zombies dont survive shock therapy...

Cadavers (3) vs Shock

Monday June 1st

Hingham A 10:00pm

2-1 loss

As per usual iJosh turns out another tremendous guest blog. This is good news for you blog readers out there that would like to read about the game, you know, within a week or so of the game actually taking place. iJosh consistantly not only turns out good game story but has been more on the ball than the blogger these days. Thanks Josh.

Without further ado... here's iJosh.

I came into this game with high hope. The our new hockey brethren seemed to put some life into the team the last game. And the Shock are very much a beatable team for us.

The game would start about 10 minutes late. Which turned out to be a good thing since the recent trend of horrendous traffic from the north side of Boston continued. Those coming from Cambridge and north hit at least one, if not two stretches of road that looked more like a parking lot than a highway. But luckily every got to the ice before the third line took their first shift of the game.

There were plenty of skaters. But we were sorely lacking in regular defensemen. With an squad of 12 a decision ws made to go with 3 rotating defensemen and 3 full lines of offense. So the defense would be regular George Moorachian, semi-regular Mark Reynolds and periodic fill-in blueliner Kevin Parker. The offense would line up with: Roman centering Matvey and Ken D; Steve Baker centering Mike Goodwin and Chuck Slate & iJosh centering KenMitch and Neil Shah. And in goal, Lizzie.

Play started out flat. Seemingly nothing was happening. No shots, no passes, no movement. Every pass was magnetically attracted to the skate of an opponent. Overall it didn't look good. Not too long into the 1st period a Shock would collect the puck and skate over the blue line. He would release a slap shot that would make its way over Lizzie's shoulder, 1-0 Shock. Play would pretty much continue this way for the rest of the period. Lucky for us, the Shock were not playing inspired hockey either. Twice in the 1st period the Dead in Red would get a power play only to take no advantage of the situation. Despite the lack of opportunities and flat skating we would find ourselves down only 1-0 at the end of the period.

The 2nd period had no major change in style, enthusiasm nor success.
Early in the 2nd another shot on a breakout from just inside the blue line would find its way past Lizzie to make it 2-0. Again play pretty much continued to be the same: bad passes, passes into the bodies and skates of the other team, etc etc. Then to add to our issues, George would get called for a rough. Didn't really see it, so I cannot really make a judgment. The PK would hold on to the end of the period and essentially kill it. Still 2-0 Shock.

I don't know if it was George getting irritated or just everyone finally woke up, but the 3rd would see much better play and many more opportunities. Ken D would slid a pass to iJosh who had an open net and would like it back, but just couldn't hold on and ended up on the ice without a decent shot. Then Steve Baker would pick up a rebound put it high and finally the Cads would get on the.....nope, never mind.
Nice play by the defensemen to get in the way of the open net.
Arghh!!! Again another set of rebounds would be there for the taking, but no one could get a good hold on the puck. The goalie would make a few nice saves to keep his team up by two. The Skating Zombies would get another chance at the power play, but couldn't quite capitalize.
KenMitch before the game predicted that if he got called for a penalty that it would be for a trip. Low and behold he would make an attempt at the puck and puck carrier, miss the puck and sweep the leg. That would be two for tripping...good call Mitch. Again the PK unit would do their job and kill the penalty. Tempers would flare a bit, but then as time wound down the Cads would give it one last try to get on the board.
With under a minute left, the Cads would put a few shots on net. The Shock would try to clear, but Mr. Reynolds would keep the puck in and get the Red on the board with a shot from the point. Timeout was called and it was decided that with 40 seconds left we should go for broke, pull the goalie and just try to win the faceoff and take our chances.
iJosh was unable to cleanly win the faceoff, but the Cads were able to gain control of the puck quickly and make a move toward the net.
Unfortunately the Red were unable to get a good enough chance before the Shock were able to clear the puck and end the game.

Final Score 2-1 Shock.

The locker room was a little bitter. We'll get them next time.

Scoresheet:

2nd Period:
Penalty: Moorachian (Rough)
3rd Period:
Penalty: Goldenberg (Trip)
Goal: Reynolds (unassisted)

Cads lose to Spuniks. Its all over now.

Cadavers (p3) vs Sitniks

Thursday April 16th

Canton 7:00pm

5-2 Loss.

The news out of Zombieville is no good this morning friends. The Dead in Red went down to the Red Army (wearing purple) and the book is officially closed on the Cadaver 08-09 campaign. The word is that Team Sputnik had three full lines to the Dead's two and really had a strong lineup on the ice. It also sounds like Brian "Long arm of the Law" Carey had another great playoff performance, only to be squandered by some lackluster play on the part of the rest of the Zombie roster.

There was the faint ringing of some complaints here and there but that's all that I'll say about it, our guest bloggers have a comment though down below here. It sounds like a frustrating one, but really, hasn't this just been a season of frustrating games? This whole thing had a stench on it from the start, so as far as the Blogger is concerend good riddance to Winter 08-09. Let's try to get some different mojo going for the summer season.

Lets get on to the first hand accounts and summary of the game. Here is the rundown from Defenseman Marc Valenti:

"Period 1
Sputniks Goal @ 10:05
Dead Penalty @ 12:07, Tripping #11
Close period, we kept the pressure and Brain played great.

