GoldenZombies gnawed by Team Shellfish

Cadavers (24) vs Lobsters
Tuesday March 17th
Dedham 10:30pm

7-1 Loss

So here we were for the nightcap, a rematch with the Lobsters, whom we’ve struggled against this year. In a perfect world this game would have been the first game, given that it was sure to be a bit more of a challenge than the first one. Given that the Clinic game turned out to be a bit more challenging than we had anticipated… things didn’t look great for this game.
There were 6 fresh guys in the room ready to go, but that would mean a buch of us would have to double up to make a complete roster. The fresh guys were Larry, Valenti, Douville, Parker, Gregson, Daley, and DWH. The double skaters would be Capraro, Reynolds, Campbell, iJosh, Elliott, Nelson and Jeff. Yes… that does make 14… but this was solved by Campbell, Jeff, and Elliot all skating the left D spot in a 3 man rotation. Three lines of O seemed to work well and Lizzy was back in the Nets for a second go around.

The game started out ok. Just like our friends the Clinic, this rendition of a old favorite had a bit more spirit than in seasons past. We were ready for that reality as we’ve already had a few go-rounds with this club this season. Unfortunately, not many of those encounters coming out so well for us.
The original idea had been to try and stack a team with as many of our better skaters for this end of season reamatch with our Red Crustaceous Friends. Plans are plans and usually only exisit in the perfect world of imagination. A light turn out for the first game, no fewer than 4 game day dropouts, plus a bevvy of other circumstances left us lighter than we would have liked. That the way it is and there was much courage and desire shown by the guys who doubled up to fill out the roster.

The game was close. Really. The game was 0-0 for a long time… well for the first 6 and a half minutes. The Red broke through with a long shot and went up 1-0. The Golden Zombies played well, took the game to them pretty well at times and the first would end with that score.
The second period was more of the same, uphill skating, trying to generate chances, and trying to squelch the red chances.

Things were ok.. but we were like the Enterprise going as fast as the dilithum crystals would take us... but if we kept running hard she was going to break up.... and she did. They score 3 goals in last 5 min of 2nd period to take a firm grasp of our throats, then scored another to start 3rd and the suffocation began. Sorry to be so grim... but we just couldn't stay in the game.

I will say this. The GoldenZombies did show some pluck... a little Irish determination and did not get shutout on the night. Parker would score with just under 10 minutes in the game. A nice hard working goal from Valenti and Jeff. Kenny Douville would land one with just under a minute in the game that came from Jeff also after a long breakout. This only after the Shellfish had talleyed another just for good luck.

That's how this one would end a not so spiffy 7-1.

Sorry its taken so long to get this one posted. No game stars and the Blogger takes the Coon for sleeping on the job... actually working on the job... but you know what i mean.

Here's iJosh with a few words on this one too:

Since a tie is like kissing your sister, the night went from Kissing your sister in the 1st game to kissing your brother in the 2nd.

Kenny D, continues to get those hockey legs back. At center between the 2 game playing iJosh and Capraro, did the bulk of the hard skating. He would set up a few opportunities and make the right play, but only one would get capitalized on as Jeff Fosdick would break toward the net from the neutral zone and get the shot on net. Kenny would race toward the slot and take the rebound and slide it through the 5 hole to give the Dead in Yellow their 2nd goal.

Thanks Josh... as always.

Suds Clash with Clinic Game 1

Schlitz (24) vs Clinic
Tuesday March 17th
Dedham 9:20pm

4-4 Tie



The Suds were the first up on the St.Patty’s day Dedham Doubleheader, and took to the ice with a 3 game win streak to protect. There was some decent optimism in the room before the game, given the opponent, and everyone felt pretty good about our recent success.

Now, as game time approached there were not quite as many bodies in the room as management had hoped for. There had been several drop outs during the course of the day, but there was still some hope some extra bodies might just appear from under the rainbow… no luck. There were a hearty 9 ready to go when Campbell opened the door to the room. He was scheduled to only skate the nightcap but quickly donned his gear (forsaking the beers in his bag that he had planned on drinking while watching us…good man) and joined the crew to make an even 10.

