Season 14-15. Game 1. 11/2/2014

It's time to fire up the engines, rouse the old goose, crank up the bandwagon, and reach for the stars: It's another season of Madison Lightnin' Hockey!

After taking a year off to attend to The Droplet, I'm back to keep all of y'alls updated with my favorite hockey team next to the New Jersey Devils. And as with the new look New Jersey Devils, there's been a lot of changes in the roster of the Madison Lightnin'. So much so that I didn't know what was what. I was able to suss these facts: Warren Peas was in goal, the Bourbon Wall was [gasp] skating out, Vapo Rub as well as Pre-Rub were on the ice, Black Locust was out there causing the usual havoc. Snootch and Gimme Shelter (aka Shelter, nee Nicole's Friend) were also skating around.

It was good to see the familiar gang!

 

 

All five Lightnin' skaters and the goalie in one action shot!

 

 

None of the above included Timbers and Amanita. Timbers has gone the way of the Bruin, and Amanita reportedly got lured away to another WCHL team, whose name shall not be mentioned here. So sadly, there will be no cries from the bleachers, or in this blog, of "Amanita ... STONED!"

But there were some new skaters. Most notably, Scotch Seven:

Scotch Seven works the boards

In my playin' days, you always had to watch out for the skater with the scotch-taped jersey number. Or the player with the mis-matched jersey. This person had both! But alas, her skills - indeed the entirety of the team - were all for naught. Yes, naught. Against the mighty Madison Meteorites, they of the top division, they of the actual slap-shot taking variety, they of the cycling down low, the Lightning failed to register a goal.

Warren Peas stood tall for the first 8 minutes of the tilt. And then - BOOM. Boom, boom, boom. I took a bite from my sandwich, and then BOOM, another goal. By the end of the game, the Meteorites had scored 9. Top-shelf like it was Saturday night at the 2001 Odyssey.

I let in 9 goals several times in my playin' days. A bolstering thought: "They're not going to get 10!" I wonder what Warren Peas thought.

But eh ... first game of the season. And by all accounts, it was The Droplet's second-ever Lightnin' Game!

The Droplet pressing his bePackered butt against the glass - take that Meteorites!

Notes: With Asperatus gone, it is possible that I am become The Lightning's #1 Fan. Scary thought for I have too many responsibilities as it is (read: The Droplet).

Game 18. Playoff Game 1.

Playoff Game 1
Romeoville, IL

The Women's Central Hockey League playoffs have begun and I'm stuck in Madison watching the NHL. 

Schneider, one of four goalies I have in my fantasy hockey team

What's the Lightning's #2 fan doing?  As has happened several times this season, I'm missing a game because of work.  Tomorrow, I'm to board a bus to Milwaukee and teach for six hours.  

But I just got a text from Vito:

"Yo!  We won!  I potted one!  How was Lillyhammer?!  It suck?"

(I had told Vito that I was going to stay home, eat spaghetti, drink beer, and watch a Netflix original series.  That Netflix original series is called Lillyhammer, and it stars Steve Van Zandt, the guitarist for the E Street Band.  It didn't suck.)

I texted back.

"It has potential."

A1 rounded out the scoring in a game that was chippy, featured some questionable calls, and not a little bit of pushin' and shovin'.

The Lightning play two more tomorrow.  I'll keep all of y'all updated.

Game 17. Freeze Blue (H) (L)

Game 17. Freeze Blue (H) (L)

1. Hoover.

2. Warren Peas hurls a shutout - yes she only faced nine shots, but it is hard to keep your concentration when the puck is on the other side of the rink.  You start to think of what you're going to have for lunch, your husband in the stands, life in general.

3. I was waiting for this match-up all season: Pope versus Pope.  And when the Lightning was up by eight goals in the third, the forwards switched up with the defensemen and it was real Pope on Pope action!

4. This was the last game on the regular season, and most of the team convened at the old watering hall.  By my records, the Lightning went 17-1-1 and head into next month's playoffs heavy favorites. 

Game puck: Hlin (2 goals, 2 assists, +8, 24:03 TOI).  Incidentally, she earned the season's first game puck.

And now … on to the second season.

Game 16. Janesville Jaguars (H) (L)

Game 16. Janesville Jaguars (H) (L)

The Jaguars, now fully mad, came up to Madison to try to finally (finally!) defeat the Lightning.  I was just happy to witness it.  I can't call myself Lightning's #2 fan if I miss three games in a row, can I?  (Meanwhile, the Lightning's #1 fan was nowhere to be seen.)

The Jags looked leaner; their hair, more colorful, indicative of a youthfulness usually accompanied by a swiftness of foot.  I don't remember seeing that player before?  And where was Specs? 

Assistant Coach Johnny Bye-Bye was behind the bench, calling the shots, putting a calming hand on the excitable Vapo Rub.

Assistant Coach Johnny Bye-Bye settles the troops

The Lightning started out horribly, inept even.  Even with the Bourbon Wall in net, within two minutes the Jaguars scored two goals.  But Nicole and I weren't worried.  No, not at all. 

It was when the Lightning couldn't muster up the equalizers that we began to worry.  But then, this happened:

With less than ten seconds left, Nicole's Friend takes a desperation shot from behind the blue line.  The goaltender, obviously aware of how little time there was, kicks the puck away with her skate blade.  I repeat: she kicked the puck away with her skate blade.  Instead of re-directing the puck to the corner or covering it up with her glove, she kicked it away with her skate blade.  And as you know, you can't really kick it all that far. 

