Walpole, MA – The power and skill displayed by Tragakis and Lutfy in the 2nd period of Monday Night’s tilt, was not enough to push the Penguins past the Scorpions in what ended up being a gut-wrenching 4-2 loss at the Iorio Arena.
Both Tragakis and Lutfy scored in the 2nd period, briefly tying the game, but the Scorpions maliciously attacked Penguins' goalie Roode, leaving him unconscious in the crease, and allowing them to score the go-ahead goal in order to break the tie.
“We just assumed he was sleeping,” explained Bert Musher, head official during the game. “When we saw him lying there, face-down in a puddle of his own vomit, he just looked so peaceful we didn’t want to disturb him with the piercing blast from the whistle. It was awkward when the Scorpions’ players actually skated on his back and scored, but again how were we to know he had been knocked out? We don’t watch everything that goes on during a game!”
This was Roode’s first game back after suffering a concussion, only to be leveled by a Scorpions player who steam-rolled him into the net, and left him sprawled in a scrap-heap in front of the net. The referees, who refused to blow the whistle for the infraction, were quick to blow the whistle when one Scorpion managed to adroitly flip the puck over Roode’s limp body to break the tie.
“Let’s not rush to judgment on this one,” stated John Richie, spokesman for the NESHL. “Game six of the Summer Season is like the NHL playoffs, we don’t want whistles being blown over silly things like a goalie being knocked unconscious. Besides, it is harder than it looks to flip a puck over a motionless, limp body lying on the ice. It was quite a goal!”
The loss has had a drastic effect on the Penguins management and players alike, and the miserable start for the team has perplexed everyone including former captain Chris Eighmy. The former captain, who spoke from his rocking-chair on the porch of the Shady Oak Rehabilitation Center, in Sperryville, Minnesota, had a lot to say about the state of the Penguins.
“It seems apparent what the problem is,” stated Eighmy from the Rehab Center. “We made it to the championship game when I was playing, and the team is in the basement since I left. Could it be any more painfully obvious? I would be surprised if they win another game this season now that I’m out of the mix.”
These words of encouragement did not sit well with the team, especially the handful of players that have been around since the early days when the team was known as the Walpole Flyers.
“Jefe Del Huevo? Jefe is nothing to me now,” stated Youngblood after hearing Eighmy’s comments. “He’s not a brother, he’s not a friend. I don't want to know him or what he does. I don't want to see him at the rink, and I don't want him near my house. And if he visits one of my teammates, I want to know a day in advance, so I won't be there. You understand?”
With the odds stacked against them; a losing season, a disgruntled former captain and constant infighting, the Penguins have an uphill battle in order to get the team back on track. If the hapless Penguins can’t right-the-ship, they will end-up pulling a Luongo, and go from playing in the championship game to flipping burgers with an early exit to the off-season.
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