Period 2
Sputniks Goal @ 6:21
Sputniks Goal @ 3:06
Dead Penalty @ 0:02, Roughing #16
With our two lines to their three lines of decent skaters we began to run out of steam. Brian played great.

Period 3
Sputniks Goal @ 16:33
Sputniks Goal @ 7:02
Dead Penalty @ 4:47, Roughing #11
Dead Goal @ 1:11, #2 Unassisted
Dead Goal @ 0:50, #44 Unassisted
We staged a comeback, just too late. Brian played great, score doesn’t show it.

Overall, the calls did seem one sided and they had #25 who was the ringer that we played with the last time we played them.
The roster says him name is Sasha Tkachev, NOT. Nelson told the refs to check his ID and they would not, therefore, it doesn’t matter. It’s all hot air. They brought in a ringer for a playoff game, really, it’s D league.
Final Score 5-2"

Nice wrap from Marc. Here are some comments from another D-man Chris Fosdick. He gives a nice recap on the two third period goals here.

"Brian turned in another amazing performance, he is really improving. However, we just couldn't get it done. ...

It's not that they were so good, but they did come out and hustle more than we did and that made the difference. They pass pretty well too, but if we had had even slightly different personnel we could have beat them. It was very frustrating. ...

Finally with less than 2 mins left Dan G. was battling in the corner with two guys on him, and I was wide open on the point, so I called for the puck, which he got to me and I released a cannon of a shot that beat the goalie high glove side. Then, 30 seconds or so later we get the puck in their zone and make another bid and Dan G stuffs in a losse puck in the scrum in front of the net. So in the end we had at least a little redemption, but also a condemnation ... [comment deleted]"

Thanks for the words and recap bro'. Good job with the goal at the end there, and thanks for taking the shifts on D when the team needed you.

Good luck to the Sputniks/Sitniks... try not to get blown out in the next game.

Thats all from here. See you for the begining of the Summer Season. I'll work up the end of season statistics and dreaded season wrap post while I'm on vacation in Florida next week.

As far as I'm concerned this party is over. Last one out... turn off the lights.

Rats chew on Cads.

Cadavers (p2) vs River Rats

Monday April 13th
Dedham 10:20pm

4-0 loss

Looks like we didn't fare any better against the Rats than we have any other time we've played them this season. Reports are still slow coming in on this one...

Anyone with a Tale to tell... drop a dime to the Blogger... you know where to find me.
I will update this post when I have something of significance to add....

Oh wait a minute... I do have something...

Twas some other playoff hockey to think about over the weekend. So in the interest of denial… and the cheap excuse to crow about my own team…
The Blogger would like to congratulate the 08-09 Boston University Terrier Hockey Team on their National Championship. The Terriers played an incredible game on Saturday night. I’m here to tell you that as the evening wore on at Chez Blogger there was long faces and copious beer consumption. Things looked very dark… then things got much much better. Zach Cohen pulls them within one, then Colin Wilson ties it up. When Colby Cohen’s goal fluttered in during overtime I can tell you this… there was some serious dancing on the coffee table. Way to go boys. Way to go Jack.
Its always special when your team wins the big one… let alone when they practically give you a heart attack doing it.

Credit Boston Globe for Pics from Today's Championship Rally on Comm. Ave.

Woo Hoo!
...and by the way... BC STILL SUCKS!

Zombies Conquer Sparta!

Cadavers (p1) vs Spartans
Wednesday April 8
Hingham C 10:20

5-0 Win

The Dead in Red showed up for the start of the Winter Season Playoffs ready for action. The Spartans were the opponent for the night, having just played on Sunday. They had beaten the CH Terriers that night and won the opportunity to play against us. The Zombies were well stocked, taking the ice with 12 and adding Stephan before the end of the first to round us out to and even 13. The Spartans looked to be suffering from Second Game of the Week Syndrome and had a thin bench of 8 guys. It might have been 9 but they looked like 8 all night. This clearly played to the Dead’s advantage.

The Zombie Lineup was thus.
Campbell, Valenti, Jeff, and Stephan on D. Chris Fosdick played the first then went up to forward. Nelson, Mike Daley, Pete, Matt Elliot, Matvey, Chuck, Parker, and Douville made up the hard working Oh-Fence for the night. Pete was an unexpected drop in… but he happened to be driving by, with his equipment, on his way back from the imaginary practice/game at Quincy Youth Arena… luckily we had a spot for him, and to his credit he made the most of it.

The game went like this. We pressed, played hard, shifted short, hustled back, fore checked with some success at times, and kept after the Spartans all night. They played the exhausted, back on your heels style of a short benched, second game this week group of guys. They played hard and tried hard the whole game to their credit. They just couldn’t get much going against us. Brian saw a few shots but not many of high quality. I believe he was overheard in the locker room after the game… “I think I only saw 5-6 shots all night…” He wasn’t complaining, and he turned out a nice solid performance standing in there when we needed him.