The goalie was obviously unaware that Nicole's Friend's line mate, Vito, was doing what all the kids should be doing: playing to the whistle!  Vito was to the goalie's right, exactly where the puck had been clicked.  She collected the puck, collected her thoughts, and lifted the puck over the surprised goalie's left pad and glove.  The horn sound: she scored!  The period ended! 

The game would end like that: 2-2. 

Game puck goes to Vito.

Game 15. Madison Thunder (A) (L)

Game 15. Madison Thunder (A) (L)
Saturday, February 9

Oh what a game to miss!  Any game where it was reported that Amanita had to help break up a fight - even now, typing these words a few weeks later I can't believe it - is a game I would've loved to have seen.

Apparently, some player on the Thunder got pissed at Snootch and punched her in the face mask.  After the game, this same player came over to Snootch and called her something like "the dirtiest player ever."  Tempers flared.  Amanita and The Bearcat, who actually coaches the Thunder, intervened. 

Might've been different had the Thunder won.  It's one thing to be a sore loser, and yet another thing entirely to be a sore winner.  (In my other life as a tournament Scrabble player, I've definitely met my share of sore winners - a strange group.) 

But let's give that Thunder player some play: what does it take to be called "the dirtiest player ever."  What is Snootch actually doing?  She may be the chattiest player on the ice, but dirtiest?  Again: C'mon!

Game puck goes to Snootch, just 'cause. 

Incidentally, this was the first game Vito missed.  In another life, Vito used to play for a club in California, and this weekend, a few of those players came to Wisconsin to participate in the Eagle River Pond Hockey Championship.  Playing for the San Francisco Treats, she got to hoist the cup!

Game 14. Janesville Jaguars (A) (L)

Game 14. Janesville Jaguars (A) (L)
February 2

Six skaters and Warren Peas against the increasingly angry Janesville Jaguars.  I certainly picked the wrong game to miss; I always liked watching undermanned teams prevail.  Yes, despite our numbers, the Lightning escaped with a win.  Despite racing out to a 6-1 lead, the Jaguars regrouped and nearly beat the depleted Lightning, rallying for four goals.  With less than thirty seconds left, the Lightning were clinging tenuously to a 1-goal lead. 

Those thirty seconds must've felt like hours!  But they gritted it out. 

Game puck goes to the Black Locust.  Why?  C'mon, despite logging in 36 minutes, you know she was flying all over the place!

Eggs from Nicole and Nicole's Friend's Chickens

Game 13. Rockford Hot Wings (H) (L)

Game 13. Rockford Hot Wings (H) (L)

The Bearcat Scowls

In another life, I wrote reviews of church rummage sales on Chicago's tony north shore.  Towns like Winnetka, Kenilworth, Wilmette, and Lake Forest featured the best church rummage sales I've ever had the honor to sneeze through.  These sales would take place in the recesses of the church grounds, featuring dusty rooms connected by warrens crowded with crazed deal-finders.  Whole rooms were devoted to "devotional objects", "baby", "a/v", "unctions."  It was heaven.

So when I caught wind of the annual United Methodist Church rummage sale on Madison's north side about a week ago, I made sure that I went.  Vito came along.  While I did not expect there to be multiple rooms, I did expect there to be at least some good junk. 

Alas.  My one "find" was a spoken word record that promised to cure me of "excusitis." 

A pastry at Manna Cafe and Bakery and then off to the Shell for a league game against the Hot Wings of Rockford, Illinois.  When I think of Rockford I think of poet Matt Cook who wrote a poem (or found a poem) about Rockford.  The essential element of that poem was that Rockford had a metal factory of some sort back "in the day" and that printed on the brick factory building - at the top so it could be seen from the interstate - was a huge sign that said: Rockford Screw.

Which caused me and the rest of the Cloud Posse - Asperatus and Nimbus in full effect - to at least worry for our one-loss Lightning.  Well, we also were worried because we were without Amanita, Gloster, and Hlin.  That's a lot of firepower missing!  (Also, no cries of "Amanita … STONED!" would sail forth in the cavernous ice arena.  Also also, I would offer no kind of overly officious salutes but thankfully unnoticed salutes to Hlin as she skated stoically off the ice.)

The first period fulfilled some worry.  The Lightning were playing as if they had hangovers!  Very unorganized.  Lots of bunching up on one side of the ice.  And even though somebody collides with teammate Black Locust every game … well, I was worried.  The Hot Wings were playing with a  lot of moxie.  JP Specs (# 54) was rocking her Kurt Rambus-like epnymous specs.  Plus, their coach was of the yelling variety. 

But the first goal proved to be the only one the Lightning needed.  While the play resulted in one goal, it resulted in multiple style points: another perfect give-go-give-go between the Bearcat and MJ, with MJ getting the goal.

The Lightning would eventually win 7-0.  The game was close for one and a half periods.  In the third period, it was all Lightning.  The Hot Wing failed to register a shot on net for all of 12 minutes!  Meanwhile, the Lightning turned it on.  The period began 3-0.  Two minutes in and the score was 6-0.  There were some excellent goals.  None of which were caught on video, but many were witnessed by a bunch of hockey dudes, waiting to get on the ice.

