Duffer Thanksgiving

Welcome To

"A Drinking Team with a Hockey Problem" Visit the Beak's Web Page: http://www.lopatka.net

Bolingbrook, IL Thanksgiving 2006

Attendance 26


	Reds Go 2-0-1!

Some traditions are born, some live a long time and some die. I went to my handy Merriam Webster* on line Dictionary to see what they have for the word "tradition". Before I could type my request, their word of the day, "dolorous" was on the screen \DOH-luh-rus\ (a word that Homer Simpson would have no problem pronouncing) it is an adjective : "causing, marked by, or expressing misery or grief." Now that is a not a good word to have for the day when we start the greatest weekend of the year. Our tradition, that started in the 1970s, has been to play hockey on Thanksgiving, drink some coconut Rum with Pineapple juice, have a beer or two then go home and sleep on the couch while the Lions are playing football. Most Duffer wives have accepted this tradition, be


	Perry and his Dad will made it to the 1:00 Duffer Wednesday lunch again this year.


	cause it keeps us out of the kitchen. In the 90s, The Anvil started bringing his camper that was filled with Brats and Beer. The wives didn't care too much for this tradition since it filled the couch with foul smelling gas, but that didn't stop us until Eddie sold his camper to Beer nuts. We had hopes that Beer nuts would carry on the tradition since he downed many of Eddie's Brats with his son. Well, that didn't happen, even though The Anvil put it in the contract when he sold it. Maybe Magoo can file a motion to repossess the camper since the contract was violated and a tradition almost died. I say almost, because Perry the Flea jumped right in and cooked up a batch of Brats and had them ready for us after the game. Thanksgiving weekend was one of the best of the year, because we got to play 2 days in a row! (that was before we moved to Bolingbrook) The Duffers always believed that there is no such thing as too much fun, so in 1999 we added another tradition. Three straight days of Hockey! When Donny G became head coach of the Rivermen, He would give us three hours of ice time on Thanksgiving Saturday at the Peoria Civic center, where they charge $1000.00 per hour. That tradition continued even though Donny was promoted to the head coach of the Worchester Icecats, be


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They play in the United Hockey League and play in Bloomington's new U.S. Cellular Coliseum and they are coached by two former Peoria players. The head coach is Derek Booth and his playing assistant is none other than the Duffers all time favorite player, Trevor Baker! (I even have a Trevor Baker Bobble Head Doll)
http://www.prairiethunderhockey.com/
I got the following e-mail from our Peoria Duffer, Emil.
Hey Greg------great minds must follow the same path---I was thinking the same thing yesterday-(Trip to Bloomington)--Derek Booth is the coach who also played for the Rivermen---the owner (John Butler) played youth hockey when I started the program in town here Trevor is recovering from hernia surgery now---i was going to come up for lunch Wed. but need to take my mom to Chris's house later that day---I tried to get her to go earlier but was vetoed----I'm playing with my 2 sons Sunday nights in Blgtn. and my grandson plays at Bradley-----I will get in touch with Butler Sat.----it's great to hear that the hip worked out well---I was digging through some of my old hockey papers and found stuff when Dan was playing with Rob and Cammi----had dinner with Bobby Hull the other night---we were comparing injuries---he cannot play golf as his shoulders are screwed up---will try and make a Friday night before Christmas---I can get a duffer group to play here and I am sure Art and maybe a few Peoria guys would come over---have a great Thanksgiving and say hi to all my duffer buddies---tell them I'm ticked they did not come down for golf this year...

Merriam Webster Definitions
duf·fer 1 a : a peddler especially of cheap flashy articles b : something counterfeit or worthless
2 : an incompetent, ineffectual, or clumsy person; especially : a mediocre golfer
3 Australian : a cattle rustler

tra·di·tion 1a; an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom) b : a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable

The Turkey Game

Our annual Turkey game turned out to be a fast paced 13-12 shoot out that ended in a scoreless Meaningless shoot out. The Polar Bears had speedsters like Steve G, Brinks' son in law Kevin and Art, while the Red Bears countered with Tommy, Johnny and Tweedy. All of the shooters went home happy, with plenty of goals to go around. The goalies were not too happy, but when Hack called the game early and called for a shoot out for players over 50, their frowns turned to smiles becaus they both went home with "Shoot out Shut outs" Beak tried out his new hip and skated well enough to get out of the way and stay on his feet the whole game. He even picked up an assist when He banged the puck out of the zone and got off of the ice. He said, 'By the time I sit down , I could have an assist." Tommy yelled, "You did! Tweedy took your clearing pass and blew it past the Brain." Reds edged out the Whites 13-12 and Hitman had the only 2 Meaningful goals of the game to give the Reds 2 wins and a tie. Other Red goals came from Johnny, Tommy, Mini, Tweedy, Bill BTW, Rich Storm and Beak's grandson Jeff Lopatka had a hat.. Steve G, Art, The Flea and Kevin had a bunch for the Whites, while Jeff's big Brother scored in his first game in 2 years. We had to go up to the party room, when our camper didn't show. We had beer, thanks to Brinks and Brats and Italian Sausage, thanks to Perry the Flea. . Joe Junior showed up in time to take our team picture. He got us to sing along to "The City of New Orleans" that was playing on the Rich Storm, Duffer Friday Nights CD. Thanks to Brinks, Stump and Perry for their generous contributions to our fun time.