Crunch Time Virtuoso

The championship game exceeded the expectations of the 'Hooter' and most likely those of all Pirate and Stampede parents fans in attendance. The Center State team that had played so ineffectively against the Bucs the day before, must have gained great confidence in their victory over the previously undefeated Pelham team in their semi-final. That swagger grew as the Pirates got off to a particularly slow start in the opening period that ended with the teams tied at one on the strength of a CJ Greco goal which offset a Stampede power play score. Defenders were falling, open passes were missed, and shots went wide. What was going on here? Indeed, the 'grumpy geriatric' had thoughts of Marlborough revisited. And this ride is 300, not 200 hundred miles! Emboldened by their having stymied the Pirate attack the Stampede continued their opportunistic play with a second goal, again on the power play in the middle stanza to take a 2-1 lead into the final twelve minutes of play. And then a "It's A Wonderful Life" moment struck. During the unexpected resurfacing of the ice between periods 2 and 3 the 'Hooter' met his Clarance. The 'Yonkers Yakker' thinking he was had engaged a Stampede parent in conversation actually chatted up the father of the 13 year old youngster who was refereeing the game. To paraphrase this sage observer of youth hockey: "Blue will win this game...I've seen over 100 games my kid has officiated this year. White's spent, just watch." Barely turning his head back to watch the resumption of play in the third period, CJ Greco knotted the score on a great Luke Myers feed. Greco's spin-a-rama move at the crease (that proved the game winner) was the highlight goal of the season for this old timer. The artistry continued with a Greco conversion of a Krok pass to complete the natural hat trick and make it a 4 STAR performance. Anthony Margiotta put the cherry on this (5-2) classic by notching the final tally. As the old man headed down a rainy route 17 he turned to the bewildered Nana Lucy, "You know, it feels like Christmas to me. An angel got his wings tonight, for sure."