Hockey Dudes look on as the Bourbon Wall signals the icing

I will at least attempt to describe some of the goals, for many were quite beautiful.  Like this one in the 2nd period: Snutch takes a shot from near the blue line, and Nicole's Friend tips it in.  Just like they do in the NHL!

Vito had a couple of goals.  The first into a wide-open net, the goalie down after deflecting a terrific shot from Nicole's Friend, Vito smartly skating down the slot unmarked.  Her second, and this would end the scoring, was a very Hlin-like skate to the slot and shoot.

Alone time

The game puck goes to Nicole's Friend, who registered 4 points with 2 goals and 2 assists. 

Notes: Vito and I eschewed the post-game beers and lunch.  Instead, we drove west to Black Earth to get some really good meat (we bought a pork shoulder and a couple of ribeye steaks) at Black Earth Meats.  We also bought some shoes at The Shoe Box.  At home, I would take a stunning hour-long nap.  In contrast, after the game MJ went out for a run up and down a hill in preparation for a 50-km cross-country skiing race at the end of February.  In contrast, the Bourbon Wall and Nicole's Friend stuck around downtown waiting for the 2 PM game skating for the Meteorites. 



Finally, here's a link to a poem by Matt Cook:

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2009/11/23

Game 12. Madison Thunder (H) (L)

Game 12. Madison Thunder (H) (L)

Refs

The day after the Packers' ouster from the playoffs and the Lightning's first loss is sunny and filled with more hockey, more football watching, the Golden Globes, and episode 2 of season 3 of Downton Abbey: A Day for Lady E.  A return to the Lightning's winning ways was definitely in order.

This was a home game, so I was operating the 1's and 2's (aka the scoreboard).  Nimbus was  doing her part on the bleachers.  Asperatus was recovering from too much human contact and was reportedly at home "chillin' with the chickens."  I wish I could do that!

As for the game, almost all hands were on deck for the Lightning, and the Bourbon Wall was back in net.  She reportedly slept in her bulky goalie gear.  What was rousing was that everybody who played last night - and drank bloody Marys and draft beer last night - was here looking to redeem themselves.  Amanita, Hlin, Vito, MJ, Vapo Rub, Nicole's Friend, Timbers, Bourbon Wall were eager to be rid of the taste of losing in their mouths: yeech!  And the rinsing agent would be the Madison Thunder, whom the Lightning thrashed in their season-opening double-header. Helping them rinse: Snutch, Black Locust, The Bearcat.  Cheers for two lines!

The Thunder was much improved from that inauspicious start of their season.  But the rested Black Locust was on fire: she registered a couple of assists, benefiting first Amanita and then The Bearcat.  The Bourbon Wall faced 13 shots and turned aside them all for her umpteenth shutout. 

Without Coach TR, Coach HH, or Assistant Coach Johnny Bye-Bye, the team relied on the wise  words of The Bearcat, who had spent time last season actually coaching today's opponent! 

The Bearcat dispenses "ye olde words o' wisdom"

The Lightning won 3-0.  A game that was actually tighter than it should have been.  Game puck goes to the Black Locust.  Cherish it.

Never got to order The Bielema

Notes: I ate a veggie burger from Jordan's Big 10 Pub afterwards.  That burger is underrated.  None of my football teams won (with apologies to the lone commenter to this journal - and a public acknowledgement of respect to Evil Bill).  Jodie Foster FTW (sort of in a rambling way, um, huh?).   And - spoiler alert - EDITH!!!!!!

Game 11. Madison Meteorites (A) (N)

Game 11. Madison Meteorites (A) (N)

8:30 PM. Hartmeyer Ice Arena, Madison, Wisconson.

What happens on a Saturday night in Wisconsin when the Green Bay Packers are in an evening playoff game?  You expect to not have two full lines when you play your exhibition hockey game, that's what.  Which is what happened to our beloved Lightning at the Hartmeyer Ice Arena.  Luckily, it also happened to the top-division Madison Meteorites, who had only one skater on their bench.

What was not expected was this: Coach Hungry Heart, who helped lead the Lightning to victory in their first game against the Meteorites, arrived.  This was remarkable as many of you know, Coach H is actually on the roster for the UW Women's hockey team, and they had a game tonight as well!  That's dedication!  Although it should be said that she did not actually dress for the UW Lady Badgers.

Coach HH crosses the ice

All the troops

With the Packers and the 49ers tied, the View From the Clouds posse (including Nimbus and Asperatus) picked a bench and watched the proceedings.  Hartmeyer is nice: bleacher seating on both sides of the wide ice, affording good views.  Also, vending machine hot chocolate can be had for $.50.  Price goes up a dime if you want a large. 

After the first period, the Lightning faced their worst deficit of the season, down two goals to none!  A yell of "Hustle!!" quickly followed by what sounded like a lone shout of "LayYoFightLuongo!" and the Lightning were off.  The Bourbon Wall stood tall, and the understaffed Lightning generated chances on the understaffed Meteorites.

Against an unknown goalie, no not Warren Peas in a brunette wig, the Lightning came up short several times.  The cry of "Amanita … STONED!" echoed throughout the empty, cold, arena.  The sounds of the game fought for attention against the blaring television set, the broadcast of the Packers game cast an unsettling backdrop to the desperation of the Lightning.

On Amanita's second breakaway of the period, she held the puck a bit longer than usual, waited for the goalie to drop, and she slid through the crease and deposited the puck.  2-1 Meteorites.

Amanita deposits the puck.  Trust me.

