1999 SUMMER SEASON GAME REPORTS

GAME 1: HOOTERS QUEENS OUTSHOT OIL KINGS BUT LOST 3-5.

Oil Kings took the lead right after the game had started. Greg who had to play the goalie was tuned to play defense and did not have enough time to switch over his mind. Kevin W. could not play as he was sunburned during the weekend he spent on lake Conroe. The bad goal triggered Hooters hockey reactor and the pressure on Oil Kings began to raise. Eugene robbed a King, broke away and scored a Mark Messier goal in the corner. 1-1. Hooters rushed in offense and Sean nailed a slapper under the crossbar. 2-1. Kings backfired soon. 2-2. Hooters rushed into offense and allowed a few break aways, one of which Greg did not handle and puck went in. Shots were pouring on the kings but the puck did not want to go in the net. During one of the counterattacks three Hooters were trying to neutralize a King and did not see the King left winger who got the pass and easily scored the 4-th goal. There were lots of scoring opportunities created by Hooters offense. Sean got in the zone drop passed to Eugene who shot and hit the post. Mysterically the puck did not go in when Eugene took another shot on a rebound. Danny was luckier to score on a rebound of Sean's slapper. 3-4. And then again Eugene got the rebound but could not shot it through the crowded crease area. And then another breakaway was allowed and Kings made it 3-5. It sucked for they had not so many chances compared to Hooters. It was a very good hockey and both sides left the ice happy or almost happy, one luckier than the other.

GAME 2: HOOTERS POUNDED ICEHOLES 6-4.

An alert goal was scored on Hooters early in the first by the drilling rig who turned into a big icehole. Hooters defensemen were worried by absence of the team goalie Kevin W. and did not know what to think about the alien substitute. Steve was late for the game but the first to wake up and responded with a soft wrister, which nobody saw coming in. 1-1. A few minutes later Eugene robbed an icehole, got on a breakaway and put the puck in the net between the goalie's legs to open the lead. 2-1. Then Ivan caught the puck in the offensive zone, fooled the goalie and put it in when it seemed to be no chance for the puck to get around the goalie. 3-1. Iceholes responded with a goal and then Hooters started pounding on the Iceholes with all their team power.By skating like a hungry hog Willy drew all attention of the Iceholes and when they drove him into the corner he passed right on the Sean's stick who immediately killed the net with his slapper. 4-2. Then Jeff got on a breakaway, screwed the goalie up and put the puck in to make it 5-2. The pissed off Iceholes put a little more pressure on the relaxed Hooters and were rewarded with a scoring chance. 5-3. Then Hooters woke up again and locked Iceholes in their zone for a long while. Ivan shot the puck which snailed underneath the goalie across the crease and stopped right on the line. While the referee was sucking air to blow the whistle Eugene tipped it in and got credit. 6-3. Less then a minute left to play the game and the big Icehole fished the puck from under the Hooters substitute goalie to make the final score 6-4. Ouch. Hooters demonstrated a very solid play. In the locker room someone asked: "What time is it?". Eugene responded: "It's 11 pitchers to midnight". That night it turned out to be a true estimate.

GAME 3: A DRAMA ON ICE WITH DANNY-THE HERO. 7-6 in OT.

