This is the end...

Schlitz (1-1) vs Wolverines (2-1)

Monday September 20th

UMass Boston 9:20pm

Blue Jackets Division Playoffs

Loss 4-1

The Suds second chance at Blue Jacket Division Playoff success came Monday night, curiously against the team we'd lost to just two days earlier on Friday. The Wolverines were back, fresh off a loss of their own on Sunday evening and the rematch was on at the Prison By the Bay.

The Wolver-marmots were well stocked for the second round and added a gigantic goaltender who by all accounts came in somewhere about six five. He played well. They also had some more players to add to their red helmet crew that played so well on Friday.
We aren't going to linger here.
This game just never got going well for the good guys.

Here's your roster courtesy of Dan Gregson:
The D was Hammett, Roman, Dan H. and Mark R.
Forward lines were Larry Ken D. and Nelson; Matt E. Steve and Mike D.

I floated through the lines.

It was a pretty good game, we had some good chances but couldn’t finish. Ken D. got a matching penalty, dwh got a penalty for being bad as well as Larry.

There were some room temperature beers left over from Friday night in my car that was better than no beer.
Thanks Dan.

Further analysis gave the breakdown like this:
2-0 after first

3-0 afte two

3-1 came back early 3rd
Goal Daley from Baker

4-1 final after they scored late in 3rd.

The house of horrors on Boston Harbor has never been really kind to us and this night was no exception as the Suds saw the last game of Summer 2010 slip away.

No finish, not much scoring and a decent opponent and it was oh-vah.

So that puts a cork in the summer season.

Thank you all for coming... last one out shut the lights out please.
See you in two weeks.

Suds go down to the Wolverine

Schlitz (3) vs Wolverines (2)
Friday September 17
Quincy 9:30pm Blue Jackets Division Playoffs


4-3 Loss



The skating Beercans continued to look for playoff glory as they met the Wolverines in Quincy for a rare Friday night Playoff Treat. Management scrounged together a roster but was shy of the full 13 we like to have, and unfortunately we didn't even have ten when the game began.
Team Suds went to war with the Michigan Wannabees with 9 and a good attitude. AK would show late in the first and would make us a nice even ten. For some reason Ken was in an email time warp and didn't get that the game was in Quincy... so after a short visit to the BU rink he made it to us in time to contribute.

Here is your Schlitz Roster
Lizzy in Net
D1: DWH and iJosh
D2: Daley and Jeff
O1: Baker, AK, Gregson
O2: Nelson, Jasse, and Roman
or something like that. The forwards shuffled quite a bit...

The game was a pretty even match. The Wolvies had their yellow shirts on (aren't they supposed to be Big Blue?) so team Beercan skated as the Dead in Red which threw off the scorekeeper but after some explanation... we got it together.

The Wolverines have some older dudes but in general are a pretty young club. The certainly had a pair of guys that needed minding, 20 and 19 both with red helmets and wheels. The Red Suds would have to keep an eye when and where they were on the ice all night.
Play got going and it looked decent for the Red early on. DWH was already in good form making chances and controlling the play in our end. Dan would wind up a beauty and would get the first goal of the game unassisted with that nice shot.
Unfortunately Yellow would come right back on the next shift about a minute later and tie the game. It was obvious from early on this one was going to be a good matchup and a back and forth battle.

Red would strike again 10 minutes into the period when Baker and Daley would put on a passing clinic in the Yellow end. A nice zip zap zip and Baker would bury the chance for a 2-1 lead. This held until the closing seconds of the first when 20 for Yellow would get loose in our end and would bury his own nice shot (unassisted) and it was tied 2-2 at the end of one.
If the blogger is reading the hashmarks at the bottom of the scoresheet correctly the Red Suds outshot the Yellow badgers 6 to 4. Its not often we get a scorekeeper that does shots...

The Second was more back and forth and the Red kind of found their groove now that AK had shown up and we had 2 full lines to rotate. Just 2 minutes into the frame Nelson would feed Roman right out front and the Red would go back up 3-2. The Red would continue to get good chances as the period went on. The Yellow keeper did a fair job turning away chances and Lizzy was holding tight on our end. The Red definitely had more chances but the inevitable came 10 minutes in when Yellow 20 (again) would break one off after a scramble in our end. The game was tied again and despite a Yellow penalty in the closing minutes the Red couldn't get anything else to fall and the Second ended 3-3. Again according to the hash marks the Red out chanced the Yellow 9 to just 5.

The third period didn't keep the same pace as the first two as both teams slowed a bit. Yellow seemed to take advantage of this a bit better than the Red and less than 2 minutes into the period they would strike (21 from 19 & 22) to take a 4-3 lead. Yellow was doing a strong job of counterpunching the Red and it was getting harder to keep things going.

Despite that the comeback climb was on. The Red Cans would rally and press the play and with about 9 minutes left in the game Nelson would slide the puck under the keepers pads and it would creep across the line for the tie. Doctor Jasse on the assist who had been camped out front after getting a handful of good chances himself.
Down the stretch they came, now tied 4-4 and both teams pressing. In this period the shot differential was much closer and for the first time all night Yellow out shot Red 10-9.
You could kind of see it coming friends, as you may have had the feeling while reading this that the inevitable collapse was on the way and with less than 2 minutes on the clock it came.
20 (what a surprise) would set up 11 and they would bang bang close the door on this game with a go ahead goal. Despite stacking a line and pulling Lizzy the Red Cans couldn't get anything going like they had on Monday night and there was no golden last second goal.
Too bad. 5-4 loss and a trip to the "losers" bracket for the rest of the way for the Suds.