The third period: awesome hockey.  I remember when I was in my playing days, playing league games that started at 11 PM on a Saturday night, one 50-year old defensemen playing the entire game, when pulling the goalie (me) meant putting your team a man down, scrapping out a victory.  I had hoped tonight would be one of those nights, so I took out my point and shoot and captured those hectic last moments of the game. 

A pulled goalie, a sustained attack, a mad scramble, the crowd chanting, the puck on Vapo Rub's blade, then MJ's ... and that's how it happened that the Lightning lost their first game of the season.  Coach Double H turned to the Cloud Posse and said, "I'm still 1-1 as a coach!"  Well, I was 1-1 after my first games as a goalie.

Notes: Went to Dexter's afterwards to catch the rest of the Packer game.  The place was still relatively crowded despite the by-now foregone conclusion.  Touchdowns scored by the losing team in blowout during garbage time are the worst kinds of scores in sports, don't you think?

Game 10. Sun Prairie Rage Blue (H) (L)

January 5, Saturday, 11:15 AM, The Shell

After a nearly three-week holiday layoff, the Madison Lightning looked to continue their unbeaten season against the Sun Prairie Rage Blue (as in Blue Division, not as in "rage so much that their faces turn blue").  A win today would be special: not only would it be 10 straight wins but it would be a "win one for the gipper" kind of thing.  The Lightning's first-year coach, Coach Thunder Road, is currently convalescing after surgery. 

Assistant Coach Johnny Bye-Bye rocking the fashion faux pas: two sports teams at one time!

But the Rage, division leaders as well and featuring some super fast skaters, including a player known only as "The Zero", had New Year's Resolutions of their own to keep: namely, "show those haughty Lightning what's what!"

It almost worked.  They almost prevented the Lightning from scoring in the first period, but a successful give, go, give, bounce, between Amanita and Nicole's friend with 4 minutes left to go in the first opened the scoring.  Who was to get credit for the goal?  The confused ref said "number 3" - Nicole's Friend.  Thirty seconds later, the ref comes by and says, "Give number 32 an assist" and voila, Black Locust tallies a point playing on Amanita's line.  Where was Vito, Nicole's Friend's usual wing pair?  She was off playing defense, subbing for the missing MJ. 

The Rage continued to play tight.  What was the phrase?  "Play up to the level of their competition"?  And so they did, matching shot for shot, playing with speed.  Warren Peas proved up to the task, lack of depth-perception be damned!  The second period: lots of drama, no scoring.

The third period proved to be the most exciting bit of Lightning hockey this season.  Who knew?  Even when The Bearcat scored a beautiful backhand goal (patent pending) to make it 2-0, the Rage would not wilt.  With Vapo Rub out for a tripping minor, the Rage scored in a scrum in front of the net.  It was a "play to the whistle" kind of thing, as the Rage coach kept yelling next to my ears goddamnit.  2-1 Lightning.  They pulled the goalie.  The Lightning sacrificed their bodies deflecting shot after shot.  And that's how it would end.

Notes: In a nod to the bonds that competition forges, the Lightning eschewed their usual post-game drinking hole to hang out with the Rage at their drinking hole.  And so it came to be that I ate my first veggie burger, accompanied with tater tots, of the year.

A distinctly average veggie burger

Game 9. vs Madison Meteorites (H) (N)

The Shell (Madison, Wisconsin)

In the tradition of all the great player/coaches, our own Thunder Road ditched her beloved NY Giants hat for a hockey helmet and skated with the Lightning as they took on the top division Madison Meteorites.  It was a rousing sight, but there was a real part of me that felt for the other team.  In my playing days (not over yet, knock on wood) we'd always mark the player with the mis-matched jersey.  "Watch out for number 11," they'd say, pointing out the player with the practice jersey with a number 11 made out with masking tape lazily taking slapshots from the blue line. 

Since this was a non-league game the results did not matter in the WCHL standings.  But you would not have known that if you were witnessing the game.  It's a sports maxim that you rise to the level of your competition.  And so it was.  Never had I seen the Lightning skate so fast and so determined as this morning. 

Yet late in the first, they found themselves in a 2-0 hole, victimized by the garbagiest of garbage goals, the result of the Bourbon Wall having gave up some juicy rebounds and the doggedness of the red division Meteorites.  Check out how ATM (#11 for the Meteorites) unlocks herself from MJ's usually top-notch defense.



A1 showed off her natural instincts, actually making two saves and nearly making a third with a stick poke.  As many Lightning insiders know, A1 used to be in the Union.  (And you know what they say: "Once in the Union, always in the Union.  That is, until your significant other convinces you to sell your damned stinky pads that are takin' up all the closet space and don't even think about it puttin' it in the space above the garage cuz I'm convertin' it into a yoga studio.")



But then the Bourbon Wall clamped down.  Clamped down hard.  Here's a few saves, including one from the opposing netminder, Warren Peas (!):


In the waning seconds of the first period, Hlin scored off a feed from Thunder Road.  Then the Lightning tied it up in the opening moments of the second.  Here's Thunder Road unassisted:



Later, Hlin scored the go ahead, and then Gloster* (nee Deren, nee Mama Jet) gave them a 2-goal lead, taking a backhand feed from Coach Road and scoring on her signature one-timer from the slot, five-holing poor Warren Peas.  Just like she does in practice.




