Zombies Beat Runners!

Cadavers (P3) vs Double Runners

Monday September 8th

Canton 10:40pm

4-2 Win!

Another big playoff tilt for the Dead in Red last night at home rink Canton. The Zombies faced an elimination game with the Double Runners for the Stanley Cup Division Playoffs. The winner of this game would move on to face Team Tigre (tea-grey) next Monday night in Dedham for the trophy.

A solid turnout gave the Red 13 including Captain George who filled in for D Man Marc Valenti at the last minute. The rest of the crew broke down like this.

Lizzy in Net. (Mom in the stands)

D Pairs: George and Pearlman. Fosdick and Campbell

Offense 1: Roman, Capraro and Reynolds

Offense 2: Sully, Elliott and Pounds

Offense 3: iJosh, Parker and Kenny

The Runners looked solid but had only 9 and things were pretty tight for the first few minutes of the game. It was interesting to note... that along with the Hometown rink we got our favorite pair of "hometown" refs, the Butterball and his sidekick Grampanoteeth. Now we see these guys all the time, and we've had plenty of run-ins with them. They love us... I mean Looooooove us. It was clear from the start that our rotund and striped friend had a buddy or two on the Runners and made no bones about it. This developed into a theme.. as much as the blogger despises it.. it must be mentioned.

With that in mind.... George goes off at 13:21 of the first for an innocuous lift of the stick that was called "hooking". Okay, the Red do an admirable job on the PK and things are still 0-0 a few minutes later.

In fact things went well. Working off a nice hard work play from Kevin Parker (when isnt it?) Billy Pearlman put the Dead on the board and out in front at 7:55 remaining in the first. Nice slapper from the point.

Wouldn't you know... our best skater George gets whistled at 6:21 for "unsports"... ? Hmn? This one, as the blogger faintly recalls was a scuffle along the side boards with both guys going at it. Both guys went to the box. Just after this penalty expired the Runners made a nice play keeping it in our end and popped a second or third rebound behind Lizzy to tie the game up. It was a bad scramble on our part and the game was tied going into the second.

The Red would strike again early in the second, to take back the lead. Jim Sullivan followed another solid shot from Pearlman at the point and buried a nice wrist shot for the 2-1 lead. Not long after that Zombie momentum took over. Jeff Fosdick swept up the puck in the neutral zone after iJosh shuttled it back from the faceoff. Jeff wound his way up and into the zone then passed to Kevin Parker on the wide left. Parker took the puck low behind the net for some abuse (I think he likes it...) and none of the D turned to cover Jeff who had collapsed down into the slot. Kevin to Jeff, into the net and a 3-1 lead for Team Zombie. That goal came at 13:46 in the second.

Once again the Zebras turned to the whistle and George went for his third and the eject button at 11:30. That's right, gone for the night 5 minutes into the second. The Red was solid once again and with Lizzy kept the runners at bay. Campbell would go, again full participation from both guys, their guy heads to the box after the whistle, yet only Mike gets the minutes. This was followed by some hearty (and misplaced) jawing that didn't win us any favors.

The third period would open (still 3-1) and see Parker go off for goalie interference... again more jawing... but again there would be good work on the PK. Matt Elliott had filled in for George and skated with Jeff the rest of the night while Billy skated with Mike and the forwards broke out the Sharfman Abacus. Good work by Elliott filling in, and good work keeping things straight up front.

The Runners would climb back in it after Jeff failed to clear from behind Lizzy then the puck would bounce back out front to an open man who would send it home, and pull them within one goal at 8:44 remaining in the game.

The rest of the third was exiting, and there were plenty of chances going both ways. The Runners pulled their keeper with about a minute left but the Red jumped right on it and took it to their end. Ken Goldenberg, who was around the net all night would deflect another Pearlman blast and score the empty netter that would ice the game 4-2.

