive fore checking, solid defense and a rookie goalie having a career season, No Chance in Hell was poised to make some noise in the playoffs and claim what was theirs.
One factor that stood out heading into this game was the fact that No Chance in Hell held a 3-0 record in head-to-head competition when it played Bad Call during the regular season series. However, two of the three games were close one-goal victories. This game was shaping up as a close match-up of two teams playing an effective run-and-gun style of offense, and not afraid to trade scoring chances. The key to this game would be which team’s defense stepped up and played solid position while keeping the other team’s scoring opportunities more to the outside of the rink. And of course there were the goalies. Both Scott Rosato and rookie sensation Bill Gardynski Jr. matched up equally in talent; the question still remained which goalie would step up to make that timely save when it mattered in this game.
The game started out as we expected, as both teams traded scoring chances early and often, and the goals started adding up very quickly. With three minutes to play in the first period, a total of 5 goals were scored. Bad Call got on the board first at 8:31 as goalie Scott Rosato passed the ball up to Dave Curcio who spotted Franco Grutti standing all alone on the wing and made a quick outlet pass before No Chance in Hell could react. Franco’s long distance slap shot from the left wing found the top corner of the net to give his team a 1-0 lead. One minute later, at 7:31, John Mastrocola of No Chance in Hell evened the score at 1-1 when he scored from out front after some creative passing from Jamie Vlasuk and Tony Mastrocola. A minute later at 6:34, Franco Grutti regained the lead for his team on a similar outlet pass from Ray Dow, who spotted Franco standing on the left wing, and once again, Franco unleashed a booming long distance slap shot to put his team back in the lead at 2-1. Not to be outdone, and yes around a minute later, at 5:28, Mark Stickney evened this game at 2-2 when he scored in close as a result of some strong corner work and possession by Rick Cassano and Brian Dowd. The pace was fast and furious by both teams and before you could catch your breath, Brian Dowd was off to the races on a clean breakaway. This was the first key play of this game. Brian came straight down the middle on goalie Scott Rosato and faked to his forehand. Scott stayed right with him as Brain failed to roof his shot, and instead tried sliding it under the goalie. If Brian had managed to lift his shot, he would have scored and the momentum of this game would have dramatically shifted. Seizing the opportunity after this save, Bad Call’s Franco Grutti completed his natural hat trick when he scored at 2:42, on the power play, off a rebound of a Ray Dow shot after a great keep in on the point by Paul Castonguay, to put Bad Call back in front 3-2. This was one of the very best wide open periods of hockey this reporter has ever witnessed in the Over-30 league playoffs, and the shots reflected this as at the end of the first period, Bad Call outshot No Chance in Hell by an amazing 14-11difference.
Phew. This reporter was out of breath after that wild up-and-down exciting first period. As we suspected, things did settle down in the second period, but, only for the first five minutes. Clinging to a tenuous one-goal lead, the second key play of this game occurred at 5:50 when Ray Dow (who was the best defenseman of this game) dialed it up and sprung Dave Curcio up the middle, who split the defense and buried a shot from fifteen feet out to give Bad Call some breathing room, increasing their lead to 4-2. Just over 30 seconds later, at 5:17, Tony Medeiros scored in front off a rebound of an Eric Markee shot which was set up by Paul Gastonguay, to make the score 5-2 in favor of Bad Call. However, before Bad Call could say that this game was over, Mark Stickney scored 26 seconds later, at 4:51 with an in close shot under the crossbar, set up by Brain Dowd, to make the score 5-3, keeping his team within striking distance, and once again making this a hockey game. The pattern of witnessing goals scored quickly in bunches by both teams continued during the second period. At the end of the second period, No Chance in Hell was out shooting Bad Call by a 19 – 18 shot total.
The way this game was shaping up after two periods, everyone was expecting a high scoring finish. The third key play of this game and without a doubt the absolute killer sequence took place in the first minute of the third period. Talk about putting this game out of reach and providing your team with some breathing room, Bad Call exploded for two goals within 28 seconds of each other. First, Dave Curcio was set up by a pass from Jim Barber to break down the right wing and unload a booming slap shot past the goalie at 9:31, to make the score 6-3. Only 28 seconds later at 9:03, Jim Barber scored from in close off a rebound of a Franco Grutti shot that was set up by Dusty Caufield, making the score 7-3. This blitzkrieg of scoring essentially was game, set and match for Bad Call. No Chance in Hell did make it interesting as Mark Stickney scored with 3:45 left on a shot into the top corner of the net after some aggressive cycling by Brian Dowd and Rick Cassano, to account for the game’s final score of 7-4. All that was left for Bad Call to do was keep the ball moving and count down the seconds to history. When the game ended and the buzzer sounded, it was only appropriate that Dave Hill and Gary Goodwin were both on the rink to bask in the spotlight; it was a classic move on the Bad Call team’s part for ensuring that these two players were on the rink when history was made. The final shot totals favored No Chance in Hell as they out shot Bad Call for the game by a 28–24 margin.
Semi-Finals: On the road to the finals, Bad Call defeated Six Feet Under by the score of 4-3 as Jim Barber’s slap shot dagger of a goal, off the right wing with four minutes to play, was the game winner. Finally, Jim Barber had finished and for one game at least, Jim got to upstage his idol Matt Iannello. In the other semi-final playoff game, No Chance in Hell defeated Moving Forward by the score of 3-2 as Jamie Vlasuk surprised everyone with a partial breakaway goal off the left wing with only 25 seconds to play to give his team a spot in the finals.
A few historical facts to point out with this victory were: as mentioned previously, Franco Grutti and Dave Curcio became the first-ever Over-30 players to bring a championship to three of the longest suffering players on that dreaded curse list while winning their 5th jackets in the process; Franco won his second playoff MVP award; Dusty Caufield won his 4th jacket in only 8 seasons played in the Over-30 league; congratulations goes out to first-time jacket winners Dave Hill, Gary Goodwin, Paul Castonguay and Tony Visconte.
Congratulations go out to the historic Bad Call team for accomplishing what no other group of individuals has ever done before in the Over-30 league. The team consists of captain Gary Goodwin, Dave Hill, Franco Grutti, Dave Curcio, Tony Medeiros, Jim Barber, Eric Markee, Tony Visconte, Ray Dow, Paul Castonguay, Dusty Caufield and goalie Scott Rosato.
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