Mike Daley was all over the place, as you’d expect and was the first Zombie to break the ice. Fed from Nelson Mike would tuck one by the keeper about halfway through the first. Sparta was hard pressed to keep up with Mike when he started wheeling around the zone. Before Stephan showed to relieve Chris at his D position, the tall, lanky forward would make a play. Keeping the puck at the right point, (playing opposite brother Jeff that shift) Chris made a nice move to give himself room then launched a nice slap shot at the net. The Scoresheet has Matvey tipping it into the net, but Chris contends it may have gone in untouched… we’ll have to get a ruling.

Mike Campbell would go to the box for the always interesting “Leg Check” penalty. No shit he “Leg Checked” the guy… have you seen how long Mike’s legs are? Most of the guys we play against only come up to the bottom of his shoulder pads anyway…

The first ended 2-0 Zombies. The Second period would see Mike Daley land another goal, this one from Marc Valenti at the point. Nelson would go off for roughing at some point, but the PK was solid. Pete Capraro would make the most of this evening out with his equipment and would score on a long cycle with Chris assisting. Hmn… this one might be wrong too… did Pete or Chris score this one… we need another ruling. Chime in boys and help the blogger out..? The period was basically the same as the first, with more panting.

The Third would see two more penalties for the Red. Daley for a phantom Slash, and Campbell again for Interference… I wonder why not “Leg Interference”… again the PK and Brian stood strong. Sparta did actually mount a few good chances in this period but nothing worked out. Nelson would cap off scoring unassisted, once again turning in an epic hard work performance that he is so famous for.

Other notable incidents during the game included Kevin Parker walking back to the locker room in his socks to get his crappy old skates, after skating the first in his shinny (and apparently painful) new skates.
Always nice to have “fashionably late” Stephan Wennik. He always drops in out of the blue but turns out a good game every time. Thanks for making the journey down.

Game Stars
3rd Star: Chris Fosdick. 2 goals or 2 assists? Maybe a goal and an assist? Any way you slice it Chris got 2 points, did a great job helping out the D, and then continued to impact the game on offense. Great job.
2nd Star: Another 2 point man. In fact he’s The Man. Nelson. Goal and an assist, and a nightly clinic on how to play hard and will yourself into scoring opportunities. Thanks.
1st Star: Wheelin’ and Dealin’ all night, its got to be Michigan Mike Daley! Mike has another 2 goals to add to his totals. Great hard work all night and results in the net to boot.. Who could ask for more?

That’s the story from here (a week after the game)… unfortunately it doesn’t sound like the Suds fared as well on the next night. The Cadavers next face off against #1 seed the River Rats on Monday 4/13.

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.

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.

River Rat Smackdown!

Cadavers (22) vs River Rats
Monday February 23
10:20pm


0 to ... don't ask.



Master Guestblogger iJosh is here to give it to you straight
friend. I ain't standing in his way so here he is...

"So do you remember when you were little? There were time that you wanted to be like the adults the big boys. But inevitably you were told to either go away; go play with your own friends; or this is no place for a kid. Essentially you were put in your place. Well folks this is exactly what the River Rats did to us. The let us know that we didn't belong there. At least not last night.

The players for this night would be: Matvey & George, Chris Fosdick & Mark Reynolds on D. iJosh centering Ken D and Chuck. Roman would center Gregson and Matt Elliott.

Sometimes when we have a great exciting game it is described as having it all. Well there was absolutely none of that. We would spend the first period on our heel trying our best just to not give up a goal.
There was no offense just genuine effort just to keep up. The Rats passed well, shot well and defended well. Not a good combo for the Dead in Red. Finally well into the 1st the Rats would finally strike. This would be followed by more struggling efforts by the Cads. The only shot in the 1st was a tipped pass that floated in the air and captured by their keeper. Lizzie put in a fantabulous first period, making some very impressive saves. But as the period wound down the Rats would get a pass away and a streaking player would roof one with only seconds to
go. 2-0 Rats

The second would see numerous breakdowns by the Cadavers. This would lead to a total of 4 goals in on Lizzie. Don't get me wrong, she still played well. But some of these saves Gerry Cheevers wouldn't have made. Okay that would be the Gerry Cheevers of 2009. He is much older and slower. But he is still a better player than any of us. Our favorite ref even felt a little sorry for us as he even let us know that he let a hook by iJosh go. But eventually he would have to start calling them and that would put Roman in the box for tripping. By the end of two it was 6-0.

The third would see the Rats lay off a bit. But that would make little or no difference. Matt Elliott would have our one and only legitimate shot at a goal, but it wasn't meant to be. Lizzie let more in via screens, tips and overpowering shots. Again, nothing that she could anything about. In the end the score would be 10-0.

Hindsight being 20/20, even if we had more natural defensemen or played better positioning or passed better the outcome may not have been much different. Yeah, maybe we put one in and maybe they score 2 or 3 less.

But all in all this was the spanking that your daddy gave to you just when you needed to be put in your place. Maybe you enjoyed that. But that would make you a freak. The rest of us just bowed our head in shame and walked away.

The 4th would have a few quick die hards. Beer courtesy of Mr. Fosdick. But the time, temp and lack of enthousiasm made it a quick night.