4th period Kudos to Dr. Jasse and Gregson who both brought tastey beverages.

Props to our two young fans the Greenstein boys Elliot and Lewis who cheered and shivered all night for the cause. Thanks for coming guys!

TONIGHT QUINCY SUDS VS WOLVS

Schlitz (3) vs Wolverines (2)
Friday September 17th
Quincy 9:30pm
Blue Jackets Division Playoffs

Courtesy of the BIG OVERTIME WIN on Monday the Suds will face off tonight against the number 2 seed Wolverines in Quincy for a chance to advance in the D level playoffs. The Wolverines come in 1-0 thanks to a 5-2 drubbing they gave the Scapegoats last week. We've seen this team not that long ago and things didn't go great.

The Beercans will need a big effort to keep the run going tonight.

Here is your roster so far.

Lizzy in Net
Roman
iJosh
Nelson
Jeff
Jasse
Hammitt
Gregson
Herbert
Daley
Douville
Baker
*Reynolds – 30/70 odds of making it… (flying in this afternoon)
*Parker – asked
*Matvey – asked

Lets get a strong turn out here and get something going against those rodents!

Suds Beat Cats in OT!

Schlitz (3) vs Tigers (6)

Blue Jackets Division Playoffs

Monday September 13th

HinghamC 1030pm

4-3 OT WIN!

The Schlitz took to the ice for their first Playoff game of the Summer season on Monday night against old friends El Tigre and turned in a strong effort, and exciting performance for a big win. This was Larry's Suds squad from waaaay back at the end of the season and the team took the ice with a fair amount of optimism, despite the dreadful clang that the Cads made as they lost their one and out playoff game a week ago.

Here's what the crew looked like at game time.

Lizzy in Net.

D1: DWH and Bauer

D2: Campbell and Jeff

O1: Baker, Mitch and AK

O2: Nelson, Jasse and Larry

O3: Gregson, Daley, and Roman.

A good looking line up to face old rival the Tigers who looked to have 9 or 10 on this night, some decent talent but no ringers and definitely down a few of their better stars. One noticeable absence was their captain, the guy that wears number 8 and has a set of stylish cooperalls. He's a great player and thankfully was nowhere to be seen on Monday night.

The game got going and it was clear from early on that the Gold could have their way with things if they played hard and kept after the feisty Red shirts.

Unfortunately Team Kitty would strike first. This after Mike and Jeff discussed the "man to watch" (number 3) and Jeff professed that he "had 'im" only to lose track of him, right in front of the net where he took a pass and buried a shot from 5 feet. Tigers 1-0 after just 2 minutes.

The Gold was bringing it though and the crew played very well all the way around. Despite some Zebra trouble early for Dr. Campbell (2 penalties in the first) we were able to generate some decent offense. Eric Bauer actually went first for checking not long after the Tiger goal. No bloods on the penalty and in fact the Gold did a good job keeping the play in the Red end despite being a man down. Campbell then went 6 minutes later for his first and this time the penalty kill would be so good it came out +1. And by that I mean Dan "with hands" Herbert would collapse a nice play and take a pass from Mike Daley and put it home to tie the game with about 7 minutes to go in the first.
Campbell would take his second on practically his next shift and he would clearly have to be careful for the rest of the night if he wanted to stick around. Again the PK came up strong and got several good chances on Team Tigre. The first would end tied 1-1.

The second would see lots of good things from the Gold. The forwards were cycling, gathering handfulls of scoring chances. The Tiger keeper deserves some props for standing tall. He wasn't spectacular but he was solid and kept the game tied.
Unfortunately about five minutes into the second Red would get a nice breakaway chance when the Gold D had pinched and scored to take back the lead 2-1. The rest of the period would play out with the only exception of Red taking a penalty about 8 minutes in. No blood on the power play and again the PK held the advantage 1-0 over the PP. ... if you take my meaning...
But despite the good things happening all over the ice the Gold had not much to show on the scoreboard. Daley and Roman showed some nice moves while working together. DWH was a force all night controlling the play and getting chances offensively. All the forwards were changing quick and getting good pressure. Despite all this the second would end with the Suds down 2-1.

The third would certainly start in the right way for Team Beercan and the hard work of the Larry, Nelson Jasse line would start to pay off. Three minutes into the third Campbell would send a shot in and Jasse would feed the rebound to Nelson who would bury it to tie the game 2-2. The Gold felt like they were in business. Unfortunately the good feeling, and time in the Red end didn't translate into goals. The game was getting late. Under 10, under 5 minutes left and still tied 2-2. Then a breakdown hurt the gold. Again giving up a rush the Tigers would break fast and score a nice goal on a hard shot with just over 2 minutes left in the game.
The Gold was down but there was no head hanging. Just hard skating and effort.
With 33 seconds Gold took "time" and Lizzy went to the bench. The cans would put this group on the ice. Daley, AK, Roman and Baker with Campbell and Jeff.
The following faceoff resulted in the puck in the neutral zone but the gold took it into the zone with less than 15 seconds left. Here's where things get crazy.
Baker would send the puck low from the left side. AK would send a shot that ended up with Mike Daley behind the net. Less than 5 seconds now. Magic Mike Daley would walk out to the crease get one shot off that hit the side and came back, another shot off the pads and back, the third time he deposited the puck in the twine. When the D looked up the clock said 1.3 seconds. Tie game and now that meant OVERTIME.
Hard to remember the last time we had and OT game for the playoffs... but maybe the blogger is just fuzzy. Anyway... after Jeff explained to the Zeebs that it was a playoff game... off we went.
Now. We couldn't just have Overtime. Our old sour pussed friend, Zeebra number 2 would make sure to give us a little twist. He would call Mike Daley (of all people) for a hold just 50 seconds into the overtime period. Luckily this was just the boost that the Gold was looking for. The PK had played great earlier and now late was no different. They would get good chances all the way along and the penalty had just ended when this was the setup on the ice.
DWH and Bauer at the points. Jasse, Nelson and Larry up front. The play kept in the Red end DWH was pressing the play into the zone, so much so, in fact that the bench was yelling for someone to cover the point. Larry would get a nice shot off and the rebound would come right to Dr. Jasse. The good Doc would line up the slapper and would connect. Only trouble was it would be slow wobbler that would end up out front. Not his intention but it all ended well when DWH would scoop it up and wrist it home for the W. I. N..
The Schlitz poured off the bench to congratulate the guys on the ice. Lots of smiles and pats on the back and a good feeling to end the night with.