Unbelievable the game was. Houston Brew took control of the ice in the first period and locked Hooters in the defensive zone. Early in the first Brew put a puck in the Hooters throat. 0-1. Then another one and then the third one. 0-3. The wake up call rang and Hooters turned on their team power generator. From the faceoff the puck came to Eugene, who took the shot, the puck deflected to Danny who plugged it in. 1-3. Two more periods were ahead, enough time to turn the things around. Hooters calmed down and were immediately punished with a cheap goal. Actually, the puck deflected in the net from Rob's skate. 1-4, end of the first period. It seemed like the game was to be lost if not for the strong Hooters team spirit that helped many times in the past. Danny got wild and skated his butt out in the second period. He cut the gap by scoring the unassisted goal. 2-4. Hooters combined the three tactics, switching forwards and defensemen when carrying the puck, blue line shooting and picking up "trash" and passing the puck in the offensive zone until it gets to an open player. All three worked. Steve put a stealth wrister when nobody expected him to shoot. 3-4. At this point the turnover was close but the drama was not over. Caught on a breakaway Hooters allowed the fifth goal. 3-5. Pressure went up when the third period started. Eugene, Geraldo and Dan were moving the puck in the offensive zone and finally Dan made a wonderful pass to Eugene, who killed the net. 4-5. In the next shift Willy, Steve and Ivan caused a panic in front of the opponent's net. After Willy had taken a shot no one was sure where the puck was as the goalie was on the ice. After the whistle the puck was found IN! 5-5. Minutes later Eugene passed across the ice to Dan who got in the zone and in the corner. Rob and Eugene rushed to the crease to get a pass from Dan. And the pass followed. Bang! As both Eugene and Rob were near the crease the Ref was not sure who scored the goal, so fast it happened. But it was Rob. 6-5. A victory? Almost! Still 16 seconds left. Would anybody believe that the game was not over yet? At the empty Brew's net the great game of hockey continued. We'll put an open netter thought Eugene, Danny and Geraldo, but right after the faceoff Brews dumped the puck in the Hooters zone, it deflected off the board and was back shot in the net. It took only 4 seconds to tie the game at 6 a piece. In the overtime the uncompromised play from both sides continued. After two minutes of the nerve consuming action the Hooters stealth bomber Steve wristered the goal winner. 7-6. That night Hooters girls were happy to see a crowd of the thirsty and hungry Hooters Shooters. Kevin W. broke his all time record of the allowed goals a game and the team thought he might have a serious love affair. But Kevin W. claimed that the defensemen intentionally left the opponent forwards alone in front of the net as a revenge for his absence in the first two games that Hooters had played. Meanwhile, Eugene thought: "If this girl is so good I may try to invite her mom for a dinner". Then oysters, wings and beer were served and took all attention.

GAME 4: HOOTERS MILLED DEAD WINGS INTO OSSEOUS FLOUR. 7-3.
The game started as usual. Hooters allowed a goal early in the first period. Kevin W. was not in the net again and Greg had to heroically patch the hole in the net. Hooters decided to strongly protect the defensive zone and to wear out the opponent by quick changes. Geraldo was so much motivated to start scoring that he put the first goal to tie the game. 1-1. In a minute a Wong-Chung-Dong shot the puck from the blue line to make it 1-2. Another adjustment was done to not let the Wings shoot. It took 20 seconds to back tie the game. Sean said: "Howdy Partners" and cannon slapped in his famous one. Bang. 2-2. The first Hooters line changed the game by scoring the 3d (Willy from Ivan) and the 4th goals (Willy) unassisted. 4-2. Now things looked better and it was the end of the second period. The Hooters bench was roaring in the third: "Two more, two more".
Skipper heard the message and challenged Wings by skating around them to the net and scoring the 5th goal. 5-2. The rule of a One Minute Shift was then violated and the tired Hooters could not handle a bunch of Wings in front of the net and they plugged one in. 5-3. Hooters started flying all over the place, forchecking, backchecking and pounding on Wings in their zone. Eugene robbed the Wing and made a pass to Danny who slapped the pretty one to make it 6-3. Wings seemed to be getting tired and Skip felt like skating all their butts around. In a second he got one on one and scored the last goal unlike Eugene who had two one on one situations and did not score in the first period. Good news for Hooters anyway as both the 1st and the 2nd lines have started producing along with the defencemen. The way to go!  

GAME 5: HOOTERS CAUSED EYES AND FUR OF PANTHERS TO FADE. 2-1.
Hooter went out almost defenseless as Sean went to Alabama for a school test and Rob went to Canada for vacation. By moving Steve to defense Hooters made up 3 defensemen total. The task was to keep Panthers out of the defensive zone and develop the attacks from the center ice. On some reason it worked and Panthers could only create a few scoring chances but Kevin denied all their shots on goal but one. Hooters were systematically pounding on the Panthers net and in the second period Willy plugged one in. 1-0. By the end of the second period Skip outskated all of the opponents, made a professional pause in one on one situation forcing goalie to go down and then from the sharp angle hit the net. 2-0. In the third Hooters allowed the defencemen to take a clear shot from the blue line when Kevin was screened by heavy traffic near the crease. It made it 2-1. Hooters added more power and seemed to be dominating. Geraldo went in the zone and was checked to lose his helmet. The puck went to Ivan who skated behind the net with a Panther sitting on his back and made a pass to Eugene who was wide open and put in a onetimer backhand shot in the corner of the net. But when the puck was airborne towards the net the whistle was blown as Geraldo did not attempt to put his helmet back on and the goal was not counted. Oops! All attempts Hooters made to hit the open Panthers net during the last minute of the game did not succeed. Hooters made an excellent play and despite the 2-1 result had a solid winning game.  

