FRIDAY NIGHT HOCKEY NEWS
Historical articles
FRIDAY NIGHT HOCKEY NEWS
2011 ~ 2012 Christmas Party and Hockey Draft
The lead up to the draft for the 2012 half of the season was almost as exciting as the draft itself. Sparks were flying early in the week with some mud slinging between Brad Taylor and Roy Druce exchanging "pleasantries" via email. A tussle began with a reference by Taylor to "old men" and "wheel chairs and walkers" in relation to the draft and who may and may not be attending, comments that the individuals targeted (Druce and Carr) took some offence to. We are not sure if there was a lot of whining or "winning", but we believe some biscuits were consumed along with camomile tea while comfortably seated in rocking chairs. Whatever the case, Druce and Taylor are on opposing teams so stay tuned for the first game of the season, it should be a news worthy event.
But not as news worthy as the draft held at Brothers Ristorante on Friday December 16th. There was much anticipation of who would be the first draft pick and where Bugden would fall in the pecking order. In order to ensure both teams had a goalie this year, the goalies Molloy and Robitaille were chosen as Captains for the upcoming season. The Commish (Gleeson) was quoted as saying "after last years draft with Carr and Bugden as the Captains and the ensuing feuds, changes needed to be made to ensure a fair and equitable process". We are unsure of exactly what was meant by fair and equitable, but we are confident that the meeting held by the Captains and the Commish (not to be confused with the Captain and Tennille) prior to the draft beginning had nothing to do with the outcomes.
Tensions were high leading up to the much anticipated night with a not so surprising first draft choice being the high flying Brad Taylor. "Not surprising", boasted Taylor, "when you got game you got game. Golf in the summer and hockey in the winter, what can I say but WINNING"! As the night progressed and the teams were chosen, Bugden waited in anticipation for the call that did not come until the last man was standing. "Someone was going to get stuck with him", stated Robitaille, "and with Molloy getting the first pick and me the last, I knew it was going to my luck that Jeff Bugden would not be a choice".
However, an emotional and obviously shaken Jeff Bugden took the high road and vowed to make this the season of all seasons and compared himself to the likes of Kessel. With an obvious quiver in his voice and what looked like tears in his eyes, Jeff Bugden stated "Sticks and stones, that is all I have to say. You can try to break me but I am bigger than this and will show you all. Leave me to last will you, try to make a statement will you...". The ensuing breakdown that followed the fist pumping rant showed just how shaken he actually was by these events, but we will leave this at Brother's to never be spoken of again (Jeff paid us).
The night did end well though with a surprising signing bonus that Jeff Bugden received in the form of a new car, as presented to him by the staff at Brother's (see picture below). We do apologize, but something happened to the picture and we were only able to get Jeff's hands... but really we are ok with this! Click on the image below for a larger view... and maybe Jeff too!
Stay tuned for more stories as the season unfolds, should be a great year with some great teams chosen by our new captains!!
Friday Night Leafs Christmas and End of Year Party Supporter
Friday Night Leafs Christmas and End of Year Party Supporter - and some of the best Pizza and service in the Durham region (the plug!)
The official 2011 draft for the 2012 half of the season took place at the annual Christmas Party held at Brother's Ristorante (thank you for staying open late for us!). Some surprises this year and some expected outcomes such as Jeff Bugden being drafted in the last position. See the news release here for full coverage of the 2011 draft.
| White Team | Blue Team | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robitaille, Paul (G)(C) | Molloy, Kristian (G)(C) |
| 2 | Valeri, Julian | Cafagna, Vito |
| 3 | Druce, Roy | Ferguson, Bruce |
| 4 | Bugden, Jeff (C) | Taylor, Brad |
| 5 | Dorion, Andre | Beatty, Derek |
| 6 | Quayle, Geoff | Neil Yetman |
| 7 | Hacock, Troy | Gleeson, Mike (The Comish!) |
| 8 | Maloney, Ben | Morgan, Scott |
| 9 | Menary, Rick | Nugent, Kelly |
| 10 | Michel, John | Sirrs, Miles |
| 11 | Porier, Gilles | Sirrs, Doug |
| 12 | Tsakiris, George | Tobias, Bill (Gilmour) |
| Free Agents | ||
| Naumovski, George | Leduc, Norm | |
| Carr, Bill | Gleeson, Dan | |
| Berthelot, Rob | Leduc, Marc | |
| Gayle, John | ||
The Alumni
With a history as long as the Friday Night Leafs, there is bound to be a history of players and supporters that will always be a part of this spirited organization, they are listed below:
Dave Kosloff (Also the sole inductee into the FNL Hall of Fame!)