All smiles for the team photo afterwards:

lying down: A1; kneeling: Amanita, Gloster, The Bearcat, Nicole's Friend
standing: Bourbon Wall, Snutch, Vapo Rub, MJ, Coach Thunder Road, Vito, Hlin, Purify, Warren Peas
missing: Black Locust, Timbers

Notes:  The game marked the first win in the young coaching career of Thunder Road's little sister, Hungry Heart.  The Green Bay Packers also won.  The game puck goes to Thunder Road who had 2 assists, 1 goal, a few sparks.  And all hats go off to Purify, who had her contract bought out by the Belfast Hockey Maidens in the N. Ireland league.  She'll be bringing some of that Madison Lightning spirit to the Irish Sea. 

Purify's last shift

* Gloster neatly combines experimental (the word behind Deren (see Maya Deren)) and jet. 

Updated odds on Meteorites v. Lightning

Vegas has changed the odds on this Sunday's matchup between the Meteorites and the Lightning, the what WCHL-fans are calling The Battle For the Skies.  Much like the Battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe, I think the winning team actually gets to take home the sky. 

Anyway, the odds:

Madison Meteorites +2 -140
Madison Lightning -2 +150

I suspect it's not because Vito just got her skates sharpened at Hartmeyer tonight.

Game 8. Brew City Blades (A) (L)

[Due to the Scrabble-laden post of Game 7's review, this post has no Scrabble content.]

Game 8. Brew City Blades Blue

The Pettit Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Ah, the Petit Center, site of my home/away games when I was the net minder for The St. Pats.  I checked how the old boys were doing this season and was not too surprised that they were pretty much how I had left them, just under .500.  "Leave the campsite as you left it."  I try to follow that motto at all times.

The Pettit was abuzz with activity: kids from 1 to 92 speed skating, folks in shorts jogging on the outer ring (having paid $7 for the privilege), kids selling Krispy Kreme donuts and hot chocolate to raise money for their speed skating team, a guy shooting off the starter's gun (and clearly getting off on it) to, well, start races.  General mayhem. 

I bought a donut and went to watch the Lightning play the Brew City Blades Blue, ready to sit back and enjoy the carnage.  The Lightning had shutout the Blades 8-0 a month ago.

But I did not witness hockey carnage.  I did not witness a much-hoped for Amanita Ovechtrick (definition: 9 consecutive scores in an athletic competition).  I witnessed the unwitness-able: The Lightning were held scoreless in the first period!  Sure the team was missing Snutch, MJ, The Bearcat, and Deren, but to not score in the first period?  Unheard of!

Props should be given to the oft-beleaguered Brew City Blades goaltender, who was making some Original Six style saves. 

But the wall came crumbling down in the 2nd period.  The line of Nicole's Friend and Vito, centered by Amanita came through with two quick goals.  The first scored by the opportunistic Vito, who top-shelved a rebound from a hard shot by Nicole's Friend.  This was rise-out-of-your-seat stuff!  It was then that I decided to put down that donut and take out my video camera to hopefully get some action.   This is what I got:



Afterwards, Vito, Timbers, The Scoot, and I went to Corazon Cafe to get some Mexican grub in Riverwest, my old stomping grounds.  During the car ride over, I told Vito that she was going to get the game puck.  She protested, saying that it belonged to Nicole's Friend, who also had two goals and assisted for at least one of the other goals.  But her protests fell on ears deafened by love and desperation.  "Take the game puck, Vito!  It isn't often you get a 2-goal game." 

Puck taken.

Notes: Next Sunday, the 8-0 Lightning face the Madison Meteorites of the Red Division.  That's the top division in the WCHL.  It'll be the Lightning's first major test of the season.  Vegas currently has the puck line at a remarkable Madison Meteorites -1.5 +120 / Madison Lightning +1.5 / -130, and that's on the rumor that The Bourbon Wall is going to be in net for the Lightning.  The over/under, by the way, is 5.5.  Call your bookies!  This is going to be a hot one.

Game 7. Green Bay Dragons (H) (L)

Game 7. 

Blooming Grove Town Hall, Town of Blooming Grove, Wisconsin

There's not many things in life that would make The View From the Clouds miss attending a Madison Lightning hockey game, but a chance to spend $25 to hang out with these folk is one of them:

One of these Scrabble Sharks actually played the word YAKITORI on me

Yes, these are the people that made up the top division of the Madison "Winter" Scrabble Tournament, from Verona's Dastard Deltiologist to Chicago's B#*ch B#*ch Bingo.  Foremost among them is Magellan, the number one seed in a field populated by proven experts and past National Champions.  Hell, The One Circa 1981 represented the United States in Poland in last year's World's.

I was the 6th seed and, over a span of 8 games, I was expected to win "3.4" games.  Unfortunately, I won less.  I mean, it is a bit intimidating playing on a board like this:

In Scrabble's hey-day, the tourney directors gave the champions of each division a personalized board

But the day was not a total loss: The Lightning dispatched the Green Bay Dragons 8-0.  I learned this while talking to Vito over the phone after the game.  A bunch of the players were at the watering hole tossing back a few cold ones.  The phone call went something like this:

A View From the Clouds: Hi. 

Vito: A-yo!  How'dju do? 

AVFtC: Ah, not so well.  I went 2 and 6.  The Dastard just destroyed me by, like, 200 points.  He pulled the bag, though.  Guy plays "towering" with two blanks.

Vito: Yo!  F*ck that guy, he can't hold your jock, man.  You use them golden racks? 

