Last week I created a firestorm of controversy with my article, so this weeks game report will be watered down. We live in a politically correct time where it’s considered bad form to have an opinion about anything. I will no longer call attention to poor officiating, because even though these guys are paid for their job and don’t take it very seriously, they shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions. I won’t say a thing about dirty players from other teams because kids shouldn’t learn there are consequences for their behavior. I won’t even mention individual players that scored goals, because it might make the kids who didn’t score feel bad.

            Hey, I’m just kidding. If some dude wants to cut and past my article, ignoring all international copywrite laws, and try to start something let him. I am biased. My kid plays for this team. I’ve grown fond of all of our kids and parents. If I see something that ain’t right I’ll say it. And for all those outside of the organization that don’t like it, I think you know where you can stick it.

            The Super Squirt Ventura Marines played host to the West Valley Wolves in the wee hours of Sunday morning. It looked like both teams were skating on molasses. One parent commented that the game looked like it was being played in slow motion. Thankfully, the early start time put both teams on equal footing. Still trying to recover from all the partying the night before, our kids got off to a slow start, letting the Wolves score on the first shift. This woke them up a little bit. Corey Pelone shook off the sleep and started attacking. Linemates Danny O’Donnell and Chad DiLauro generated some nice chances. Nick Guttenkunst, who I know for a fact was at the game, and Nick Cerezo fed off of Killian Anderson’s aggressive forecheck.

            The line of the day was Matt Johnson, Thomas Graves, and Kyle McNeil. Covered by two guys, Thomas took a pass from Matt and somehow muscled it in for the team’s first goal. With the game tied, the defense clamped down. Led by Justin Janik the blue-liners rubbed out all threats. Luke Tickle played physical. Tom Dobrokhot was intimidating. Mitchel Nash and Jared Turcotte played it smart. Dylan Levy was solid in net, keeping his team in contention. For most of the game, our kids held the puck and took it to the Wolves. Unfortunately, the Mariners found themselves two men down and West Valley took advantage.

            Down a goal with time running out, it looked like the boys might lose. The goalie got pulled for an extra attacker. The Mariners poured it on. Then, Big Matt slipped one in with 25 seconds left. The Wolves may have scored early, but our boys scored late. The game ended in 2-2 tie. A win would have been nice, but we’ll take the point.

            I had been planning to do a whole Halloween themed article this week. Basically it was about Dr. Paddystein and his assistants Raygor, The Creature From The Nash Lagoon, and the Jerewolf creating a beast known as the Marinermonster. Unfortunately, we were a couple of coaches short this week so it didn’t work out. Also, I usually check the accuracy of my reports against the stats, but I’ve been denied access. If any of the info is wrong, please understand my heart was in the right place.

            Incidentally, I felt the officiating in the Wolves game was good. If I’m going to slam it when it’s bad, I should praise it when it’s adequate.