Suds sloshed by Call

Schlitz (3) vs Last Call
Thursday May 20
HinghamC 9:30pm

5-0 loss



A nice night for summer hockey on the south shore as the Golden Beercans would take on the Last Call who have been a bit of a division rival the last few years and who also fared pretty well in the just closed playoff season. The Call were even sporting new white shirts, with a terrific logo consisting of a foamy beer mug with crossed sticks behind it.
The shirts were new but the guys were the same and they had all of their best in attendance on Thursday. These guys aren’t going to win any speed skating competitions but they know how to play and have certain players who can “turn it on” for a shift or rush whenever necessary… this happened several times during the night.

Here’s your Lineup
Brian Carey in Net
D1: Mike Campbell; Eric Bauer
D2: Jeff Fosdick; Mike Daley
O1: Larry, Nelson, and Neil Shah
O2: Steve, Dan Gregson, and Matt Elliot, with iJosh floating

The first period was pretty back and forth but it was clear early on that the Suds would have their hands full all night. They were able to move the puck and get shots and we were… well… unable to do that… consistently.

The good news was that the Gold held the Call scoreless until the closing minutes. Then a pinch and turnover in the White end resulted in a 2 on nobody rush for the White which they neatly buried behind Brian and we went into the break down 1-0.

The second wasn’t as good. The Call would get another within a minute of the start of the period on a nice bang bang pass and shoot from behind our net. A mere 3 minutes later number 16, I believe the chap with the neon pink helmet, no shield decided to “flick the switch” and took a nice end to end rush and finished with a flourish putting the White up 3-0. Daley would take a trip call shortly afterward but the Gold played well on the PK and there was no scoring. The Call would tuck another nice goal away before the end of the second and the period would end with the good guys down 4-0.

The third would see two more penalties by the ‘cans. Bauer for a rough and Larry for a trip but again no blood on the penalties. That didn’t really matter much to the Call who would score their 5th with more than 14 minutes left. The gold was clearly overmatched and really struggled to get just about anything going for the rest of the way. Neil and Larry had a nice pass and shoot just before the end, and there were a few other “almost” situations but really… we had no answers.

And that’s how that one would play out. I guess you could say it was a minor victory of sorts just holding them to one goal in the third, but its pretty pathetic when you have to hang your hat on that.

The fourth period was a little lean with just a few beers that Jeff brought along, but it was nice to see the Icebergs drinking just a few parking spots away. They had just finished a game on the other side. It was great to see Matt Cicciari and Eric Marino and to catch up for a few minutes.
Quote of the night from Mr. Marino, who has been a ‘daveur from years past:

“Now I’m 50, I’ve had seven knee operations and I’ve been shot twice, but yeah, I'm still doin’ this" (takes a swig of beer)
Phenominal.
Nice to have a beer with you boys...
And that’s all there is to say about that.

Cadavers Stay Alive! Playoff Run Continues!

Cadavers (2-1) vs Last Call (2-1)

Wednesday April 21st

Canton 10:30pm

4-0 Win!!!

The Playoff run of Team Zombie continued on Wednesday night as the Cads faced another 2-1 team the Last Call for the second elimination game of the week. The Dead in Red seemed to be gaining momentum in front of what is becoming a nice run by goalie Jim Sullivan. The defeat of the Tigers on Monday night has given the skating dead some inertia, and by all accounts they used it well on Wednesday to send yet another team home for the season.

Again the Blogger was somewhere in Florida applying lotion to his sunburned skin and washing sand out from between his toes so there is no first hand account. Guest bloggers were unavailable for comment in the time between the game and the bloggers return, but we do have some data and snipits to share.

Here we have the scoresheet rundown courtesy of iJosh and his Facebook Status:

"Bruins in OT? Not nearly as exciting as a Cadavers 4-0 stunner in the New England Senior Hockey League Semi-Finals. Go Zombies.

Scoring:

1st Period: Reynolds from Bell

2nd Period: Bell from Reynolds and Jasse

3rd Period: Roman from Shah; Bell from Jasse

Penalties:

2nd Period: Bell (Roughing - matching)

3rd Period: Reynolds (Holding - matching)

Players of the game:

3rd Star: Reynolds (goal, assist)

2nd Star: Bell (Gordie Howe Hat Trick + 1 goal)

1st Star: Jim "Tuuka" Sullivan"

A text from Dr. Jasse indicated that the Zombies wore out their opponents and got a big lift from thier streaking goalie.

