Protec Ponds Closing on 03/06/2022

What a sad time indeed! The Puck Pimps have learned that one of the 2 rinks that they considered "Home" in the team's 15 year history, is now closing for good on 3/6/2022. The building which houses Protec Ponds has been sold and will become a warehouse used for freezing storage afterwards. The Puck Pimps would like to thank all the staff for a great time in helping us with all the memories we have made there while the team considered this their home for close to 5 years. The rink will surely be missed, and we wish all the players (young and old) the best of luck in wherever they choose to have their new homes in the future.

As for the future of the team... this really does make a lot of decisions easier. With one less place to play in the area, and the fact that we will be seeing many places now overwhelmed with adult league teams, the future of the Puck Pimps is now "Doubtful for a return".

Former Adult League Director from Protec had this to say about the Puck Pimp's time at the rink:

"Dan, you guys were a pleasure to have in the league. The great job you did as captain really made things easier for me and Brian. We rarely had any on-ice incidents with your team, and when organizing upcoming seasons, you were always ready with scheduling and jersey requests ahead of time. A full league of teams like the Puck Pimps would be a league director's dream."

Captain Dan Lukiw has this to say regarding the closing of the rink:

"When I heard the news, I was legit crying. I'm still shedding tears right now every time I think of our time there. For me, personally, this was the easiest rink to get to. Just a straight line down one back road and a couple of turns and I'm there within 15 minutes. Plus they had a great sports bar right down the road from them. I've been dealing with injury myself leaving me off the ice, having 2 neck surgeries the past 2 years, so playing was going to be doubtful for me personally. However, I was looking forward to trying to attempt to get a skate in at this rink and maybe at some point renting the small rink with a few teammates, to see how I handled things. Now this isn't looking possible. If the team were to return, it was going to be here, but our only real choice right now is at BSA where we played for 10 years, since that is just as convenient to all, and I just can't see that happening. Of course, if any new rinks open up locally, we will most definitely at least look at them.

I have reached out to a few players these past 2 1/2 years just to keep up and make sure folks were ok during the pandemic. The writing was sort of on the wall with the team's status, especially when rinks started to shut down. Mostly everyone is moving on to the next chapters in their lives, which I'm so happy to hear, and some did continue playing while finding new teams... and of course, it was at Protec! This rink was honestly my favorite to play at. Not just because of the proximity for myself, but because of how easy they made it for all of us. Scheduling was one of the most important things that we needed, and we'd always get a FULL schedule right when the season started, something other rinks were not doing for us. There was also a lot less drama here. Plus, the ice wasn't as bad as some of the other local rinks.

My only regret was that I did not play in the last game of the team's history at this rink (and if it's the team's history, then I'm even more regretting it, since I was there since Day 1!). However, I have to think about all the great memories we made here and the friendships we made along the way. My favorite memory of course being the Championship win in the 2016/2017 Fall/Winter Season. That one was so unique to us and the energy that surrounded the team during that entire playoff run, and the championship series, was just so positive and high. It's a game that many still talk about today, almost 5 years later! Even just going to the rink in itself, gave me excitement, knowing that I'd see the team again for another week. There was just something about pulling into that parking lot that made it feel special, no matter how late it was or what the weather was like!

I never imagined things potentially ending this way, but if it does, then at least it was only half of our decision. I'm sure I'll be passing by this building again one day, and when I do, it will definitely be a moment. Best of luck to all the staff, players, coaches, teams, etc for whatever the future holds for them!

As for the rest of the team, just know that as a captain, you have ALL made me proud these past 15 years!"

Best of Luck to all and we will update everyone should there be any new news relating to the team!

Announcement of Future of Team

As many are now aware, the Puck Pimps have not played since the end of the Spring 2019 season where they saw an early exit from playoffs. The Puck Pimps then took off the summer of 2019 with their usual break for the summer occurred. The team then decided that a little longer break was necessary and did not play the Fall/Winter 2019/2020 season.. a season that was already cut short by many rinks due to the recent COVID-19 Pandemic. This led to a complete cancellation of the Spring 2020 season. While the Puck Pimps did have an opportunity to return to the Summer 2020 & Fall/Winter 2020/2021 seasons, with much uncertainty and reluctantcy the Puck Pimps opted out of both seasons.