There were more jabberjawfests with the round zebra which ended with him screaming profanity at our bench... this is just not good in any way for us. Pearlman would go with 21 seconds left things just fell apart. As wrong as the calls were... and they were suspect, all of the icing/offsides crap... there is just nothing we can do about it. One thing is for certain, aside from this guy sucking, and hating us, is that we are gar-un- teeed to see him again... many many times. We can't keep fueling his stupid hate or we will continue to not get a fair shake. The point is NO ONE in a Zombie shirt will get a fair shake, and that just sucks. In the future (the blogger knows this applys to him also) we just HAVE TO KEEP OUR MOUTHS SHUT. We know he's a stooge, but he's probably going to be the stooge reffing the Championship Game next Monday night...

Game Stars

3rd Star: Matt Elliot. Not on the score sheet, but Matty did a great job filling in on D when asked for better than half the game. A true team player stepping up when needed. Thanks.

2nd Star: Kevin Parker. A Sharfmanlike performance (again). A pair of helpers and a truckload of hard work all night long. Positively Masochistic behing the net. Solid.

1st Star: Pearlman. Billy scored the first one with a sweet shot, fed the second one to Sully, and the fourth to Kenny. A good night all the way around for Bill. Nice work.

Honorable Mention 1: Lizzy. Another solid performance from our gal in the pipes. Neither goal could be pinned on her as they came from turnovers and extended action in our own end. Check this out. Liz is 3-0 in the playoffs with a 2.33 GAA so far. Great work.

Honorable Mention 2: Jeff Fosdick for what would be the game winner (bug ups to Parker). Blogger beams with pride.

Overheard in the Parking Lot: "The Teaser. The Pleaser. The Vulcan, the Shocker, and... The Pearlman!!" The last one with Lizzy making a fist and holding up her forearm... sweet.

So. It is on.

Monday September 15th

Dedham 9:00pm

Cadavers (3-0) vs Tigers (3-0)

Stanley Cup Division Championship!

Suds Derail the DoubleRunners.

Schlitz (14) vs Double Runners

Wednesday August 6th

Canton 10:40pm

6-3 win.

Nice work at a late hour against the 'runners on Wednesday night for the Schlitz. The Suds had a strong lineup and made the most of it, putting away the DRs in a game that wasn't as close as the final score. Lets let our friend the SW give an economical and interesting review of the action from last night.
Here's Larry:

"We won 6-3. It wasn't as close as the score indicated because they got their 3 goals in the last 5:24 of the third period.

Scoring summary
1st Period.
Schlitz 1 DR 0 Reynolds unassisted - Mark stole the puck at our blueline, raced up the ice and fired a shot that trickled through the goalies pads.

2nd Period
Schlitz 2 DR 0 Parker from Sharfman and Bell - Nelson kicked the puck to me in the high slot. I flung a backhander on the goalie and Kevin knocked in the rebound.
Schlitz 3 DR 0 Herbert from Bell - Dan carried the puck over the blueline on a 3 on 2, dished to me on the left wing. I stepped around the d-man and fed DWH in front for the goal.
Schlitz 4 DR 0 Bell from Parker - Kevin carried the puck down the left wing and sent a perfect saucer pass to me at the top of the crease.

3rd Period

Schlitz 4 DR 1
Schlitz 5 DR 1 - Kurin from James - Roman answered the DR's goal with a nice wrist shot from the right circle off a feed from Greg James
Schlitz 5 DR 2
Schlitz 6 DR 2 - Parker from Herbert - Parker banged in another rebound off of DWH's shot
Schlitz 6 DR 3 - Final Score

Penalties
Roman - rough
Reynolds - rough

Stats:
Parker 2G 1A

Bell 1G 2A
Herbert 1G 1A
Reynolds 1G
Kurin 1G
Sharfman 1A
James 1A"

Nice work Larry. Keep it clean and mean, in a Joe Friday... Just the Facts Ma'm kind of way. Thanks for giving us the lowdown.

Let's give Game Stars....

3rd Star: DWH.

2nd Star: Larry SW Bell

1st Star: Kevin "I'm not dead yet" Parker.

So here is what we've got. We go into the final game of the regular season, which will be a Schlidaveur, looking like this.