Nice work boys. The blogger wishes he could have been there. Anyone with a comment or anything to add... PLEASE add your words with the comment feature. All words accepted. Good work. Next up Tuesday night vs Les Blues.

Suds vs Call @ UMAlcatraz

Schlitz (20) vs Last Call

Thursday February 18

UMass 7pm

4-4 Tie

A chilly early evening matchup with the Last Call guys out at the Prison by the Bay. Really February is the time of year to make the trip out to the State House of Horrors... it really brings out the ... "atmosphere"... yeah... Nothing like paying to park at Arctic Station Zero to skate at a rink that has roughly the same comfort level of a 50 year old outhouse behind a summer cabin in the back woods of Maine... and that might be putting it nicely...

Anyhow the blogger was not on the Thursday roster and thankfully for you we have a number of sources on the action last night including guestblogger Extraordinaire iJosh. But first lets get the down and dirty from Greggy to start off...

"4-4 tie We started with 8 skaters then DWH came in late. So we had 9.

Ijosh had 1

DWH 1... Larry had 1 and Steve had 1.

I'm not sure about assists, but I had 6 or 7.

When DWH came in it was him Valenti, Matt E. on DLarry Jasse and myself on 1 line Ijosh Steve and Scott on the other.

Lizzy was in net and Jasse gets the gold Schlitz star for bringing the good sarsaparilla for the 4th."

Nice. Thanks Dan. Now we have a brief set of comments from Dr. Jasse who checked in this morning.

"It should be noted that Valenti showed up with no cup, no jock, sans socks and jersy.
With a little help from his teammates all worked out in the end.
Heard whilst lining up for the opening faceoff: “This is a battle for the basement dwellers”
Kudos also to DWH showed up late due to traffic-good for him for not turning around and going home if he doesn’t show we likely lose. He ahad a nice goal on a good rush as well.
Ijosh was writing his guest blog game recap in the parking lot. The bar has been raised."

Woah. The Blogger tips his hat indeed. Thanks Doc for those words. Now lets have the game story from the man with the ambitious thumbs... do I have to say his name...? Here's iJosh: "Good day boys and girls.

It has been a whirlwind few months and more so a whirlwind week for this guest blogger. Not only did I actually play 3 games in 8 days, but in the middle of it all I finalized a very lengthy legal proceeding. I won't say exactly what it is, but it does rhyme with shlivorce. All is good and with any luck it will give me more time to play and guest blog. Gotta have priorities you know (and of course my kids).

So I strolled into UMass Boston last night for an early 7:00 game. It would be a light crowd for both Schlitz and the Last Call for this game. The Golden Suds would start with a sparse 8 players. We would grow to 9 for the start of the 2nd period.

The forwards would start with: Larry Bell, Mike Jasse, Dan Gregson, iJosh Greenstein and Dr. Pounds. The Defense would begin with: Matt Elliott, Steve Baker and Daddy Valenti.

Both teams looked slow and out of sync. Not good hockey. The lone fan seemed content to stare at her book rather than pay attention to the action on the ice. Pucks were bouncing. Passes were missed and it just looked ugly. But no scoring early. Finally the Call would put one past Lizzy. After a little bit of a rush, the puck would jump out in the high slot. iJosh noticed he was in the way of Lizzy and tried to give her some visibility. But not quick enough as the puck sailed by his head and past Liz. 1-0 Call. The Beercans would then try to pull things together a bit. A few good chances were had. But no gold for the gold. Then Larry would take the puck away from an opponent in the defensive end and send the puck to iJosh, who quickly gave it back to a rushing Larry on a give and go. Larry then went end to end on a 2 on 1 with Jassman. The goalie was showing plenty of real estate to Jass, but was also showing 5 hole. Larry not sure which to do, then shot the puck, burying it for a 1-1 tie. The Call would answer back. On an odd man rush, a Call would take a slap shot from just above the left face off circle and put it into the back of the net. That would make it 2-1 at the end of the first.

