10/18/05 Fairbanks, AK Rising above the reggae sounds of Bob Marley in the jubilant Quake locker room was a chant of yesteryear, “Hail the Pail, Hail the Pail!”   Veteran Quakes remember the famed “Lunch Pail Line” of the mid-nineties and were quite amused at the reincarnation of the line in a 5-1 victory over the Fairbanks Klondike Kings.  This iteration of the “Pailers” had versatile Jeff Sax centering Rick Carbone and the ancient mariner, Bob Reefman.  “It was a lot of fun to center those two guys”, said Sax.  “They work so hard in the corners and always come out with the puck.  We had a number of good scoring opportunities, I hope we get another chance to skate together.”  Reefman added, “Jeff (Sax) is so heads up on the ice.  He’s always in the right spot.”  The Lunch Pail Line was reunited because of the illness to Quake forwards Greg Shaw and Tom Bourgeous.  Both forwards were left back at the hotel after coming down with a case of food poisoning attributed to some bad walrus they had eaten the night before. Although the Lunch Pail Line did not score, they held the puck in the offensive zone for long stretches at a time and raised havoc with the King defensemen all night.

            The 21,572 fans at Fairbanks Union Civic Center (FUCC) were sent into the chilly October evening depressed as the Quakes dominated the Kings after the first three minutes of the game.  In the crowd, were 275 Quake fan club members that spent their own money to make the long trip north to cheer on the Quakes.  The group was loud and clearly unnerved rookie referee, Walker Uhl.  Uhl, working his first PSNIL game appeared to be intimidated by the big crowd.  At one point in the game, he ordered the teams to change lines bringing a chorus of complaints from both benches.  “That guy was pissing down his leg the whole game,” said defensemen Gary Wells.  “I don’t know what rock he crawled out from underneath, but it he’s going to work with the big dogs he better take a confidence pill.”  The Quakes started the scoring at 3:20 in the first period when Leo Stefanov tapped in a pass from young Jeff Allen.  Nick Wood was also credited with an assist on the goal.  Stefanov, the most feared center in the world when he skated with the Central Red Army, commented, “I let the young guys do the work and I score the goal.  Seriousily, Jeff and Nick worked their butts off to get me the puck in front.  All I had to do was tap it in.”  The only bright moment for the Kings occurred at 8:15 of the first when Bevan Tighe scored on a rebound of Hugh Wolf’s shot to tie the score.  The play was setup when Wells and Jeremy Menkee got crossed up on coverage and the two Kings skated in unimpeded on keeper John Gornick (24 shots, 23 saves).  Gornick managed the fist save but the second shot snuck through tying the score at 1-1.  “I don’t know what happened on that play,” said Menkee, back with the big club after a conditioning stint in Tucson.  “I zigged and Gary zagged.  I was a little rusty early on, the pace up here is so much quicker than in Tucson.  Overall, I was pleased with my effort.”   The lead was short lived as just 6:49 later the big crowd got what they came for.  Big Carl Gosewich picked up the puck after a Gornick save, circled around his net and then went end to end slipping the puck past a stunned King goaltender Robert Harman.  Harman faced 46 shots, making 41 saves.  Gosewich scored the first goal of his comeback.  He said, “It was like the Red Sea.  Once I got the puck, everything opened up.”  The first period ended 2-1 but it could have been worse for the Kings.  David Temkin bounced a centering pass off of the right post with just 44 seconds remaining.  “I just missed that damn shot,” remarked Temkin.  “It would have been nice to extend the lead there.”  As it turned out, the goal wasn’t necessary.  Adam Bogorad extended the lead to 3-1 in the second period assisted by Randy Carbone and Temkin.  The Quakes closed out the scoring in the third with a power play goal by Bogorad at 1:42 and a blast by Menkee with 4:37 remaining in the game.  Temkin and Menkee picked up assists on the second Bogorad goal while Bogorad and Randy Carbone assisted on Menkee’s shot.

            Fleet footed Ray Razo had the line of the night in the post game hoopla, “Ask Randy (Coach Carbone) how he feels about wearing panty hose.  When Joe Namath guaranteed a victory, the next you knew he was selling panty hose.”  When told of Razo’s comments Coach Carbone chuckled and replied, “Tell Ray I’m a pretty hot chick.  Seriously though, I thought we had a great effort tonight.  The defense and goaltending was solid and the forwards kept a lot of pressure on.  What did we wind up with 45 or 50 shots on goal?  I’ll take that anytime.  It was also nice to see Goose score the goal on an end to end rush.  I don’t know how he does it but it sure is entertaining for the fans.”  Of course no interview with Carbone would be complete without some type of complaint and this time he set his sights on young forward Jeff Allan, “Allan needs to play hard for the entire game.  This is a 60 minute game that requires a 60 minute effort and I see him taking !&@*^ shifts off now and then.  That lazy, &@#$^@)#& needs to realize he’s not playing in some house league in the middle of bum &*, Egypt.  Other than him, I’m please with the effort.”  Allan, when told of Carbone’s comments, appeared near tears and ducked into the trainers’ room after mumbling an emotional, “No comment.”

            The only other person to feel the wrath of Carbone was long time equipment manager Martin Viveduk.  “That dumb @&#^@& left our pucks and sticks at the airport in Medicine Hat and now we can’t get them through *&#$#*(& customs.  How the &*()&( can you forget the only &)*&(* you’re responsible for?  It’s like going to play golf and forgetting your &(&*(_( clubs.  I had to send the goof ball to Big 5 to get us some gear today.  *&*()&()* idiot!”

            CFO Larry Glascott, attending his first game of the year and accompanied by his dog, Snuggles, issued a statement, “Much as I predicted the investment we’re making in Gosewich is becoming a gold mine.  Carl has always been the consummate professional and his conditioning regimen is legendary.  I’m deeply disappointed in the blunder committed by Viveduk.  That cost us a lot of money.  One more mistake like that and Martin will be on the outside looking in.”  Owner Roger Lucich was still stranded in Kentucky thoroughbred country and general manager Bill Burden is at the Chinese national championships trying to find some untapped talent.

            The Quakes also announced that Joey Longoria has gone missing in action after being assigned to Keokuk.  “If we don’t hear from the little *(&(* faggot in about two days, we’ll cut him loose,” said Glascott.  “He thinks the whole *&**(*( world is against him and he is his own worse enemy.  When you play like *(&)*( you go to Keokuk,”

            With their record level at 1-1, the LA Quakes will be in upstate New York to play the Binghamton Bruins on Sunday, October 30.  A win in New York would make the first trip of the year a smashing success but a loss or tie wouldn’t hurt much.  The Quakes departure was delayed by 90 minutes as the venerable Gosewich would not leave until each and every autograph request was completed.  It didn’t seem to bother the Quakes on this night.  Carbone was heard to say, “Look at Goose, he’s not happy until everyone is happy.  What a sap!”