East Hartford
PLAYER PROFILE
FEATURING:
Mark Priest
Birth Name: Mark John Priest
Uniform # 11
Date of Birth: April 22, 1963
Age: 37
Height: 5’11"
Weight: Don't ask
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Nicknames: Puss, Much Puss, Tit-boy, Double bubble, Triple Nipple, Lou, Mr. Stay Puff, Spuds, The Immortal Babe
Acquired: from the Sunset Ridge Fighting Saints 8/21/83 for a used blocker, 6 hockey balls, and a  twelve pack of hockey tape
Marital Status: Married (and oh so thrilled about it)
Favorite Food: Chinese
Favorite Drink: Diet Pepsi
Favorite Sayings: “You won't get nothing, she's a cold fish", I can't believe I got him", Wanna wear my jacket?", "I would have taken him out;  by the way, who will walk me to my car?"
Most embarrassing moment: Too numerous to name
 

Mark Priest helped create the Kings along with Nick Cormier after his trade from the Fighting Saints in late 1983.   He and Nick started shaping the roster, beginning the process of making the Kings a success.  Though Priest’s on dek play has been less then spectacular he has been consistent.  This constancy (along with his ability to pay the entry fee) has helped him be a member of eight of the twelve championship teams.  Priest currently ranks number one all time in games played as a King and is one of only three players to appear in a championship game at all four rinks as a King.
 
Never an offensive juggernaut, Priest is more remembered for things like doing his Luke Skywalker imitation with “Richie Cunningham” in Bloomfield, offering his I.O.O.F. jacket to any unsuspecting female within ear shot, spitting water in the face of a player on the Suncoast Racers while serving time in the penalty box, getting suspended for causing a brawl when it was in fact begun by Rat, being at least partially at fault for every goal ever scored by an opponent  while Rich Tracy was on the dek, hanging with King opponents before and after every game, failing to get into Roseanne Linarus’ pants after months of trying only to have Bob Alger bag her after only a few days, being the main target of most of the body checks at the tennis courts, having Nick yell at him for a bad play even though he's on the bench, and basically calling it a career after saying the dreaded “I Do” words.

Though most of his career would be considered forgettable the parts he would most like to forget include, the staring match with Bill White while he was on defense and White in goal.  The two of them stared at the ball as rolled on goal from about one hundred feet with neither of them blinking until the ball snapped the net at an amazing rate of one MPH, any time he was paired with Tom Elwood or Bob Darrell, losing in game three to the Old Boys, anything to do with the Kings final season, hearing the Notre Dame fight song every time he donned the lemon drop helmet and of course September 11, 1993.
 
As for his hopes of the future Priest wishes to score at least one more goal in a Kings uniform, win at least one more game this season and be present for it, not need an oxygen tank by the end of this season, go an entire week without being in the wife’s doghouse, to be enshrined in the Kings hall of fame, to finally get a hold of Bill White, to avoid any more trouble at work for making spic jokes, be allotted more than five bucks a week spending money, finally to get physical proof that he is related to the Adams family ( sister in law Mortiscia and nephew Wolfie).

- T.F. Cormier
 
 

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