To start the 2nd, Dan with Hands would make his timely arrival. This would allow Steve Baker to move to forward and create 2 cohesive lines (Larry, Jasse and Gregson & iJosh, Baker and the good Dr.). This would solidify play for us a bit (about as much as it can solidify for a bunch of old, slow, beer leaguers). Dan would get involved in the offensive pressure, and provide a boost on D. Early in the 2nd though, the Call would strike again. This time it would be on a rebound. Lizzy would make the initial save, but there wasn't enough people back to contain the loose puck and the Call would pick up the trash and make it a 3-1 lead. Now it was time for the Golden Suds to produce some offense. The first would be an end to end rush from DWH. He would collect the puck from Larry and then take it all the way and tuck it past the keeper to cut the deficit to 3-2. The Suds would not be done. iJosh would get the puck and try to center it to Steve Baker. The pass would miss and be taken the other way. But DWH would steal the puck right back and send it to Steve Baker who teed one up from the same top of the circle spot that Lizzy got beat by one period earlier. 3-3 tie. But once again folks, momentum only lasts so long. With the seconds winding down the Call would go on a rush again. This time with only Valenti back and iJosh racing to catch up. The Call would slip a man behind Valenti who had nothing but open net. Valenti would hold his ground, but was unable to play them both as the puck carrier slipped it to the open man who easily netted the puck. The period would end 4-3.

Final frame would see lots of action but only one goal. Early in the 3rd, Steve Baker would take a quality shot. The goal keep would leave the puck at the doorstep. iJosh would slap it into the pads, but would get a second rebound and would tuck it behind the goalie for a 4-4 tie. Play would be up and down the rest of the period. Lizzy would make some good saves and in the final minutes, Larry, Jasse, Baker and DWH all had quality chances. But the Call Keeper was able to keep them at bay. So the game would end with a come from behind 4-4 tie.

Jasse would provide 4th period spirits in the form of Heineken Keg Cans."

Scoresheet:
1st:
Larry from iJosh
2nd:
DWH from Larry
Steve Baker from DWH
3rd:
iJosh from Baker

Penalties:
1st:
Baker for a rough

Dead and the Call in West Roxbury

Cadavers(18) vs Last Call

Thursday February 11th

West Roxbury, 10:30pm

3-2 Loss

Well team... the blogger is more than happy to announce the Return of the Original Guest Blogger. That's right, iJosh not only played last night but he's got a "hot off the pressess" game story for us. So without further ado...

Here's iJosh:

"So it has been a long time since I have been able to write a story. Between not playing as often as I'd like (thank you Paul for the wonderful diverse schedule....Monday, Monday, Monday, Tuesday. Guess which days I can't play) and usually being paired with the Blogger there hasn't been much chance. Since this was a game on a Thirsty Thursday, I was more than elated that I would be able to make my way to the local arena.

Thank god I got to KenMitch's house early to pick him up. Because shortly after that a call from AK has us racing to Cambridge to add him to the carpool. AK had left an door or trunk open to his car which drained his new battery. That left him with no way to get to the rink. Again, thank god, because without him we would have been quite shorthanded.

So the carpool of iJosh, KMitch, and Angry Ken would arrive on the later side to get the group to nine. Nelson (making his usual timely entrance) would eventually give us an even ten.

To start the game, the pairing would be:
Gregson and Neil centered by AK
KMitch and Scott centered by Nelson

Defensive pairings would be:
Steve Baker and Mark Reynolds
The Natick Labs Pairing of Capt George and iJosh who did his best impersonation of an orange cone.

Playing at West Roxbury arena has its challenges. It is a small surface. But specifically there are no lines, dots or circles still visible on the ice. That issue would play a role in the game. More often than not, play would be offsides without a whistle or a Cadaver would slip over the blue line without realizing it. Or someone would dump the puck too early due to the fact that....well.....you can't see the freaking line. The ice surface was a touch choppy too, but that is par for the course for most of the places we play at.

Overall the Dead in Red would be a touch choppy too in their skating. Not much pressure offensively nor defensively. Mid way through the 1st, Last Call would a Cad and one of their own tussling in front of the net. The Call would send the puck toward them and a distracted Sergent Brian Carey. The puck would slide into the net untouched. However, the Call didn't realize that they had gone back over the blue line. Offsides. No goal. The Dead would get away with that one. Now the Cads would start to get some puck movement. At least for a little while. It would see a nice effort in front of the net where AK would finish the job and put the puck in the net for a 1-0 lead for the Red. Somewhere in there George would get his first penalty of the day for a slash. George claimed that the other guy did it first, but the ref wasn't buying it. In George's defense the Call were a little testy at the time.

Going into the 2nd frame, the Red had some mo'. Though as like any well thought out Schlidaveur plot-line there has to be ups and downs. So the eerie, melodramatic music is playing......So not long into the 2nd period the Last Call would finally strike and put one past Sgt Carey. This would soon be followed by George taking his 2nd 2 minute timeout of the night. With our depleted D corps, George could not afford to take a 3rd penalty. This would affect his aggressiveness a bit since it was his intention to take it to #10 (I think I am remembering the number correctly) most the night. Later in the period Brian would get beaten by a slap shot from above the left face-off circle on an odd man rush. This would make the score 2-1 and bring us to the end of the 2nd period.