GAME 6: DISINTEGRATED HOOTERS HOCKEY MACHINE LOST ITS WHEELS AND THE GAME. 2-5.
Bad news came early. Kevin W. did not show up and Greg had to put on the goalie's gear and vacate the defense position. Rob had not come back from Canada and Steve had to move back to play defense. Unlikely it could work out for Hooters in the game against organized and disciplined Black Hawks, who came to play with their beaks sharpened. Fortunately, due to the first minutes team efforts Eugene opened the score. 1-0. False impression of gaining control of the game made Hooters relax too much and soon the limping defense cracked to allow 2 easy goals. 1-2. Since that moment Black Hawks spread their wings and played man-on-man hockey limiting Hooters ability to move and pass the puck. Greg played well and worked hard, but had to "enjoy" the Ms. Fortune's butt. What can one do if your own defenseman makes the pass to a stick of the opponent in front of the net. 1-3. Hawks were persistent enough to make it 1-4 by the end of the second period. Hooters were there before and hoped that there was a chance to tie the game. Hawks played a solid defensive game and it took a lot of efforts to score another goal. Willy scored from Jeff to make it 2-4. Nothing seam to work for Hooters after that and some players started yelling at each other and that never helps to win the game. A bad line change with Greg on the bench gave Hawks another chance to score. And they scored the open-netter. 2-5. Continued misunderstanding and frustration ended up with some players staying in the parking lot and some going to Hooters restaurant. What a bad day!  

GAME 7: INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS TURNED STARS OFF. 3-1.
Early in the first period Stars surprised Hooters by unusually fast skating, excellent passing and organized defensive hockey. As if looking for a trouble Hooters re-arranged the lines by moving RW(Ivan) of the second line to the LW position of the second line and LW (Willy) of the first line to the RW position of the first line, whose position was taken by the LW (Eugene) of the second line.  It takes a while to adapt to a new set up and the offense were not performing well enough. But the defense took the lead. Sean skated around everybody and scored in the first. And then he did the same cruise again and put the second one. 2-0. As the defense was playing too deep in the offensive zone there was an endless amount of three-on-twos and breakaways on Hooters. It could have flatten them if not for an outstanding play by Kevin W., who denied a rain of shots on goal. He still allowed one but what could he possibly do facing three Stars passing the puck around to finally put it in the net. 2-1. In the third period the first line created a few really good scoring chances and the efforts were rewarded with a goal that Jeff scored later in the third. 3-1. Bad luck was there when Hooters tried to put an open-netter and that was it. There were a couple of minor penalties but they did not spoil a very well played hockey game. What sucked was the wet sticky ice in the Sharpstown Ice Center.  

GAME 8: CAUGHT ON A BREAKAWAY WITH TWO MINUTES TO GO. 2-3.
Before every game of the summer season something always happens. This time the leading scorer Jeff was out of the picture and Willy was moved to play the center position. The second line was put back together but there was no choice but to ask the Dead Wing goalie to take Kewin W. place in the net. Although he allowed 9 goals in the previous game Hooters defense was there to help him out. But during the course of the game he had a fewer chances to demonstrate his skills as Hooters put a heavy offensive pressure on Americans skating fast, demonstrating excellent understanding and passing. The American's goalie had to play very well to deny a pouring amount of shots. Zip-zip in the first period. Early in the second Eugene took possesion of the puck and with an American hanging over him passed to Simon who was left alone in front of the net as two defensemen were trying to tie up Danny. Geraldo nailed the puck down in the net. 1-0.  Americans played a dump and chase style in the second and sometimes responded to Hooters pressure by an individual offensive. A minute later they scored due to a defensive mistake. 1-1. Hooters pressure continued and Eugene brought the puck in the offensive zone, passed to Danny who tipped the puck in the net. 2-1. But in a minute another defensive mistake allowed Americans to tie the game. 2-2. In the third Hooters were exposed to a bunch of provoked penalties. Eugene, then Ivan and Sean got in the penalty box and when they came out it was still a 2-2 game with 5 minutes left to go. Hooters started pounding on the opponent's net moving the puck around in their last minutes offensive. Steve and Ivan failed to play the puck when they were left alone in front of the net. Eugene's pass did not get to Danny who was ready to take a shot. Americans played well enough to neutralize Hooter's efforts to take the lead. On a pass from point to point an American caught th puck and got on a breakaway. In a one on one situation there was only luck that could save Hooters the game. But lucky were Americans. With two minutes left to play they took a lead 3-2. And that was it.    

