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.

Hat Trick for Duxbury!

Schlitz (3) vs Predators
Tuesday May 26th

Canton 8:10 pm

3-1 Win.

Here for the game story from Tuesday night are fabulous Guest- Bloggers iJosh and Mike Jasse. Let's hear what iJosh had to say first.

The last few seasons have seen the rest of the NESHL D League out recruit the Red and Gold. However this season the Schlidaveurs look like they may have the cream of the recruiting class. For this game that was evident with the additions of Mike Goodwin, Steve Baker and Dave DiLoereto.

This game was full of skater. A complete locker room of 13 arrived for the 8:10 start, primed and ready. The lines would be shake out to be:
George and Mark Reynolds; Campbell and Steve Baker on the defense.
Larry Bell centering Mike Jasse and Mike Goodwin
Dave DiLoreto centering Pete Capraro and Mike Hammitt
iJosh Greenstein centering Dr. Pounds and Matvey Nikhamik.
and CEO Mad Matt Kilroy would man the piped.

The first period would be a bit sloppy. A few mistakes were made as the gold often found their shots and passes blocked causing a number of turnovers and rushes. Luckily no damage would be done. The 3rd line for the night would quickly neutralize our defensive lapses. Dave Di would gather the puck and skate behind the net, throwing a tape to tape pass onto the stick of Mr. Capraro who deftly sent it to the back of the net. 1-0 good guys. Late in the period Capt George would take the first of many penalties by both teams. The PK unit would hold their own until the Predators would take the first of their penalties. So the period would end with the Cans a man up and a goal ahead.

The second period would see the gold continue to press offensively.
The line of DiLoreto, Capraro and Hammitt would hold the puck in the offensive zone for seems like 2 straight minutes, stopping clearing pass after clearing pass and putting shot after shot on net. Though nothing would come of the pressure, it certainly set a tone. But as we often find momentum is a funny thing. After another shot was deflected the Blue would rush back. The Suds would get back giving the Blue little option, but to take a shot from just inside the blue line. Mad Matt would make the initial save, but the puck would be deflected high into the net. 1-1 tie. George would take the 2nd of his penalties as he would trip a Predator in the slot.

Schlitz would again hold their own in the PK, but would again be forced to play a man down as Mike Campbell would get called for his first as he would get called for a trip. And again the PK was successful. With about a minute to go, the Predators would get their 2nd penalty. However the power play would be unable to convert. The period would end with the teams in a dead lock.

The third was time to pull ahead and the Cans would oblige. Early in the 3rd the gold would get call for another penalty. This time new addition Dave Di would get called for a trip. This was around the same time as the Preds getting called for a trip of their own. So a bit of 4 on 4 would be played. Shortly after the penalties expired, Mr Campbell would be escorted to the sin bin once again. This time for an interference. During this PK Mark Reynolds would break out and send the goalie one way as the goalies jock went another. 2-1 Suds. Momentum was clearly back on the Schlitz side. Pete Capraro would come back to the bench and (warning artistic license) mutter that he is the best player on the team from Duxbury and that our happy go lucky defensemen was certainly not in his class. So Pete would show who from Duxbury had the most game that night as he would intercept a pass and take it in for his 2nd goal of the night 3-1 Schiltz. After that the whistles would return.

First Campbell would get his 3rd of the game for a slash and "foul out" of the game. iJosh would serve the penalty for Mike. But he was feeling lonely and was hoping for some company. Luckily for him Mike Hammitt would get a triple minor. Yes that is a triple minor. A double minor for checking with an added unsportsmanlike for being large (actually that was the explanation given by the ref. Since Hammitt can do some damage the ref expects him to have more self control). So Hammitt would join Campbell for and early exit (actually only about a minute to go). Matvey would serve that penalty and Schlitz would find themselves in a 6 on 3 situation as the Predators had pulled their goalie. But the same magic that recently worked for BU would not work here. Once more whistle from the refs would see a Predator get called for a trip. And that would wrap it up. A hard fought, well deserved 3-1 win.

For all our defensive lapses there was a lot of good offense this games. Twice the gold were able to completely dominate in the offensive end, stealing passes and blocking clears and putting multiple shots on net. Some nice deep play to get some quality shots on net happened again and again. Unfortunately for the gold, the Preds goalie played a nice game.