The Cadavers are 6-6-2 and have remarkably crawled from the grave into the first place spot in the Stanley Cup Division, one point ahead of El Tigre.

The Schlitz are 7-6-1 and pending update from the league standings seem to be somewhere around 3rd place in the Olympic Division, locked in close with the Traitorous Russian Sitniks. I don't think the Schlitz are in danger of not making the playoffs so that is good.

A quick note on the scoring leaders just as we get into the last game and the playoffs.

Nelson still leads all players with 24 pts. Close behind is now Kevin Parker with 19 and Roman in third with 18 points. Sully and Larry are next tied at 15 points, and the trio of DWH, Matvey, and iJosh have 14. Get your points in soon as the chances are getting fewer.

Teams have just been selected for the upcoming season ending 'daveur and I will post rosters shortly.

Corpses run down by Runners...or Celtics Win!

Cadavers(5) vs Double Runners
Tuesday 6/17
Quincy 10:10pm

7-3 loss.


Man. The Celtics were awesome last night weren’t they? Yeah. I didn’t watch much of the game but Chris and I listened to some of it in the car on the way to the rink, then the Zebras and scorekeep were giving us updates as we played. “up by 23… up by 32…” that kind of thing.
After the hockey game we listened to Grandy and Max having fun with the celebration as the minutes wound down and the Lakers lay down like the Euro-Weenie weasels they are.

The hockey game sucked. Believe it or not, like just about everyone else in our division the freaking Double Runners have had a talent upgrade as well. Of course this would be ignoring the fact that we all have to come to grips with just how OLD and just how SUCKY we have become… or at least how we can play sometimes.

It wasn’t for lack of trying, but the Dead in Red just didn’t have it. It was really all about the Celtics. We certainly didn't bring any game. Did I mention that the fat glasses wearing zebra was giving us score updates as we went…? Oh yeah.

At the start of the game I skated with him across the ice after asking him the score and he told me all about the several beers and corned beef and cabbage he just shoveled down over at the bar for the last hour or so. Thanks. He was fine last night… there wasn’t much he could do to help/hurt us.
The other thing that happened right at the beginning that should have tipped me off to this not being a good night (for hockey) was when I stepped and then wandering like the slow kid in traffic walked right into Campbell who was trucking along with his usual substantial inertia.
POW!
I got knocked on my ass and… never really recovered. I’m still feeling that one this morning…again it wasn’t Mike’s fault, I was busy daydreaming about how much corned beef and cabbage and beer I could eat and drink before taking the ice…and what it would look like on the ice after I puked it up.
The Dead in Red was looking for its first win of the season and really we had a decent roster to throw out against the runners. D was manned by Campbell and Capt.George, and Valenti and Jeff. O consisted of Nelson, Chris, Pete, and Larry with Sully, Parker and Scott as well.
The Runners ran around us and scored about a minute and a half in. We dug in realizing we would need to really grind to get up on these guys. It held for a while but from right at the start they started getting good chances on Brian. Brian played admirably considering the number of odd man rushes, guys left in front, and deflected shots he saw. Big ups to him… he was alone most of the time.
The Red was able to answer with a goal from Veteran Leader Nelson Sharfman from Sully about 5 minutes after the goal against us. About five minutes later The Runners scored again and took a 2-1 lead into the second.
They scored 4 goals in the second (it felt like 20) that featured mostly the aforementioned odd man rushes and multiple, swarming chances on and from in front of Brian. Sully was able to grab a goal on a nice lifted wrister at some point in that period.

After they were up a few there was an interesting sequence in our end in which 42 in white slid into the slot and was met with a bump by Marc Valenti. Jeff turned to see 42 cross check Valenti across the zone and proceeded to assist. Larry had seen it too and gave a nice chuck from behind. 42 came up steaming and cranked Jeff in the grill while looking for Larry. That was good, it was the best play I had made since walking into that bus… err Campbell during warm-up. Still feel that one in the chops today too.
The guy went for a rough that old Corned beef and Cabbage called then earned another for mouthing off. It was one of our most productive shifts. I don’t think we got many chances on the power play.

