Duffers Win in Peoria!
Saturday 3/31/01
Eddie The Anvil made so many saves on Friday that he skipped the bar and went straight to bed.  That turned out to be a good move, because he would be called on to make another 100 saves in Peoria.  The Duffer Travel team roster included The Anvil, Beer-Nuts, Beak, Joe Jr., Koss, Dizzy and Mini-Wheezer. (Wheezer couldn't make it because he was getting fitted for a new $2000 set of golf clubs.  I hope he gets a Niblic and a Mashie for that price.)  If you don't know what a Mashie is, go to: http://www.lopatka.net/9-22-00.html

          A big Thank you to Peoria Duffer in Chief, Art Koudelka, who was nice enough to to supply us with enough Peoria Duffers to cover our poor attendance. We were so short, we had to let Rick's SODs (Sons Of Duffer) play.  All of the Chicago Duffers put on their Travel Blue sweaters so it turned into a real road trip game.  Dave put on the Blue Guest shirt to give us 8 skaters. The game was real close as Eddie made scores of saves in a wide open game.  Joe Maz, finally scored, to keep us in the game. 

        Dizzy hit the post twice in 2 seconds as Rivermen coach Christie was watching. Smirf left shaking his head.  He didn't want to see any post shots by his players later in the evening. He needed a win or a tie to clinch first place in the Northwest division of the ECHL. The Peoria Goalie, Kim, matched Eddie the Anvil, save for save, as the score stayed close.  Beer-nuts scored the first Meaningful  goal when he flipped in a shot on a nice pass from Joe.  Beak had 10 or 12 shots blocked before he finally poked in a rebound. The scoring was evenly balanced as Mini-Wheezer, Dizzy and Koss all scored for the visiting Blues.  The game was tilted in the Blues favor when Emil put on a red jersey in the 2nd period and joined his San Jose team mates. 
       That left the poor Whites gasping for air as the Blues now had 2 full lines with 3 defensemen. and the Whites only had 3 subs on the bench. It's a good thing that they had 14 year old speed ball, Fur, because Carl, Rod and John were running on empty when Emil left them.  Dizzy's kids helped out a great deal as Rick played for the Blues and Ryan skated for the Whites.  Ryan finally beat the Anvil  in the final minute.  That may have tied the score, but we will never know, because they were too tired to keep score. 
After the win-tie, we partied at Sully's (Formerly known as Skulley's) Beak's arm was so tired from shooting, that he couldn't lift a pitcher of beer. Fortunately, there were enough goal scorers to keep his glass filled.  He had to use an old Uncle Bob trick, and switch to bottles for the rest of the night.

 The Peoria Rivermen clinched first place with 100 points as they downed the Dayton Bombers 3-2 to keep the Duffers' winning streak in tact.
 
 

 Worcester Ice Cats 

Worcester has a 44-20-8-3 record so far in the 2000-01 season good for a League leading 99 points. With only five games remaining in the regular season, the team is on pace to set a new franchise record for the most points in a single season. The previous mark of 100 was set during the 1996-97 season. Yesterday’s win, the 44th of the season, was also a new  team single season high. 

. 
 We are still looking for someone with a large screen video to host a Monday Night San Jose-Madison-Peoria Reunion. We can view and order pictures while we watch the San Jose, Peoria and Madison Videos. 
 

Eddie "The Anvil" was outstanding in the nets, as he kicked out 98 shots.

Beer-nuts and Emil talk about San Jose`, then he talked Emil into switching teams.  Emil just got back from Toronto and wants Beak Jr. to beef up his team for a tournament in Phoenix next month.

The son of Peoria Duffer, Brady, got the thrill of his life as he was introduced with the rivermen before the game and skated through the giant Riverman. 
(Above Right)

The Rivermen coach, Jason Christie, congratulates his players after their division championship win.

Star center Trevor Baker welcome little Rick with a hand shake.

Rivermen coach, Jason  Christie, celebrates the end of a great season with a sip of wine.

The Riverman coach, Jason Christie, posted a Duffer's Only sign on our locker room.  Emil points the way for Peoria first timers.

Peoria Duffer, Rod, was left breathless buy the Emil trade.

Brady was discovered by the Duffers in November when he appeared in the Hacksaw phone cartoon. http://www.lopatka.net/12-1-00.html

Joe has a beer with winning goalie Grant McCune.

Kenric Exner gave each of the Duffer SODs a championship game stick.  Thanks Kenric!!!!

Beak relaxes on the Smirf couch as channel 25 news zooms in on coach Christie.  Beak's cell phone came in handy when the security guard blocked the Duffers entry into the locker room.  Beak called the coach and the Duffers were waved in.