On Game Day, Players Left Team Shorthanded

Fair-weather P-Hickey and No-show R-Tenaglia separated themselves from their Penguins’ teammates the other night when they refused to join the team at the rink, during a game centered on beating the Herd and moving up in the standings.

The two players issued separate statements, released by neshl.net and on their respective Facebook pages early this morning. Although both players had different reasons for not playing, both of them cited disillusionment with the U.S. government.

“I believe the U.S. Government has grown out of control," P-Hickey stated, “threatening the rights, liberties, and other fun stuff that we want to do. I’m tired of waiting until I’m 16-years old in order to drive a car! I can’t wait two more years!! The man is just trying to hold me down!"

“I don’t want to play any more,” admitted R-Tenaglia. “My brother is so much better than I am, it is embarrassing. Why isn’t the U.S. Government doing anything about this? I’m the brother that doesn’t spark-up before our games and yet somehow I’m the one that looks stoned out there! I hate him!”

We can all appreciate their right to say all of that and more, it is a free country, and they can sing this kind of absurdity from their home, the ice, and the bathroom stalls at Iorio.

But this game was not about politics until these two made it about politics. The game, long set on the calendar, was a game when the Penguins were to play their arch nemesis the Herd. It was their day in the hockey spotlight, until these clowns didn’t show, and then the focal point became the two guys who were no longer on the ice.

Shabby. Immature. Unprofessional. Self-centered. Bush league. Need I go on? All that and more applies to what they did, on a night when the rest of the Penguins players willfully joined the battle against the Herd.

The only good news was that with both of these players out of the line-up, the Penguins were poised for victory. However, Curhin did show-up, so the Penguins settled for a 4-4 tie.