I guess the Red did get some chances but not enough. They had picked up one of the Clinic goalies from the session that was on the ice before us. Seriously…a Clinic goalie. Sigh.
There were more penalties along the way, Valenti was called shortly after in the second and Campbell and Parker each went once in the third.
They scored one in the third and we matched with one from Parker via Nelson. There was not much hope at that point.

We were deader than the Lakers, deader than disco, drive-ins and the guys on our shirts. Deader than Hillary’s campaign, Jimmy Hoffa, King Tut under his pyramid, Blackbeard the pirate in Davey Jones locker, and all those freaking penguins on the melting ice shelf.
Dead. 0-4-1 dead.
De-Ceased.

Did I mention that the Celtics won? Yeah that's awesome. It was cool we listened to the radio as we had a few cold ones in the parking lot. Good times.

Thanks to Scott, Larry and Mike for the beer.


Overheard in the locker room:
Valenti: “We need to kill a chicken or something before the next game…:”
Nelson: “Rooster…”
We need something.

Zombie Suds Win Shootout with 'Runners

Schlitz (12) vs Double Runners
August 9th
Bavis 10:30

7-6 Win.

Well, we should have known that this was not going to be your average night at the rink when while dressing we couldn't decide which team we were supposed to be. Red? Yellow? Whatever. The three guys already half dressed had the red socks on, so red it was. The Suds skated as the Zombies and took the ice with 11 against our old friends the 'Runners. They didn't have a lot of guys, six I think was their total, so the early signs looked good. As we all know however... looks can be decieving. The Runners had no shortage of effort and tenacity as they responded very well to our first goal by promptly turning the tables and scoring 2 to put us down. Now we had to play from behind.
Our first was scored by Mike Jasse who was well on his way to a career night. He worked very well with linemates (and scoring leaders) Kevin Parker (assist on first goal) and Larry Bell. The second line of Jeff Fosdick, Scott Pounds, Mike Hammitt and Matt Kilroy (rotating), was not nearly as productive but got in some excellent "grinding" and "checking".
Later in the first Jasse scored again to tie the game on a helper from Billy Pearlman. This was not long lived as the 'Runners came right back and put another one by our gal Liz to put us down 3-2 at the end of the first.
The second period was much more of the same as the shootout really came to life. Billy Pearlman scored to tie the game at 3-3 (assist Larry) and the mood was good on the Zombie...err Suds bench. Nice touch from the point and great cycling by that first line to move the puck around and get chances. Unfortunately this was short lived as well. The 'Runners were able to go ahead again right away, then to make matters worse scored a second to go up 5-3 a few minutes later.
Concern was growing on the bench. Down by 2 more than halfway through to a team with 6 guys... wasn't looking great. During the course of the second the Suds struggled with a grip on the game and two penalties ensued. Mike Hammitt got a 4 min major on a nice takedown of the whiney guy with the old blue helmet. The Runners second goal that period came as the time was expiring on this penalty. Not long after Billy Pearlman got the hook on an interferece (rub out) move.
The Suds must have felt a little of the Zombie pride thanks to those sharp red shirts because thats where we dug in and started our climb back. The Pearlman penalty was well killed with a strong effort from the D and second line.... and then we got back in the game.
With time running down we gained a draw in the offensive zone. Lots of yelling to line up and get a chance as the clock ticked down under 20...18 seconds. Larry was able to win the draw and through a scrum the puck made it out to Pearlman who buried it and gave us some momentum going into the third.
The third period continued with the drama. The first line went out for their first shift and produced 3 goals. That's right kids. We took them from 5-4 and put them down 7-5 in a matter of a couple minutes. Goals by Larry Bell (from Mike Campbell), and then 2 more from Dr. Jasse (Parker, Bell and Greg James assists) put us on top and feeling pretty good about things as the period went on.
The 'Runners showed thier stuff and played great down to the end scoring once more to come within 1 and then getting a power play with under 4 minutes on a call on Campbell. The got some good chances but the team defence paid off and the Suds were able to take this one home to much satisfaction.
Nice job to all players for a great come from behind win. Everyone brought it and contributed in what some folks in the parking lot were calling their "favorite game of the year".
Good showing in the Parking lot for the 4th period. We even had a couple of fans. Point of interest were the Jello Shots brought by Kevin Manning. Sweet!
Big Fan Honors go out to (in no particular order): Crystal (I'm so bored I came to hockey) Cormier, and Miran (you have to ask for the cookies) James, and of course Lizzy's folks. Thanks for coming and cheering us on. It really does feel good to have people there pulling for you.
Crystal even took some photos of the game. Unfortunately she was supplied with a camera that had dead batteries so she was only able to get a couple. Blogger's bad on that one. Thanks anyway Crystal next time we'll get it right. Here is the best one from her small batch.

