Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Zombie Pride! Cads shut down the Streetcones!

Cadavers (8) vs Streetcones
Sunday November 11
Quincy Youth Arena
9:00pm

5-3 Win!

A nice night at the rink, nice to be at a rink other than UMass, and a very nice win for the Zombies over an average but well matched Streetcones team. Yes, not only were we playing BEFORE 10pm but we weren't at the House of Horrors, and things worked out just fine for the skating Dead who went with an even 10 skaters and OEJ backstopping.
The lines shook out like this. On Defense George Moorachian paired up with (recently 'Cooned) Mike Hammitt and Jeff Fosdick skated with dynamic newcomer Mike Daley. On Offense Larry Bell centered the first line with Matt Elliott and Kevin Parker, and iJosh Greenstein took the second pivot between Scott Pounds and Mike Jasse. I'm pretty sure that these lines shuffled up during the game some so don't shoot the blogger if these weren' t the exact setups.
The Streetcones had decent numbers and a few good skaters, but no one mind blowing. They play in Orange Jerseys like the old Flyers type, but they also had a handful of misfits. Thier goalie was solid but gave up a number of second chances. Again, I thought we matched up very well against them as a group.
Play went well in the first and the Zombies jumped to an early lead when Mike Daley scored unassisted on a nice rush and even nicer slapshot from the middle to top of the zone. That score would hold up until the end of the first and clearly the Cads knew they had a good game on thier hands. The 'cones were clearly two different teams, one that had some moves and got good chances when they played offense but when the Cads took the play to them they tended to lapse into running around thier own zone.
They did get good chances as the first closed and OEJ had several trademark stops, shutting down a bunch of quality bids....its what we've come to expect from Mike. It wasn't long into the second when they did brake through on kind of a flukey goal. The puck came in from the point, lofting through the air and hit a few sticks on the way and fell into the net over OEJ on his glove side. Not much he could do.
The Zombies didn't get down though and it wasn' t long after that that iJosh wristed one home after a scramble in thier zone. Credit Dr. Pounds and Matt Elliot with helpers. Things again stayed very tight and the 'Cones scored again to tie us up at two sometime later in the period. Then just before the end of the second the Zombies struck again, this time on another scramble in their end with the puck coming from Larry out to Mike Daley at the point who shot and Mike Jasse stretching forward in the slot got a terrific deflection that put it past the 'Cone's Keeper. Zombie pride indeed. The Cads led 3-2 after two.
The Cadavers continued to work very well, forcing the play and keeping the 'Cone's at bay. The blogger's recolection on this is flawed, but I think it was about mid-period when the Zombies scored. This one came after several good chances by the Cads, and the hard work paid off. Parker was able to take Larry's draw in the offensive zone and pass it out to Mike Daley at the point, who shuttle passed it over to Jeff Fosdick who labeled it in the upper right hand corner (it did deflect slightly off the goalie's left arm on the way) for the 4-2 lead. That one would turn out to be the game winner, but the Cads weren't done yet.
The 'Cone's desperation led to more and more open play and the chances came at both ends as the game wound down. On a nice break out late in the period Jeff Fosdick fed a beauty of a pass from just over the blue line on the left side to Larry Bell who was streaking up the opposite side. The pass enabled Larry to keep his speed and he did a superb job racing into the zone, getting off his shot then netting the short rebound. Game. Set. Match. Nice work Zombies.
The guys in Orange would get one more... kind of a garbage time goal as the game closed out, but the lead was never in any real danger after the backbreaking Larry goal.
Oh, and by the way, did you notice I didn't mention any penalties? That's right another no penalty game and a win. That's the third game (2 by Schlitz rosters) that we have recieved no penalties, and the team(s) are 3-0 in those games. Conincidence? I think not. Kudos to Mike Hammit, for keeping his cool and not alowing himself to be baited during the second period. He and his D partner George certainly could have boiled over several time but they didn't. They both made first rate contributions to this win by just staying in the game and playing hard. Good job Mike and George.
Really, everyone who played did a terrific job and showed great resolve. Now the Zombies need to put a stop to the heinous Schlidaveur losing streak and get things going. This win ended a long month and a four game losing streak for the Cads, so it felt good for sure.
Game Stars.
3rd Star - OEJ. Another quiet, solid, professional performance from the man between the pipes. The 'Cone's weren't too scary, but I think that had a lot to do with OEJ's near total shutdown of thier offense. Lots of swearing from the guy's in Orange as the play went back up the ice. Good stuff.
2nd Star - At the risk of self congratulation.... Jeff Fosdick for the game winner, and the slick assist on Larry's goal at the end.
1st Star - I'm going with the Phenomenon that is... Mike Daley. Another tremendous game at defense, routinely breaking up plays and covering lots of ground (you have to with me as your D partner... ). His goal to lead off scoring was dynamite, and set a great tone. He also figured prominently in the scoreing of the 3rd and 4th goals that gave us this win. Great job Mike!

Overheard in the Parking Lot 1: This one comes from Larry Bell, when asked about that breakaway speed he showed on his beauty of a goal late in the third period.
"I've been using this new hockey workout. I sent you the link. Its really helped me a lot and I recommend it to anyone looking to increase their speed."
I don't know if we have any guys on this team that fall into that catagory (cough, cough, hack) but I figured I'd pass it along. Here is the expanded link.
http://www.hockeyshot.com/training.cfm
Also I checked into this and Larry doesn't get any money if you click through, nor does it help him with his quest for Statistical Supremacy... so its safe to try it.

Overheard in the Parking Lot 2: I don't really even know what was said exactly nor do I know if I want to put it in the blog... but there was all this ranting going on about the Patriots and of course how unfair everyone else is to them and how much we love them and this somehow resulted in Hammitt mumbling something about "Hell... I'd blow the guy" in reference to Bill Belichick (we need iJosh to give a clarification on this) but if that wasn't enough I think someone else said they'd probably throw in Brady too... just cuz ... well... you know.
This is all unconfirmed at this hour... and not much can really be trusted about anything said in the Quincy Parking lot more than 1 hour after the game has ended.



Alright now... remember Schlidaveur tonight!!!!

Hingham A (thats the rink on the left as you look at the front of the building) at 10:00pm. There has been talk of another guest roster picker... so stand by your email.


Otherwise.... see you tonight!

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