Into the final period we go, still within reach of a win, despite not really playing any cohesive hockey all night. Sure there were some flashes of good play. Some good rushes. But nothing we could really point to. The Call would go down a man and finally the Dead would wake up a bit. This is aided by some upbeat "something is going to happen" music. This would be courtesy of shot from the high slot from Neil that would make its way past the goalie. Now in a 2-2 tie, the Red would try to make a push to get ahead.

Now the ominous music begins again. Only a few minor attempts would be viable before the Red would make a fatal error and become a victim of the lack of paint. An attempt to clear the puck would seemingly fail. But some would argue that it did not. Regardless, no call was made. But the Red did not cover the point nor the slot well (sorry that was my man). The point would send a shot into the middle that was well tipped by #30. The puck would redirect up, stick side, high and beat Brian for a 3-2 Last Call lead. Unfortunately there would be no comeback. As the clock wound down the Dead in Red could not control the puck long enough to make a viable push and pull the goalie. So the game would end with a 3-2 loss.

Noteworthy though was that due to the refs watching George's play AK stayed out of the box. However he has enough to deal with today with his dead battery.
Guest Blogger out and glad to be back...

Alright. Too bad the result wasn't better... but it is nice to have the OGB back in town. Thanks again Josh. See you all next week at the Schlidaveur on Tuesday night!

Schlitz soaked, tanked, blotto'd... by Call

Schlitz (11) vs Last Call
Monday December 14
Dedham 9:00

6-3 loss



The Golden Beercans threw a decent lineup out on Monday night against a struggling Last Call team which, according to the website, only had 2 wins on the year so far. There was a nice even 11 in the room and the optimism was high… especially given the preponderance of “natural” defensemen in the room. No we still haven’t nailed down the certified “natural-ness” of any of us just yet...the blogger has always been a believer in better living through chemistry...but I digress.
Here’s what the lineup looked like.
D1: Campbell, DWH
D2: George, Jeff
Centers: Larry and Neil
Wings: Daley and Baker; Parker and Goody; Blake and Gregson
Lizzy in the Pipes.

The early returns weren’t just good, they were awesome. After two shifts the puck hadn’t left the Call’s end and there were shots flying from everywhere. Clearly the Gold would be able to move the puck around a bit if the first five minutes were any indication. Daley would come close on two occasions as he wheeled and dealed around the zone. It took two or maybe the third shift around for Mike to finally hit paydirt. Neil would feed Mike who would step to an open spot about 10 feet out and blew his shot past the Call’s keeper. Good guys 1-0.

The Gold would keep up the momentum and would continue to get chances in the White end and the confidence level was high. The Call wouldn’t exactly go quietly in the first and they would make a nice play that got behind us and would plunk one by Lizzy to tie the game. The first would end 1-1 but the Gold was feeling very good about things.

The second would see Magic Mike Daley bust off another beauty of a shot after another extended cycle in the White end. Linemates Neil and Steve Baker would figure on the helpers and did a great job all night moving the puck around. Baker was returning, tentatively from a foot injury just 4 weeks ago. According to Steve in the post game locker room he spent 3 weeks on crutches, a week walking around, then showed up to this game. He wasn’t feeling great after the game, and honestly was limited at times on the ice.

The Gold was still doing a good job carrying the play but the Call were starting to get their chances. They were starting to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them, and they would come back to tie the game just a few minutes after the Gold had gone ahead. A bang bang play from their man 33 (blue helmet) and the game was tied about halfway through the game.
The play would definitely start to go a bit more back an forth. The Gold would take a penalty when Larry would go for an interference but the penalty was killed. As the period began to get late the Gold would strike again. Jeff would take the puck at the top of our own end and he flipped it to Goody in the slot. Goody flipped the puck up ice as Jeff streaked ahead of the D and picked up the puck for the breakaway. Jeff was able to stay ahead (miracle) of the D and got off a good low shot that beat the keeper for a 3-2 lead. Assist to Goody, that one read 10 from 10 on the sheet.

That my friend is the end of the good news I’m afraid. The period was coming to an end and just a shift or two after Jeff's goal the game changed, dramatically.

Bing, bang, boom. The Gold chased their collective tails in our own end... and the game was tied again. Not more than a minute later another goal for the Call and the second period ended, in a stunning reversal, Last Call 4 Schlitz 3.
To coin a phrase from the postgame locker room... and we weren't done sucking yet.