And that brings us to Mr. Kilroy who despite letting in that one goal, played a spectacular game in net and segue very nicely into the next sections:

Stars of the game:
3rd Star: Mark Reynolds (goal and solid D play)
2nd Star: Matt Kilroy (great game between the pipes)
1st Star: Pete Capraro (2 goals and just great offensive play all game)

Great work iJosh. Great game guys, even if it finished kinda ugly...

Now here is Mike Jasse with another take on the festivities. He wasn't sure of a couple of the new guy's names... but we can be forgiving ... right? Right. Here's Mike.
First and foremost, I would like to extend a hearty 'thank you' to whomever heads-up our recruiting department; our talent and depth levels are certainly going in the right direction.

Larry centering Mike Goody on the left and Jasse on the rightDave(?) centering Hammit on the left and Pete Capraro on the rightIJosh centering El Doctorino Pounds on the left and Matvey on the rightCampbell Steve (?)George Mark R Twiddles in between the pipes.

My memory is a bit hazy (thanks in part to an excellent 4th period) but both teams showed up with plenty of skaters and it was a well-fought, up tempo game. The pervading feeling from this scribe is how the line of Larry, Goody and Jasse did not score. We were in their zone all night, we set each other up nicely on numerous occasions and just peppered their goalie. But, to no avail.

Their keep played well (or maybe we made him look good-I certainly took a beauty of a Bell pass and fired it right at his gut). Our second line turned out to be our scoring line; Pete got us on the board b/c of a terrific set-up and pass from new guy, Dave (Specs).

Matt may have played his best game between the pipes. He wasn't neccessarily tested all night but he was busy enough and looked cool, calm and collected all game. He did give up a long-range goal but the good thing is you know he's never going to get beat on a shot like that again.

Pete would score again and it was a quitensential Capraro goal. His intense forcheck forced a bad pass which he intercepted (I believe right off the money-maker; Let's give praise for the invention of the cup) and he just cranked it up to an extra gear, took a puck on edge and put it home. A nice, hard-working goal.

Reynolds lugged the mail in the 3rd period during a penalty kill (our PK rocked all night) and found an opening between their D, made a couple of qick moves and beat the goalie 5-hole. A sweet and well-needed goal.Penalties:George had 2.

Campbell got tossed (I think for unsportsmanlike conduct but I'm not sure)Late in the 3rd I turned to Pete on the bench and said, "Hamitt's going anytime now."About 5 seconds later Hammitt just CRUSHED some poor sap into the boards; absolutely stapled the guy.

GameStars

3rd star: Reynolds. A much needed insurance goal from our winger who was needed on the D. He played well in 3 zones and was great on our PK.

2nd star: Matt BMF Kilroy Solid game in net. Matt's playing with more and more confidence as he continues to play a calm, quiet game in between the pipes.

1st star: Has to go to Pete. 2 goals to go along w/ his usual hard charging, never quit skating style.

Alright! Great guest blogs gentlemen... if you aren't careful the blogger may just turn over his post completely... Thanks again. Personally I like how they both had the same pics for the 3 stars. That would make it official.

See you all next week at the rink.

Suds go down in loss to Blues

Schlitz (p3) vs Blues

Wednesday 4/15

Dedham 9:10pm

4-1 loss

Well folks, it really hasn't been a pretty this season for the suds, and last night's season finale was really no different. U.G.L.Y... you ain't got no alibi ugly. I wasn't for lack of trying. It wasn't for lack of players. I wasn't for lack of desire, but most of the night was an excercise in futility for the Golden Beercans as they were eliminated from the winter playoffs by the Blues.

There was plenty of willing skaters. Jeff Fosdick showed up after working late to make an uneven 14 , but was encouraged to dress as not everyone (Parker) had shown up before the game began. Jeff thanks his D teammates, George, Mike C, DWH, and Mike Daley for being understanding enough to have him.

The forwards were iJosh, Jasse and Capraro; Nelson, Mitch and Scott; and Parker, Blake and Gregson. Mr. Newpads and newoutlook CEO.BMF.Kilroy in the pipes.

The game was pretty close for the first period. We can run with the Blues and usually do. They clearly had their playoff roster intact for the night and they played well. The teams went back and forth and Matty made a few good saves to get warmed up.

It wasn't long however until a nifty player for the Blues took advantage and bounced an unlikely shot off of Matts elbow and back into the net for a cheap 1-0 lead. The Gold tried to double their efforts... without much success.