[Vito was referring to my special gold racks.]

AVFtC: Yes, I did use the gold racks.  I let Zig use one of them.

Vito: WHAT?!?  Man, don't evah let that douche use yer gold racks.  He has enough mojo as it is.  Did he beat you?

AVFtC: Yes, he beat me.  He played "hieratic" during the end game. 

Vito: See?  So I guess we ain't going to Sizzler.

AVFtC: No, we're not going to Sizzler.  Um, how'd you guys do?

Vito: Us?  8-0 win, dog!  We were the Dragons' second opponent today, so … yeah, no sweat.  Game puck goes to Purify, she had a couple of goals.  She was feelin' it. 

AVFtC: Purify.  Check.  Good for her.

Vito: And don't worry about Sizzler.  Apparently, it's going down at Timbers' tonight.

[click]

Notes: I went 2-6 with 14 bingos - including BIOPICS, EPISCIA, and STIRRUPS - and my rating went down from 1542 to 1514.  Also, Guluth is a tropical location.

The action at Timbers'

Game 6. Janesville Jets (H) (L)

The Shell, Madison, Wisconsin
mood: rushed

The day marked the introduction of Warren Peas, the Lightning's other goaltender.  Followers of the team will already know that a few teammates moonlight for other hockey clubs.  Such is the climate in hockey-crazed Wisconsin.  One of these players is our own Bourbon Wall, the goaltender who back-stopped the Lightning to a WCHL championship two years ago.  This season, she's also in net for the Baraboo Bugaboos.  (And frankly, I would play for the Bugaboos if only to get a sweater.)

So, with nobody too worried about the opposition (the understaffed Janesville Jets who had managed only 6 shots against the Lightning in their previous game), all eyes were on Warren Peas.  And not only because she was making her Lightning debut, but also because she was coming back from a concussion sustained in the team's 3rd practice session back in October.  AND apparently, she was coming back with a marked lack of depth perception, a skill sort of handy when your job is to keep track of vulcanized rubber coming at your from all angles.  Some team officials think that Warren Peas had always lacked the ability to perceive depth and satire, speculating that this malady is not related to her recent concussion.  To this I say "Bosh!  Goalies march to a different drum!  They are cut from the tie-dyed wool!  They make their own kool-aid!  If a goalie can rely on the sounds and smells of the game - as I believe Warren Peas does - then so be it."

And except for a first-period goal that surprised her, she looked good in goal:



Hlin again opened up the scoring.  This time with a sweet wrap-around.  As a goalie, I hated giving up these goals because it's basically a matter of speed.  Can I move from one post to the other, a mere 6 feet, faster than it takes for the skater to circle behind the net and extend her stick just beyond the post to stuff the cradled puck into the net?  For those in the Union, these are the goals you hate to give up. 



The Bearcat scored a beautiful goal later in the first.  Sprung by a pass by Amanita, The Bearcat raced in behind the defense, deked, and then went to the back claw and snuck it beneath the goalie's flailing glove hand.



In the third period, the team rallied to fulfill Amanita's goals-per-game clause in her contract, but she was stoned at least twice by the now-stinkin'-mad Janesville Jet goalkeeper.   



But eventually, Amanita and Nicole's Friend performed a near-perfect "give and go."



The 7-1 victory seemed like mere formality, and it was very difficult to decide who deserved the game puck.  But then Amanita produced this at lunch:



Then it was like: no doubt.

//

Buoyed by the success of the still undefeated Lightning, in the afternoon, The View From the Clouds romped at Scrabble Club at the Eastside HyVee, going 4-1 with 13 bingos.  In my first game, I played HIDALGO, TIRRIVEE and DASTARD. A tirrivee is a "tantrum."  For example: "As part of her tirrivee, Janesville player #6 throws a body check, putting her team at the disadvantage."



And when I got back to the homestead, I found that Vito had made a yummy squash galette and my favorite Brussels sprouts dish.



Then we watched the Big 10 Football Championship and It's a Wonderful Life on TV.  We're all winners!

Game 5. Freeze Blue (A) (E)

Game 5.

Stoughton, Wisconsin. 

Oh, how I wished I could have attended this game.  The drive to Stoughton from Madison over that dark, two-lane blacktop, is a bit harrowing.

Yes, I missed my second Lightning game this season, having been dispatched earlier in the day via Badger Bus to Milwaukee to earn my keep, and then eat Turkish meatballs and discuss the pros and cons of dyeing hair. 

But a cloud rarely lofts alone, and while I was weighted down by reports of both the KSU Wildcats and the UO Ducks losing, I was buoyed by a text that the M Lightning had won, and had won against the formidable Berlie, the very same netminder that filled in last week's match at Janesville. 

Berlie would not be spared.  Reports came in that the goaltender was actually chased.  Chased!!!  In an exhibition game in the WCHL. 

Additional reports came in with Amanita's natural hat-trick, Hlin's outburst in the locker room ("Me bored!"), the Lucas Cates Band at the Main Street Pour House, and the controversial mac-n-cheese, decried by the Bourbon Wall in a diatribe that lasted well over 45 minutes. 

Game puck 5 games to Amanita.  Maya Deren rounded out the scoring.  See you in a couple of weeks.