The Third period would open with the momentum still squarely in favor of the Call. They would rip off two more goals in the first five minutes of the period. Now it was 6-3 Call and the Schlitz were stunned. More chasing around on our part but really, something threw the switch on the other side there. The game was totally different after that stretch late in the second. The Call suddenly counter punched, effectively, and often. We were caught flat footed or would blow an assignment or lose an open puck battle and they pounced on it and turned it into trouble. Where were these guys in the first half of the game?

That's the way it would end folks. 6-3 bad guys with little redemption in our lackluster play the rest of the way. Everyone was trying, to be sure. There was a good effort from everyone on the Gold, but they just got chewed up and spit out by the Call after rocking the early periods of the game.
Strange but true fans.

Lets hope the Dead in Red have better luck at BU on Wednesday night.

Suds Beat Call to advance to Championship

Schlitz (2-1) vs Last Call (2-1)

Monday September 28th

UMass Boston 7:00pm

4-2 WIN!!!

Some nights at the rink are more special than others. Something in the air, the emotions and the actions of a game take on a form that leaves you with... well usually a memorable game. Last night's game was memorable to say the least, for a number of different reasons.

Beside the fact that this was a playoff game, and a game that winning meant a ticket to the Championship Game. This was the final game of the "one loss" bracket in the double elimination playoffs for the Islanders Division. There was a reasonable group of fans, mostly wives with kids, the Capraro clan made it, Kerry and the three boys cheered on the Suds, and there were a couple of other families for the Last Call too.

The game was at our least favorite venue, the House of Horrors, the Prison by the Bay, or UMAlcatraz. Not only do you get to change in the cold air of the rink but you get the honor of paying six bucks just to park somewhat close to the rink. Hey... they got a spiffy new lighthouse for their traffic circle though... at least the game was early.

So the stage was set for what was sure to be a tough game against the Last Call whom we've not had very much luck against recently. Here is your Suds Roster.

O1: Nelson, Steve, Larry

O2: Capraro, Chuck, and Howard. AK floated.

D1: George, Parker

D2: Mark, Jeff

Matt in Net.

This was a good lineup and there was no reason to think we couldn't hold our own but the Call certainly had some talent, and as the game got underway the last few stragglers would come in and give them a full bench. Plenty of no face sheild guys, no-one really super fast, but a number of quality players. The Suds would have thier work cut out.

The Schlitz would take right to it out of the gates and it was clear that we would not only get our chances but we had good puck movement and everyone seemed to be playing well. The Blogger has to say he felt good in the early going about our chances. This good feeling was only boosted when Steve Baker would pick up a rebound and slam it home with a patented slapper that would put the Gold up 1-0. It wasn't terribly long after that that we took our first penalty. The scoresheet has #20 which is fine except we dont have a #20 but she clearly wasn't paying close attention... an issue we will return to later in the game. Regardless we were sure to talk a whole bunch as soon as the call was made and the Ref being... well... the Ref got all excited and immediately defensive which did not bode well for the rest of the evening. We just have that affect on Zeebs. I think it has something to do with our mouths... just a thought.

The Gold would kill the penalty and wouldn't you know it Steve would hit pay-dirt again, this time on a classic feed from Hard Working Nelson Sharfman that would put the Gold up 2-0 with a bit of time left in the first.

The Call was far from taking it lying down. They cranked up the intensity and started getting chances of thier own. Just as the first came to a close they would get a shot from the point, which was deflected (by what looked like a high stick) thenthen took a crazy wobbling arc through traffic and into the net. Of course our entire bench felt the need to make the point that it was a high stick but... what a surprise... the Zeebras were unaffected.

This let down continued into the first shift of the second and a bad clearing attempt would go bing- pow passed twice then shot straight into the net through a screen of players and the game was tied 2-2 with only about a minute gone into the second. You could feel the intensity slipping for the Gold and this was the point the game could have turned on... but the Suds wouldn't let it.

The Beercans would dig in, take the game back to the Call and would produce about 5-6 minutes of some of the best hockey we have played all season. Good strong defense, backchecking, forechecking, timley passes and shots. It was amazing to see.

Things were getting contentious on the ice. The Call was having no trouble giving a slash or a nudge here and there and the Zeebs only had eyes for us and our big fat mouths... which brings us to the first "incident" of the night. After a scramble in front of Matt there was some pushing. AK decided that the 'tude coming from Mr. Pink Helmet (no cage) was a little too much so as the play was being separated by the Zeebs Ken comes barreling through to put a body on old Pinky and proceeds to get himself a 5 minute major for a hit well after the play was dead. Not very smart. The Gold would kill the penalty, and did a nice job doing it.