Josh... you rock. Great work as always. Unfortunately we dont have a very pretty story to tell at times. There were a bunch of other contributors on this one and the Blogger thanks you all. Here is a few words from Captain George:
" ... Not a muscle in body that doesn't fell like lead. Left it all on the ice last night. ...
...You know me. I always have something to say, or some comments after the game on how we might have slowed the opposition down. But, after the game, I had zero complaints for any Cad
performance. There was simply nothing we could have done with the roster we had versus that Rats team. As a matter of fact, I believe that even if we had a Schlidavers A-team skate, we would not have been able to win. The River Rats have no business being our division.... It's not their fault. I blame the league administrator for allowing it."

Alright Cap... Thanks for your words as always, here in the blog and at the rink. Next up on the hit parade is our Lady of the Pipes... Lizzy who had a word or two for her teammates after a long night at the rink. Here's Lizzy:
Even though we lost last night I think there should be some honorable mentions stars. Everyone who played defense Matvey, George, Chris, and Mark, played really well considering there was a lot of pressure the whole game and the only real on this team defense man was George. George and Chris played especially well on the boards. Three people from the other team were often boarding George it looked like a George sandwich. If I could pick one star it would be Chris, he really stepped up to play D last night and did an great job. "

Alright Lizzy, thanks for that. Again the blogger wants to thank all contributors as always send your love, hate, venom, and questionable content to yours truly here at the blog.

Zombies win... and lose.

Cadavers (21) vs Lobsters

Tuesday Feb.17th

BU 9:20pm

0-1 Forefit

Uh... the goalie didn't show. Not one of our regulars, but a fill in guy that management had to line up for the game. Heads are rolling (or at least eyes) here at Schlidaveur International. Kudos to those guys that skated and played well from the sound of it. Too bad we lost by forefit.

Here is the email exchange of the week.

Greg James: "We both lost 1-0 and won 6-3 at the same time… figure that brain tease out.
Frankly the only important element from the game is that I scored a wicked snap shot inside the left post after going coast to coast.
Needed oxygen for the following 3 shift cycles, but it was truly great (or at least seemed that way in my head as I played it over and over to myself). "

Scott Pounds: "1. Zombie goalie doesn’t show. Game is 1-0 Lobsters, but Cads win the unofficial skate?
2. Cads are down 1-0 in first period when the fat ref chokes on a donut and has to be rushed to ER.

3. Game is called for Lobsters, but replacement officials decide to play out the hour and the Dead come back?
4. Cads lose game 1-0 but kick ass in the parking lot, outdrinking the Lobster lightweights 6 cases to 3?
5. Cads win the game 6-3 but lose the only fight?
6. Zombies lose the game 1-0 but win 6 fights out of 9?
7. Dead win hockey game 6-3, lose fashion show 1-0?

Greg again: "You only get one guess… Number one is right Mensa boy."

Kevin Parker: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH my head is killing me!!!"

Too bad about that one.

REMEMBER There are games SUNDAY and MONDAY NIGHT!

Failtacular night at Bavis. Jacked up by Jacks

Cadavers (20) vs Inglewood Jacks

Monday February 9th

Bavis Arena 9:00pm

7-0 Loss

Um... this one didn't sound like it went that well. Here is excellent guest blogger Mark Reynolds to let us all in on what went down in the land of Rock last night.

Here's Mark:

This game was as bad as it gets. 7 – 0.

The Red skated with 20 lbs of lead in our asses. Poor break outs, soft passes, no back-checking, and hardly any shots on goal.

The zebras had it in for us (well maybe we deserved most). I can’t recall the number of penalties we took, but 5-on-4 and 5-on-3 seemed to be the theme of the game. At least we didn’t give up any goals on the 5-on-3 penalty kills. The Red had one ejection (read the roster and place your bets) and a couple of guys with two (including this guest blogger). You know it’s a bad penalty eve when even Pete C ends up serving time in the sin bin.

Lizzy in Net.
Defense
Hammitt – Reynolds
Pearlman – George
Forwards
Parker – iJosh – Pete
The Doctor – Ken D – Elliot
Ken G – rotation

No game stars…we all sucked.

Hopefully the guys that bailed to go to the Beanpot had a good time; sorry for the dig guys, but we could have used you.

Well... that's ah... great. Thanks Mark. We had a few other players chime in. Dr. Pounds sent an email with these 4 pics in it titled 4,000 words. Thanks Doc... I think we get the picture.

Then Pete Capraro decided to chime in with this short message of hope:

Here is my assessment of last night: "U-G-L-Y ... you ain't got no alibi, yo ugly.............oh ah............yo ugly".

Spanked.
Beaten.
Embarrased.
Humiliated.

Uhhh ... I'm getting the feeling that things really didn't go well, aren't you? Lastly we will hear from old pal Billy Pearlman about how he saw the evening.

4-0 after 1st period…we were turnstyles out there….everyone watching the talented D leaguers do their thing…and then we decided to get in their face a bit, stand ‘em up at the blue line, forecheck and we only gave up 3 more goals the rest of the game. We killed something like 8 penalties, Hammitt got the boot in the second period as well leaving us shorthanded. Final tally 7-0 and aside from some long shots deflected, we had no scoring chances.

Alright... that about wraps this one up from here. Thanks for coming out everyone. Lets get the W next time.

Seafood Buffett. Lobsters chow Zombies.