Game Stars
3rd Star: 2 helpers for the Good Doctor Jasse. Dr. Jasse with only 3 games played this summer is sporting a sick 5 assists on his scoring total. Nice work in short time Doc. Attaboy.

2nd Star: Magic Mike Daley. The man with the knack for scoring timely goals. That's a couple at least the Blogger can recall this season, the first being a game winner in the closing seconds against the Leafs. Great work all night by the rangey center... and once again... terrific goal with 1.3 seconds to send the game to OT. Incredible it only gets him the 2nd star... because...

1st Star: Dan with bleepin Hands Herbert baby. Long tall and dangerous was on the prowl all night making plays and scoring MASSIVE goals. Nice work.

Honorable Mention1: Lizzy played great making big stops when needed in the third.

Honorable Mention2: AK for playing great all night making things happen and also not losing the show when hauled down with no call right in front of the Gold bench in the third. Good work.

Talk about a good feeling. Nice cold adult beverages were served in the post game parking lot courtesy of Campbell and the Dans, and a very pleasant postgame ensued. Nothing major for a Monday night but it was a big win and there was lots to discuss.

Pictured here would be the Campbell Declared Last Limey of Summah. Sad to see it go...

Magnificent 7 crunched by 138Autobody

Schlitz (14) vs Rte.138 Autobody
Thursday August 1
Canton 7:00


7-1 loss



The Golden Beercans, at least a few of them, showed up to play the C level Rte.138 Autobody club for an early evening matchup in Canton last night, and suffered a predictable beating at their hands. This was despite a great effort by the few that skated.

This game was not exactly popular. Despite everyone on the roster and sub list being asked we only had 10 confirmed until a late visit from the Verizon man to the Capraro house made us 9 at best. Its never easy to get through the 93 traffic for these early games and yesterday a car fire and full highway closure resulted in 128/93 north and south becoming more clogged than Rex Ryan’s colon. It was not good.

This is all besides the fact that the opponent was a club that we’ve only seen once before, for good reason, they’re a C level squad, and we took it in the teeth that night. This must be our turn in the barrel week at the NESHL as the Monday night out of division opponent laid a smackdown on us too. Pretty sure that this, as well as gametime lent to the popularity, or lack there of, for this one.

It was about twenty of 7 when Mike Campbell kicked open the locker room door with a “Hello bitches” only to find the glum faced Fosdick boys contemplating their fate. After a while iJosh and Nelson would show and Lizzy after them as 7 approached. We’d have 5 at least and it was becoming clear that we’d have to go there and face a C level club with no subs, or at least very few, if anyone else survived the traffic crunch to make it. Lizzy was late enough and we all stalled a bit so the refs ran the clock at the beginning of the game.

We lost about 7 minutes by the time we were ready to play and they dropped the puck around the 10 minute mark of the first. Thankfully the Zeebs seemed to neglect to give the Beercan’s a delay of game penalty. They probably figured it was punishment enough to skate the whole time with 5.

I’m here to tell you, friend reader of the blog, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. The Can’s skated with a reasonable tempo, and countered the immediate strength of Team Autobody. They still worked us, but we did a good job defensively breaking up wat they were trying to do. Mike and Jeff played D, and Nelson centered iJosh and Chris. We held them scoreless for about 4 minutes until they scored at the 6 minute mark. Lizzy had already made a handful of good saves but it was clear that it would only be so long that we could stem the tide until they would get a few breakthroughs.

The first period would grind on and the Gold really took to the defensive style and even counter punched a few times. There was no shortage of Beercan Pride as the period got late with no breaks. Roman was sighted coming in near the end of the period.

Team Autobody would get another with 30 seconds left in the period on a ridiculous bang bang that we were undressed on.
The Gold was glad for the break and Roman made it out for the start of the second.

The grind was on. Jeff would get called for a hook about three minutes into the period. Maybe his strategy was to get a rest, but it backfired as 138 would score about a minute later to cancel the penalty. It was now 3-0 and the Gold was trying just to keep too much blood from getting in the water. But, they held strong. They kept fighting them to a draw and with 5 minutes left in the period something awesome happened.

Nelson, as usual, would tirelessly heft the puck into the Black end and create a play. His shot led to a rebound which Chris would wrist into the net for a goal. The Gold was only down 3-1 against a far superior club, with only 1 sub, almost to the end of the second. Unfortunately it wasn’t close enough to the end of the second and Black would deposit two quick goals, 40 seconds apart in the closing minutes.