First and foremost, the health of each and every player on the team has taken top priority during these times. We are all itching to come back for sure, but the extended break has given us much time to focus on lots of healing, focusing on some injuries and spending much needed time with family and closer friends. We are happy to see that every rink is taking the right precaution to avoid a lot of risks of the COVID-19 Coronavirus. We do know that a couple of players are playing on other teams at the moment and are happy to report that all players from the past few season who were expecting to play are safe and healthy.

With that being said, the Puck Pimps are *NOT* done yet! We have been following situations closely, monitoring the rinks to see what best suits us, as well as keeping in contact with most players to see what expected time frames we can gather for returns. We will be evaluating our stance for the Spring 2021 season based on a few of the factors listed above, but should that not work out then we anticipate the Fall/Winter 2021/2022 season return at the latest. Hopefully everyone remains safe, healthy and happy during this time and we'll be sure to update when there is one!

Puck Pimps introduce new logo on new jerseys!

With the new Fall/Winter Season for 2017/2018, Puck Pimps desired a little change. With new and returning players on the team, that additional change was actually needed and the Puck Pimps worked on a new jersey for the season. All credit goes to current Puck Pimp player, Dave Scioscia, for this design and for making the jerseys. The Puck Pimps decided to keep a similar style that would help keep their name out there, while still paying homage to the rink they current play at, Protec Ponds. Needless to say, it's been the talk of the locker room and amongst many teams in the division!

Congrats to the Puck Pimps on winning the 2016/2017 Fall/Winter Division IV PTAHL Championship

A little over a year ago, the Puck Pimps decided to move the team to Protec Ponds in Somerset, NJ. Within that same year, 3 seasons total, Puck Pimps have been filled with nothing but exciting times and have been a very energetic team right from the get go. In the Fall/Winter 2017 Season, just a tad bit over a year after the move, the Puck Pimps won their first ever Division IV PTAHL Championship.

The season itself, was a long one, but a winning one overall, finishing off with 12 Wins - 7 Losses - 1 Shootout Loss! Going into the season, the Puck Pimps knew that they not only needed to add some talent to the roster for additional scoring but they also needed to find a new goalie as well who would help them win it all. They also had some major returns of former players who played a key role in the victory. At first, the season started out with a win one/lose one schedule. Despite a larger roster, the Puck Pimps were still plagued with many games that had short benches, especially on Defense where they had some good offensive defensemen. What the Puck Pimps didn't realize, was that this would help build up their stamina for an exciting playoff run that was about to come.

It wasn't until the start of 2017 when the Puck Pimps would really start to roll! They won 6 out of 7 games in 2017, with their only loss coming against the last place Archers. While the Puck Pimps were concerned after losing to the last place team, they showed lots of poise and continued on past this loss - looking forward to what was sure to be an intense playoffs. However, the Puck Pimps were not sure where they would finish until the very first day of the playoffs. While 1st place overall, which went to the Pterodactyls, was well out of their reach... they still had a shot at being 2nd place in the standings. However, they didn't want second place, and were praying for a 3rd place seed, as the schedule would not have favored them in the playoffs since key players would have been missing a lot of time if the Puck Pimps finished as either a 2nd or 4th place team.

As fate would have it, the Puck Pimps would end the season in a 3 way tie for 2nd place with the Ooof! and the Rink Rats, opponents that were all too familiar to them over the many years at BSA (and now Protec Ponds). Everything fell into place though, as the Rink Rats had the head to head advantage over the Puck Pimps during the regular season to take 2nd place but the Puck Pimps had one more regulation win than the Ooff! thus placing them in 3rd place overall for the Regular Season. One thing was for certain though, the Puck Pimps were no third place team! And the playoffs were the perfect time to prove to the league that that they were better then the spot they were in and just as good as the 1st place Pterodactyls. It was going to be some tough work ahead of them but it paid off with a nice reward at the end!