Cadavers (19) vs Lobsters

Monday February 2nd

Milton Academy 8:50pm

7-2 loss

A groundhog day treat/tragedy against the Losbstrosities. The good news is that we have a pair of decent guest-blogs to share the pain. Boy, the Shellfish have certainly got the best of us this season... seems they have been recruiting better than the managment over here at Schlidaveur International...

So first up is Dan Gregson with a short and sweet wrapup that really gives you a flavor for the game. Here's Dan:

We got boiled/clawed somewhere between 6 and 8 to 2 Daley got 1 maybe 2 goals, I'm not sure if the first one was deflected by Parker or not. Ask him I'm sure he'll say he had 5 or six goals.
We kept up pretty good until the 3rd.
D lines were Hammett and Stefan Daley and Matvey....yes Matvey well
played
Forwards we did the 3 lines 2 centers
Mark and Parker were on a line
Myself and Scott were another line
Nelson and Mike F
Chris and Roman were the Centers.
Penalties to Matvey and Hammitt

Excellent work Dan. Thanks for the words. Just so you know Daley did not write in reporting 5 or 6 goals... only 3. So there will have to be a leauge investigation to verify the point totals at the end of the season... just kidding.

Secondly here is a slightly longer, if not more colorful description from Mark (1/2 of the Duxbury Duo) Reynolds. Here's Mark:

7-2 (loss)
Total suck game. Their 3 non-D league players did their usual job on us.
Goal #1 – the Dr, using the long wingspan, made a nice deflection.
Goal #2 – Mike D went to left wing (at the request of an aging player who shall remain nameless) and scored a nice one.

Matvy – one penalty – I think for being a Ruskie.
Nota Bene: Hammitt – zero penalties – not his usual charming on-ice personality.

Net: Lizzie
D Pairs:
Hammitt / Stephan
Mike D / Matvy
Centers:
Chris F and Roman
Wings:
Reynolds / Parker
Dr Pounds/ Dan G
Carl / Nelson

The Red (wearing Gold as not to be confused with the Nephropidae, sometimes also referred to as Homaridae of the marine crustacean genus), got behind early and never caught up. Their numbers 15, 16. and 8 (aka chick with a dick) had way too may moves, solid passing, and speed. Hammitt is still searching for his jock strap that he was faked out of at the end of the 3rd period (sorry Mike, couldn’t resist…no way was it a D league move)

While there were no game stars, the following players deserve honorable mention:
Mike D – nice goal
The Dr – nice hands
Big Dan G – consistently demonstrating solid puck handling skills
Chris F – played like a stud at center ice and never quit

Great work Mark. Too bad the game didn't turn out so well. Thanks very much for your words and thoughts on the game. The blogger owes both you and Gregson a beer after the next game.

Lets try to get 'em next time and hopefully improve our record against the Lobsters.

Spartans suppress Beercan uprising.

Cadavers (17) vs Spartans

Thursday January 22nd

Canton 10:20 

5-4 Loss

Tough night for the Dead in Red against division rival the Spartans in Canton. Twas a cold dark night, the kind of heart of the winter that makes you not want to go outside. The blogger, baffled by a Harry Angstrom-like haze, navigated his way to the game. Much thanks, I think, to Dr. Jasse for the pleasant company and stimulating literary conversation. I don't know if it helped or not, but i had other things on my mind, and the skating did me good. 

The blogger arrived to find another good room full of happy Zombies. We would eventually fill out a full roster 13 but not until about the middle of the first. Here's your lineup.

D1: DWH, Daley

D2: George, Jeff

O1: Nelson, Douville, Parker

O2: Roman, Matvey, Gregson

O3: iJosh, Mitch, and, ... and, ... oh crap I have no idea. Maybe we only had 12. 

So the Spartans had their usual group. The chap with the Red helmet, good hands, not so fast but dont let him shoot, #16 or 6 was it had good legs and speed and was also a deadly shot. This is a crew we've seen many a time. Given our numbers the mantra game plan of short shifts, hard work and smart play was in order for this one and the Dead in Red did their best to execute that plan. 

The game started not so well as the Mean Green would pot a bang-bang chance less than a minute into the game. Clearly we couldn't let their better players move too much with the puck. The Red would knuckle down and you could feel the momentum start to come the way of the Dead... but after 10 minutes of hard work the Green would land another one on a breakaway this time (number 16 for his second of the game) at 5 and half remaining. The first would end with Team Zombie killing off a tripping call to Nelson with 2 minutes left. Good kill, but we were still down 2-0 after one.

The second would be only marginally kinder to the Red as they would finally break through just 2 minutes into the period. While taking the play to the Green, Roman (from Nelson and Douville) wound his way through heavy traffic at the top of the zone, then executed the "Russian Lullabye" to perfection. Every player in the zone seemed to slow down and watch as Roman held, held, held the puck then sent a nice wrister through the screen and into the net. The Red had a bit of a bump but it was short lived as the Spartans would answer only 3 minutes later with another hard work goal of their own. During this stretch the Red have a bunch of chances including an epic 3 on 0 that we... uh... didn't score on. The Spartan keeper was on it for sure. To make things worse old friend 16 was back at teh 7 minute mark to put the Zombies in a 4-1 hole. Pile onto that Matvey going to the box after taking one in the chops during a little give and take in front of the Spartan net. The Red would kill it, again and would keep working despite being down 3 as we went into the 3rd.