So this is how it broke down.
Lizzy in net.
D1: Campbell, Reynolds
D2: Jeff, Elliott
O1: Nelson, Capraro, Fitzpatrick
O2: iJosh, Ken/Mitch, Scott
I think.

Firstly let it be noted, this Clinic squad was a bit fiestier than the average group we are used to. I’m just saying that there were a few more guys on the team that were clearly not just learning to play. Now… regardless of that the Golden Beercans didn’t make the best show of things in the early going.
There were some chances for the Gold, even a few shifts that stayed in the Clinic end and showed some solid promise. However… the game stayed 0-0 for the first 5-7 minutes. Then after a brief scramble in our end the Clinic D sent a nice shot through traffic (and a slight screen) that found the net. Gold down 1-0. Hrm.
To make matters worse, the Clinic would strike again, not more than 2 shifts later. This time a forward not picked up through the low post who made a very nice shot that beat Liz for a 2-0 lead. Double Hrmmm. Despite the verbal courage extolled on the bench the Beercans didn’t come up with anything. The period ended 2-0 Red.
The start of the 2nd wouldn’t bring any more good news for the Cans. The Clinic would score AGAIN, I don’t recall the exact circumstances but the Gold was certainly deflated being down 3-0 early in the second to a team they had hoped to spank.
At this point some of the crew for the second game was filter in and shaking their heads at the scoreboard and watching from the glass.
Finally the Gold would wake up and put a few plays together. Firstly Matty Elliot, who played a very solid game at D, scored on a nice shot, assisted by Pete Capraro. The ice was finally broken, and it wouldn’t take long for the thaw to continue. Next up would be Mark Reynolds who would do his best DWH or Stephan impression with a beauty of an end to end rush that ended up in a niffty shot that would bring the cans within a goal. 2-3. The roll would continue as the hard work of both iJosh and Ken would pay off, when iJosh would feed Ken in front for a nice goal that would tie the game. The Gold were downright excited to be back in the game and were clearly jumping to the puck a bit better than the early part of the game.
A good example would be the play of Ken/Mitch who did some nice work both in the offensive zone keeping the play alive, but more importantly a tremendous backcheck that saved a possible goal. Ken was called for the play but it was totally worth it, and great work by him to prevent the chance.
It was a game going down the stretch. A pretty even affair going back and forth in the 3rd period. The Clinic would show that they were not just pushovers and would land another goal to gain back the lead as time became short in the 3rd.
Once again, the blogger is glad to say, the Gold responded. Who do you think nutted it up, gave a little extra effort and willed the puck in the net… I’ll give you 2 guesses… go ahead… guess. Hey! You’re right (or you should have been). Nelson Sharfman would show why he is THE MAN and would simply push the play to the net relentlessly until the puck was in the net and the game was tied, now with less than 5 minutes remaining.
At the very least some dignity was preserved here but the game would end in a tie, 4-4. Not really the way we wanted to start the double header, but hey… at least we didn’t lose.
I’m not doing game stars for this one… but we will have some honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention1: Nelson. Dude just makes it happen when he needs to. THE MAN.
Honorable Mention2: Matt Elliot, another very solid D performance. Thanks for helping out.
Honorable Mention3: Ken/Mitch. A nice hard work goal and a penalty to boot!
Honorable Mention4: Campbell for joining us… when he could have been drinking. Thanks.

iJosh was nice enough to send along some items as well....
"Pete and I were in sync all night. Pete shoulda, coulda, woulda on a quick pass and shoot. He had open net, but give the goalie credit, he get the blocker on the puck and screamed "No soup for you!!!". Chances were there for the two of us, but the hockey gods were not on our side for this one.

Mitch however had the hockey gods smile at him as he planted himself perfectly in front of the net. After the Clinic took a little too much time getting to me just off to the side of the net, with Capraro just in front of me wide eyes toward the net and Mitch just beyond (with the slightly better position) I slide the puck to Mitch who promptly buried it to tie the game."
Thanks Josh!