The Gold welcomed Neil Shah to the bench for the start of the third. He had shown late in the second, and Neil deserves extra credit for showing up, at 740 after a ridiculous ride down in traffic. The guys were glad to see him.

The Blogger has to admit some pride here. I can honestly tell you that I think the Schlitz played a step faster in that third period. At least a little faster than the first. Its amazing what two subs will give you. So they started the third down 5-1 but dug in hard.

Team Autobody would score twice in the opening 5 minutes but that’s all they would get. Even at 7-1, the blood clearly in the water and the sharks clearly feeding the Can’s didn’t despair and no one gave up. No one.

To cop Nelson’s phrase from the postgame… The Magnificent Seven did everything they could to preserve whatever dignity we could for those last 12 minutes and held the Black scoreless.

Lizzy needs some bigtime props here. The Girl was ON it. She made at least 10-12 good saves. She made more than a handful of impressive saves. The slapshots were like lasers and the play was often right on top of her and moving side to side. All I can say is that she played great. That’s not usually what you say after getting 7 hung on you but it’s the truth. Great work Liz.

So there you have it. A beating, but we didn’t ever fold. That’s just about all we’ve got, with the exception of our aches and pains this morning.

Props again to Neil for showing so late and helping the cause. Props to Mr. Campbell for the delicious Limeys in the postgame.
Lizzy… go to the doctor. Today

This one would end with all seven in the lot for a few mintues behind Campbell’s truck but it was short lived. Everyone was tired and eager to be on their way. Campbell pulled out leaving behind the dour faced Fosdick boys by themselves to commiserate with a last round in the lot. They too were soon gone not having enough energy to long discuss their sour fates.

Suds drop the Minus!

Schlitz (13) vs D Minus
Thursday July 29th
Hingham 10:10pm

2-1 Win

Another beautiful night for steamy summer hockey on the south shore and our heroes in Gold faced off against the more and more plucky D-Minus club that we've had some good games against this season. Last night was true to form and the game was even or a one goal affair for most of the way.

The heat hasn't done the ice in Hingham any favors and for a long time it was wet and soft in lots of places which had a big effect on the smoothness of the game for a while.

Here is your melty/sweaty humid Beercan Roster

Brian "long arm of the law" Carey in Net

D1: Reynolds, Parker

D2: Jeff, iJosh

O1: Baker, Chris, Jay Seaver

O2: Roman, Matvey, John Carey

O3: Nelson, Ken/Mitch, and Howard

The game was close. Brian made some nice stops but only saw occasional action as the Beercans would take the game right to the Minus and would do well moving the puck and getting chances. The Minus keeper played VERY well and saw lots of shots. He gobbled up everything near him and the Can's couldn't seem to get anything consistent going. The Minus players did a good job getting after it all night and contested everything.

The first would go scoreless and without penalties.

The second would go a long time before the lamp was lit and the ice "broken" as far as scoring. Mark Reynolds would make a nice play at the point and would drive a shot, two feet off the ice toward the net. Jay Seaver would pivot, and deflect the shot, in mid air into the net for the 1-0 lead. Nice work there by both guys. The second would end 1-0.

The third period would see a bit more action as contests for the puck all over the ice became... more contentious shall we say. Baker would go on a match for a rough early in the period. You could see it coming with Steve, he has been prone to boiling over lately when receiving "attention" from the opponents. The teams would skate 5-5. Then later in the period Mark Reynolds would go, also on a match where lots of pleasantries were exchanged. Just helpful hints and encouragement I imagine passing between sportsmen... or not.

Sometime before the Reynolds penalty, but with less than 10 minutes remaining the Beercans would strike again. This time John Cary would pick up a Roman rebound and bury it to give the Gold the 2-0 lead. Good work by Roman working the zone, and great finish by John who has been a nice little addition to our squad this summer.

The Minus weren't quitters and the two goal lead didn't slow them down. With just under 2 minutes to play the Gold would be back on their heels and scrambling in our own end and eventually they would poke one under Brian who had been down, up, and squirming around trying to get the puck... no one in Gold could get it either and the game was within a goal. They would pull their keeper but the Mighty Beercans would survive the last minute and a half and take home a very nice, hard fought 2-1 win... just like mother used to make.

Good stuff.

Game Stars: (two for one theme this week)

3rd Star: Nominated in the locker room by Brian... Ken/Mitch and Howard for getting after it and being in position all night. True dat. Props to the third line wings for making it happen all night.

2nd Star: I'm going with Mark Reynolds and Roman Kurin both with assists and good work all night on both ends of the ice.

1st Star: Goal scorers Jay Seaver, and John Carey. Without their finish... we'd be finished. Good work guys.

4th period awards....

Howard and Chris for bringing Bud Lite... and Bud Lite. Always nice to down a cold one... or two in the postgame lot in Hingham. Warm, moonlit night... Stones on the radio... too bad the blogger had to work today...

Suds take the Lobsters!

Schlitz (12) vs Lobsters
Wednesday July 21st
Quincy 8:10pm

5-3 Win

Another beauty of a summer night for hockey at our "home" rink in Quincy. Something nice about coming here in the summer, good memories in the building... and the parking lot.

The Beercans faced off against Team Shelfish on Wednesday night and it turned out to be a good competitive division game.