Game Stars.
3rd Star: Larry Bell. Laurence continues his domination atop the leaderboard (stats to come...) with a nice 3 point night (1 goal, 2 assist). Larry was buzzing around the offensive zone all night making things happen.
2nd Star: Billy Pearlman. A great night for Billy... must have been that #4 jersey we gave him before the game. Channeling the greats... whatever works. Billy had 2 great goals from the point and added an assist (and a penalty) to round out the night.


1st Star: Dr. Mike Jasse with 4 goals. A great night for the travelin' man cleaning up the "stuff" out front, gettin our first two and last two including the game winner. Excellent finish and good job working with the first line. Cheers.

Overheard in the Parking Lot:
Beavis: "I learned something tonight... I learned that you play well when you're angry or horny."
Butthead: "If I played well whenever I was horny, I'd never play bad."

Pretty tied up... Zombie pride earns a draw.

Cadavers (12) vs Double Runners
July 26th

HinghamC 10:20pm

2-2 Tie.

Not a bad night for the Zombies, maybe not "pretty" but...it could have been a tremendous win, and we had our chances but.... not to be. Really there is no shame in the draw. They have a solid club and kept trying hard all night. Lizzy played great making key stops along the way and their keeper played very well too, getting in front of almost everything. If only we could have capitalized on a rebound or two, we could have walked away with it. Not to be, but a very good, hard fought game that should carry some satisfaction.

Everyone that played (a full 13!) deserves credit for skating hard and giving their all. In general we stayed out of penalty trouble despite the chippyness that developed about halfway through. Thankfully the 'Runners mouthed off and complained enought to get the zebras off of our backs. Looking back...these guys were a bunch of whiners. Every time down the ice someone was bitching about something. Their big stand up (half shield) guy, #2 would hit/jab/grab anyone close enough to him to reach and yet would howl like a schoolgirl if you so muched as rubbed against him in the crease. Pussy. Lets have a quick quote from Kevin Manning on how he felt about this guy..."This morning I am sporting a lovely, 4 inch long black and blue on the arm courtesy of #2, the chief punk of the Double Runners." Nice... we'll probably see him again.

The D played great. First pairing Mike Campbell and DWH played awesome all night negating chances and moving the puck out of our zone all night. Second group Greg James and Kevin Manning also created opportunities and played well.

The offense was lead by Nelson Sharfman and his wingers George "The Finger" Moorachain, and of course "Dangerous" Dave Spenciner. Nelson had our first goal of the game on a hard work play from Dave and George. These guys were around the net all night and had buckets of chances. In particular, with the game tied and 5 min remaining they led off after a time out and played their whole shift in the Runners end getting ridiculous pressure. They very nearly won the game for us. Great work.

The second line of Jeff F, Dr. Mike Jasse, and Pete Capraro worked hard and despite several "no-look" and "looking" passes from both Jasse and Capraro we weren't able to get much going. Jeff missed a break away and a clean shot from about 6 feet both in the third....grrr.

The third group was terrific. Starring Matt Elliott who had the second (game tying) goal for us on an unassisted takeaway in their end. Joined by Dan Gregson and Scott Pounds these guys played a lot of time in the offensive end. Scott and Dan had some great chances, any one of which could have fallen. Great work guys.

