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2014-15 Duffer Schedule

Thanksgiving Game is at 8:45 at Downers Grove IceArena

 

Here is a link to all 40 past Duffer Road Trips. Duffer road trips

Go to Duffer History

Duffer Nicknames

Wags Hockey

Alphabetical Nicknames

 

I give thanks for all of the things I gave thanks for last year, and the year before and....so on.

My Annual "I Give Thanks Message"
 

Ten years ago, when I came home from Peoria, after 72 hours of non stop fun with old friends, young friends and new friends, I realized how lucky I was to be playing hockey with great guys every week! I went on to fill up a page to give thanks to the people and things that I have been blessed with, because of my involvement with hockey. Back then, I passed out hard copies of the Duffer News in the locker room and my Thank You letter made Mr. and Mrs. Anvil shed a tear or two.  I'm sort of sorry about that, but I couldn't resist making a goalie cry, so I continued to put out annual "I Give Thanks" letters every year after that. Now I have grandsons playing hockey every week with me. I now have 2 healthy great grandchildren playing hockey.  Most of all, my wife and I have been blessed with good health and we pray that our son Ken will get his knees fixed and join in the fun. I give thanks to all of the Duffers who made me laugh in the last 43 years. 

I thought I would reprint a page that captures what Duffers have to be thankful for. It was written by Tim "Basketball Jones" Smith after our Toronto Trip in 2006. 

We miss you Tim!

Tim "Basketball Jones" Smith

Toronto Report by Tim Smith Winging It


Talk about living large. Play three periods of hockey at a local Toronto ice arena; board a bus full of beer and then shuffle off to Buffalo to watch the Leafs take on the Sabers. If that isn't enough why not try and squeeze in between both events a meal of Buffalo wings at the famous Anchor Bar. This is the joint that claims to have started the whole wing craze. The walls at the Anchor Bar are full of pictures of famous people with wing sauce all over their faces. The bus pulled out on time Breaking Away from Toronto for the journey to Buffalo. We added three more Canadians and one American ex-patriot named Lou. Good friends of BBTW, they helped us scratch up the ice earlier and were certainly not shy to helping themselves to some of the cold Duffer refreshments during the ride. It was clear the moment we entered the Anchor Bar that we were not going to be seated anytime soon. We couldn't afford to wait, Pat LaFontaine's jersey was taking a trip up to the rafters this night. Not any less entertaining, Thor was planning a trip to the lower mezzanine via the air elevator though he would come up a little short after being taken down by one of the local Buffaloes and was she mad. It seemed that the Duffers were not going to get a chance to taste the original wing. Fortunately Lou, the ex-pat, made a move to the bar to see if he could buy some wings for the road. While waiting to place an order with the bartender he overheard two guys talking about how full they were and that they were not going to finish their wings. He was making an offer to buy the rest of their wings when he recognized one of them as an old acquaintance of his, Dennis Quaid the actor. Apparently these two guys met at an Indy race and became good friends. Lou explained what was going on and whom he was with and Dennis insisted that he just take the wings.
Lou brought the feast back on board for all to share. They were cold to the point where the grease had begun to solidify apparently not an issue, as they didn't last long. Wings with the Right Stuff. Quaid, it turns out, is somewhat of a wimp. The sauce was a weak medium-hot. You'd think that someone who played Gordo Cooper, the man who "for a brief moment, became the greatest pilot anyone had ever seen," would be going for the hot stuff. We finally settled for a meal at some unheard of place where we munched on the "Party Pack." Pizza, more wings, mostacholi, little beef sandwiches, and about forty pitchers of beer were placed on the tables. The bus driver had to run us to the stadium in low gear. Later that night, after returning to Toronto, our driver took the bus to where buses go when they need to go, and I don't mean a drawbridge Mr. Mathews. He pulled out a large hose connected to the backside of the bus and, borrowing a line from Dennis Quaid's brother, announced to all the other bus drivers that our "shitter was full." Click here to see the First Thank You Message 2004 

Links to past Thank You Messages.
 "I Give Thanks" 2010 letter.

2nd Thank You Message 2005

3rd Thank You Message 2006 

4th Thank You Message 2008

5th Thank You Message 2009 


 


We miss you Tim! (And Stump too)

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Stump presents the Duffers most prestigious award to Tim.

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Duffer News

8 Goals with Great Goaltending!

Romeoville, IL November 21, 2014  Attendance: 28
Only One Meaningful Goal!

Tom "T&A" Ambrosia Got the Whites on the board early when he beat the Anvil like a rented goalie.  Nick DeJesus made it 2-0 when he walked in all alone and dazzled his Dad with all of the moves that he uses to impress the chicks.  The Anvil was able to stop all of his attempts until he got "help" from Tumblin Terry who came racing back and tapped it into his own net.  Beak turned the kids loose and told them that they could score since they were down a pair, so Joe Mazzarella III took a pass from Speed Racer Jeff and cut the lead in half late in the period.  Tommy "t&a" Ambrosia tied the game a few minutes later. A period that featured some great saves by both goalies ended with

Mazzarellas 2 and 3 with Mike

 a 2-2 tie. Fruitcake's son, Cupcake picked up a loose puck and gave the Whites a 3-2 lead, but Speed Racer Jeff and Lil' Bill Contie  scored to give the Reds a 4-3 lead going into the 3rd period.  The Czar failed to put the correct score on the board, so some players thought that the game was tied at 3-3.  The Czar scored the only goal in the third period as The Brain flashed the naugahyde several times to rob Beak and his grandson Jeff with glove saves.  The Anvil thought the Reds  were down a goal, so he raced to the bench in the final minute so that the Reds could add a 6th attacker.  His teammates frantically waved him back to the net where he made 2 more saves to protect the 4-4 tie.  That would have been a Duffer first if the Whites had scored the winning goal into an open net.
Things to know:  ·

  • The Wild Wings manager obliged us again this week, giving us Samantha!
  • Berserk failed to deliver Tommy Z's popcorn again.  ·
  • Beak kept his Wild Wing perfect attendance on November 14th by drinking with Klinger, Frank and Doc in Lavonia MI.
  • Congratulations to Darrin Lamont's son Alex who was named Conference Rookie of the year at McGill U in his freshman year of soccer.

