Arrowhawks drop depleted Leafs 4-3

DUBLIN, OH - If you've ever won a $5 lottery ticket on the first scratch or stumbled upon a $20 bill on the sidewalk you know what it's like to be lucky. If you've played hockey for 10+ years against teams like the Clown Punchers (best name ever) or More Cowbell (ok, maybe they have the best name ever) and scratched and clawed your way to the top, you appreciate games like tonight's, a 4-3 nail-biter Arrowhawk victory -- tiny bit of luck but mostly hard work.

Arrowhawk goaltender James Santho was brilliant in the win. So was the Hawks top line of league leading point man #25 Kevin Griffith, top goal scorer #27 Bryan 'Ginger Wizard' Wharton and journeyman #11 Rick Titus who were a combined plus-8 on the night. (is that possible? do we add up the points or is an aggregate? I need to go to hockey stat school or something. Is it correct AP style to have parenthesis like this?)

"The Leafs are always tough," said a satisfied Tom Morgan after the game. "They were missing some of their key guys but we've all been there and we took care of business tonight. Santho was stout as usual and our D was fantastic."

Mac Lawless returned to the lineup tonight and was brilliant in both zones. The somewhat tall defenseman has been absent with a long battle trying to set a Guinness Book of World Records for frequent flyer miles.

"I flew 17,368 miles in 4 weeks," said the jet-lagged Lawless. "I'm trying to get enough points to buy this desktop jukebox with a rotating Pamela Anderson on top. Comes loaded with ABBA tunes. It will be awesome." he added with a grin.

Lawless was the games first star, scoring 2 goals.

"Mac's first goal was a thing of beauty," said Kevin Griffith. "He turned the Leaf d-man inside out and deked the Leafs goalie out of his jock. If our league had a TV package it would have been on ESPN as a top play, guaranteed. Martin, we'd like TV coverage, please." he added.

"The game was in doubt at that point. Mac's goal (I hate that guy) was much needed. It was great to see his long striding butt out there again (even though I hate that guy)," said Arrowhawk captain Mark Monahan. Monahan, Morgan and Jensen were solid and created many chances against the Leafs. The second line tilted the game in the Hawks favor when it was needed most, with 1:40 to play and down a man.

"Our D was fantastic tonight," said Barry Snow, who centered the third line. "Mike has a cannon from the point, Gooch is deceptively fast and TRON carried the puck with passion. That doesn't sound gay, does it?"

Having lost 4 of their last 5 games tonight's victory was a much needed W for the Hawks.

"Now let's see how Martin makes sense of this 4-way tie mess," said Morgan. "Playoffs are going to be interesting..."

Yes, indeed. Bring on the next frames.


#29 Mark Waterstreet did what he could in the game, adding an even-strength goal late in the 2nd period to cut the score to 3-2 Hawks, but the Leafs couldn't overcome penalties. #54 Rowdy "Wolfman" Abels was called for 3 minor penalties and was tossed from the game.