At this point all the Gold hard work would produce some results. Howard would take a hard drive to the net, keeping his legs moving and whacking at the puck he got through the D and potted the go-ahead goal for the Gold. Just a tremendous effort by Howard who's game has really come a long way in just his first season with us. This goal was just massive.

Before the Second would end Pete Capraro would go for a slash then trouble started. Pete was slow going to the box, probably had something to say, then... according to the Zeebra... he bumped into the Ref on his way to the box. Our neruotic and exciteable friend in stripes invited Pete to sit 10 minutes for a misconduct. No good. We would kill the 2 minute minor for the slash but would be without Pete until 10 minutes left in the game.

Into the Third we went the Beercans holding an improbable 3-2 lead and the game getting chippy. Larry helped things out when he took a call just 2 minutes into the period. I dont remember what the call was because when Larry got to the box trouble started brewing with the score keeper. She listed his penalty as *asshole* on the score sheet. Pete was able to fill us in after he left the box. Larry was trying to find out what time he could get out, the Zeeb was trying to talk to the scorekeeper who had all of her homework out on the desk, and was fiddling with her iPhone. Well... Larry invited her to "pay attention" then offered to insert the iPhone and apparently other things into a very sensative part of her anatomy. Pete's kids were near the box, trying to figure out why he was in there so long, and Pete had to send them away as teh F-bombs flew between Larry and Katie the Scorekeeper. Classic.

Katie would write a special note to Larry on our roster page which goes like this:

"Larry Bell, you're a self-absorbed fucking asshole. [heart] Katie." Nice. She also took a photo for blog purposes which you see here. I've also include the note at the bottom of the post.

At least we weren't done playing hockey, despite doing a good job embarressing ourselves with the rink staff. Nelson would score the topper about midway through the period on just a typical hard working, cycle the zone get it out front type of a play. Vintage Nelson. The Gold had a two goal lead with less than 10 minutes in the game.

Then the crazyness kept coming. Just under the 8 minute mark Howard collapsed after a faceoff as though he had been shot. He had severe pain in his knee and couldn't get up. This didn't stop Larry from skating over to the crowd to say "Hey Ref... isn't the clock supposed to run?" no one laughed. Eventually we dragged poor Howard over to our bench where he got some help and a bag of ice as the game wound down.

The play continued to be chippy and aggressive but again the Suds just did a terrific job of staying in front of the play and keeping things under control and out of our own end. Then trouble popped up (you knew it would) just as we hit the 2 minute mark. Here's what happened.

Along the far boards Jeff jammed the play to break it up, but the Call forward had plenty of momentum and deliberately piled into Jeff trying to break the puck free. I guess while he was down the guy kept pushing, and Larry took major exception to that.

Now... the Blogger appreciates Larry sticking up for Jeff and being a good teammate but the reaction was a little over the top. Jeff was on his feet by the time Larry and this guy were face to face and pushing. Jeff stood between the guys as the Refs reeled Larry in and tried to separate them. No dice. Larry broke free and he and the other guy rolled around on the ice whacking each other until the Zeebs got things under controll again. Once again we let our head's get the best of us...

The good news is that despite being down a man, and the Call even pulling their keeper, the Gold was able to kill the last 2 minutes and preserve a very wierd, very hard fought playoff victory and a trip to tonights Championship Game.

Of course during the handshakes AK felt it necessary to talk some smack to Pinky which resulted in another crowd and the Zeebras trying to keep everyone apart. The Zeebra's comment after I asked him what AK said was something like "Not for nothin' but that guy deserves an ass kicking..." That's us... makin' friends... leaving a good impression. AK had taken a shot off his hand or forearm and looked more than a little green in the gills when I saw him after the game so what he said remains a mystery. Bet it was good.

The UMass PD were called to get an ambulence for Howard. The EMT's showed and got him all squared away. While we were waiting the blogger got to witness a first hand dresssing down of the Zeebras by the UMass cop on duty... he didn't like their 'tude (they wanted to get the next game going right away) then made them both go and get ID. Another classic.

Howard at least had a smile on and gave the thumbs up on his way out on the stretcher.

Game Stars

3rd Star: Let's hear it for Nelson "consistancy" Sharfman. The dude just brings it. Never stops going. Never gives up an inch. Nice work all night man.