Perfect attendance:  only 3 Duffers have Perfect Attendance: Speed Racer Jeff, The Czar and Fruitcake Fred.

 

 

 

 

Rags, Drago and BTW placed their order with Sam before sitting.

The Czar and Tweedy do the same.

Beak's Great Granddaughter's brother and Mom were sick, so she got to go to Wild Wings.

Jeff's friend Mel enjoys a self filling drink. As you sip the margarita, the Corona drains in and keeps the drink level full.

Want a Tattoo or piercing? See Mike or Barron.

Terry denies scoring on his own goalie.  "It was DeJesus!"

Tweedy tells Rags that he has a raggy beard.

Carm does a great "Photo Bomb"

We give thanks.

We have a lot to be thankful for.

Carmela gets rewarded with a Mini Wheezer Desert.

Her Dad won 4 more awards at another convention.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving 2003

Thanksgiving 2012

We had 8 Duffers turn out for our Pre-Thanksgiving Lunch.

Berserk and Beak got the dress code memo.

 

 

 

Go to the Last Duffer News

Go to 2012 The Last MLF Game

Go to 2011 MLF Game

(Anvil's Daughter won it!)

Go to 2010 The First MLF Game

Visit The Rampage Women's Hockey Team web site at: http://www.rampagehockey.org/index.cfm

They Have 2 WODs and  on their team. Their DOD moved to Canada for Graduate School.

WOD=Wife Of a Duffer, DOD = Daughter of a Duffer

Links to Duffer Hockey Newsletters

2008-2010 Stats page

Tweedy's Wags Game

Links to 2013

Links to 2012

Links to 2011

Links to 2010

Links to 2009

Links to 2008

Links to 2007

Links to 2006

Links to 2005

Links to 2004

Links to 2003

Links to 2002

Links to 2001

Links to 2000

Links to 1999

Links to 1994

Bar-toons

Peoria History

Nashville Game 2

Bill Gaston interview

Michelle Spillman hits and fields

      

To E-mail the Duffer News Web master, just click here! g.lopatka@comcast.net

You can e-mail History updates to Beak. 

Duffer Nicknames

Duffer road trips

Hit Counter

 

 

Call 630-493-1199 ask for Mike Lopatka

1402 Ogden Ave Downers Grove

www.skingallerydg.com

Mike won 11 awards for his artistic creations at the Tattoo convention in Champaign.

Ann Arbor Music DVDs are ready to ship.  $10 includes shipping and handling. you can also get classic copies of:

 

You may find the following links useful:

Ben Oskroba's First professional goal for the Peoria Rivermen

Drago's Hockey Lessons

Here is a video, thanks to Perry and Paula on How to be a Hockey Player 

 

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Michelle Spillman

Michelle Spillman 10-31-10

Michelle hits a 2 run home run for Romeoville High School in a 3-0 victory against Joliet Catholic Academy.

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JC-Homerun.MOV

Michelle Spillman hit a 2 run Home run to beat Joliet Catholic on April 18, 2012. ... greg Lopatka ... Michelle Spillman and Romeoville High School. ...

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Highland Park-Homerun.MOV

Michelle Spillman hit her 4th homerun on April 21, 2012 to beat Hershey High. ... greg Lopatka ... Michelle Spillman "outdoor sports" ...

 

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Michelle3Base hit.MOV

Michelle hit a triple to help beat Highland Park High 8-5 on 4/21/2012.

 

Patrick Kane Stickhandling:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REAqCB9vfbU

Brandon Bollig Stickhandling:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3B8v_ZHA10

 

Duffers Hockey Canlan Ice Sports Romeoville 2014-2015 Schedule

wk      Date              Time

1 September 5, 2014 8:00 PM ***

2 September 12, 2014 8:40 PM

3 September 19, 2014 8:40 PM

4 September 26, 2014 8:40 PM

5 October 3, 2014 8:40 PM

6 October 10, 2014 8:40 PM

October 17, 2014 NO ICE

7 October 24, 2014 8:40 PM

8 October 31, 2014 8:40 PM

November 7, 2014 NO ICE

9 November 14, 2014 8:40 PM

10 November 21, 2014 8:40 PM

11 Thanksgiving 8:45 at Downers Grove IceArena

November 28, 2014 NO ICE

December 5, 2014 NO ICE

12 December 12, 2014 8:40 PM

13 December 19, 2014 8:40 PM

December 26, 2014 NO ICE

14 January 2, 2015 8:40 PM

15 January 9, 2015 8:40 PM

16 January 16, 2015 8:40 PM

January 23, 2015 NO ICE

17 January 30, 2015 8:40 PM

18 February 6, 2015 8:40 PM

19 February 13, 2015 8:40 PM

20 February 20, 2015 8:40 PM

21 February 27, 2015 8:40 PM

22 March 6, 2015 8:40 PM

23 March 13, 2015 8:40 PM

24 March 20, 2015 8:40 PM

25 March 27, 2015 8:40 PM

26 April 3, 2015 8:40 PM

27 April 10, 2015 8:40 PM

28 April 17, 2015 8:40 PM

29 April 24, 2015 8:40 PM

30 May 1, 2015 8:40 PM