Its not often i get to write this, so savor it when you get there... ok? The Third Period belonged without a doubt to Team Zombie. The effort and desire, dare I say Zombie Pride, was racheted up a few notches and the boys went to work. Less than 3 minutes in the Green would take a whistle and the Red would go on the Power Play. Moments later George would unleash a slap shot (from Douville) that would go a long way through the screen and into the net for the second Zombie goal. The Green would go again just a minute later for a rough and the Red would keep up the pressure on the power play but not score. Roman would be the next to tally as he would get his second (from DWH) at the nine minute mark to put us down only 1 at 4-3. Roman did well all night and seemed to find the net at just the right time. This momentum was snapped when after a breakdown the Green would land another goal with 6:44 remaining. 

Again I have to say the effort continued and the Cadavers took the game right back to the Green despite the setback. George would strike with just under 5 minutes remaining, this time unassisted, but from the same spot at the right point. The Zombies were back within one and continued to press the game to the Spartans. Unfortunately the Green just had a bit more than we did in those closing minutes as we struggled to mount an attack as time ran out and the Spartans preserved the victory 5-4. A good skate for all and a good effort if not for the unsatisfying ending. Indeed the night was just that... unsatisfying. 

Game Stars

3rd Star: Ken "when do I get a number" Douville. A pair of helpers and some good hard work from this strong Rookie of the year candidate.

 

2nd Star: Captain George. Good hard work and no lack of verbal encouragement from the Captain on this night. 2 nice goals and a steadying hand all night at the blue line.

1st Star: Gotta be the Russian Lullabye Roman Kurin. Two tremendous goals and a little bit of spunk when going after the puck. Atta boy Roman. Keep up the good work. 

Honorable Mention 1 : D pair 1. Mike Daley and DWH just bring it all the time. DWH had two ridiculous rushes in the second period where it seemed like he would skate around everyone in the Spartan end, and Daley is just awesome. Mike held the puck and worked it in the offensive zone like nobody's business and not only squashed a bunch of green chances but created a bucket full of his own. Great work.

Honorable Mention 2: Lizzy did a good job holding it together. I mean, you wouldn't know that from the stream of profanity that she dealt out in the post-game locker-room (mostly in defense of Matvey).... but there wasn't too much she could have done about a bunch of their chances and she did a solid job on the outside shots all night. Good work... and take it easy Liz.  

Nostalgia vs Reality vs the Tigers

Cadavers (16) vs Tigers
Monday January 12
Milton Academy 9:00pm

0-2 Loss

You know, it was cool at the end of last week Kevin Manning was nice enough to share with all of us on the team email list some of his memories of playing with the Cadavers/Knights/Schlitz/etc… This was inspired by Mitch’s project on tracing the family tree of the Schlidaveurs back through players and teams, in anticipation of the Saturdaveur coming up on the 31st where the teams are to be split based on tenure. Kevin’s awesome email sparked a cool thread with guys chipping in stories from the long long ago in a rink far far away and we all had a nice kumby-ya moment about just how much we love this demented hobby of ours.

Ah yes the glory of the game, the comaraderie in the locker room, on the bench, and in the parking lot… hell… in Parkers case sometimes the dog’s bed. Always a good night at the rink no matter the outcome. No one “feels” it the next morning because we feel good about skating the night before. The hangover and the aching muscles are our badge of honor, worn with pride through the workday. There isn’t one of us that hasn’t felt that way about it in some way over the years.

I can only but echo the sentiments of my teammates on the email thread. I can assure you there will be some blog treatment of Kevin and Nelson’s excellent tales of the dark days before time, when the team, and the earth’s crust were still forming. The players, headcases and ringers through the years need to have some recorded history before the fog of age completley wipes them away. I mean do you really want of forget about Tom the “Oil Rig Guy” Goalie who could talk a dog off a meat wagon? What about the summer night the Knights wasted 3 30 packs in the alleyway behind Norheastern? Actually the blogger hasn’t remembered much of that one since the night it happened. Anyway… the point is there are some great stories, funny guys and funny things that have happened and keeping track of it all was what the blog was started for, so in advance I thank all the contributors for their tales.

The blogger wants you to know, before what follows, that he is proud to call every one of you teammate, and couldn’t think of another thing he’d rather do with his time than skate a game and have a cold one with the lot of you. Thanks for the fun.

So the feeling was pretty good last night as the blogger walked into the rink in Milton, thoughts of yesteryear, and how much I like this game and the whole ritual of the game night. Sure it isn’t easy with a family and getting older, but man, this is where its at.
The blogger passed Brian “Long arm of the Law” Carey dressing outside the room in a good mood an running late, but glad to dress in the hall given that we had a full room. Better yet a room full of a bunch of good players.
The blogger found a seat in a happy room full of Zombies ready to take on Team Tigre. A quick look around the room gave the blogger some serious optimism.

Campbell, Chuck, Capraro, Reynolds, Larry (am I seeing double coach?), Valenti, George, Pounds, Elliot, Matvey, Roman, and Parker for good measure.

