Suds fight back to tie Jacks

Schlitz (13) vs Inglewood Jacks
Wednesday August 5
Dedham 9:10

4-4 Tie


The Gold made what they could out of an uneven performance, and somehow found the grit to pull off a come-back and earn a tough tie against the Inglewood Jacks. The Schlitz would play the majority of the game behind 3-1 to the undermanned (7 skaters) but always sharpshooting Jacks. Late in the third they would again be down 4-2 but would score the last two to earn a draw on an exhausting night in Dedham.

The suds would have an even 10 players after Jeff showed up as the Zamboni was nearly halfway done. CEO/GQ Madd Matt Kilroy was back in the pipes after a brief “I think I hurt myself” hiatus of nearly 2 weeks and would “look sharp” all night. The D was anchored by the pairings of Capt.George, Matvey and Campbell, Fosdick, who were also playing together for the first time in what seemed like a long time.
The forwards would be ably manned by centers Pete “That’s crap George” Capraro and Neil “Just give me rookie of the year now, dude” Shah. Wings included Nelson Greybeard Sharfman, Chuck Slate, Dr. Pounds, and Howard Heppleman. Howard and Neil were nice enough to bring along some fans, and they were nice enough to hang out and watch us play. Major props to Sarah and April for supporting the Suds, although in April’s case, it seems Howard brought her in order to prove that he’s really joined a hockey team.

The game would start on a good beat. The Suds were clearly at an advantage given the Jack’s short bench and seemed to take the game to them right away. The Gold were able to keep things in front of them and in general kept the play away from their most dangerous players, and in their end or tied up at center ice. That would last for the first 5 to 6 minutes of the game and it looked pretty good, we were getting decent chances and Kilroy had already made some solid stops and showed he would be there all night.
Then Dr. Pounds would plop home a nifty rebound after Jeff would make a play at the point corralling the puck and sending back down to the crease. Good guys up 1-0.

Are you ready? Can you feel it coming? You should. The “worm would turn” when Howard would get called for a rough/hold on the guy that was busy sparring with him in front of the Jack’s keeper. Both guys had been frisky but Howard would go to the box and George would have something to say to the Zebra. The Zeebs were our old portly friend with glasses and his beak-nosed toothless partner who immediatley engaged George in some discourse that could only mean bad things for all of us.

That would lead to a tieing goal by the Jacks as they got a bit of a lift. Classic breakdown in our end and suddenly the Suds legs were not nearly as strong as they had been in the early going. The Jacks would score the next two goals, on plain old let down plays, poor coverage, and some good shooting by the guys in white. This would leave the Beercans down 3-1 halfway through the game and to be honest, sucking wind and not looking particularly impressive. The pace of the game had slowed and we showed that we couldn’t consistently push the play but were still doing a serviceable job breaking up their passes and getting occasional chances.

The next “shoe to drop” would be when Howard would take another roughing call, and then ran his mouth, which would buy him a double minor around the 11 minute mark of the second. It seems this is something we collectively just cannot get through our heads. No one should talk to the Zeebs. Blogger included. Ever.
This wouldn't have been so bad but as the penalty wound down we would take another penalty, this time on Matvey on a pretty good takedown in front of Matty. Then things got a little confusing.
During the stoppage George said something to the Zeebs. This resulted in said Zeebs realizing, apparently with George's help that Howard now had 3 penalties and should be asked to leave. He was. In the confusion it seems the Zebras forgot about Matvey's penalty as he went to serve for the now ejected Howard. It saved us a 5-3 I suppose but one has to scratch their head over just what George was thinking. This move reduced us to 9, the D now down to 3 as Matvey would skate the rest of the way in Howard's spot up front.

The second ended with the Suds in the game but wheezing. Now 9 players and in serious need of stepping it up a little. It would take nearly half the period but the Suds would indeed start to make some progress. Jeff would again keep the puck in the zone at the left point and shuttle it back in front where Nelson would dish or shoot and Neil R.O.Y. Shah would finish it nicely to bring us within one. This was with less than say 10 minutes or so to go.