St.Patty's Recovery... standby...

Schlitz (24) vs Clinic
Dedham 9:20pm
Tuesday March 17th

Cadavers (24) vs Lobsters
Dedham 10:30pm
Tuesday March 17th


Standby readers... the blogger may need medical assistance... iJosh even chimed in with a few kind words but I haven't been able to pull it together yet... something to do with the combined affect of skating two games back to back, then the whole "have a few 'cuz its St.Patrick's Day"... and uh... I'm going to bed. Watch this space for game stories soon.
The short of it is... there were LOTS of dropouts. Just 10 (almost 9) for the early game. Then a fresh 6 for the nightcap against the Shellfish. It, ah... didn't go so well. So I'm taking my aching... everything, and calling it a day.
What's that you say? Oh... yes, must have slipped my mind. 4-4 first game... 2-7 second.

St.Patricks Dbl Header Madness! UPDATED!

Ok team. Shine up your shalaly, bring your Pot o' Gold and a Kiss me I'm Irish tee shirt for a St. Paddy's day Hockey Double Header down in the Dedham Rink. That's right a pair of fraternal games a 9pm tilt for the Suds against the Clinic (looking for 4 in a row!!!) and then a Juicy Nightcap that's sure to have its fill o' the Blarney when Team Zombie takes on the Lobsters at 10pm.

GM Jeff Fosdick laid out the teams for the two games and doesn't want to hear it if you don't like your assignment. Chances are there will be some healthy cross over between the units.

So... bring some Green Beer and your skates. But most of all... bring it so we can come away with a nice pair of victories as the season winds down.

Updated Rosters as of 10am TUESDAY. Email Jeff with issues.

Schlitz vs Clinic

Tuesday March 17th

9:00pm Dedham

Lizzy in Net.

Pearlman

Jeff F.

Matt Elliot

iJosh

Mitch

Nelson

Scott

Blake

Capraro

Reynolds

Mike Fitz

Cadavers vs Lobsters

Tuesday March 17th

10:10pm Dedham

Lizzy in Net

Campbell

Chris F. (50/50)

Hammitt

Larry

Dan Gregson

Mike Daley

Dan Herbert

Kevin Parker

Ken Douville

Capraro (double)

Reynolds (double)

Invitations to Capraro, and Reynolds to double up... were accepted. There have been a few drop outs so there will be more spots open. Management (Jeff) will make the call over the available spots for the second game tonight after the first game.

Cans and Call Late-night in the Rox!

Schlitz (23) vs Last Call

Thursday March 12th

West Roxbury 10:20pm

3-2 WIN

Boy oh boy, the guest blogger was on it for this one friends. Not only delivering quality game story but doing so just hours after the game was completed. The blogger could take a lesson or two from iJosh on that. Here he is, GBiJ with the recap from a cold late night by the side of the VFW highway with a modest win streak on the line and a division opponent on the other bench.

Here's iJosh:

"It has been a long time since this guest blogger has been in a close game. So after arriving for the 10:30 game in West Roxbury it was announced that we all have to wait a little longer for the chance to be competitive. In fact the game was seriously in doubt after it was revealed the rink was behind schedule by about 20 minutes due to some zamboni difficulties which had been yet to be rectified.

So the as the weary Beercans were heading to the locker rooms to get ready it was still 50/50 if the game would even happen. After making 2 attempts at cleaning the ice, the zamboni was able to adequately put down a new sheet of ice. But barely. The game would start roughly 30 minutes late for an already late game. No matter, we were happy just to get on the ice and play the game.

Given the eventual start time, no one would be late for this game. The pairings shaped up with Valenti & Stefan and Parker & Daley on defense.
The forwards lined up with Roman centering Kenny D and Matt Elliott.
iJosh would center Ken Mitch and Mike Fitz. Dan Gregson would handle the Nelson Abacus. Last Call would play with slightly fewer skaters (7 to be exact). So the early strategy would be to skate hard early and make them wear themselves out as quickly as possible. This strategy had its ups and downs.