That’s right, gentle reader of the blog, a full 13 of eager Zombies, looking to have a good night, fueled on the good vibes of Cadaver lore, ready to go get em.

It would be nice if I could tell you all about the great game we played against the Tigers. They had their usual crew. Their guy #8 was there, played great as always, figured in both of their goals. They have a roster of decent veterans and a few eager younger ones, just enough to get after you, and enough talent to keep an eye on, but uh… nothing special. With a full 13 and good lines, we ramped up for short shifts and tried to take it right to them. Should have been a formula for success.

Yes I’d like to tell you all about that. But I’ve got nothing. We drew a dud. The energy we had in the early going left after we gave one up. Then our chances became less potenet. Aside from a short stretch in the early 2nd period when Larry and Parker both had doorstep opportunities we did not deliver any consistent or effective pressure.

We had penalties, Capraro, Matvey, Campbell, and Larry (in a total sw move with :06 in the game) but they did not affect the outcome per se. No pp goals were scored. We just didn’t have it.

Last night was an exercise in frustration, nothing coming together the whole night. So there we were, a bunch of not so happy zombies ranting in the post game locker room about the breakout, beating guys to the puck, getting better shots, with not many smiles to go around.

There was some joy standing between the trucks in the cold moonlit parking lot having a quick one (cold soda) and discussion of happier things.

There is always that. And truth be told, I don’t feel too bad today. I am glad that I skated. I’d suit up next to any of you any night of the week, at any time. Even if we do suck.

No game stars.
Better luck tonight to the Suds.

Zombies answer the Last Call

Cadavers (15) vs Last Call
Thursday January 8
Brockton 10:10pm

4-1 Win


A chilly chilly night in the City of Champions brought out the best in the Dead in Red against the Last Call. We know the Call… they waxed us the last few times we played them, but the games tended to be closer than the score most of the way. They have some talented guys, but not all are very fast. They are old like us, maybe older… but they have a good handful of guys that can shoot and pass very well. They are remnants of the Generals and wore their old Generals One Source jerseys, or just white.

The Dead in Red were faithfully manned by a hearty group of 10 to start the game, and Nelson would make it an Abacus Eleven when he arrived mid 1st period.
D1: Valenti, Jeff
D2: James, Capraro
O1: Reynolds, Parker, Jasse
O2: iJosh, Mitch, Fitzpatrick
Floater/Veteran-Presence/Dirtdog= Nelson
Brian, Long Arm of the Law, Carey in the Pipes

That’s a good group of Zombies friends, and they would turn in one of the best full effort games of the season against the Call, who ran with 9.
The deal is in this league that to beat a team that has vet talent, you absolutely have to outwork them, and never let them get anything going. Good in practice, not so much for us in execution from week to week. The first started off flying, and the Dead in Red went right after them, shots on the first shift, and then consecutive shifts. Second time through we played in their end exclusively. Both sets of forwards jumped to the play and … get this… cycled the zone, regularly beating the Call to the puck in their own end.
The Call kept after it, and really had their best energy in the early going. The Red were able to mount the chances, but the Call’s Keep was taking everything low away quite well… that would continue for the night.
Hard working, and blossoming this season with offensive prowess, Mark Reynolds (one half of the Duxbury Duo) was able to break the ice in this one, about six minutes in. The Blogger is hazy on the set up but Mark came free in a break and buried it for the lead.
The Call was not laying down and 3 minutes later would get an open chance from close by and one of their guys would bury a good shot to tie up the game.
The first would continue to go back and forth and both keepers made good stops. Was it just me, or did that period seem like it lasted forever? Twice I looked up at the scoreboard to verify the period at one point, not long after the Call had tied it up. The period would end, the Red looking good, but tied 1-1.

There was some good determination on the bench and the Red would start fast in the second. Parker would knock free the draw to start the period, it would come back to Marc Valenti who would rush to it and then smartly fed a streaking Michael you gonna use that hat Jasse who would complete the play with a nice wrist shot that found the nets. Red up 2-1 not 30 seconds in. The second would be much like the first. The Red did a nice consistent job generating chances, and the Call Keeper would stand strong and hold the game difference at one. At one point the Cads were using the points so well that Jeff had about five shots on net on the same trip into the zone….of course if he could hit the net he might have made the scoresheet… but I digress. The second ended 2-1.

There was considerable Zombie Pride on display as the boys would turn in their 3rd hard work period in a row (doesn’t happen too often) and would reap the benefit with a win going away. Cagey Veteran Nelson Sharfman would grab a loose puck on the right side, outside the circle and would rifle it at the net. The shot would go off the collapsing defenseman and right into the net for a 3-1 lead. There was a perceptible groan from the Call. They kept after it and Brian would stand right up and make no fewer than 3-4 very quality saves in the last 5 minutes. He caught one long shot with his shoulder, reached out while down for another and stonewalled their guy 15 (light blue socks) right on the doorstep. Great work by Brian there.
Nelson wasn’t done, after picking up the puck from Greg James, who did a tremendous job breaking the puck out of our end in the last seconds, he would land it into the empty net from high in the zone to close things out at 4-1.
Greg and his partner Pete Capraro (other half of the Duxbury Duo) did great work all night, and they closed out the game nicely. Great work by all the Cadavers last night, it was a really satisfying win on a cold cold night.