2nd Star: Howard "game winning goal" Heppeleman. Tough break. Word is that he has a ruptured Patella tendon and we may not see him for quite a while. Great game Howard. Get better soon.

1st Star: Steve "what about me for Rookie of the Year" Baker. Two tremendous goals and great work all night. Great job Steve, keep up the good work.

Coon of Shame: Although there was more than one candidate for this game Larry wins it for his verbal assault on Katie the scorekeeper and his multiple invitations for her to do the anatomically impossible. Atta boy Larry.

Just for good measure I've included Katie's love note to our favorite Stat ho.

Campbell serves the Call a loss with game winner

Schlitz (4) vs Last Call
Tuesday June 2nd
Hingham A 9:20pm


2-0 Win



Not bad for a Tuesday night on the South Shore. The golden Suds would assemble for some redemption from the Zombie game the night before, and in general looking to put a more positive look on the franchise. There was no lack of skaters. Despite some late arrivals we ended up with a full 13. Another one of the impressive rookie crop, Lizzies friend Steve showed hoping to find a spot if there were any no-shows. His enthusiasm is to be applauded but management would have to make a spot decision and Steve was understanding about the squad not wanting to go with 14. Again, usually this is a very safe move and I don’t want to discourage it for Steve or anyone else that is close to a game they know is happening. Drop outs happen and an extra set of legs is always welcome.
In fact our gal Lizzy was the scorekeeper for the night, so there were technically 16 'daveurs in the building. Always nice to see Liz even when she isn't on the ice...

So, putting the extras aside the Golden Beercans took the ice with the following lineup.
O1: Larry, Chris, and Jassman
O2: Dave, Neil, and Pete
O3: Dr.Pounds, Blake and Howard.
D1: James, Campbell
D2: George, Jeff
Nets: Kilroy

Not bad right? Pretty solid group and the Call clearly had their cast of usual characters and looked to have about 2 full lines, maybe an extra man. The game started off and settled quickly into a back and forth affair. It was clear from the early going that the the Gold was going to get their chances, the Call would counterpunch only occasionally but effectivly, and their keeper would stand tall all night. Not to say ours didn’t… in fact the Blogger is here to tell you that Kilroy had his best night in the pipes yet.
Both keepers were tested often enough in the first period to get into the game, although the Call keep did see significantly more rubber than Matty. It didn’t matter because the Gold played solid at both ends of the ice.

The first period would go scoreless and only one penalty called, an interference on Georgie that he was none too pleased with but the PK and Matty stood strong.

The Second Period was a carbon copy of the first, only with more panting. This period went down to the final five minutes before the Penalty bug would give a nip. Larry would go for a trip as he dropped a guy on the backcheck. That would have been fine if we didn’t decide to compound the problem with putting 5 guys on the ice and getting called for too many men 30 seconds later. Down 5-3 for the better part of 45 seconds or so the Gold did a great job rotating the guys on the ice and coming up with a tremendous kill. Matty figured in heavily here. For long stretches of the second the Gold had piled up the chances, now the Call had surged again and Matty had to make a series of stops and covers, including a downright niffty right leg kick save that was terrific. The CEO BMF was in top form and was there all night when we needed him.
On to the third.

This was the game that just didn’t want to be decided early. Thankfully there was no more penalties (until the very end) and the two teams went after each other with some determination. Good work all the way around, fast shifts, hard skating by everyon on the Gold roster. Dr. Pounds in particular had a nice night setting up a nice handfull of quality chances for his line. Blake would have 2 doorstep opportunities and a critical clear during his final shift. Howard even contributed after a brief period of confusion as to when to be on or off the ice, but that was quickly rectified.

It was closing in on 5 minutes remaining when the game finally saw its first tally. The line of Larry, Jasse and Chris had been generating good chances all night and finally got a break. Larry and Chris would hold it in the zone, and with Jasse would converge to make a great crowd in front of the Call’s keeper. Then Mike Campbell would step in and fire a low off speed shot that went right through the legs and under the goalie before he could flop down on it. 1-0 good guys.

The Call would try to rally, and to their credit, they had about two more surges in effort than I thought they had left in them, but it was to no avail. With a minute remaining they would pull their keeper but couldn’t get anything going. Larry would again figure in the play hand passing to himself, Jasse would help in the scramble, then Rookie sensation Neil Shah would pick up the loose puck and flick it into the open net for the nail in the Call’s cofffin.

Of course Kilroy would be tested one more time before the end, and once again answered the need with a solid play and preserved the win. A great job all the way around and a nice win to have.