As the puck finally dropped the Golden Cans did indeed bring it. The first few shift would see some great pressure and some legitimate chances. The Last Call were already looking a little ragged. After 3 shift of hard, fast, smart hockey, the Schlitz would enjoy the spoils of their labor on the 4th shift. Mike Fitz would pick up the puck in the neutral zone. As a Call defender approached him he would feed iJosh as he crossed the blue line. iJosh would slide into a crease between the defenders just above the circle and fire the puck toward the net. The puck would hit a defenders skate and find the back of the net. 1-0 Schlitz. Later in the shift, the Golden Suds would demonstrate that sometimes they do know how to pass as the play would find its way to Stefen and then over to Valenti who blasted one past the keeper to make it 2-0 Schlitz. Not to be outdone the 1st line would add to the 1st period deluge and throw about 65 shots on net until Mr. Gregson would pick up the garbage and net one for his line. 3-0 Beercans. The chances would keep coming and the Call looked to be on their heels.
After a strong 1st period the Schlitz were building some confidence and riding a 3-0 lead.

So into the 2nd more of the same? Well, yes and no. Come on! Don't
you see this coming? If you didn't well let me tell you, the Schlitz continued to play smart on the offensive side of the puck. But the defense and loose pucks would become a bit of an issue. Early in the 2nd Kenny D would get called for a rough. The pk would get away with a few breakdowns. The offensive blue line in this period would become a bit of a sore spot as it was completely invisible unless you were looking at the side boards. A number of players would be caught offsides despite their best efforts to be on the correct side of the line. It was just that they misjudged exactly where that line was.
Kenny D would be caught twice. Once was even called intentional. But believe me there was nothing intentional about it. A bad judgement if you ask me. But not a big deal. Parker would notice that he had over skated the line a bit too late as he humorously tried to sidestep back onsides. Basically we spent a lot of effort of figuring this out. But though a nuisance this was hardly the reason for our defensive struggles. Offensively things still were seeming to click. As a Call was called for trip and another ten minutes later for a unsportsmanlike the Schlitz would play a little tic tac toe in the offensive zone.
iJosh to Valenti to Stefan. Stefen to Valenti to Stefen. Mike Fitz to the point, etc etc. All in all about 5 scoring chances were had.
However the Last Call goalkeep was starting to find his game. He would keep his composure and all his team to get back into the contest. First with a breakdown in the secondary as the Call would make way toward the net and get past the defense to put their 1st past Brian. 3-1 Suds.
Feeling as if they really didn't play their best, the Schlitz vowed to play better and smarter and get back the 3 goal lead.

Once again the puck dropped for the 3rd period. No longer forced to strain their eyes looking for the offensive blue line the Beercans tried to get back on the offensive, figuratively and literally. More pressure would be put on the Call. However chance after chance would fail to bring success. Credit goes to the goalkeep who certainly stepped it up after the 1st and essentially kept his team in this game long enough for them to mount a comeback. So another defensive breakdown and a far side shot slipped by Brian would cut the lead to 1 goal. Now the Schlitz had to be smart and not have any more breakdowns. With ten minutes to go they would have to skate harder than the Call and simply out work them and continue to get the chances they had been getting. Odds were that eventually if the Cans kept that up, then the puck would find it way into the net. But if you were playing those odds, you were not going to get your money back. The Suds would fail to put another one in. Even as the Call pulled their goalie two chances would just miss or get broken up at the last second. With 5 seconds to go, Valenti and a player for the Call would be sent to the sin bin for a little pushing and shoving, name calling and insulting each others Mama. No worries, the Schlitz would hold off the Call to eek by with a hard fought win.

We certainly took advantage of their lack of numbers early. But seemed to lack a killer instinct later in the game. Lucky for us, we were able to hold them off.

Tough to pick the 3 stars tonight. Many people had good nights, so I'll give it to the 3 goal scorers...

#3: iJosh for getting the scoring going (from Mike Fitz)
#2: Gregson for his gritty game winning goal (from Matt Elliott)
#1: Valenti for his bullet(s). (from Stefan) He was there all night firing away. He easily could of had one or two more.