Here's the Gold Roster

Lizzy in Net

D1: DWH, Bauer

D2: Baker, J.Fosdick

O1: Larry, Seaver, Jasse

O2: J.Carey, Scott, Chris

O3: Nelson, iJosh, Gregson

The Lobsters had the usual suspects. They have a few players to watch but the young lady wearing #18 with Weiss on the back deserved special attention all night. She has wheels as many of us know and the Gold had to keep a close eye on her whenever she was near the puck.

The grumbling in the locker room about us not taking any opponent lightly must have paid off becuase the Gold came out with a stong effort and took the game right to the Lobsters.

Eric Bauer would break the ice with a nice spin-o-rama shot from about 15 feet. He called it a weak backhand but hey it went in the net so it goes down as a beauty of a spin-o-rama and a 1-0 lead for the Gold. Credit the good Doctor Jasse with the assist. Very nice to see the Jassman back on the ice after he was on the DL with the ever uncomfortable groin injury. Glad you're back Doc.

The Red would answer just before the end of the first with a good goal and the period would end 1-1.

Red would continue to take the momentum and despite lots of shots by Gold the Red would get the next one about 5 minutes into the second and would take a 2-1 lead.

Gold would not back down and the guys played great making sure we kept the energy up. Lizzy played great in net, the last goal she had been kind of hung out to dry and couldn't be helped.

The Gold got going and Chris Fosdick and John Carey did some very nice back and forth work that resulted in a terrific goal by John. Chris with the assist and some all around good work with the puck for the rangey forward. He pushed the play all night.

Striking again and taking the lead back, the Gold continued to play well. This time Nelson would put the finnish on a Steve Baker bid and the Beercans held a 3-2 a little more than halfway through the period. The second would end with that score.

The third saw another goal by the Lobsters to tie the game but afater that it was all Gold. Dan "DWH" Herbert would land a beauty of a shot through traffic that would beat the goalie low. Credit John Carey on the assist. Not long after Larry would get his as the Gold held the play in the Red end for a nice series. Credit Bauer and DWH with the assists on Larrys goal to make it 5-3.

The third would showcase some excellent work by Lizzy in the pipes and time and again she smothered Red chances and made a bunch of stops on odd man rushes. The Red really deserve credit for playing hard to the end as they continued to get good chances.

Steve Baker seemed to relish his job of "shadowing" number 18 and he did excellent work containing the speedy forward. She would have her chances including a breakaway that she tried an extra dipsy-doodle that Lizzy snuffed out. Steve finnally got under her skin as she held his stick long after they separated near the blue line then the two were tangled behind the net and Steve would go for a slashing call. It was kinda fun to watch.

Good stuff all the way around. The game would end 5-3 good guys (and girl) and we headed to the parking lot.

Big ups to Bauer and Gregson and Jasse for bringing postgame beverages. It was another very nice night by the swamp under the pale streetlights.

Game Stars

3rd Star: Steve Baker for the Shadow job on #18 and good play all night

2nd Star: Lizzy for a terrific night between the pipes. Great work Liz!

1st Star: A little un orthodox but hey... We've got four guys for the game star.

DWH, John Carey, Bauer and Bell. Each one with a goal and an assist. Nice work boys.

Suds fall to Leafs Monday 7/12

Schlitz (11) vs NESHL Leafs
Monday July 12th
Quincy 7:50pm


4-3 loss


First game of monday night double header this game then later in canton the Zombies would take on the Shock. Another early evening game at our Quincy "home" rink ... come to think of it this summer has held quite a few good game times for our teams... anyone who remembers regular dates at U-Ass @ 10:30pm should be thankfull... just sayin'...

Anyway this team definilty has a sneaky name. In the past teams that have NESHL in the title are usually Clinic level teams or a hodge-podge of players thrown together. Now this Leafs club had some hodge, even some podge, but they also had some talent. Primarily though... they were not an instructional team. They had easily 2 guys with good moves, and despite their age, ahem... they moved pretty well and were enough to hold all of us off at times.

Here is the roster...

Lizzy in Net

D1: DWH, Bauer

D2: Baker, Jeff

Centers: Daley, Roman

W1: Chris, Pete

W2: AK Douville, John Carey
W3: Gregson and Scott

Here is a breakdown of the scoring by period.

1, 1 after 1. our goal by Daley from Jeff- great rebound and finish from Daley.

2,2 after 2. our goal by Capraro from Daley- More great hard work from both guys.
3,3 during 3rd goal on solo rush from DWH nice dropping shot inside line
then they closed it out on us with the last goal in 3rd.

No penalties to report.

They just had a nice comeback in the third led by their best player. At one point this guy had half the beercans chasing him around the zone... and he wasn't all that fast. Too bad. Definitly a game we coulda shoulda woulda had... but ah... didn't.

Lets get 'em next time boys. Until then... enjoy these scantly clad ladies that have barley anything to do with the Maple Leafs...

Suds down Goats! Last minute Win!

Schlitz (10) vs Scapegoats
Thursday July 8th
Quincy 7:50pm

3-2 Win!