Naturally, the Puck Pimps started off the playoffs with a little controversy in the 1st round against the Vudoo. A Puck Pimps alumni, who still plays for the team from time to time, was now going to be filling in as goalie for the Vudoo that night and he was determined to knock the Puck Pimps out of the playoffs right from the start. That determination lit a fire under the Puck Pimps, who took it upon themselves to score 7 goals and win the game 7-3. There has been some speculation that said alumni threw the game to help the Puck Pimps advance, but those were just rumors. Puck Pimps then advanced to the semi-finals against a pesky Rink Rats team that gave them a hard time during the regular season in games that were always 1 goal games, but the Puck Pimps would always be on the losing end. As fate would have it, the Rink Rats were down 2 of their top 3 scorers as well as a starting goalie. The stars aligned for the Puck Pimps that night, who went on to win the game 6-1 with many different players scoring goals. It was then onto the finals against the 1st place Pterodactyls!

Game 1 of the series was intense! Both teams played such strong defense that the game ended in a 0-0 tie in regulation time. An overtime was needed to decide this game. The Puck Pimps goalie and the Pterodactyls goalie both played tremendous in net and it was going to take a heck of a play to beat either of them in what has been labeled as "The longest game in Protec Ponds history!" Leave it to the Puck Pimps to be part of a historic moment. Unfortunately, it was on the losing side as they lost Game 1 out of the best of 3 series 1-0 with 14 seconds left in Overtime. They would have definitely like to have that one back, but there were still 2 more games for the Puck Pimps to get through and win it all!

Game 2 of the 3 game Championship Series was a completely opposite game of the 1st game, and the face above says it all! Puck Pimps were looking short for game 2, as they originally only going to have 5 players and a goalie. But a couple of late commitments got them to 7 players and eventually a "stand-by flight on 1st class" brought in a key piece for game 2 of the series and what a difference maker it was! The Pterodactyls looked confident they had this series and the championship in the bag, but a whopping 9-6 victory by the Puck Pimps really shook up the 1st place Pterodactyls, who were handed their 1st lost after winning 13 games in a row. Maybe that number 13 was just not so lucky for them? But it sure seemed to benefit the Puck Pimps, who were now on to a 3rd and final deciding game for the Championship.
 

Game 3 was not going to be an easy task for the Puck Pimps, as this series was pretty much either team's to take. Both teams jokingly told each other before the game that they wish the whole series was a best of 7 because they both felt it could have went to a final game with the way the Puck Pimps and the Pterodactyls were playing. Unlike the previous two games, this game was not overloaded with offense and it sure wasn't 100% defensive either. It was a typical one goal hockey game where the Puck Pimps would take the lead, Pterodactyls would tie it, Puck Pimps would re-take the lead only for the Pterodactyls to tie it again. Eventually, the Puck Pimps would see the game winner with a little over 2 minutes to go in the game and clamp down with aggressive defense to win the game, the series and the Championship with a solid 3-2 victory! Maybe the ref dropping the Puck Pimps puck at the opening face-off was an omen? Ironically, a Puck Pimps puck was also used to end the game (it's the one in the cup pictured earlier). There were unsung heroes in this game, heroes that made a huge difference with big goals when the timing was right! Not only did we have heroes, but we had "veterans" who were celebrating 4 or more Championships with the Puck Pimps together!

The Puck Pimps now look to roll on to the Spring 2017 Season where they will be defending their PTAHL Championship. There may be some new faces in the locker room, some players not returning from the past season and other players who will be returning from the past! One thing is for certain, the Puck Pimps are ready to get moving after this exciting victory of theirs and hope to have many more to come in the future! One of those many chances will be coming in within the Spring Season as the Puck Pimps will potentially get a chance to represent Protec Ponds and play for the Unity Bank Cup against the winner of Flemington's Aspen Ice league equivalent to their division. Puck Pimps will look to add another trophy to their collection and help keep the "Commissioner's Cup" at Protec Ponds! More details to follow as to when and where this game may be played. Until then, the Puck Pimps would like to thank the rink and their fans for all the support and help over the course of the year!