Heard in the locker room:
Matt Elliott: "You had 3 defenders descend on you and you actually passed the puck to me I... didn't know what to do." (to Roman).
Seen and heard in the locker room:
Lizzie. Yes our diminutive goalkeep made her way out to West Rox to cheer on her brethren; popping into the locker room in enough time to run down the list of teams she doesn't like, prompting: "Lizzie, is there a team you do like?", Lizze; "Umm".

No festivities were held in the parking lot as West Roxbury might be the worst possible place to have a beer outside the rink (complete visibility to the VFW Parkway). But the good news is the next game is at Dedham and the beers typically flow there. See you all then.

Just spectacular. Way to go Suds! Three wins in a row... i'll have to hire back the Stats division to get a handle on where that puts us this season... maybe an update next week.

Great work iJosh, another solid contribution.

Suds Soak 'Suckas

Schlitz (22) vs Windsuckers
Tuesday March 10th
HinghamA 10:00


4-1 Win

In this long season of peaks and valley’s the Schlitz have seemed to struggle much more than in any season since their creation. A new mix of talent in the division, a few more miles on the odometer, maybe just the way things go, but those valleys have been much more frequent than the peaks. So here we were on a late Tuesday on the South Shore with a full locker room of guys and one girl in Gold ready to go. The Golden Suds had a spectacular win last Thursday? against the Call that represented the end of a very long slide. The question was could the Beercans pull off a second in a row and build on the momentum?
There was an excellent cast in place to answer the question. Lizzy, not before coaching up Moms on the scorekeeping and scoreboard duties, would take to the nets. In front of her the D had a new wrinkle with Campell playing with Chris Fosdick, and Valenti skating with Jeff. CF was clutch to step up and skate the D.
The Cans would then throw a solid group of three lines out on offense. Michigan Mike Daley would center Gregson and Chuck, Larry would pivot for Reynolds and Parker (a late arrival who just happened to bring his equipment… good move), then Matvey would center Capraro and Blake Underhill. This was a nice scrappy lineup and confidence was … well not high, …but in play.
With the mantra from last week repeated on the bench the Gold took the game right to the Windsuckers who were sporting their spiffy new FirebreathingCoyotelookingThing shirts had a solid lineup. A handfull of + guys and then the usual suspects. they would clearly take a quality effort to beat.
That my friend, is just what the Beercans would give. A no joke, no prisoners, short shifting, hard skating, cycling, passing, beat your guy to the puck kind of a game. I’m not kidding. Whatever started last Thursday? indeed carried over as the Gold would cycle hard taking the game right to the Coyotesuckas.
It was second or third shift of the game, just short of 3 minutes in that the Daley line (carryover theme) would strike after holding the play furiously in the White end. That would establish the tempo and the momentum and Chuck Slate would plop one right in on a smart pass from Kevin Parker who had just come on. The Gold would take the lead and have to play with it.
The play would level off, but no question going at a pretty good clip. The Gold played hard surppressing the White attack in the neutral zone with smart backchecking, and would play a good deal in the White end, getting numerous chances.
The line of Capraro, Underhill, and Nikhamik would do excellent checking work, and taking the game right at white. Chris Fosdick had a few anxious moments on D but on the whole played great stepping in seamlessly and doing a good job breaking up plays in our end. Lizzy would be tested several times. She handled everthing thrown at her, benefiting from a break here and there, but a solid performance without question. She was quick to cover loose stuff and clearly handled all the long shots.
The first would see one penalty as Campbell would go for a rough. But that would be it until late in the second. The game would stay 1-0, with both teams close to scoring the next critical goal. That goal would come with 5 minutes left in the second when the ‘Cans would break up a play in our end, Valenti on the play, up to Underhill, who relayed to Capraro who barreled ass down the middle of the ice losing the D and striking with a wrister low on the glove side that would give the Gold a 2-0 lead. Huge. Massive. Titanic are words that came to mind at the time. Reynolds would go for the only penalty of the period but the Suds were solid on the kill.