Notes: I suffered my worst night at Scrabble Club earlier this week, going 0-5 with only 3 pedestrian bingos.  During that run of bad play, I threw a fit, as much as a fit as decorum allows in Scrabble club: my opponents plays the nice FLENSER, and then actually invited me to challenge that word!  I  hissed, "FRESNEL scores more."  In actuality, it didn't, but that wee outburst did give my opponent pause.

Knows FLENSER but not FRESNEL.

Game 4. Janesville Jets (A) (L)

As Goes Janesville

It had rained all the way down to Janesville where the Lightning met fellow grey-division hockey team the Janesville Jets.  To celebrate the occasion, I wore my gaudy green New York Jets sweater. 

Both Jets would lose tonight, leaving me with simple yet mixed feelings:

Have the Lightning been too dominant?  Shots on goal tonight favored them 6 to 27.

Is Mark Sanchez really that bad?  The offense hasn't scored in a touchdown in years.

Should Vito and I go over to the Stone Barn afterwards?  Vito's still feeling under the weather and we haven't watched our requisite 10 hours of Friday Night Lights this weekend.

Should I expound on that one bit in my last post about "this nation's flawed two-party system"? 

Yup, but remember last year when we only managed six shots a game?
I guess, but it's all a part of god's (via Tebow's) plan for Jets dominance.
Will there be burgers?
And a resounding NOOOO!!  But wouldn't the Republican Party be so much better if the Tea Party actually became their own party? 

The Lightning won.  They scored six goals to the Jets' one to start the season 4-0. 

They once again put on the clamps and played suffocating hockey.  They played Original Six hockey!  (I don't know what that means but in all my years of listening to hockey on the radio, I've not heard that been used.)

I hadn't seen a defensive performance like this since, well, yesterday.  But no, really, I hadn't seen a game like this since that time in Ashwaubenon when The Bourbon Wall had to serve a suspension in the middle of a weekender against the Green Bay Goon Squad.  Timbers, our stalwart center, had to renew her Union card and do the Hungry Hippo in net.  Back then the Lightning also turned up the screws to achieve victory.  Tonight, with The Bourbon Wall moonlighting up in Fond du Lac - great Supper Clubs in those parts, I hear - the Lightning recruited the diminutive in stature, not of heart or stock, one-named goalie: Berlie.  An unknown quantity, the Lightning would take no chances.  But Berlie proved up to the task.  That one goal she let in was a two-post ringer.  Left post, right post and out, only to be stuffed back in by a swarming Janesville Jet.  Darren Pang, eat yer heart out!

Berlie

No Worries, the Slot's Covered

So I'm really enjoying the defensive play.  Tonight, without A1 or Snutch, I got to see plenty of Hlin, Michael Jordan, Bearcat, and Vapo Rub.  Great passing, great control during the power plays.  Me and the crew marveled at Vapo Rub's thieving abilities.  Was that her blowing up what last year would've been a two-on-none?  Was that her scoring a goal in a solo effort in yesterday's game?  I cannot WAIT to see her go up against her mom in a future contest.

The first period was great.  I did not know what to expect from Janesville.  Certainly they were going to be a bigger challenge than the Brew City Blades Blue.  So it was with relief that I witnessed Deren (nee Mama Jet) score the first goal of the game from the slot: a sweet one-timer that even put her to her knees.  Classic.

Deren's on the right.  The puck is still in the air, in the net.

In the second period, Vito netted her first goal of the season.  She lofted the puck chest-high towards the net and an opponent's stick tipped it over the goalie.  That's exactly how it's written it up in all the play books.  Way to go, Vito!  Who loves ya, baby?!

Amanita, after dishing out three assists in the Saturday game - on her birthday no less - put in two top-shelf-ers of her own tonight.  But she would pay the price: she was witnessed limping' n' grimacing' after the game.  Clearly the Lightning's best offensive player and mycologist, an injury to Amanita is an injury to all.  But wouldn't it be just the thing to rally around?!?

Timbers Enjoying the Moment

Notes:
Richard the Dastard Deltiologist, repping Madison in the Twin Cities in this weekend's Scrabble tourney, having led most of the way, lost in his last game to fall to third place.  Can't wait to see the bingo report, though!
Six fans, including the View From the Clouds, made the trip down to Janesville to support their Lightning.  The posse's only going to get bigger, folks.
Game puck #4 goes to Amanita, who came away with 3 points tonight, making 6 for the weekend.

Blowout

Blowout

Obligatory Scrabble post: the word "kidvids" is indeed playable in Scrabble.

 
Yes, your spell check is going to try to change that word to "kiddies", but don't make that blank an "e", make it a "v" so that your opponent (and you) can laugh at the word while challenging it.  When the challenge comes back in your favor, you take the last tile out of the bag and empty your rack, ending the game.  When you collect the points off your opponent's rack, you have enough points to win.

Not that the Lightning needed an late-game heroics to win their game today.

I was wrong to say in my inaugural post that the Brew City Blue was "despised."  The Brew City team that the Lightning despise is some other color.  Not blue.  "Blue" references not the color of one of the two political parties in this nation's flawed two-party system.  No, "blue" refers to the level of ability. 

In the Women's Central Hockey League, teams are placed in five sub-leagues, based on that team's level of ability.  There's the "green" league for beginners.  For the best players, there's the "red" league.  Green, blue, grey, white, and red.  Our Lightning belong in the grey league.  Last year, they played in the white league and won one league game, maybe. 

And so the Brew City Blades Blue team the Lightning faced today was actually playing a division up.