Speaking of the cold cold night, the 4th period saw a true band of hearties for a quick round in the parking lot. These are the nights kids, when men are men (no offense Lizzy) and the true grit comes out. Valenti hosted beers with Greg, Jasse, Jeff, Parker, iJosh and Mitch. It was short and sweet, but we were there… on January 8th…and it was like 2 degrees. Dedication…its all about Zombie Pride.

Game Stars:
3rd Star: Brian “Serve and Protect” Carey. A very nice game all the way around, kept us in it and fueled the hard work win.

2nd Star: The Duxbury Duo… Mark Reynolds making it happen up front… and Pete Capraro doing excellent work filling in on the blue line. Great work boys.

1st Star: Nelson Just Glad I Made the Game Sharfman. Ok… so he called them possibly the 2 ugliest goals of his career… I don’t agree… but 2 goals, in a 4-1 game, thereby coming within one of Roman for the overall scoring lead at close to mid-season gets you the star of the game my friend. Great work by the consummate, heady, gritty player.

Honorable Mention1: Valenti… nice work on the ice… but more importantly bringing beer.
Honorable Mention2: Jasse continues his big week with another goal… the Dr. stays hot.
Honorable Mention3: Scorekeeper Old Guy John. The man does the job, the whole job (ok he doesn’t count shots but you can’t ask for everything…) and nothing but the job. Time of goal scored is just excellent. Thank you sir.

Ok. Get your game availability in to management for next weeks games and don’t forget to make arrangements to make the Schlidaveur on Saturday night the 31st. We are talking about making this one a tenure based team split. Essentially founders vs split squad era players, depending on turnout. Should be interesting.

Zombies buried by Call

Cadavers(12) vs Last Call

Monday December 22

Dedham 10:10pm

4-1 Loss

The Christmas week opened with a late nighter at Dedham between the Dead and Last Call, the Blogger was not on hand to play, instead he was trapped in a parking succubus somewhere near the South Shore Plaza and was only extracted at 3am the next morning when the traffic began to subside... but I digress.

We have a pair of tight guest blogs for this game, the first report turned in by Mark Reynolds who was a big game contributer on the ice and with the words. Here's Mark.

"We lost last night to the Call 4-1.

George-Hammit-Reynolds on defense
Larry-Roman-Ken-iJosh-Ken D-Chuck forwards

Lizzy - net

Overall, the Red played a competitive game. We had consistent pressure in the offensive zone resulting in numerous SOGs.
The Call beat us by shutting down our breakout plays, numerous odd man rushes, and a goalie that brought his "A" game (a ringer no doubt). They didn't out-skate or outplay us; we simply couldn't put the biscuit in the basket.
Lizzy played solid and was tested by some tough situations.

Kudos to Chuck and Ken D who played with extra intensity and grit. The rest of the usual suspects up front contributed and played hard as well, but it just wasn't our night. Roman, with some nifty moves, put one in late in the 3rd breaking the Call's shutout.

The defensive trio of George, Hammit, and Reynolds did a yeomen's job of breaking up plays and protecting the front of our net.
The game was played cleaner than our usual standards. Hammit took the only Red penalty which was a BS call (of course). The Call also only took one.

No game stars.
This is a game we'd all like to have back. "

Alright. Not the desired outcome... but nice recap Mark, and good job filling in on D for this game. Boy this season has just seen a whole bunch of heart breakers for both teams.

Here is Guestblog veteran iJosh (do I need to say his name...?) with an excellent late recap on this one. Here's iJosh.

"The Dead in Red had a thin 9 to play this one. The D would be Cap't George, Mr. Hammitt and Defensive convert Mark Reynolds. The lines would shape up to be: Larry centering Roman and Chuck. iJosh centering the Kens (Douville and K. Mitch).

The first shift would play well most the night. They would have multiple chances. However they would not convert in the first. The second shift would see less chances and when they had them, nothing came of them. Lizzie played very well early in the first, but would let one in later in the period. Kenny D would show some great effort/penalty killing as he was able to control the puck deep in the offensive zone for a good 30 to 40 seconds after Hammitt was called for interference.
As the period ended Kenny D would try to set iJosh up on a breakaway.
But iJosh could not control the puck and skated to the bench swearing at himself for not being able to capitalize on such an opportunity.

The second would be much the same. The Dead in Red were just, well, dead. Another goal would slip in and the second would finish with the Red in a 2-0 hole.

In the 3rd the Cads would fall even further behind as a quick 2 goals would put them down by 4. Now in desperation the team tried to net just one for the ego. After a number of solid chances, the 1st line would finally find the back of the net to cut the deficit to 4-1 (Roman from Larry). Though that would essentially end the game.

Notes:
* Mark Reynolds played a great D. Could have used 2 more regular defensemen, but Mark certainly tried to make up for that glaring need.
* Below freezing weather, work the next day, a 10:10 game and fatigue from shoveling equals people going straight home. Hopefully the perfect storm won't interrupt the 4th Period next time."

Alright alright. Well done Josh as always. Again, too bad about the outcome. Perhaps the Suds will fare better on Tuesday night. That's all from here.