The Gold would answer.... believe it or not. Jeff Fosdick would pick up a loose puck in at the blue line then would fire a shot that went through traffic, and off Capraro's skate and into the net. Jeff got credit for the goal... but he owes it all to the traffic in front courtesy of Pete and Jasse. Thanks guys. The period would end 1-1 and the Gold was far from discouraged.

The Blues would be the next to score, on a bungled play (a theme) in our own end. The Blues would take a turnover and make a nice pass to a forward camped out right next to Matt who drove it home to take the lead back 2-1. Not much Matty could do on that one either. The Blues would strike again on another give away in our end that resulted in a short break away. A quick move and the score was 3-1. The second intermission was much quieter on the bench than the first.

The third was quite unremarkable aside from the Blues scoreing again in the first 2 minutes. The Gold would continue to try hard but was plagued by mistakes and just never got anything going. That is how this one would end. Not much more to report other than a benalty for Parker and one for Campbell but that was it.

So the sun sets on a quirky, not so fun season for the Schlitz, who look forward to a few weeks rest and a clean slate when the summer season begins.

Shame to see good players like Gregson, Daley, and Herbert go, knowing that they are out for the summer, but we look forward to getting those guys back in the fall.

No Game Stars.

Overheard in the parking lot 1: As Campbell and Jasse loaded Kilroy's truck with toys and baby stuff they are getting rid of... "Jesus Joe they brought their F*cking TOYS with them..."

Overheard in the parking lot 2: "Its kind of a bummer when your rival...doesn't think of you as a rival"

Overheard in the parking lot 3: In regards to the setup of a Schlidaveur Twitter feed for the blog.

Daley:"You could message while on the bench... 'getting smoked 4 nothing right now..."

Parker:"Or while you're playing...' ROMAN! PASS THE PUCK!'"

A nice scrape on the blogger courtesy of our friends the Blues

Suds fall to Goats

Schlitz vs Scapegoats
Thursday April 9th
Hingham C 10:20pm

6-2 Loss

The Blogger has been waiting for stories from this one to come in, but the early news was not good. Sort of like news coming back from the front when things aren’t going so well.

The messenger shows up limping, with a bandaged head, and can barely salute when he tells the generals that he’s the only one left from the 5th Cavalry division.

I’ve got a feeling iJosh has got something for us somewhere out there so well keep an eye to the email.
...wait... here's iJosh now...

With a 3rd straight Schlitz Championship in the balance the pressure was on from the start. George would lead the blueliners along with Dan with Hands, Mike Daley and always versatile and level headed Mark Reynolds.
The forwards would be centered by Roman and Gritty and Grizzly Old Nelson, who's playoff beard full of large patches of gray just add to the character. The wing pairs would be Matt Elliott and Matvey, Dr. Pounds and Dan Gregson, Capraro and iJosh.

No doubt the team felt the pressure as there was almost no flow, no control, no offense and certainly no defense to start the game. This would lead to a very quick set of goals by the Scapegoats. The first just a scrum of players near the crease, the 2nd a perfect pick set by our own defense allowed the opposing forward to deke "unseen" before moving around everyone and slide the puck into the open net. The 3rd goal would soon be netted before the end of the 1st came to a merciful end. Both Mark Reynolds and Dan with Hands would be sent to the sin bin in this period courtesy of a hold and a slash.

So the Golden Beer Cans had to get back into this game. And the only way to get back in was to score the next goal. But that is not how this story goes. Not before long, the Suds would find themselves down early in the 2nd by the overwhelming score of 4-0. Nothing was going the Suds way. Absolutely, positively nothing. At one point the Cans had a 5 on 3 penalty and got a grand total of 0 shots for and quite possibly a few against. You could tell exactly how the game was going by closing your eyes and determining the level of excitement in George's voice. And after doing exactly that, following the 2 man advantage, one would have thought we were down 4-0 with no appearance of hockey skills what-so-ever. So after getting the verbal assault we deserved, some people would actually get to work.

First Gritty and Grizzly Old Nelson would do what Nelson does, find a way to get the hard working goal.

Then Matvey would find paydirt, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Then the Team of Beer was just flat once again giving way to another goal ending the period at 5-2. Somewhere in this period Dan Gregson would get called for a hook.

Plodding into the 3rd would see more of the same. The best news out of this period wasn't that Dan Gregson was called for an interference or that instead of the game ending 7-2 it ended 6-2 after a goal was waved off due to a goaltender interference penalty on the Goats.

So our night over and our playoff hopes damaged we will head toward Wednesday knowing that one more loss and we are done. Hopefully it will be better next time.