Game Stars:

3rd Star: Mike Campbell for the game winner through traffic. Good play all night from the big defenseman, nice to see him get the winner.

2nd Star: Larry Bell. No question Larry was excieted to play last night and showed it by figuring in both goals and generally making a nuisence of himself all night. Good job.

1st Star: Do I have to say his name? You see the score. You know the deal. The CEO, BMF, our leader in the Nets. Fronting his first Shutout… ever. .... Matt Kilroy. Great work gobbling up loose pucks and getting on it when we needed him all night. You can see the improvement in Matt’s play this season even though its still early. That is only good news for all of us.

Honorable Mention: Has to go to Dr. Pounds for a terrific night centering the suprisingly productive 3rd line. He and his linemates did better than hold their own, they made stuff happen all night. Great work Doc.

Cans and Call Late-night in the Rox!

Schlitz (23) vs Last Call

Thursday March 12th

West Roxbury 10:20pm

3-2 WIN

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

Here's iJosh:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great work iJosh, another solid contribution.

Schlitz (21) vs Last Call

Thursday March 5th

Dedham 9:10pm

4-2 Win!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game Stars

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Suds Canned by the Call

Schlitz (5) vs Last Call

Thursday October 23

West Roxbury 10:00

5-1 Loss

Sounds like the Guys and Gals in Gold had a tough night at the rink on Thursday. The Suds took on the Last Call in Roxbury latenight and came away with a beatin'. Thanks to everyone who showed and helped out playing out of position for a while. Not much to report on but there were a few stories trickling into World Headquarters here... so we'll hear from them.

This excellent report came in from Mark Reynolds... his first Guest Blog appearance.

Here's Mark:

"Lizzy took a beating in net. Lots of shots; plus one guy fell on her head leaving her with very sore neck. If there was a star of the game, it was Lizzy. She made terrific saves. Three of the goals were breakaways. The other two were scrums in the crease. No soft goals allowed.

Last Call showed up with a full roster off the usual players. They played their floater game all night, giving numerous many opportunities for odd man rushes and breakaways.

Our D paring was
[Reynolds – Carl] Reynolds took 2 min for holding in 1st period; LC took a matching penalty for hooking. Overall, a very clean game.
[Stephan – Kilroy] Stephan played a solid game and demonstrated excellent puck-handling abilities

Offense
[Nelson – Pounds – Chuck] I think Nelson got the goal in 2nd period, but can’t confirm. Chuck and the Dr moved the puck well.
{Parker - Blake – Ken] Another strong game for Parker Blake and Ken were busting arse and made some nice passes

Have your seen Kilroy’s new bright blue 4x4 fry-o-lator?"

Great job Mark. Thanks for the story.

The only goal scored by the Gold was... I hear... Kevin Parker from Dr. Pounds. The only penalty belonged to Mr. Reynolds hizownbadself and the rest of the scoring.... came from the Call.

Now we will hear from our Besieged Babe of the Back Line.... Ms. Lizzy herself:

"Even though we lost, if I could only pick one star it would be Carl. He stepped up and offered to play d, even though he's new and getting used to playing with us, and he played really really well. He broke up plays, iced the puck on the penalty and really got in to a lot of plays,on the boards,on the ice, etc! He should keep up the good work! Also Stefan should be mentioned, his first line he was like a bat out of hell and as always he played a solid game. Everyone especially the people who filled in on defense played very good, the score should have been closer "

Alright! Thanks for the words Liz... we'll have to stand up for you a little better next time. Oh yes and our Gal had one more thing to add....

"Oh and something key from last night although you must already have reports of this, Dr Scott unselfishly as always brought the lone beer, and it was in 'fall" camo cans. I brought my empty home so I can refill it, hide it in the leaves, and drink it stealth in my backyard "

That is just tremendous.... all I can think about is Lizzy sitting in a pile of leaves sneaking beers and keeping out of sight. We should have a team outing with camo cans...

One last minute check in... from Veteran Presence Nelson Sharfman.

"A rather disappointing evening. We lost 8-1 or 7-1. They fielded a pretty strong team and their better players held back for much of the game. Eventually they overwhelmed us anyway. Our highlight was on the only goal for the good guys. It was a beautiful, no look backhand pass from Scott to Kevin in the slot who finished the job nicely."

Well... despite you grim outlook on the score... that was a nice recap. Thanks Nelson

No Game stars on this one kids.

Remember Schlidaveur Monday night at Bavis Arena in Rockland.

The Blogger will see you there!