Another terrific night for summer hockey in Quincy. There was a positive vibe in the air as the Suds gathered for an early evening matchup with the Scapegoats. The Good Doctor Jasse even made an appearance. He stood on the bench and took some pics. Nice to have him with the team even though he was still on the DL.
Here is the breakdown of the Golden Beercan Roster.
CEO in Net
Jeff, Bauer
DWH, Roman
Ken/Mitch
iJosh
Chris
Scott
Matt Elliot
Gregson
Daley
John Carey

The 'Goats had the usual suspects but no real stand outs or half shield wonders. The Beercans took the game right to them and did a good job moving the puck and passing. This paid off right away when iJosh would take a pass from Gregson and Jeff and he would rifle a shot that was a thing of epic beauty just over two minutes into the first.
Clearly my man was feeling it. He had a fan in the stands and picked the right night to score his best looking goal in a long time. At least that the Blogger can recall...
The game looked like the Beercans would be able to do what they wanted and there were long stretches of sustained pressure by Gold and some really nice passing. Regardless the 'Goats would get one with about 7 min left in first and the first would end 1-1.
The Second frame was all grind it out but not much scoreing as the Gold would work some nice moves but clearly was having a problem finishing their opportunities. To top it off on a breakdown and rush the other way the Gold would give one up about 6 minutes into the period.

The Gold wasn't going anywhere and to the Roster's credit everyone brought it and the offense and puck possession kept on coming.

With less than 5 left in the period Mike Daley would find the net after some nice work in the zone. He took a pass from iJosh who took it from Jeff at the point. Good work all the way around grinding out the chance by the forwards. Daley was a beast all night working the puck in the zone. I have to say there were stretches where we were putting 3 and 4 or more passes together on a shift. A thing of beauty. After 2, 2-2.

The Third was all the grind of the second, with plenty more wheezing, from both clubs. Nice saves at both ends kept the game scoreless. The CEO did a masterful job stopping the play any time the Blue got something going. Good stuff all the way around.

Which brings us to less than 2 minutes to play. Daley's line on the ice and the Gold applying nice pressure on the 'goats as it came down to the wire. Chris Fosdick would work a pass to Eric Bauer who would make a play at the point and get it low to Daley who was working the pocket low off to the goalies right. He shook two defenders and walked right to the side of the net and banged home the game winner with authority and sent the Gold home happy with a 3-2 win.

Just great work by Daley to make it happen when we needed it. All the guys on the ice did a great job getting chances as the time ran out.

Game Stars.
3rd: iJosh for a crowd pleasing score... his very first of the night.

2nd:Matty CEO Kilroy for making the stops all night and lookin' good.

1st: Magic Mike Daley for a pair of goals and a stylish game winner in the closing minutes. Doesn't get much better than that.

Actually... it did.
Awaiting us in the parking lot was the good Doctor himself, standing by his portable camping grill with a cooler of beer at his feet. Burgers and dogs for the victors who relished the moment in the heat of the evening and discussed our victory... and the absence of #21 from the postgame... for some time.

So a big 4th period Game Star for Jassman. Thanks very much for the pics, the burgers and the beers!

Suds downed by Sputniks

Schlitz (9) vs Sitniks
Monday June 28th
Canton 10:30pm

4-2 Loss

Late night in Canton for a Monday work week starter special against our old friends the Russians. Roman and Matvey are well know moonlighters with the team that usually wears purple. Must be a Tzar thing... The Sputniks have given us trouble over the past few seasons but most of the games have been entertaining.
Monday night was close at least, most of the way... but didn't end with the good guys on top.

Here's your Golden Avenger Roster
Nelson
Larry
Hammitt
Elliot
George
Mark R
Ken D
Neil
Steve
John
Jason
Eric
Jeff
Brian in Net

The blogger barely remembers this one... again I'm writing from a distance here. It might have had something to do with the night. The Summer heat had set in, muggy and damp. The day was long, and the blogger was delighted, distracted, and divided in thought, with sunshine daydreams, nice things, smiles and beers that he almost missed the game. He didn't though and it all worked out...even after arriving to the bench a few minutes into the first.

The Gold would take the lead on a Steve Baker solo run with about 10 minutes gone in the first. The game was close played and clearly it would be a back and forth affair. Both teams had their chances and escaped without any penalties in the first. End of 1, 1-0 Gold.

The Second would see more action and the Sputniks would score just after a penalty to Baker (leg check... iffy) would expire and the game was tied at about the 12 minute mark. Baker would go again though, coincidentally after he had plenty to say to the Zebra about his first penalty, but again the Gold would survive the PK only to give up another goal just a minute or so afterward.

Not to be totally out done the Gold would get one from Jeff Fosdick who would score on a long shot from the point (pass from D partner Hammitt) and was glad, even though in his mind he'd wished it was his second score of the night... and the game was tied 2-2.

The Sitniks weren't done with this period by a long shot and niffty #5 for the Purple would pot two more goals before it was over and the Gold would find themselves down 4-2 after two periods of work.

The Gold would fight the good fight in the third but could never seem to get over on Team Sputnik. AK and Larry would both take calls in the period, AK early, LB late but again no scoring on the man advantage. Brian did what he could between the pipes but there wasn't much he could do given that we weren't able to score any more and the game would end 4-2.

Gotta hand it to the bad guys for the hard work in the third that prevented any momentum for the Gold. No game stars... or regrets.

Schlitz take on Hillside Pub!

Schlitz (7) vs Hillside Pub

Sunday June 6th

Canton 10:30pm

4-2 win!

The Blogger wasn't around for this one, but thanks to Larry Bell we've got a very nice summary of the action. First here is your game day roster.

Larry
Hammitt
Elliot
George
Kevin
Mark R
Ken D
Neil
Steve
John
Howard
Eric
Lizzie in Net

And now without further ado... Here's Larry:

Good matchup against Hillside Pub. They scored first despite Schlitz having the edge in play. Schlitz came back to tie on Howard Heppleman's first goal of the game - a result of working hard and crashing the net to put in the rebound. The "Hepper" put us up 2-1, again crashing the net and putting in the rebound of Bakers slapshot. Hillside came back to tie late in the second. Hammit put us on top 3-2 after a nice passing combination from LB and Neil. LB finished the scoring by following Hepper's example and crashing the net for a rebound from Hammit and Capt George.

