ANN ARBOR– Following the 5-4 OT shoot out (3-0) win for Ashley’s Aventinus, team members were surprised to find that No. 31 of St. Anky Beer (Kellen Marceau) pulled back his hand from each member of the team, refusing to shake hands, reportedly believing that every player not on the St. Anky roster is infamous former NHL player Claude Lemieux. “I can’t believe I have to shake hands with this friggin’ guy,” said Marceau, miming through his interpreter.
As if to say “I am not ‘appy with Lemieux or yeux,” St. Anky’s Marceau snubs the entire Aventinus team, refusing to shake hands following the game.
Lemieux is best known as the man who hit Detroit Red Wings’ Kris Draper from behind in the 1996 Western Conference Finals, resulting a broken jaw and shattered cheek and orbital bone. The Colorado Avalanche eventually won the series and went on to win the Stanley Cup, fueling a bitter rivalry between the two teams, and prompting then winger Dino Ciccarelli to say “I can’t believe I shook the guy’s frigging hand. That just (bleeps) me right off.”
Draper noticeably refused to shake Lemieux’s hand the following year when the Wings avenged their playoff loss in the 1997 Conference Finals.
The game Sunday was an emotional roller coaster with several lead changes. Amy Senne returned from a back injury to draw first blood early in the game. However, St. Anky’s John Debono answered back seven minutes later, and Andrew Laskowski gave the St. Anky boys the lead.
Nate Greenman willed the team back, tying the game twice for Aventinus in the second period. Dave Ferguson gave the team a lead early in the third, only to have it quickly answered. Overtime failed to settle things, leading to a shoot-out.
Scores from Scott Bray, Tom Colis, and Jeff meden coupled with Ryan Bidwell turning away all three shooters for St. Anky gave Avenitnus the win and a chance to play for the cup Wednesday.
The celebration was somewhat marred by Marceu’s refusal to shake hands, instead opting for the frowny face and rubbing eyes as if wiping tears motion. While the team did appreciate the artistic skills, they still noted in general that mimes, clowns, and hobo clowns had a certain “creep” factor no one could quite shake.