Clark’s Market stocks REG to open town league

Cowboys leg break, Keifer Sutherland country, Mikey still keeps it real and Town and Country Salida

by Than Acuff

I have now seen three horrible leg breaks, one in person and two in the NFL. First there was Joe Theismann’s leg break, and then there was Pete Rinaldi’s and, finally, Allen Hurns’ leg break last weekend.

Once I regained my appetite on Monday, I headed over to Mikey’s Pizza for a slice just before he was shutting down to ski some midday powder. Thank you, Mikey, for keeping priorities for yourself and staff in place: Powder before profits.

I also noticed that Keifer Sutherland is performing at the Mountain High Music Festival here in Crested Butte (cue low husky whisper voice).

“This next song is about a dog, a woman, tight jeans and a pick-up truck.”

Yes, that Keifer Sutherland, who, not so surprisingly, stars in the video of his song, “Not Enough Whiskey.”

True that, there isn’t enough whiskey.

What do all of those have in common?

Well, town league hockey, of course.

Because when Clark’s Market and REG opened the 2019 town league hockey season on Monday, January 7, there was no leg break, town league hockey keeps it real and I was listening to the country music show on KBUT while writing this (both Kristi Miller and Montana Slim were robbed of the Best KBUT DJ crown).

Oh wait, no I wasn’t, I was listening to Democracy Now! Thank you Amy Goodman and, therefore, that other radio station.

I gotta get down to the Hashish Hut, you know across from big City Market, relax, stay and play at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, check out the new and pre-owned inventory at Town and Country Salida, your hometown dealer and then go to Great Western Homes because I have not seen their modular homes lately.

But before I do that, there’s this.

Clark’s Market is new to the team sponsorship deal and their play in the first period was as chaotic as their parking lot while REG’s play proved slightly more engineered for success. Six minutes into the game REG lit the lamp for the first goal of the town league season as Sam Kay sliced his way through the neutral zone and onto goal, drawing three REG players before sliding the puck across the slot to Nick Couts for the goal.

Clark’s did mount a brief surge in the seventh minute, peppering the REG net with three shots in a row but Zach Vaughter stopped all three and teammate Andrea Schumacher slipped in behind him on the third save to sweep the puck clear of the goal line.

Clark’s players Jason Keener and Evan Albanese picked up their game looking to inspire their team and Tim Clark (no relation) unleashed the Holy Smoke at the close of the first period but REG and their short bench remained on top 1-0.

The second period proved far more exciting as the two teams combined to score six goals, bringing the 11 or so fans in attendance to a fever, or at least grabbing their attention.

REG added to their lead two minutes into the second period as Kay then set up Colby Deer, who was taking time off of his dominant performance on the professional windsurfing world tour to be there for the pass and score.

Montana Wiggins came up with a couple of saves for Clark’s in close and the team eventually responded when Albanese found a seam to goal and slipped his shot just inside the far post.

REG rebuilt their two-goal lead less than a minute later though, as some classic Montana mayhem in net left him sprawled on the ice and Mark Goldberg lifted the puck over him for a 3-1 REG lead.

But with just two subs, the game had to unravel eventually for REG and it started to seven minutes into the second period as Clark’s proceeded to rattle off three goals in a row.

Clark started the surge as the neutral zone opened like the Red Sea for him and he skated to net to score. Clark’s Market tied it up two minutes later as another solo effort bull dodge from Clark resulted in another goal and then in the waning moments of the second period, Dakota Wiggins spun around to drop the puck to Jimmy Davidson and Davidson roofed it for a 4-3 Clark’s lead.

Clark’s Market tacked on two more goals in the third period as Todd Carroll scored in the ninth minute and Frank Konsella finished it off with an empty net goal for the 6-3 Clark’s win, kicking off the 2019 season in fine form.