Box Score:
1st: None
2nd: 1 Howard unassisted, 2 Howard from Baker
3rd: 3 Hammit from Bell and Shah, 4 Bell from Hammit and Moorachian

ALRIGHT! Nice work boys. Thanks for the guestblog Larry! Great work all the way around. Usually when we play a squad that has the name of a business (autobody, soandso'sbar...) we get our asses handed to us. Nice work for the win crew.

The blogger apologizes for using the pic of Howard in the brace... but its the only pic I have of him. I'll bet it feels better scoring 2 goals than walking around in that thing... welcome back Howard.

Suds and Lobster Summer in Hingham

Schlitz (5) vs Lobsters

Wednesday June 2nd

Hingham 9:50pm

4-4 tie

Another spot for a terrific guestblog by one of our finest. Here is iJosh to tell you all about how this one went down:

Welcome to another summer edition of Schlidaveur Hockey. When I think of summer I think of barbeques, cold beer and fresh Lobster. Well 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

This evening in good ol' Hingham would have the Schlitz trying to cook some Lobster. The team would suit up an even 10 players. Jason Seaver would center Larry Bell and Chris Fosdick. John "Daddy Drove Me here" Carey would center Mike Hammitt and Ken Mitch Goldenberg. On defense would be Mike Campbell paired with Marc Valenti and George Moorachian paired with iJosh Greenstein. Between the pipes would be Brian "Damn, my son tagged along again" Carey.

Within the first few minutes of play the game was already eventful. First was Mike Campbell. He would quickly be escorted to the sin bin for slashing in our end. The puck, inexplicably, would be dropped in the defensive zone. After conferring with the referee later in the game it was explained that NESHL has moved to High School rules for the summer (and most likely beyond). The noticeable differences are face offs. All penalties move deep into the offending team's zone. Also all face offs (pucks into the stands, high stick violations, etc) go to the nearest face off dot rather than point of infraction. So the Golden Suds would be shorthanded early. About halfway through the penalty Mr. Hammitt would gather the puck in the neutral zone and skate it in. Upon hearing some on the team implore him to shoot, he did where he promptly buried the puck for a shorthanded goal. 1-0 good guys. Not too much after than, Mr. Valenti would be put in timeout for a high stick. This penalty would be killed as well. No scoring on this time though. But over all the Suds seemed to control the game. No big chances for the Lobsters. Then Larry Bell and Jason Seaver would play a little tic-tac-toe with Jason burying the puck for a 2-0 Suds lead. And the Schlitz would not be done. Once again, Mr. Seaver would tip one in from a rifle of a shot from Valenti giving the Beer Cans a commanding 3-0 lead after one period.

The talk on the bench was to keep the pressure up and to make sure to cover your men on defense since this team can and will put the pressure on. So early in the 2nd Hammitt would perform a "Hammitt Special". Basically someone knocks him over, so Mike levels the guy and then stands over him. Two minutes by yourself boy!!!! Unfortunately Hammitt would be let out early as the Lobsters took advantage and buried the puck to cut the lead to 3-1. Again Jason and Larry would combine to score again. This time Larry from Jason to bring the lead back to 3, 4-1 Suds. Now the Suds just needed to maintain the pressure and play solid D. But it is easier said than done. The Lobsters would claw back into this game. They would score two more before the 2nd period buzzer blew. One on a break-away that had a Lobster two-step away from the defense and get an open look at Brian to make it 4-3.

The third period was more of the same. The Lobsters had decided to take control of this game. They would get physical in front of the net. They were taking it as well as they were giving it. And finally they were able to break through again and beat Brian on the glove side to tie the game at 4. As the clock started to wind down the Lobsters would continue to have chance after chance. A few they should have had. In fact, this game was almost lost in the final minutes as Brian lunged to his glove side, making the initial save. The Lobsters picked up the trash and sent it just wide of the open net, top side right. The Schlitz would regain control just long enough to keep the Lobsters from making another shot, but it would be too late for the Cans to put on any pressure. The end result, a come from behind tie (that according to George is like kissing your brother....Glad I'm not in his family).

Beer in the 4th was sponsored in part by Bud Light, BL Lime as well as Bell and Campbell.

Suds Fail... D-minused.

Schlitz (4) vs D-Minus
Thursday May 27
Hingham 10:10pm

3-1 loss

The Beercans had another south shore matchup with the D-Minus crew who we spanked just a week ago at the same rink. Certainly everyone was hoping for a similar result. Unfortunatley the pregame lockerroom chatter about “carefull about underestimating the opponent” turned out to be a foreshadowing of exactly what we would do on the ice.

Heres your roster to start
Brian “Long arm of the Law” Carey in Net
D1: George and Mark Reynolds
D2: Campbell and Jeff
O1: John Carey, AK, and iJosh
O2: Baker, Parker and Gregson with Dr. Pounds doing an admirable job all night rotating through the lines and keeping track.