Now getting some better chances and actually taking advantage of the winded IJ's the Gold looked to be on the right path. Then another breakdown. Jeff pinched a bit and a Jack's forward got outside and raced up ice when he got the puck. He got off a good shot that beat Matt while being chased. The Jacks were back up two, 4-2 and Jeff was frustrated for sure. He had a front row seat for most if not all of the Jack's goals and was none too pleased about it.

Maybe the old boy should get frustrated more often as right after the face off Jeff would take the puck from the Gold end and make a nice rush through several Jacks all the way to the other end. Neil would again provide the nice finishing touch and would bring the Beercans back within a goal with about 5 minutes left.

Things continued to go pretty well. Matt made a pair of very nice stops in the late going, and then George would take a turn rushing the puck. On a feed from Matvey, George would weave through the zone and get off a nice shot that would tie the game with just under 2 minutes to play. The 'cans would keep it up, but the Jacks would get a dangerous chance squelched by Matt in the closing moments. The game would end in a tie, but there was certainly a pretty good feeling about the comeback among the very tired Suds.

Postgame was interesting with George having a few items about our play that weren't totally off the mark, but still not particularly well recieved after the hard fought tie. No one at this point really knew that he had told the Zebras about Howards penalties until Howard spoke up.

The beer was cold and plentiful and was very easy going down in the parking lot. Thanks to Howard and wife April for bringing the packed cooler, and to Sarah and Neil for bringing suds as well. All in all a satisfactory night at the rink. Thanks again to Sarah and April for supporting the team... and watching the whole game... which brings us to:

Game Stars

3rd Stars: Superfans April and Sarah. Thanks for cheering the slow Suds on and hanging out after the game.

2nd Star: Jeff Fosdick for a 3 assist night and the end to end rush that resulted in the 3rd goal. Must have been the chicken burrito he had earlier in the evening.

1st Star: Neil Shah for a two goal night and a bucket load of hard work up and down the ice. Many times Neil could be seen doing some nice back checking to help out in our end, and creating chances all night. Nice job. He even brought a fan and beer! This guy is clearly a keeper.

Ok. One more bit of business.

We haven't heard from this dude in a while but after Captain George's... ahem... indescretions on the night we now have...

THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF THE COON OF SHAME.

George just couldn't resist pointing out the Zebras mistake and took a man off the roster when we were only 10 tired guys only halfway through the night. Come to think of it, his initial conversation with "The Beak" kind of set things off in a bad way. There is some redemption in the fact that it was his goal that tied the game for the Suds. Kudos for that... but the Howard thing has earned you the inglorious honor of .... The Coon.

Better yet, during the email thread this morning that included the players from last night George had something to say about this. Here, in a Blog first is George with a 'Coon acceptance speech.

"All, I'd like to apologize for being a bit too fired up after the game, and for my comments in the locker room. I should have been happy with the come from behind tie. And my apologies to Howard. I don't know what I was thinking. I was upset at the refs and wanted to point out how they were continuing to screw up... But, the instance that I pointed out wasn't in our favor. Complete brain fart on my part. With that in mind, I didn't give Howard his total of 3 minor penalties. I just got confirmation of the league rules. ;-) I willingly and shamefully accept the coon of shame.

Sorry."

Big ups to George for being a standup guy. You're truly one of us George... imperfect. We're glad to have you with us.

That's all from here. Updates at the begining of the week on upcoming games and Hockey on the Beach plans. Stay tuned.

Lets end on an up note. Thanks to Pete for chipping this in this morning as well:

"The whole thing is beautiful, seriously I love this shit, banging it up out there, getting on each other, passing to the other team mid in front of our goal, making up the next day, getting put in the box, driving people into the net, people learning new positions, sushi, beer, 4th period, the BLOG.

What more could you ask for?"

Word up Pete. Thanks.