... great work iJosh as always. Too bad about the outcome.

The suds are on deck for Wednesday 4/15 against... The Blues

Bavis Arena 10:10pm

Lets have a good game against the rival Blues... whom we haven't played in a while.

Suds Clash with Clinic Game 1

Schlitz (24) vs Clinic
Tuesday March 17th
Dedham 9:20pm

4-4 Tie



The Suds were the first up on the St.Patty’s day Dedham Doubleheader, and took to the ice with a 3 game win streak to protect. There was some decent optimism in the room before the game, given the opponent, and everyone felt pretty good about our recent success.

Now, as game time approached there were not quite as many bodies in the room as management had hoped for. There had been several drop outs during the course of the day, but there was still some hope some extra bodies might just appear from under the rainbow… no luck. There were a hearty 9 ready to go when Campbell opened the door to the room. He was scheduled to only skate the nightcap but quickly donned his gear (forsaking the beers in his bag that he had planned on drinking while watching us…good man) and joined the crew to make an even 10.

So this is how it broke down.
Lizzy in net.
D1: Campbell, Reynolds
D2: Jeff, Elliott
O1: Nelson, Capraro, Fitzpatrick
O2: iJosh, Ken/Mitch, Scott
I think.

Firstly let it be noted, this Clinic squad was a bit fiestier than the average group we are used to. I’m just saying that there were a few more guys on the team that were clearly not just learning to play. Now… regardless of that the Golden Beercans didn’t make the best show of things in the early going.
There were some chances for the Gold, even a few shifts that stayed in the Clinic end and showed some solid promise. However… the game stayed 0-0 for the first 5-7 minutes. Then after a brief scramble in our end the Clinic D sent a nice shot through traffic (and a slight screen) that found the net. Gold down 1-0. Hrm.
To make matters worse, the Clinic would strike again, not more than 2 shifts later. This time a forward not picked up through the low post who made a very nice shot that beat Liz for a 2-0 lead. Double Hrmmm. Despite the verbal courage extolled on the bench the Beercans didn’t come up with anything. The period ended 2-0 Red.
The start of the 2nd wouldn’t bring any more good news for the Cans. The Clinic would score AGAIN, I don’t recall the exact circumstances but the Gold was certainly deflated being down 3-0 early in the second to a team they had hoped to spank.
At this point some of the crew for the second game was filter in and shaking their heads at the scoreboard and watching from the glass.
Finally the Gold would wake up and put a few plays together. Firstly Matty Elliot, who played a very solid game at D, scored on a nice shot, assisted by Pete Capraro. The ice was finally broken, and it wouldn’t take long for the thaw to continue. Next up would be Mark Reynolds who would do his best DWH or Stephan impression with a beauty of an end to end rush that ended up in a niffty shot that would bring the cans within a goal. 2-3. The roll would continue as the hard work of both iJosh and Ken would pay off, when iJosh would feed Ken in front for a nice goal that would tie the game. The Gold were downright excited to be back in the game and were clearly jumping to the puck a bit better than the early part of the game.
A good example would be the play of Ken/Mitch who did some nice work both in the offensive zone keeping the play alive, but more importantly a tremendous backcheck that saved a possible goal. Ken was called for the play but it was totally worth it, and great work by him to prevent the chance.
It was a game going down the stretch. A pretty even affair going back and forth in the 3rd period. The Clinic would show that they were not just pushovers and would land another goal to gain back the lead as time became short in the 3rd.
Once again, the blogger is glad to say, the Gold responded. Who do you think nutted it up, gave a little extra effort and willed the puck in the net… I’ll give you 2 guesses… go ahead… guess. Hey! You’re right (or you should have been). Nelson Sharfman would show why he is THE MAN and would simply push the play to the net relentlessly until the puck was in the net and the game was tied, now with less than 5 minutes remaining.
At the very least some dignity was preserved here but the game would end in a tie, 4-4. Not really the way we wanted to start the double header, but hey… at least we didn’t lose.
I’m not doing game stars for this one… but we will have some honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention1: Nelson. Dude just makes it happen when he needs to. THE MAN.
Honorable Mention2: Matt Elliot, another very solid D performance. Thanks for helping out.
Honorable Mention3: Ken/Mitch. A nice hard work goal and a penalty to boot!
Honorable Mention4: Campbell for joining us… when he could have been drinking. Thanks.

iJosh was nice enough to send along some items as well....
"Pete and I were in sync all night. Pete shoulda, coulda, woulda on a quick pass and shoot. He had open net, but give the goalie credit, he get the blocker on the puck and screamed "No soup for you!!!". Chances were there for the two of us, but the hockey gods were not on our side for this one.