The Golden Beercans would skate circles around the rink in the first, lots of passing and a good number of chances in the Minus end. John Carey would pop in a rebound (from iJosh) only 40 seconds into the game to put the gold up by one. Unfortunatley, and somewhat unexpetedly, that would be the only tally of the period and there was no question the prevailing attitude on the bench was “we got this”… cue the ominous music going into the break

With the game not even close to being decided the Gold seemed to perceptibly slow as the second period wore on. It was like a slow power drain as the Minus played with a little bit more grit and opportunity than in past contests. They would start to get some chance on Brian and the Gold was getting fewer chances in the other end. Reynolds would go for a trip halfway throught the period but no scoring on the penalty
Then with just under 3 minutes to play in the period George would go for a hook and Maroon wasted lest than 30 seconds before they would pop one home by Brian to tie up the game. The Gold then got the first wiff that the night might be going sour.
Worse than that was the fact that right after that there would be another scramble in front of Brian and the Minus would knock it in during the scrum and would take the lead along with all of the momentum in the building.
Now the second goal was a bit fishy. It seemed Brian had the situation covered and the crowd had kind of stopped around him, but the zeebs were holding the whistles tight and it seemed to take a long time to get one just about everytime it was tied up.

Regardless the now tired and bewilderd Beercans faced the third period now down a goal and the opponet was feelign the confidence and the momentum.

The third just went predictibly badly. Looking eerily similar to the cheap folding table, poor excuse of a professional hockey club from Boston, the Gold litterally just let it slip away in the third. The shifts weren’t as short as they should have been and that led to tired legs. We lost almost all intensity and aggresiveness in the one on one battles and turned the opponent into more of a force than they were in the earlier part of the game.

About 4 minutes into the period the Maroon would score another on a good hard work effort by their forwards and the Gold was in full involuntary constricting upper esophagus collapse.

Now… before I get all dumpy on the good guys… there were chances, and opportunities… just nothing that worked. Jeff would have something like 5 shots in a shift early in the period, the only problem was that none of them were actually on the net. Barn door, Jeff. Jeff, barn door. Nothing. Steve Baker would wheel and deal a few time and ended up with 3 legit breakaway chances none of which had much hope. George had a nice rush and wrap around attempt but the Minus were up to the task.
They did have a differnent keeper than the last game but honestly it wasn’t like we challenged him with many really strong chances
Parker would take a matching penalty close to the end but that was just about it. No big finish or comeback to report.

The only up side was a few cold ones, Gregson and Jeff brought a few Buds of the light and the regular variety that were enjoyed in the atmospheric lighting of the rink parking lot.

Honorable Mentions to Scott for doing the rotating and keeping track up front, and to our gal Lizzy for keeping score in excellent form. Honestly the blogger looked over at her in the booth sipping a Bud light at one point thinking I’d rather be there…
Sad.

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.

Suds sink the minus... weak revenge.

Schlitz(2) vs D-Minus
Thursday May 13
Hingham 10:10pm

8-4

The league called up and offered us a "bonus" game of sorts, so the Dead in Red..err Golden Beercans threw together a roster and met up with the D-Minus over in Hingham for a late evening engagement. This was the same club that beat the Cads in the one game playoff game at the end of last season. That night they had an epic goaltender and really stole on from the Red, so there was a thought of retribution in some minds as we took the ice.
Heres the Roster
Lizzy in Net
D1: Brian Carey; Mike Campbell
D2: Jeff Fosdick; DWH
O Centers: Jason Seaver, Neil Shah
O Wings: Roman, Matvey, Capraro, Gregson, Baker, and John Carey

This one would be a bit wild, and it didn’t start particularly well. The Minus would take the opening face off, walk into our zone and let loose a low skidding shot that slowly rolled right at Lizzy, right under her and into the net for a 1-0 lead just 20 seconds in.

The Gold shook their heads and headed back up ice. Thankfully new star center Jason Seaver would tie the game less than 30 seconds later and it was clear we were in for a long night.

The Gold would follow with a goal from Matvey assisted by DWH and Neil, then an unassisted tally from John Carey for a 3-1 lead pretty early on. Neil would get one of his own on a return the favor pass from Matvey and the first period would end 4-1 good guys. It was clear that the talent in Net for the Minus was well off from the playoff performance.

Steve Baker would take a roughing penalty in the second, and Neil would go for a hook (totally suspect call) in the third and that was all the penalty minutes for the Gold.
D-Minus would score another early in the period to close to 4-2 but the Beercans would answer with another run. Goals from DWH, assisted by Neil, then Neil assisted by Brian Carey, would keep a healthy lead for the good guys. D-Minus would score their third somewhere in there but Neil would complete the Hat-trick before the end of the period, this one from Matvey again. So into the third we would go 7-3.

The third would prove to be the quietest period of the night scoring wise with a goal a side. Roman would knock one home from Mike Campbell that would seal the deal at 8-4. That’s how it would end and in the second half of the game it was a lot closer than it had been in the early going. It will be interesting to see if their goalie situation changes at all when we see this club later in the season.

Game Stars
3^rd Star: Dan "DWH" Herbert for a pair of assists and yet another excellent game of defense
2^nd Star: Matvey Nikhamik for a goal and 2 helpers and a very solid game all around

1^st Star: Neil Shah. A hat-trick along with 2 assists for a terrific five point night.

The Fourth period would be sponsored by beverage contributions from Gregson and Campbell which were tasty and pleasant to enjoy after a 8 goal winning night.

There were unconfirmed reports about Campbell and Fosdick racing to the bottom of his cooler of ice cold Budlights… but they hadn’t seen each other in a while and its amazing really they could drink that much beer between the two of them never shutting up for 2 seconds.

Good win boys and girls.