GAME 9: HOOTERS SHOWED THEIR SHAPE. 6-6
The game started with the Oil King bench loaded with excellent skaters that made three full lines, while Hooters were missing Jeff and Willy and had to play with three defensemen with Greg taking the center position. Kevin W. played very well but could not stop some crazy shots. The first goal went in the Hooters net from Rob's skate. Soon Oil Kings made it 0-2 although Hooters played a strong defensive game. During one of the multiple counter attacks Greg scored a goal with a backhand shot. 1-2. Two more goals were scored on Hooters in the first period by the bright individuals that made Oil Kings. 1-4 after first would never stop Hooters from playing their game at a full strength. Early in the second Dan got a pass from Eugene and sneaked one in with an Oil King literally sitting on his back. 2-4. Kings responded soon with a goal to make it 2-5 when Skip did not handle a King near the crease. Skip exploded, skated around everybody, got one-on-one but smartly passed to Ivan who put the puck in the net. 3-5. And then Eugene got a pass from Ivan and nailed the puck in the net. 4-5. In the third period Oil kings started getting nervous and that triggered penalties on both teams. Shorthanded Oil Kings got lucky and scored a fast goal right after the face-off  4-6. Hooters started their pounding offense but the puck did not want to go in. Oil Kings continued to play their dump and chase style supported by individual efforts. Kevin W. had to sweat a lot as Kings were getting closer and closer to scoring another goal. Eugene had to leave his LW position and bulldosed two Kings away from the crease where the puck was passed to and Kevin W. got it. Then Sean exploded. He skated across the ice and slapped the puck so hard that no-one could see it until it rested in the net. 5-6. Kings stuck in offense and Sean did it again in exactly the same manner. 6-6. Hooters were very close to win the game in the overtime when Danny and Geraldo were wide open in front of the net but Eugene's pass deflected from the King's stick and the puck did not come to either one of them. No goals in the overtime and Hooters got a point.   

GAME 10: HOOTERS RELAXED EARLY AND WERE SQUEEZED BY THE RED HELMET 3-6.
It was amazing. Hooters started the game with Greg in the net, three defensemen and 4 forwards. Although the first goal was scored on Hooters early in the first, it worked out very well when Sean scored two solo goals to make it 2-1. In a while Danny moved the puck in the offensive zone, passed to Skip, who got one-on-one with the goalie but passed back to Danny. Dan did not rush it but make it a for-sure-wide-open-netter. 3-1. By this time Kevin W., Steve and Willy showed up and Greg got back on defense. The strategy was to continue pressing Brews and that was the wrong decision. Hooters should have started to play a more defensive game and use breakaways and counterattacks on the Brews who wanted to come back. They started brewing the victory and by the end of the second period it was 3-5, mostly because Hooters were too deep in offensive leaving their own zone less protected. In the third when a few seconds left to play the game, another breakaway of three Brews against one Hooter ended up with a goal that made the game over. 3-6 and Hooters are exposed to a mathematical possibility to not make the playoffs. The bad news is that Sean was warmly waived good bye as he is leaving soon for a school in Arizona and is not gonna play any more. He's got a "Things to remember" CD of Heavy Metal Music Mix and a statue of a liberated hockey player. It made a sad farewell story a little more romantic for the team and Sean.. 

GAME 11: HOOTERS COMMITTED SUICIDE 0-1.
When Black Hawks tied the game against Dead Wings at 3 a piece, Hooters knew that to make the playoffs they need to win or tie their game against Ice Holes. Early in the first the puck deflected from somebody's stick, flipped over Kevin W. pads and literally rolled over his shoulder in the net to make it 0-1. Hooters were sure they'd get it back but all efforts were denied by the Ice Holes goalie. Throughout the entire game of Hooters offensive the luck seemed to stick to the opponents iceholes. By drowning themselves Hooters mad two teams happy. One team was on the ice and another behind the glass watching the game. When Hooters headed to their place to extinguish the internal fire with Bud, out in the parking lot Dead Wings were partying hard with the live music. Guess what, Hooters partied hard too. What happened happened but the team is strong and make others bust their iceholes to beat it. Next season Hooters will continue to be a tough team to deal with. Period, end.