Mitch however had the hockey gods smile at him as he planted himself perfectly in front of the net. After the Clinic took a little too much time getting to me just off to the side of the net, with Capraro just in front of me wide eyes toward the net and Mitch just beyond (with the slightly better position) I slide the puck to Mitch who promptly buried it to tie the game."
Thanks Josh!

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.

Suds Soak 'Suckas

Schlitz (22) vs Windsuckers
Tuesday March 10th
HinghamA 10:00


4-1 Win

In this long season of peaks and valley’s the Schlitz have seemed to struggle much more than in any season since their creation. A new mix of talent in the division, a few more miles on the odometer, maybe just the way things go, but those valleys have been much more frequent than the peaks. So here we were on a late Tuesday on the South Shore with a full locker room of guys and one girl in Gold ready to go. The Golden Suds had a spectacular win last Thursday? against the Call that represented the end of a very long slide. The question was could the Beercans pull off a second in a row and build on the momentum?
There was an excellent cast in place to answer the question. Lizzy, not before coaching up Moms on the scorekeeping and scoreboard duties, would take to the nets. In front of her the D had a new wrinkle with Campell playing with Chris Fosdick, and Valenti skating with Jeff. CF was clutch to step up and skate the D.
The Cans would then throw a solid group of three lines out on offense. Michigan Mike Daley would center Gregson and Chuck, Larry would pivot for Reynolds and Parker (a late arrival who just happened to bring his equipment… good move), then Matvey would center Capraro and Blake Underhill. This was a nice scrappy lineup and confidence was … well not high, …but in play.
With the mantra from last week repeated on the bench the Gold took the game right to the Windsuckers who were sporting their spiffy new FirebreathingCoyotelookingThing shirts had a solid lineup. A handfull of + guys and then the usual suspects. they would clearly take a quality effort to beat.
That my friend, is just what the Beercans would give. A no joke, no prisoners, short shifting, hard skating, cycling, passing, beat your guy to the puck kind of a game. I’m not kidding. Whatever started last Thursday? indeed carried over as the Gold would cycle hard taking the game right to the Coyotesuckas.
It was second or third shift of the game, just short of 3 minutes in that the Daley line (carryover theme) would strike after holding the play furiously in the White end. That would establish the tempo and the momentum and Chuck Slate would plop one right in on a smart pass from Kevin Parker who had just come on. The Gold would take the lead and have to play with it.
The play would level off, but no question going at a pretty good clip. The Gold played hard surppressing the White attack in the neutral zone with smart backchecking, and would play a good deal in the White end, getting numerous chances.
The line of Capraro, Underhill, and Nikhamik would do excellent checking work, and taking the game right at white. Chris Fosdick had a few anxious moments on D but on the whole played great stepping in seamlessly and doing a good job breaking up plays in our end. Lizzy would be tested several times. She handled everthing thrown at her, benefiting from a break here and there, but a solid performance without question. She was quick to cover loose stuff and clearly handled all the long shots.
The first would see one penalty as Campbell would go for a rough. But that would be it until late in the second. The game would stay 1-0, with both teams close to scoring the next critical goal. That goal would come with 5 minutes left in the second when the ‘Cans would break up a play in our end, Valenti on the play, up to Underhill, who relayed to Capraro who barreled ass down the middle of the ice losing the D and striking with a wrister low on the glove side that would give the Gold a 2-0 lead. Huge. Massive. Titanic are words that came to mind at the time. Reynolds would go for the only penalty of the period but the Suds were solid on the kill.

So thats how it would go 2-0 into the third with the game tightening all the time. You could see the Windsuckers gain some momentum as we tired. But Mike Campbell would come zipping over the 'suckers blue line and would rip a nice shot that found the net (pass from Matvey) and would put the Gold up 3-0. That goal was also Titanic, Huge and Massive.

The Windsuckers wouldn't go quietly and as the tired legs caught up with us not a minute after Mike's goal, White would finnaly get one past Lizzy, but only after a long scramble in our end. So with a 3-1 lead the teams went right after each other for the remaining 6 minutes of the game. Old friend Mike Daley would send a nice pass to Mark Reynolds who drove home the nail in the coffin at just over a minute to play. Thats how this one would end 4-1 and a huge, massive, titanic win for the beleagured Golden Beercans. Nice work by everyone involved.

