Happy Thanksgiving

The Bomber Hockey Club would like to wish all its fans a healthy and happy Thanksgiving!!

Junior Has Not Been Traded to Brazil

An interview with Bomber forward Tony D'anna sparked an internet frenzy last week. Speculation was that Bomber defenseman, Junior Gilbert, who has not played for quite some time, was traded to Brazil for their native hero Gisele Bundchen and 2 lbs of sugar cane.

Bomber management quickly denied the rumor, saying it is happy with Junior's performance on the ice in recent months. The fact that Gilbert has not played in recent months caused some to question the sincerety of management's comments.

Bomber forward Tony D'anna tried to quiet the rumors Sunday by stating he was misquoted in the original interview. D'anna referring to his conversation with Junior early last week stated "He(Gilbert) told me he was meeting with his stylist, Sugar, who said she certainly could give him a Brazillian wax similar to Gisele Bundchen's."

D'anna then sternly added "You guys always get this stuff wrong. I mean it makes perfect sense. If you know Jr." When informed his assumption was untrue that Bundchen had a similar hip injury to Junior's and that the Brazillian procedure was not in fact a medical one, D'anna said "He did what?"

Fortunately there is some good news on the Junior front. When reached by phone on Tuesday, Junior spoke of his injury status. "I should be back skating sometime in April. That sounds like a long way off but it is actually ahead of schedule. I am in much less pain than before the surgery. I should have a full comeback. The doctors are pleased-very pleased."

So are we Jr. So are we.

Getting Closer

The Bombers lost a game for the first time this season by less than three goals. Hey its a start. After putting up a good fight, the Bombers fell to the first place Metro Fire by a 5-3 score. The Bombers scored first for the second straight game and headed into the 2nd period tied at one.

In the second the Metro Fire scored two to the Bombers one leaving the game and the end of the losing streak still within reach for the storied franchise. But 10 seconds into the final stanza the Metro Fire scored off a Bomber miscue. "That goal was the real killer for us." said Spring 2009 MVB Tony D'anna.

Each team scored again in the 3rd to make the score 5-3 at the end of regulation. The Bombers have yet to score a victory in this season-a feat that has only happened one other time when the Bombers moved up a division in the fall of 2005.

Next up for the Bombers-a rematch with the Spitfires-Sunday Nov 22 9pm. Let's see what a difference a goalie makes!


Bomber Box Score:

Goals:
B. Auld (3,4)
M.Bochner (3)

Assists:
D'anna
B.Auld
M.Bochner

Well That Was Different

The Bomber Hockey Club lost its 8 straight game, falling to the Spitfires by a score of 10-3. Although the result was similar, the journey to that result was different than the others. The Bombers actually played pretty well in all aspects of the game except one.

Goaltending proved to be the problem as the captain was forced to don the gear that was available to him at the time and place himself in between the pipes. This all because of a late scratch of the goalie who was to substitute for the goalie that was to substitute for Josh.

Intitially the Bombers played inspired hockey in an effort to combat the disadvantage in net, scoring first off a tip in goal by Gary Simpson assited by Kostrowski and Rober'. Being behind 2-1 with 1 minute left in the first period didn't seem all that bad for the Bombers until luck ran out on the newbie netminder. 2 goals in the last minute of the 1st and one more 40 seconds into the second removed any air the ragtag goalie had in his confidence sails. 5-1 quickly turned to 10-2 by the end of the second.

And even though the Spitfire keeper graciously offered to help remedy the fact that his Bomber counterpart had his pads on backwards, #0 decided perhaps he was better served as a sixth skater. And so it was off to the locker room to retire the goalie gear and put on the conventional skates and pads.

Would the Bombers create some unbelievable franchise history by coming back from 8 goals down in the third period without a goaltender and in running time- much to the amazement of the sports world? Um, no not really. The temporary netminder was able to ease the pain of the previous two swiss cheese like periods when he scored of a nifty 2 on 1 pass from "Big G-from the Left Side."

All in all the night was interesting and entertaining for the blue, red, white and gold. The Spitfires showed a great deal of sportsmanship and the game saw none of the controversy of their previous game.

Next game Sunday November 15 7:30 v Metro.

Cowardly Bears Show No Class

The Bomber Hockey Club endured another tough night losing 8-0 to a Bears club that wasn't content to just win big. Winning ugly was the task of the day and the grisly gang of glorified goons used the last 5 minutes to show everyone how its done.

With the game already in running time due to the 8 goal differential the Bears put their plan in action by agressively cleaning out the front of the net (because a goal against could really cost them at this point) while sending goal hangers to the opposite blue line (got to pad that stat sheet). And finally in an effort to bring the game to a screeching halt the Bears #3 Richard Head brutally boarded an unexpecting Bobby C to the halfboards. That forced the hand of Brian K. who, being the good teamate he is, swooped in to defend Bobby and even up the numbers. Sportsmanship not being in the Bears DNA they quickly called into action their comrades who were already in the penalty box to join the fray and make sure their gang still had the upper hand. Fortunately in the middle of all this Bobby was able to get up to get a few jabs in his defense. But the damage had been done. The game and any sense of decorum was lost.

In what should be an unexpected twist but really isn't much of a surprise the ref asked both captains(i kid you not) if it was alright with them if he didn't record the penalties at the end because no one was "severely" injured. Umm, no that's not alright Mr. Official. It might be nice to have a record of the carnage sir. Thanks anyway. So the 67 minutes of penalties including a 3rd man in match penalty for the diminutive napoleonic "mighty mouse" #2 of the Bears.

A sad commentary is indeed what we have here. The Bears, who could have gone home with an 8-0 victory and the respect of their opponents for their skillful play, instead decided to go for the lowest common denominator, leaving their class and dignity at the door.

Good luck with that Bears.

Bomber Press Conference Yields Big Announcement

To boost morale after a six game losing streak, one may not think the cure would be for Bomber management to schedule a tougher opponent. Unless of course that opponent is the NJ Devils Alumni team. That's right Bomber fans, for the 5th consecutive year, the "Storied Franchise" will face off against the NJ Devil Alumni to benefit Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity (RVHFH).



Bomber President Mike Rosenberg, who was solely responsible for brokering the deal proudly announced at a press conference this morning that "The 2010 version of the ever popular "Bombers Charity Hockey Classic" will be held on Saturday March 20th at 1:00pm in the Bridgewater Sports Arena." Unnamed sources said that even NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, has taken notice and is "very pleased with the success and tradition that the Bombers Charity Hockey Classic has been able to garner. League offices feel that the game is as important to hockey as the NHL's Winter Classic."

And Corporate & Community Relations Manager of the RVHFH, Lisa Fielding, spoke to the success of the last year's event when she stated "The fans were so excited! The event was a great success and not only brought us over $13,000 net but it afforded us great exposure within the community. We thank you (the Bombers) for your support and participation in our work." The Bomber GM added "Everyone had such a great time at the last game, with all the big stars and the Stanley Cup, but I can't wait to reveal what we have in store this year!"

So what new tricks can we hope for during the 2010 installment of this annual tradition? Well, for now fans have to wait and see as representatives for the Bombers, RVHFH and the Devil Alumni are choosing to keep us in suspense.

Regarding revealing any game day details, the one thing we could get from Bomber management was, "It will be worth the wait."

So the entire hockey world is now marking its calendar!

The Bomber Charity Hockey Classic-Saturday March 20th, 2010- 1pm at the Bridgewater Sports Arena.