CATANIA BATTLES HIS WAY TO LEAGUE DATE 6 TITLE

The NYTHL’s sixth league date of its tenth anniversary season took place on Saturday March 22, 2025 at Rab’s on Staten Island.  Because the flu ripped through the league, the day featured just twelve competitors from two countries and four different states.  The players that competed did so in a grueling twenty two game double round robin.  Upon completion the competitors were then ranked according to the day’s standings.  The top eight players would qualify for the “A” playoffs.   Players nine thru twelve would then compete in the “B” playoffs.  At the conclusion of the round robin, Vinny “The Vinner” Catania finished on top edging Dave Reid by a single point.  The Vinner posted a 19-2-1 record.  Right behind him was the aforementioned Dave Reid.  The Reider’s rapid rise to the top continued as he posted an 18-2-2 mark for second.  The “Bob O” – Bob D’Addario performed very well as he placed third at 16-4-2.  The legendary Steve Bernstein had another solid day as he played his way to a mark of 15-6-1 which put him fourth.  George Slater was fifth at 13-6-3.  League veteran Len Mecca had a down day by his standards, finishing sixth at 11-8-3.  Brian Sullivan’s 11-9-2 day placed him seventh.  Larry Durham grabbed the last spot in the “A” playoffs, finishing eighth going 5-14-3 on the day.  Hank Librandi finished four points behind Larry at 4-15-3 which landed him in ninth place.  Dennis Simone continues his improvement as he finished 4-17-1 for tenth overall.  Mike Digiulio had two wins and two ties, as he finished eleventh.  Derek Nisbett rounded out the field in the twelfth spot with two wins.  The two wins however were quality victories over Steve “The Stein” Bernstein and Bob D’Addario.  Derek would do more damage later on in the “B” playoffs which we will get to later.  Let’s now review both the “A” and “B” playoffs.

     In the “A” Quarter-Finals the one seed Vinny Catania swept past eight seeded Larry Durham by scores of 5-1, 6-2, and 5-4.  The two seed Dave Reid defeated seventh seed Brian Sullivan also by sweep.  Reid won by scores of 9-2, 7-3 and 6-3.  Third seed Bob D’Addario faced off versus six seed Len Mecca.  The “BOB O” won games one and two by scores of 4-3 and 6-3 respectively.  Len struck back with a 3-2 victory in overtime to force a fourth game.  D’Addario then clamped down and closed things out with a 3-1 victory to win the series by the same margin.  Fourth seed Steve Bernstein then faced five seed George Slater.  George stormed out of the gate with victories of 3-2 and 5-2 to win the first two games and put the Stein on the brink of elimination.  Bernstein then proved why his reputation precedes him as a great player.  Steve won game three 4-1.  The Stein then tied the series with a 1-0 shutout to force a fifth and deciding game.  With a trip to the Semi-Finals at stake, Bernstein took control early and won game five by a 4-2 score to win the series three games to two.   Let’s move on to the Semi-Finals.

     In the “A” Semi-Finals, the top seed Vinny Catania would sweep fourth seed Steve Bernstein by scores of 5-3, 3-2 and 5-3.  This series was closer than the scores indicate.  Every game was a battle and the two 5-3 victories by Catania were actually one goal games until each game’s final seconds.  Steve gave The Vinner all he could handle, but in the end the Vinner was on his way to his sixth league date final in as many tries this season.  In the other Semi-Final series the two seed Dave Reid took on three seed Bob D’Addario.  The “BOB O” has done a lot of talking, going out of his way to tell anyone who would listen that he is the second best player in the league.  He also let it be known that he was better than Dave Reid and that Reid was ducking him.  D’Addario was sure he would dispatch Dave despite warnings from fellow players as to the improvement of Mr. Reid.  Bob should have heeded those warnings.  Dave won a relatively close game one by a 5-3 score.  Then as D’Addario’s keester tightened, the real pain then began.  Reid pumped in eleven goals against Bob’s self proclaimed best defense as he whipped D’Addario 11-3.  If the “BOB O” thought things would change for the better in game three, he was again proved wrong as Dave blew passed him with another beating of 7-1.  As Bob shouted NO MAS, NO MAS he then admitted that Reid was indeed better.  Just another case of where in table hockey respect has to sometimes be beaten into someone before they realize what is.

     For a sixth straight month League Champion Vinny Catania was through to the Finals.  This was Dave Reid’s fourth trip in four league dates that he competed in this season.  Catania defeated Reid in the previous three finals this year.  The Vinner won 9 of the 10 games played enroute to winning all three Finals.  On the surface it seems one sided, but in reality it was anything but.  Five of those victories were by just one goal with two games going to overtime.  Reid had beaten the Vinner earlier in the day during the round robin by a 4-3 score.  The two then tied their second game 3-3.  Reid rolled through the league date 6 playoffs on his march to the final series.  The Championship would again be a very tight battle.  The Vinner after choosing his Islanders board for the first two games, took game one in a back and forth battle by a 3-2 margin.  Game two was even more grueling, but Catania fought his way to 2-1 victory.  The series then shifted over to Reid’s Maple Leafs board and it seemed to ignite him as he stormed out to a 4-1 lead.  The Vinner then chipped away and tied the score in the game’s final minute, before scoring with just seconds left to win the game 5-4 thus taking the series 3-0 games.  In what has become the NYTHL’s best rivalry, when these two meet every game and series is a tightly contested battle.  The games are highly entertaining not only to play in, but to watch.  For Catania it was his sixth league date victory in as many tries.   

     In the “B” Playoffs Number nine seed Hank Librandi was upset by twelve seed Derek Nisbett 3-1 games in their Semi-Final.  Tenth seed Dennis Simone was edged by eleven seed Mike Digiulio in a very exciting five game series.  Mike pulled away in the deciding game with a 4-1 victory.  Both Mike and Derek advanced to their first ever “B” Championship.  Mike drew first blood, shutting out Derek in game one 1-0.  Derek as he did in his prior series then got rolling.  Nisbett tied the series with a 3-2 victory in game two.  Derek continued his improved play as he shutout Mike 3-0 in game three to take the series lead 2-1.  Derek then closed out the series with a narrow 2-1 victory to secure his first ever League Date “B” Championship.  Derek is in his fourth season and has endured countless losses, but despite those setbacks he continues to compete hard every month.  It is great to see his dedication getting rewarded.   

     Another exciting league date is in the history books.  The NYTHL continues to grow with many players inquiring how to join and others on the way.  As interest in this great sport and league continues to heighten - Dare I once again ask?  With great games to play and great people to compete on them – what are you waiting for?  Get behind the rods and Join the New York Table Hockey League.  Like so many others, you will be glad you did.  See you at League Date VII on Saturday April 12, 2025.

See you next month - God Bless!