I'm not even going to mention that no one brought beer and we failed the 4th period completely... sheesh.

Game Stars

3rd Star: Goal scorers Chuck Slate, Mike Campbell and Mark Reynolds, aaand helpers Kevin Parker and Mike Daley. Good contributions, well deserved by all.

2nd Star: Lizzy for having a tremendous night. Keeping the game infront of her and just plain playing clutch when it counted. Great win Liz.

1st Star: The line of Pete Capraro, Blake Underhill and Matvey Nikhamik. Blake and Matvey each had an assist and Pete scores the eventual Game Winner on a terrific breakaway. Great work all night. Blake had a heroic effort in the third at one point to make it to the puck and get it out of our end in a critical situation. Matvey just quietly goes about his business setting people up and contributing every time he plays. Great work, all of you.

DONT FORGET. GAME THURDAY NIGHT 10:30 in West Roxbury.

SCHLITZ vs LAST CALL

Lets keep the winning streak going! The playoffs are around the corner.

Also be sure to get back to management about next week's St.Patrick's Day Doubleheader.

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.

Suds v. Suckas

Schlitz (20) vs Windsuckers

Sunday February 22
Dedham 9:10 pm


4-2 Loss


Sounds like a tight matchup on Sunday night for the Suds. Let's hear from a pair of excellent guest bloggers about how this one went down. First of we've got Larry "Double Vision" Bell with a nice recap of the action. Here's Larry:

A pretty even match between the Suds and 'suckas. The suckas opened the scoring in the first period as #28 broke through the D and beat Brian with a wrister to the stick side. Suds answered in the second with Capt George taking the puck at the offensive blue line, skating around the zone, behind the net and banking a shot off Scott's skate.
Schlitz took the lead in the third as Jasse sent a pass to me at the blue line that split the D and I finished off the break with a backhand goal. 'Suckas answered when I send a bouncing pass to George at our blue line that he couldn't control resulting in a breakaway for white.
They took the lead moments later on a shot from the top of the left circle that eluded Brian. The fourth suckas goal resulted from another miscue between LB and George as white took it to the net from the corner, neither one of us took the puck carrier, and he squeezed in a backhand, short side.

Penalties:
77 - 2 x 1:30 = 3:00 pim
16 - 2 x 1:30 = 3:00 pim
9 - 1 x 1:30 = 1:30 pim
7 - 1 x 1:30 = 1:30 pim
90 - 1 x 1:30 = 1:30 pim

Good work Larry, thanks for checking in. Now we've got another excellent GB from Dr. Jasse hisownbadself. Here's Mike with an outstanding game story.

DEFENSE:
CampbellDWHGregg JamesCap't George
OFFENSE:
Mike Daley centering
Dan Gregson LW
Chuck RW
Larry “Don’t Call me Alexander-Graham” Bell
Centering
Doc Pounds on z lef
El Doctorino Jasse (if yer not into the whole brevity thing) on the right
Nelson Greybeard doing that floatation thing he does so well
Puck drops and (wait for it) the whistle blows. A mere 12 seconds into the game Campbell heads for the sin bin (tripping). Our boy in stripes (butterball) said that was a first for him to call one so early.
Pretty evenly matched game; they went up 1-nill in the first but both teams had chances. We tied it on a non-kicking motion deflection of Dr Pounds boot (not sure who got the assist).
Things got a little dicey when Larry and one of their pugnacious D got into it and the bad guy ended up horse-collaring Larry to the ice. Tounges were flappin’ but cooler heads prevailed as both parties went to adult time-out to reflect on what they had done.
1-1 going into the 3rd and Jasse feathers a pass up the middle to a streaking Larry who’s speed splits the D and tucks a backhander home against the helpless tender of the net.
We’re up 2-1 and there is much rejoicing.
Puck drops, it’s in the feet, it’s passed back to our D, it’s in George’s feet, it’s picked up by their forward, it’s in the net.
#%%^&*&@!!
The score may have been 2-2 but it was a truly deflating goal.
They ended up tucking a wrap-around in to go up 3-2 and ice it with a wicked slapper to make it 4-2.
I thought we played well (Brian kept us in it) and we skated with ‘em. We just didn’t have quite enough.
No beers in the 4th…..the horror.

... ug. Great story Mike! Too bad about the game. Thanks for giving such excellent blog my man. You are always welcome in this space. Good effort by the Suds and big kudos to all who played, too bad it didn't work out.