We were pretty good at keeping our cool with only "usual suspects" Capraro (1) and Campbell (2) going to the box. Gregson gets big ups for taking a cheap shot from that little snot #10 at center ice well after the whistle. Scott also refrained from retaliation after taking a hit on the boards. Luckily thier punk ass play and mouths put them in rough shape with the zebras by the end of the game.

Alright... Game Stars....

3rd Star: Matt Elliott. Dude is a keepah. Legs moving, motor running, this guy has created chances every night he suits up. Great work. Nice effort on the takeaway unassisted goal to tie it up.

2nd Star: Often underappreciated greybeard Nelson Sharfman. Dude also has a motor that doesn't quit. He was crashing around the offensive zone all night wreaking havok in their end. When he wasn't passing or creating a chance he was shooting or beating someone to the puck. Big ups to you my friend.

1st Star: Perennial favorite of the blogger makes a nice return to the game stars section. Lizzy DeFlurin. A very nice effort with tons of great saves that kept us in this very tight game. Lizzy brought it this week, especially when we needed her. She played both games winning one (8-3 for the Suds) and last night's tie (2-2). Nice work babe. Great to see you back in form.

Cadavers ... a night in the Fog

Cadavers(7) vs. Double Runners
Wednesday June 27th
7:00pm Milton Academy

7-4 Loss.

Its only appropriate that the flying Zombies played in eerie circumstances on Wednesday night, unfortunately it did not lead to any sort of advantage for the crew in red. By all the accounts coming in to the blogger this was a very close and winnable game for the skating dead and almost every account included that word that we don't like to hear...ringer. Of the Double Runners 7 goals four were scored by an individual who looked a little out of place. We've run into this before with this team... so it should come as no surprise.
Given that the Cads were short on regular defensemen, and the presence of the ringer, it sounded like a great effort by all involved in a game that was a 1 goal differential right up to the final minutes.
The zombies took a couple of penalties that ended up costing, but by no means did it sound out of the ordinary. We have to expect 1 or 2 a night anyway...and 2 total isn't bad.
The rink was very hot and foggy and besides that there were no water bottles...management apologizes...until Lizzy's Mom hooked the team up with a big save.
Goal scoring came from Kevin Parker, Jim Sullivan, Roman Kurik, and "Dangerous" Dave Spenciner. Helpers from Nelson Sharfman, Matvey Nikhamik, Kevin, and Dan Gregson.
If I've left anyone out please let me know...
Lets take a look at some first hand accounts from some of the players.

Here's one from the defensive corps:
"...we were in it until the last 3 minutes (down by one but right there the whole game) and then broke down. I personally gave up at least 2 in the last 2 minutes where I laid perfect passes on the sticks of the opposing team right in front of the net for unencumbered goals. Lizzy didn't stand a chance with my performance last night.
Wrought with guilt .... The lingering over this will cause an ulcer for sure. Slight sprain to my left wrist and a goober of a blister on my left foot because I didn't tie up my skates tight enough were just salt in the wound. Sore and pissed."
A little hard on himself in the blogger's opinion but an excellent feel for the end of the game.
Here's another account:
"...a goal scored both times I was in the box and I totally screened Lizzy on a third, I thought I had the angle covered and the kid shot around me and she never saw it. ... Let's see, it was hot as hell in the rink, but the ice was good. We had no water, so Lizzy's Mom went and bought us some ... We really could have beat these guys but penalties were costly... "
Also a bit harsh on himself but we get the point....
Here's one from Dangerous Dave concerning his goal and the game:
" It was maybe my best re-direct ever. I was sitting in the crease screening the goalie getting slashed in the back of the knees and just nudged in a shot from the point. Their goalie never had a chance to react and it went in. ...The rink was balmy w/ fog on the ice and the locker room had to have been 95° w/ 100% humidity. Somehow, no one had the team water bottles. Then, Lizzie's mom showed up and had the water for us. I'm not sure which tasted better: the Poland spring agua or those crab rangoons from a coupla weeks ago"
Great job Dave...you continue to live up to your new nickname.
Now one about Roman's goal:
"Roman scored the 3rd one while being chased by some guy from their team from our blue line trying to hack Roman thinking that he tripped him on purpose :), ... Roman was very determinted to take it to the net from one of the corners, and was able to beat the goalie, after having several great chances earlier in the game."