So thats how it would go 2-0 into the third with the game tightening all the time. You could see the Windsuckers gain some momentum as we tired. But Mike Campbell would come zipping over the 'suckers blue line and would rip a nice shot that found the net (pass from Matvey) and would put the Gold up 3-0. That goal was also Titanic, Huge and Massive.

The Windsuckers wouldn't go quietly and as the tired legs caught up with us not a minute after Mike's goal, White would finnaly get one past Lizzy, but only after a long scramble in our end. So with a 3-1 lead the teams went right after each other for the remaining 6 minutes of the game. Old friend Mike Daley would send a nice pass to Mark Reynolds who drove home the nail in the coffin at just over a minute to play. Thats how this one would end 4-1 and a huge, massive, titanic win for the beleagured Golden Beercans. Nice work by everyone involved.

I'm not even going to mention that no one brought beer and we failed the 4th period completely... sheesh.

Game Stars

3rd Star: Goal scorers Chuck Slate, Mike Campbell and Mark Reynolds, aaand helpers Kevin Parker and Mike Daley. Good contributions, well deserved by all.

2nd Star: Lizzy for having a tremendous night. Keeping the game infront of her and just plain playing clutch when it counted. Great win Liz.

1st Star: The line of Pete Capraro, Blake Underhill and Matvey Nikhamik. Blake and Matvey each had an assist and Pete scores the eventual Game Winner on a terrific breakaway. Great work all night. Blake had a heroic effort in the third at one point to make it to the puck and get it out of our end in a critical situation. Matvey just quietly goes about his business setting people up and contributing every time he plays. Great work, all of you.

DONT FORGET. GAME THURDAY NIGHT 10:30 in West Roxbury.

SCHLITZ vs LAST CALL

Lets keep the winning streak going! The playoffs are around the corner.

Also be sure to get back to management about next week's St.Patrick's Day Doubleheader.

Suds vs. Sucka's Rematch Tonight!

Schlitz (22) vs Windsuckers

Tuesday March 10th

Hingham A 10:00pm

Big rematch against the 'suckas tonight. We haven't had much luck against these guys lately... hopefully we can turn that around with a big win tonight. Actually we are only 2-2 against them this season. Dare we hope for 2 in a row during this miserable season of our Sudsy discontent? Lets make it happen. The photo is unrelated but she has a nice... uh... bucket... so I thought I'd share.

Didn't know you liked the Isles that much did you? You're welcome.

Here is your roster for tonight. Remember the A rink is to the left as you look at the front of the Hingham rink.

Lizzy in Net

Campbell

Jeff

Chris

Matvey

Scott

Larry

Greggy

Valenti

Slate

Capraro

Reynolds

Daley

Underhill

Schlitz (21) vs Last Call

Thursday March 5th

Dedham 9:10pm

4-2 Win!!!

The blogger is here to tell you, dear friend and reader of the blog, that its been a long time since there has been good news in this space, far too long for anyone’s liking. There was an attitude of determination around the team as the Schlitz assembled in locker room number two in Dedham last night. “Tonight’s the night” seemed to be the theme. The night to put this putrid losing streak behind us, get up off the mat and win a game that isn’t against ourselves. I don’t even want to go into the statistics from the past two months, the whole stats division here at Schlidaveur International has been shut down due to lack of interest (or goals to keep track of), but just scroll through the last few pages… there are far too many fail gifs. It was time, emphatically put by more than a few, that this was the night we’d turn it around.

The team was ready clearly. As game time approached there were more players than we needed. Due to some eagerness (always welcome) and some miscommunication we had 15 guys in the room. CEOBMF Kilroy was there to backstop us, so really we had 16 guys in the room ready to go. Mark Reynolds would take his shinnies back off and would coach the team for the night as he wasn’t on the offical roster. This worked out great because its always nice to have someone calling the shifts and generally preparing the next group to go from the bench. We can usually use all the help we can get. The other extra body, Marc Valenti would join the D corps that would skate a 5 man rotation that included, Mike Campbell, Greg James, and Chris and Jeff Fosdick. That left 3 full lines for the offense and a total of 14 skaters, 1 coach and a partridge in a pear tree.