Suds survive Suckas!

Schlitz (18) vs Windsuckers

Tuesday January 13th

Milton Academy 9:10pm

6-4 Win

Night two this week at the lovely Milton Academy rink. This time the Suds were in action against the Windsuckers for a 9pm tilt. Sounds like a good night all the way around. We here at the blog have an excellent game recap from Veteran GuestBlogger iJosh that we hope you will enjoy. Here's iJosh:

Firmly entrenched in the winter and the winter hockey season the Cold Cans headed down to Milton Academy to face the Windsuckers. The locker room would have 9 dressing early, but a just in time Stefan and a slightly late Blake Underhill would quickly join the fray.

The pairings for the game would shape up to be: iJosh centering Chris F and Kenny D; Mike "Scoring" Daley centering "Mad" Matt Kilroy and "Dan" Gregson. Blake would learn how to be the abacus but requested to just be called the floater. So Blake was the floater. The D would be Capt George, Hammitt, Campbell and Stefan.

The puck would drop with the "Scoring" Daley line. And though they would not put one in on this shift, they would leave a good one on the doorstep to help set the pace for the game. The next shift would work hard and have a few chances. But neither would break through. Stefan would challenge an incoming pass toward a Windsucker. He would get to the player just as he caught the pass the Sucka held on. However he would seemingly lose his balance and fall over Stefan's stick. Tough to tell if Stefan had anything to do with that or not. But that would not matter as the ref (Frankenref dubbed by Campbell) saw it as Stefan's fault. He would go to the box and feel shame. The Cans would complete the PK, but not too far after that the Sucka's would draw blood and put one past netminder Brian Carey for a 1-0 lead.

Newbie, Ken Douville would soon get into a little blue line tussle as someone tried to stand him up at the blue line. Both would get called to the box, but Ken would get the extra one and again the Cans would be down a man. Again the Golden Suds held their own in the PK. All the while, the Cans were still putting pucks on net and making every attempt to tied up the game. iJosh would miss one after the goalie tipped it with the end of his stick. Campbell would barely miss one. Then finally Mr. Daley would get his first point of the night as he would slide a beauty of a pass across the slot to Mad Matt who knocked it home 5-hole style. 1-1 game at the end of 1.

In the second the Cans tried to carry their momentum to build a lead. Early on it didn't look good as Brian called out to Hammitt to clear the Sucka out of the crease. In one person's opinion, maybe it isn't a good idea to give Hammitt that sort of directive as he literally threw the player onto his ass. Well Hammitt would go to the box and think about what he had done. Now with the momentum leaning toward the Windsuckers, the Cans tried to take it right back. And this time they would come through. Mr. Daley would drive one home from Mr. Kilroy to take and early 2nd period 2-1 lead.

Though the momentum would be short lived as the Suckas would come right back to tie the game. Not long after the Sucka's would throw the puck out in front of the crease were it bounced around a bit and found its way into the net (I think it went off a defensemen, off Brian's skate and in). So the Sucka's now had the mojo running with a 3-2 lead. But in this game of back and forth momentum, it was the Schlitz turn to go for the gusto. With Mike Daley leading the way he took a pass from Kilroy and raced around the net for a tit for tat wrap around goal. 3-3 Game. Though the scoreboard (and I think even the scoresheet) had the game at 4-2. No matter. With the period running down, Capt George took a pass from Campbell, crossed the blue line and caught an opening on the near side low part of the net.

Now the score was 5-2. No! 3-3. No! 4-3. Yes right, 4-3 Schlitz. It took a little explanation to help the scorekeeper get it right. And with that the Schlitz end the 2nd with a little gusto.

With a 4-3 lead, a little momentum (there is that word again) and the fear that it could change right back the Golden Beer Cans were desperate for that bit of insurance. Not for a lack of opportunity and effort there would be little scoring early on. A few rushes and excellent opportunities were thwarted by the Sucka goalie, who really deserved more credit than the scoreboard would lead one to believe. Mike Campbell would go for a trip as he landed a nice hip check on some poor Sucka. He would get up gingerly after that one. And once again the PK was up for the challenge. The Golden team D would play solidly and would bend but not break. Stopping pucks and sending them out of the zone before any complete breakdown could happen.

