Cadavers vs Blues
Thursday 9/1
Canton 10:30pm
1-1 tie
The Dead in Red faced old time rival the Blues last night in
Canton for the last game of the summer regular season with, amazingly, a chance
to secure a winning record. Team Zombie would turn in their best period of work
in a season or more but would still let the prize slip away in the waning
moments as momentum faded and the game got late.
The Blues have had a solid group for some time and it would
be a good matchup as the Zombies sported a strong lineup for the season closer.
Here you have it.
Randy Dudek in Net
D1: George and Geoff Marietta
D2: Jeff and Campbell
O1: Larry, Sully, Daley
O2: Baker, Nelson, Matvey and Gregson floated.
Randy Dudek was back in net, and really has been a nice find
during the last ¼ of this season and he’s turned in some fine work helping to
keep the Cads competitive, and last night was no different.
The Defensive corps were supplemented by newcomer Geoff
Marietta who the organization has been scouting for a spot on the winter
roster. Contract negotiations have been ongoing but very positive for Marietta
who despite some rust on his wheels have a very solid evening on the blue line.
Look for him to make the winter club…
The offensive pace was set by Larry, Daley and Baker who
alternated at center and kept the tempo brisk as the Dead played a very strong
first period. Sully and Nelson had
multiple chances as well and the passing and hustle was the best its been for
the dead in some time.
The Cads really took the game right at the Blues for that
whole first frame making smart hard plays that generated good things all over
the place. The Blue goalie did a great job keeping rebounds down and smothering
the many plays that ended up at his feet.
There was nice work from the D making strong outlets and
pinching occasionally and that was how the ice would be broken midway through
the period. Mike Campbell would push the play up into the attack zone after
picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone then with a back and forth to Steve
Baker in the slot ended up with a great chance that Steve would eventually chip
over the sprawling keeper for the 1-0 lead. Steve was excited, as he’d already had a run in with Captain Douchebag, no. 3 Kevin Feury from the Blues. Feury had blatantly held Steve’s stick earlier in the play and the two had exchanged pleasantries (and hacks) back up the ice.
Fuery is no stranger to douchebaggery and last night he tangled frequently with Steve and any other forward that came near usually felt his stick or shoulder.You have to watch your back with that prick on the ice.
The first would end with the Red holding good momentum and
the precious one goal lead, but things would become more heated in the second.
About 5 minutes in, Mike Daley would get caught up with a
defender and despite taking most of the abuse in the exchange Mike would go to
the box for a rough. The Red would play well enough to escape the penalty but
as the time wound down Geoff Marietta and a Blue defender would go for matching
roughs as the two wrestled in the Blue crease.
Again no blood on the penalty, and when Daley returned the teams were even. Unfortunately Red wasn’t done sending guys to the box and this time Larry would go for a hook with 6 minutes remaining in the period.
Again no blood on the penalty, and when Daley returned the teams were even. Unfortunately Red wasn’t done sending guys to the box and this time Larry would go for a hook with 6 minutes remaining in the period.
The play had been slowing from the fast paced first period
and the Red was slowly loosing the traction they had built in the beginning
after killing all the penalties. The Blues were slowly but steadily turning the
momentum as the game got later and the second would close with the Cads still
clinging to the one goal lead.
Well… there you have it. A one goal lead going into the
final period of the regular season. A winning record on the line if we can pull
out the W. I’m glad to say that the Dead did open the period strong and quickly
got a couple chances. The Blues would counter punch however and the Red was
clearly playing a bit more conservatively trying to keep the game under their
collective thumb.
Matvey would take down a rushing Blue forward and would go
to the box for the trip only 3 minutes in. Team Zombie would stomp out the
penalty though with great work by Daley and Nelson as the blogger recalls.
Still… you can see it coming… right?
Baker and no.3 Feury would reacquaint themselves in the high
slot and this exchange ended up with Feury chopping away at Steve who got back
up and in his face only to get clouted a few times by the true D-bag. The refs
would send them both to the box, which of course sent Steve apoplectic. Luckily
Steve kept his yapping to only ¾ volume or something but the Zeebs didn’t toss
him and finally after throwing a bucket of water (I wish) on him he settled
down. These matching penalties came at 8:30.
The play came down to the wire, and if you are frequent reader of this space you may see what is coming about a mile and a half away.
The play came down to the wire, and if you are frequent reader of this space you may see what is coming about a mile and a half away.
The Blues were pressing the play and as Red backpedaled and
played more shut down, they started to get better chances.
With the game under 3 mintues the Blues center man with the
green socks, number 16 Russel Jewel would force the play into the Red end.
Campbell made a play on him but he slipped away. Then he worked Jeff over and
plunged into the zone as Jeff couldn’t shake the puck from him. He sent a pass down low to the streaking wing
who made a couple of good hacks as Randy made the first stop but the puck ended
up in the net and the game tied at 2:27 remaining.
This took a considerable amount of wind out of the Zombies
sails as you can imagine, but the Red kept fighting until the end. Baker ended
up with an open field tackle (better than the Pats punt coverage) and went back
to the box with 1:35 remaining.
The Red would stand strong in the closing minute and would manage to salvage the tie. Despite the dissapointment of letting the W slip away it really was a well matched and fairly well played game. Conincidentally we will almost certainly see the Blues in playoff round one so this is a matchup we will be revisiting within two weeks time.
The Red would stand strong in the closing minute and would manage to salvage the tie. Despite the dissapointment of letting the W slip away it really was a well matched and fairly well played game. Conincidentally we will almost certainly see the Blues in playoff round one so this is a matchup we will be revisiting within two weeks time.
On another note, Steve’s running mouth couldn’t find a
handle on the reigns and he spent several minutes chatting up the Zeebs outside
their room. Jeff headed over 2 -3 times in the early going… trying to save the
franchise from some unwanted attention… but the Zeebs seemed to be cool and
waved him off the 2nd and 3rd visit as they were “just
talking” which I think was code for “letting Steve get it all out in hopes that
Christ Almighty he might just SHUT UP.”
Steve has played a very strong summer and hasn’t let his
temper and mouth get him into many scrapes but he really needs to just let it
go sometimes. The reality is that there will always be inconsistancys and blown
calls at this level.
His best and most helpful response is when he kicks it into gear like he did for shifts in the first and third where he was everywhere at once. The other team has their hands full whenever he plays with anger and puts all his effort into making a play and not runnig his mouth.
His best and most helpful response is when he kicks it into gear like he did for shifts in the first and third where he was everywhere at once. The other team has their hands full whenever he plays with anger and puts all his effort into making a play and not runnig his mouth.
Anyway. Beerman honor roll for Dr.s Campbell, Daley and Bell
who supplied some chilly refreshment after the game.
Campbell said it all when dropping the tailgate of his truck declared “I think this my favorite bar”.
Campbell said it all when dropping the tailgate of his truck declared “I think this my favorite bar”.
Well. 7-7-3 for the Summer. Not bad given a 9 game winless
streak… but not stellar given a 5 game winning streak.
On to the playoffs.
No comments:
Post a Comment