The offense would break down like this. Magic Mike Daley would center Elliot, and Gregson. Nelson would go with Jasse and Capraro, and Mike Fitzpatrick would pivot for Blake and Chuck. So there you have it.

The Gold took the ice against old friends Last Call who were sporting their white shirts that they used to play as the Generals with. They had the usual assortment of talent, a couple of half shields, 2 plain shirts with wheels, and the usual veteran crew. A team we can run with, should run with, have to run with…. it was on.

The opening shifts were a scramble as the Gold got their feet under them. The Nelson line led off and the play went up and back a couple time. Then the Daley line took the ice and took the game right straight into the Call’s grill. Daley moving in the zone with purpose moving the puck to Elliot and Greggy got a handfull of excellent chances right away. Before the end of the shift, about 3-4 min into the game Daley would score after a long scramble in front on a feed from Matt Elliot. The Gold felt good.

That good feeling wouldn’t last however as just about a minute later the Call would spring one of the their half shield’s loose (grey socks) and he would rip a shot from above the dot to Matt’s left that I still don’t think he’s seen. Not more than a pair of shifts later the Call would strike again after a scramble in front of Matt and a white shirt (one of several) on the doorstep would flip it in.
The Gold wouldn’t lay down friends. There would be no collapse as long as the Daley line had a crack at it. They would and on their next shift Mike would score another terrific hard work goal, again assisted by Matty E. I think Greggy got robbed with no helpers but he had a whole bunch of chances of his own before the night was out.

The game tied 2-2 the teams would settle in for a nice back and forth skate with some chances at either end. Matt would come up with very nice stops any one of which saved the Gold from coming back again.
The second period would go scoreless as the keepers settled in and at the start of the third it was clear to all on the bench and ice the game was there for us to take, but we’d have to go after it hard the rest of the way.

The blogger couldn’t be more pleased to tell you that on the first or second shift of the third Nelson would win a faceoff in the White end and would drive to the net with a blistering fast shot that would find the promised land. The Gold up 3-2, with lots of time left in the game. The boys would respond with hard short shifts from both O and D and the game was played more (slightly) in the White end than our own. There were chances that Matty gobbled up, and some nice defensive work by a bunch of players. Pete Capraro had a terrific backcheck at one point, Valenti had a great tip away, Jeff swooped away a chance at the last second, and the forwards turned in a couple of breakaways. Nelson and Jasse each came up short after pressing the play hard to the Call keeper.

There were lots of good plays all the way around and I'm sure I'm forgetting boatloads of them. But this is what it came down to. With the Daley line on the ice, Mike Campbell and Chris Fosdick on D we took down the last minute and a half. Not without giving up a chance right away... but the Gold got the job done, got the puck out, and Matt Elliot iced the game with and empty net goal with 5 seconds left.
Nice win. Nice work. Nice turnout. Nice to feel this way after the game ... and not the alternative.

All these good vibes were only amplified when we made it out to the parking lot.
Mike Daley, deciding to really cement his stature as God, err.. Player of the Game, goes above and beyond and brings Michigans... (not chilidogs) for the postgame. THis is a little Upstate New York treat with a meat sauce on top of regular hot dogs... and man was it good. Greg James also brought cookies from Miran! Woo hoo! Thanks!

Kudos to everyone who broght beer, Campbell, Jasse, Chris Fosdick... etc. Great work everyone.

Game Stars

3rd Star: Has to be the Badass Backstop, Johnny on the Spot, The CEO with Mo- JOE! Matty "Puck Stops Here" Kilroy. Great work Matt, thanks for not only taking the ice but taking the game for us.

2nd Star: Has to be Matt Elliot. With a pair of helpers and an Empty Net goal (they all look like breakaways on the score sheet) Matt had a great night. Really his line with Greggy and Daley was the story of the night. Kudos to all of em... especially....