Gary Wilson
Russ Gaal
Roy Gaal (Flattop)
Steve Savoy
Bill the Butcher
FRIDAY NIGHT HOCKEY NEWS
Friday February 11th, 2011
The Blue Team Bounces Back
Score - Blue Team 7, White Team 6
It has been an interesting few weeks since our last article following the first game of the post Christmas season. After a rough first game, under the strong leadership of their captain Jeff Bugden, the white team rebounded back with consecutive and decisive wins over the struggling blue team. "We were very disappointed as a team after our first game and loss and knew we needed turn this around", Jeff was quoted as saying, "it has been a collective team effort and we are now very pleased with the results we are seeing". These results being, for lack of a better word, a hammering of the blue team.
Not surprising this past week was the trade of Ferguson to the blue team for future considerations. When asked about this latest move, Jeff responded with "are you surprised? You are only as strong as your weakest link. We had high hopes for what Ferguson could bring to the team but his sloppy play in our own end and lack lustre performance in the scoring side of things left us only one option".
Captain Bill Carr was not available for comment but GM Mike Gleeson was very pleased with the change and addition of Ferguson to the blue team line-up. “I wouldn’t say it was the decisive factor tonight as there were a number of changes we made that led to the turn around in this game”.
And a turn around it was. After four consecutive “beatings” at the hands of the white team, the blue team came out strong scoring early and maintaining the lead throughout the course of the game to a nail biting 7 to 6 win over the white team. The addition of Dan Gleeson back into the line up and the return of Doug Sirrs added the extra punch that was needed to rally the team around GM and acting Captain Mike Gleeson to show the white team that they still mean business. “A strong defensive line with Doug, Gil and Kelley, some added speed up front and outstanding goal tending from Paul Robataille gave us the edge we needed to turn this around, we are very positive about what the future holds and for a great rest of the season”.
This in addition to hat tricks from Dan Gleeson and Geoff Quayle with a last minute game winner from Jules Valeri definitely made the difference. “They came out strong and caught us back on our heals to start” said Bugden, ”but we rallied back and made this a close game and almost pulled the win out of it. Overall the team played very well, I am not the least bit disappointed, next week is a new week and we will be ready to turn this back around”.
As the trade deadline of February 28th approaches, we will be watching closely for any additional moves that may be made as we near the end of regular season play for the Friday Night Leafs. Hold onto your hats as the ride will likely get more interesting!
GM Mike Gleeson discussing trade options with Burke
Carry over from the game and a net crashing incident, Berthelot takes it out on Tobias at Cherry's
First Star
Paul Robataille
(Saint Pat)
Second Star
Dan Gleeson,
Son of The Commish
Third Star
Rob Berthelot
(As Selected by the Blue Team)
Each year the Friday Night Leafs enters a team into the Hockey for Hearts tournament to raise money for, yes, you guessed it, the Heart and Stroke Foundation. With the age of most of our team members, this is actually an investment into future care that we figure we are all going to need at some point!! I do not believe we have ever managed to win a year, but we always put forth a good showing and as a team have a great time at this being our last skate of the season. Below is a picture of the esteemed team of 2011, watch for us in 2012 and get the check books out, we will be looking for your sponsorship for a worthy cause. In case you are feeling the need today, click here to go directly to our sponsorship page, we are accepting donations today! 2011 Winning Team (In our own minds at least!)
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FRIDAY NIGHT HOCKEY NEWS
Friday May 27th, 2011
2011 Golf Tournament Results
(note, if you have pictures send em here!)
The Golf Gods were watching out for us again last Friday night - the course was a bit soggy from showers earlier in the day but no rain in the sacred 5pm - 8pm time slot ! (as they say - it never rains on Friday night ! - knock on wood).
A subsequent review of the scorecards revealed that Flattop and Gilles did not actually win the "low gross" award with 48's. Roy Druce actually had a 46 but was too polite/too much of a gentleman (when did that start ?) to point it out to the Commissioner.
That being said. here are the final results that will go on the trophy : Low Gross - Drucer (46) - a big thank you to Bill Carr for working late and giving us all a chance to win (Bill has won every other year !)
Most Honest - Gilmour (66) - too bad past winners Jeff Bugden and goalie Paul had other commitments or it would have been a real horse race (P.S. poor Gilmour had to play with Druce which is a handicap in itself)
Fewest Putts - Dan Gleeson (14) - a chip off the old block - ties Dad's tournament record from 2009 - good move not to beat the old man
Best Dressed - Flat Top - the waitress picked it - fell in love with the visor with the fake grey spiked hair - if Brad had of been there it would have been a tie - he has the same Ian Poulter visor deal going (but brown hair with "frosted" tips).
Longest Drive (hole #4) - Roy Druce(162 yards - a disgrace)
Other Prizes: (we played the Black Pearl Course at Deer Creek with the island green on #2)
Longest Drive (hole #7) - The Hawk(230 yards - are we getting old or what?)
Closest to the Pin (hole #5) - Drucer(aren't you getting sick of this guy winning?)
Closest to the Pin (hole #9) - Gilles(nice guy - too bad he's a Habs fan - will look good on the WHITE team next year)
Hope everyone had a good time!