Good solid reporting team, the blogger wants to thank everyone who contributed to the game story here. Specifically....GJ, MH, DG, NS, MN, RK, DS, and DD. Anyone with more to add is welcome to add a comment to the post...this goes for any game story posts on our home sweet blog....

Uncommon for a loss...but lets do game stars....
3rd Star: DJ. She picked up the score sheet and verified the numbers and rundown of the game. Thanks Deb...way to lookout for the blogger..he is in your debt.
2nd Star: Kevin Parker. A goal and an assist plus all around good play. Thanks for coming out and contributing.
1st Star: There was no debate here at all. Lizzy's Mom. Our number one fan comes up huge with the purchase of a bunch of water bottles on a night when the team really needed it. (management apologizes...again). Not only can we count on her daughter to give her best every night, but we know Moms got our back. Thank you very much.

Good work to everyone who skated.
Zombie Pride ...endures.
Go Zombies.

Zombie pride...to the finish.

Cadavers (5) vs. Double Runners
Wednesday June 13th 10:00pm
Brockton
4-2 loss.

A rematch with the team that really stuffed it to the Schlitz a week ago. The week before the Runners definitely had some added talent that was not with them this week. This week they resembled the team that the Cads beat 4-0 back in game 2. These guys are very similar to us....older some talent but not much in the way of mobility or scoring touch. They did however get plenty of chances against us and despite a very strong comeback peformance by our gal Lizzy, hung 4 goals on us in the first two periods. Most of those goals were not even close to being her fault given that on 2 occasions the guy scoring was parked right out front (my guy both times) and on another they got about 15 chances to put it away as most of the Zombies on the ice watched.
This leads me to the second intermission. I looked around at the pained faces of our crew and while trying to catch my breath muttered something about putting something on the board to save our dignity. Well.... we did just that.
Mike Hammitt scores on a nice "seeing eye" slapper from the point to break the ice and the Zombies responded. No question we spent the majority of the third period in their end making them adjust to our game. Matt Elliott follows that with a nice goal right in front on a feed/rebound from Dan Gregson and Kevin Manning. We were the living dead again! Despite the fact that everyone was tired and strugging to make it to the end we did the Zombie colors proud. In the Blogger's opinion its hard to ask for anything more than the effort I saw from all of you in the third. You all delivered, and saved us (a little) face. Its hard to feel good about losing 4-2 but looking back, I do feel pretty good about that fact that we didn't just fold up our tents and go home (which we certainly could have done).
Sitting next to my D partner Kevin on the bench I kept hearing "snakebit...not going our way... no good bounces for us..." that kind of thing. Looking back I have to agree. There were several times when things could have bounced slightly differently and we would have had a number of goals and therefore a totally different game. Not our night, but again I was proud of the effort.
Other notable occurances:
Late in the third Matvey Nikhamik got tangled up with one of their guys (a blowhard) and ended up in a scuffle. They end up in a heap and we have a little pushing and shoving around until the zebras calmed it down. Mr.Hammitt managed to get an ill-advised "third man in" shot from behind but got away with it. He skates on that one given his improved behavior of late and the nice goal. The end result of all of this was a wash in penalties but Matvey had to hit the road. He earned an ejection for fighting and we have some new competition for the Mike Campbell award. Even though he was ejected Matvey's incident was decidedly un-coon worthy.
Game stars...ahhh screw it.
Kudos:
Lizzy for a nice bounce back game against these guys.
Hammitt for the ice breaker and knowing when to skate away.
Matt Elliott for the goal in front....and bringing beer.
Scott Pounds...for bringing beer as well ...Miller High Life even...nice touch.