1st Star: Magic Mike (dont call 'em Chilidogs) Daley. Just tremendous play all night. A pair of great goals and hard work all night that really drew the attention of the other team. Just plain old SOLID. Way to go Mike!

Honorable Mention 1: Always comes through when you need him. Nelson Greybeard...really) Sharfman. A tremendous game winning goal off the faceoff.

Honorable Metnion 2: Mark Reynolds for staying to coach. Thanks Mark, always nice to have another set of eyes watching the game and helping us out. It was a true team effort last night.

Suckas Bury Zombies...

Cadavers (23) vs Windsuckers
Monday March 2nd
Canton 9:10pm

6-1 loss

When the blogger threw out the request for stories from this one, this was the first and only response I got back for about a day and a half. It was from Mark Reynolds and went like this.

"Well, another tough loss for the Red. 6 – 1. No additional comments required. The only stars were in the 4th period– Campbell and Jasse – thanks for the beer boys."

That seemed to do the trick. But really there must be more to it than that right...?
Well, Dr. Jasse was nice enough to chime in with some thought provoking comments as well this morning...

A couple of brief descriptors from Monday night and our collective slide of late:
We're old and we suck.
Is there an E League?
What are we, the Washington Generals?
Can we PLEASE play an entire season against the clinic?
Are there any blind Bantam teams we could square off against?
Dude-6 shots we're down 4-0.
We hung in there and tightened up but it was pretty much over after that. We lost 6-1. Roman had a nice roofer from Jasse and maybe Larry.

Here is world champion Guestblogger iJosh.... leading off with just a short comment on the grimness of his reports lately....and then turning in another excellent game summary.

"Too depressing to get excited about writing these at the moment. Last 3 games I have attended: 22 goals against, 1 goal for.
---
Lately there has been the sentiment that the other team didn't belong skating with us, or more accurately we don't belong skating with them.
So would this be another game like those? Would the Skating Dead rise or stay stiff and let the rigor mortis set in? The answer to those are:
Yes & No and No & Yes respectively. Meaning? Well this game would indeed be somewhat like the others in that we were never in it from the get go, but that this was a team we can and should have been able to skate with. We just shot ourselves early and often. The Dead looked dead, played stiff and resembled exactly what is on the crest.

So is there a way to sugarcoat this? Probably not. Tensions started to get a little high and maybe we need to step back a bit, relax and just remember to play hard and have fun. I don't know. I am not one to give any pointers on game play right now.

The quick summary of the game play is this: The defense would have Matvey paired with George and Mark Reynolds paired with Mike Campbell.
The offense shaped up to be Larry, Jasse and Ken D and iJosh, Ken Mitch and Roman. Early in the first this would be all Suckers. They would put 6 shots on goal to find 5 of them find the back of the net. This was due to breakdowns by the Cads and opportunistic play by the Suckers.

The second would have the Cads shore up their defense, to the point were they gave up no goals and much fewer chances. George started the period by sending a Sucka flying in front of the net. That would earn George a bit of alone time. But the Cads would do a good job killing the penalty. The first line would then miss a few door step chances including one where Mitch stepped in for Jasse and nearly put home a rebound, but it was less than an inch wide. Later in the 2nd in the middle of another line change the hard work of Larry and Jasse would help find Roman in the slot who put a beauty home to finally give the Dead some life. More chances would be had, but despite two power plays none would bring another goal.

Now that we had played a good period, a bit of confidence started to infuse the team. But as the game wore on and the chances never materialized into anything more than chances, tensions began to rise.
Another power play would be wasted and the legs began to tire after playing from so far behind. The Sucka would get an insurance goal and then some fat lady stood up in the stands and sang.

Unfortunately this is one we would love to have back. But seeing that we can't lets just learn from our mistakes and play smarter and better and don't forget to have fun.

4th period had a very quick showing as it was absolutely freezing.
Beverages courtesy of the Mikes: Campbell the Bud Ligh and the Jasse the Heineken Lights."

Ug. Man these have been dark days.... thanks for the words everyone.