That's how it goes in the league.  Eventually, the Lightning will play the teams in the "white" division: U Wisconsin B, Fond du Lac Lightning Bolts, Madison Freeze White, and the despised Brew City Blades White.  Supposedly there they'll find a more evenly-matched game.  The Lightning will also play up to the white division.

Today, the Ligthning were expected to win and win they did.

The first two stoppages of play in the first period were due to goals scored by the Lightning.  MJ opened the scoring with a chest-high floater from near the blue line.  I like these kinds of shots: pucks wristed off the surface, through some traffic, somewhat surprising the goaltender, and finding a way into the net.  Snutch would score another one of these in the third period. 

The second goal of the game was scored by the incomparable Hlin, who doggedly stick-handled from the left circle to the top of the slot and shot. 

Then, on and on from there.  There were some chippiness (defined: hockey play) that was taken in various ways that ultimately led to Timbers being the beneficiary of some stellar passing.  Timbers positioned herself in front of the net numerous times, and stuffed sure passes into the net three straight times for a natural hat-trick to close out the blowout, 8-0. 

Throughout, the Bourbon Wall (nee Murmuring Wall) faced a sad total of six shots, one in the first, and five in the second, and none in the third.  None in the third.  I thought back to my goal-tending days and how I disliked, somewhat, the lack of shots against me.  It's true, having the puck on the other side of the ice kind of takes you out of the game, such that when you finally face some shots, you are not at your mental peak.  But the Bourbon Wall did make all her saves, and a few of them were good shots.

Despite that, I have to award the game puck to Timbers, who survived being tripped by the ghost of the Shell, to score that natural hat trick in less than 4 minutes.

Timbers

Notes: Vito left the game soon after the beginning of the second period, citing sickness, and smartness: better to conserve energy for tomorrow's game against Janesille Jaguars.  All but Mama Jet found herself on the score sheet.  But only Mama Jet had a film in the 2012 Milwaukee Short Film Festival.  The View From the Clouds had a film in the 2012 Milwaukee Short Film Festival, too, sort of.  The View from the Clouds had composed music to the film Missed Connections, directed by Susan Kerns and Kara Mulrooney.  That film, like the Lightning, won as well.

Season-Opening Double-Header

November 3, 2012. The Shell.

Muchly anticipated this side of Manna Bakery and Cafe, the Madison Lightning's season began today with a home and away doubleheader against the Madison Thunder.  Both games were played at The Shell.

Hlin, who had eschewed all semblance of a pre-season ala Lawrence Taylor, scored in her first or second shift in the first period to lead the Lightning to their first league win. That win either ties or eclipses the number of wins they had in their god-awful previous season. The Bearcat and Amanita rounded out the scoring, with Amanita finding the back of the net once, and some crossbar another time.

I wish I could detail some of these goals because at least one of these could have been classified as "beautiful", complete with nice passes, with being patient with the puke, a frozen goaltender. There even might have been a backhand shot there. But the View From the Clouds was sitting at the far end bleachers. The only goal I really got a good look at was the sole strike against the Lightning in the 3rd period.  The Murmuring Wall lost her shutout on an excellent backdoor goal by Rudolf.  I can't specify the time because the score board wasn't in operation.  The one and only key that unlocks the scoreboard control board had been misplaced! So ... no horn to mark the end of the period.  Instead the refs just blew on their whistles long and hard.

After the game, I caught a glimpse of the new coach walking out of the locker. She was sporting a NY Giants winter hat. I was wearing a Green Bay Packers winter hat. We did not acknowledge each other, despite me having attended her practices dressed in a Hartford Whaler away jersey.  Should I have said: "Good game, coach!"? Having actually never had a coach aside from my high school public speaking coach (and I just called him Mr. Donahue), I still think it's a pretty big deal to call somebody "coach." I used to get a big kick calling the legendary one-eyed coach for the Lake Forest College Foresters men's hockey team "coach." In the 90's, I did a bunch of skating at Lake Forest College during open skate and I'd see him every now and then kicking the bleachers or looking for lost puck.  "S'up, coach!" I'd say even though he did not know me from Sam.  

As part of my duty, I accompanied most of the team to Jordan's Big 10 Pub for lunch.  I ate a veggie burger slathered with mayo, ketchup, and mustard.  It was much better than the veggie burger I had last night at Ale Asylum.  But it still only rated a 52 out of 100.  At the pub, Young Jet drew up this play:

It's called "TWO-TWO-NO-EAT-CHICKEN-STRIPS."  It describes a gleeful yet suffocating penalty kill (with the goalie pulled).  The Bearcat clandestinely wolfed down the chicken strips.

I forwent the afternoon game.  Instead, I attended the Madison Scrabble Club at the Eastside HyVee, where I went 2 for 4.  During my last game, I played the improbable word KURTOSIS.  Perhaps even more improbably, my opponent knew what KURTOSIS meant.

 
While I was playing Scrabble and eating cake, the Lightning went on to shutout the Thunder to start the season 2-0.

Judging from what I observed in the first game, I'd say the Lightning seemed cohesive and the defense looked sound.  Credit the latter to the return of Super Snutch and the team's new addition, Michael Jordan.  Or give credit to the new coach?  Or to the fact that the Lightning are now playing in an "easier" league.

Game Puck #1 goes to Hlin.  Game Puck #2 goes to The Murmuring Wall. Next game is 11/10, also at the Shell versus the despised Brew City Blue.