Lets keep up the good work Zombies...
See you all at the Schlidaveur next Friday!

The Suds go down...not so easy.

Schlitz(4) vs. Double Runners.
Canton 7:10 June 6th
Loss.
Well....that didn't go the way we wanted it to. Anyone who was left standing in the parking lot about an hour after the game was over will get the donkey photo....Suffice it to say, we played like drunk donkeys...even though I'm pretty sure we were all sober at the start of the game.
To be honest I didn't think that as a team we played all that poorly. We had lots of chances and worked thier zone fairly well. The Runners had a bit of a talent upgrade from the last time we played them. They picked up a guy at gametime that scored 4 for them...but there is no way I'm playing the "ringer" card on this one. We got smoked and that is that. Just remember, we will see these guys at least one or two more times in the near future. This will provide plenty of opportunity for payback, and I suggest we focus on that when their number comes up again.
I'm not giving stars for this game, but in an effort to "keep things positive" I will give out some thanks and kudos.
1st. Our number 1 fan, Lizzy's mom. She stayed and watched the whole thing....like a car wreck in slow motion. A true hockey fan (and mom)...we thank her for her support.
2nd. Goal scorers. DWH (Dan with hands) via Nelson and Dave. Jeff Fosdick and "Dangerous" Dave Spenciner, both unassisted. DWH is always a steady contributer. Dave continues his torrid run with a low slapper that slipped right through the keepers feet. Mine was a slapshot from medium high in the zone (d played soft) to the low far corner. Felt good but didn't do much for us.
3rd. Lizzy. I know that it was definitly not your night but you kept your chin up and tried your best to the end and that's all we can ever ask of you. You know how the blogger feels about you...especially when you bring beer. We love ya babe, and we know you'll come back strong the nest time.
4th. The fourth period survivors. Mike Hammit, Dan Gregson, Lizzy and Jeff. We tried hard to take the sting out of that one...good thing the game was early.
Overheard in the parking lot 1:
"...perfect...like...like perfect teardrops on a popsicle stick..."
Overheard in the parking lot 2:
"Do those guys have a tv? ...I think thats a tv."
"Crap we even lost the 4th period."
"No freaking way...those guys played the game AFTER us."
"Oh yeah...the pussies we played are long gone."
"Yeah, them and their ringer...grumblemublegrmble..."
That's all for now, I plan to post quarter season stats later on today. Get your emails to Matt on your preference for next week (Tues or Weds) and start planning for the next Schlidaveur on Friday the 22nd.
The score last night was 11-3.

Cadavers(2) vs. Double Runners ...Redemption!

Cadavers Game 2. Hingham 1030p Weds May 23.

4-0 Win!

Yeah baby! Talk about redemption. The night before, the Schlitz, wearing the flying zombies colors (not everyone had yellow), had a pretty awful night against a fast team. Well this game wiped those bad feelings away pretty quick.

Granted our opponent was more suited to our style of play (slow) but I have to say everyone skated hard and fought to the end. This was a nice up and down game against comparable talent (maybe slightly less) and plenty of chances on both sides. Some nice passing and skating by everyone wearing a Zombie sweater. Good job to all. Ok...lets get to the stars of the game....

3rd Star - All 10 skaters. For the zero on the score sheet next to total penalties. Way to play it.

2nd Star- The goal scorers. Dan Gregson, Matvey Nikhamik, Chris Fosdick, and Dan (with hands) Hebert. Nice job one and all.

1st Star- You should know its coming... Lizzy DeFlurin. Nice shutout. Lizzy made some excellent stops, in traffic, one on one, and screens. Great job. What a turnaround. We hung poor Lizzy out to dry the night before (letting up 6) and she comes right back the next night strong and pitches the zero. Way to go babe. Thanks.

Overheard in the parking lot: "I'm so old, I remember when girls used to make clothes out of pull tab rings."

Beerman Kudos: Greg James. Bud 16oz bottles on ice. Nicely done...with a touch of class.