Author Archive: Ben Sumner

Bager Leaves Squirrels

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You’ve heard him whine. You’ve heard him complain. You’ve heard him talk about Michigan State when no one else in the room even cared. You’ve also seen him hit the goalie in the chest pad a million times and miss on breakaways. And you most certainly haven’t seen him use a backhand shot.

But you’ve also seen him lead the Squirrels to a winning record for every season he’s been on the roster, three of which were championships.

Ed Bager, who is leaving the Squirrels for the hockey-crazy and tobacky-chewin’ state of North Carolina, has played for the Devils/Squirrels since 2002. In 2001, as a member of the Dragons, Bager frequently participated in blowouts against the team when it was known as Recreational Hazzard. In 2002, that team he helped beat, then known as the Devils, recruited Bager as he regularly showed up at Sunday pickup. Since then, not only did he lead the team to winning records and championships, he also recruited players such as Kit Watson and Matt Borlik.

During six seasons in a Squirrels’ jersey (not counting the Devils), Bager compiled 56 goals and 72 assists. He led the roller team in scoring in 2004, and currently leads the ice team with 25 points. He registered a goal and two assists in his final game against Scurvy, a 6-3 victory. After the game, the team piled on.

The team will miss his bottomless pit of energy, scoring touch, the Miller Lite he always brings, his Bethesda house parties, and quite a few other things. No. 14, you will be missed.

Nordiques 4, Squirrels 2

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In a rare Sat. night game, the Squirrels looked to regain their winning form against the Nordiques. The Nords however had different plans, after falling behind 1-0 on Brent Machado’s first period goal, the Nords scored the next two in the 2nd to take 2-1 lead deep into the 3rd period. The Squirrels evened things up at 2-2 apiece when Tony Richelsen poked in a shot off a feed from Ed Bager. Unfortunately that would be all the scoring for the Squirrels as the Nords knocked in the game winner shortly after and added an insurance goal late to seal the 4-2 win.

The Squirrels, played without Drew Thiemann, Ben Sumner, Greg Wenograd, Chris Long, Sergio Balatan, Jon Magi, Paul Kobernick, Rob Myers and Chi Pham. Brian Rimm subbed in net. The Squirrels’ next contest is Wed. Feb. 21st 10:25 against Scurvy.

Southwest Airlines 5, Squirrels 1

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The second game of the season against Southwest Airlines resembled the first one for the Squirrels, but this time instead of falling 3-1 they fell 5-1.

Despite being outshot only by two (28-26), the Squirrels couldn’t get any breaks and Southwest Airlines capitalized off of Squirrels’ mistakes. Ed Bager scored the only goal for the Squirrels.

Drew Thiemann, Brent Machado, Paul Kobernick, Charles Wolstein, Greg Wenograd, Tony Richelsen, Chris Long, Bager, Ben Sumner, Desi Richelsen and Jon Magi played for the Squirrels.

The next game is Saturday, Feb. 17, at 8:55 p.m. against the Nordiques.

Squirrels 3, Meltdown 1

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The Squirrels were scratching their heads Sunday, wondering why a 35-13 shot advantage only translated into a 3-1 come-from-behind victory against a team that is second-to-last in the standings.

Outplaying, outshooting, and out-hustling Meltdown was barely enough. After a scoreless first period, Meltdown got on the board first with a powerplay goal at 13:47. A few minutes later, the Squirrels finally scored on a shot by Greg Wenograd. The 1-1 tie lasted most of the second period before Chris Long knocked in Ed Bager’s pass to give the Squirrels the lead with 1:45 remaining in the second period. 27 seconds later, Ben Sumner sent a pass to Rob Myers, who got the puck past the goaltender for a 3-1 lead. The score stood for the rest of the game.

The Squirrels played without Chi Pham, Don Marks, and Sergio Balatan, and found themselves with 12 forwards and 4 defensemen before shifting back Wade Marks and Tony Richelsen.

The next game is Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 10:25 p.m. against Southwest Airlines.

Squirrels Notes: Defenseman Desmond Richelsen recently got engaged to Squirrel superfan, Trisha.

Hughes Leaves Squirrels, Becomes Mouseketeer

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Longtime ice Squirrel Adam Hughes played his final game for the team Sunday, and will now head off to the California to work for Disney.

Hughes, a player picked up during the inaugural ice season, played six sessions for the Squirrels, helping them win two championships.