Then again, Mr Daley would put another home to finally get that needed insurance as he rushed in and put one past the keeper for a 5-3 lead. On the next shift, new Ken would get his first goal as a member of Schlidaveur Inc from who.....come on people first one to guess who got the assist get a free pass from the "Coon of Shame" for a month....Yes that is right Mike Daley. One little breakdown with about 45 seconds left in the game would make it a 6-4 Schlitz lead. And that is how it would end.

The 4th period had a few die hards sipping the BL courtesy of Malachi Crunch Campbell in the cold drizzly night.

Game notes:
Both lines just clicked though the 2nd line didn't have as many ticks on the scoresheet, they were not lacking in effort or chances.
The Team D, though did break down at times, played and overall smart game.
I think the scorekeeper was drunk, but I think that isn't a big revelation.

Stars:
3rd Star: Tie. George Moorachian for his goal and solid blueline work. Ken Douville for his one assist shy of the Gordie Howe Hat Trick and overall hustle.
2nd Star: "Mad" Matt Kilroy a goal, 2 assists. Not bad Matt but not as good as...
1st Star: Mike "Scoring" Daley for a FIVE, yes folks that is not a typo, five point night. 3 goals and 2 assists and we use him as a defenseman?

Great work as always iJosh. Thanks very much for another excellent game summary.

Everyone stay warm this week and check your email for roster info regarding next weeks game on Thursday night. That's all from here...

Suds fried by Shock

Schlitz (15) vs Shock

Tuesday December 23rd

Dedham 10:10pm

6-1 Loss

Woah. No shortage of ice time out there last night as a weary Schlitz team would hit it with only 6 to start with, and a full complement of 8 to run the rest of the game. You can imagine there are some tired puppies out there in Holidayland this morning. The blogger is going with the 50 gallon drum of caffeine this morning in hopes that he'll make it to St.Nicholas time later on... fat chance... fat like a bowl full of jelly if you take my meaning... anyway.

We were thin last night (and we'll all be a lot thinner if we play with 8 every week...) but there was no shortage of Gold courage, or spirit on display. We took on a Shock team that really... I mean really... we should have been able to handle, a few bounces here and there, and perhaps a full complement of skaters... and this evening would have looked much different. At least that was the thought that i used to keep me warm on my way home last night.

This is how the game began. The hearty souls, wearing their courage on their sleeves were Mike Campbell, Jeff Fosdick, Mark Reynolds, Mike Jasse, Chuck Slate, Matt Elliot to start the game. Marc Valenti dressed as the game began and joined the D rotation about 6 minutes into the game. Mike Hammitt would show during the first and make it to the ice after the start of the 2nd to give the forwards another body (now 2 subs) to work with.

But back to the beginning again for a second. The puck was dropped to start the game and the Shock center (a guy who would then play D the rest of the game) would win the draw cleanly and immediately slapped the puck at the net, hard. The puck took a few bounces but essentially went straight at the net bipped and bopped and went right over Brian's stick and into the net with like 3 seconds gone on the clock. Merde.

Now... the Gold didn't collapse. It did the Blogger's Grinch sized heart good to see the guys in Gold respond and really we played pretty well for the next few minutes. We took the game back to the Shock and about 6-7 minutes later Mike Jasse would put one in off of a Valenti shot from the point and a touch from Matt Elliot. Tie game, still only 7 skaters... but not bad.

Then the Shock took a nifty break into the zone and fired and... we were back down a goal 2-1. Worse yet only moments later in a scramble in our end the puck came off the back boards from a Shock forward, hit Brian's stick and ricocheted right into the net. Down 3-1 after 1.

We were in it talent wise, the addition of Hammitt early in the second helped, but this ship was already taking on water. The bleeding would indeed not stop at all as the Shock would put another one in during the back and forth second.

The Gold had a few chances, Mark Reynolds, Jeff, Jasse, and Chuck just to name a few would get decent shots, all to be gobbled up by the Shock keeper like so much Who Roast Beast. So after 2 it was 4-1.

Wish I could tell you the third saw a big turn around and things went back our way... but that wouldn't be true. We continued to get chances here and there but ultimately were squelched out by the Shock who would throw another two goals in just for good measure.

There is an old expression from somewhere regarding our game, our goaltending, and our general attendance last night.... Sometimes you eat the Bahr, sometimes the Bahr... well you get the picture.

Major kudos to Reynolds and the Doctor of the 4th period ... Jasse M.D. for bringing beer and keeping our literary intellects stimulated. Also to WonderGirl Lizzie who stopped by for a sip in the chilly postgame lot.

That's all from here hope the Fat man in the Red Suit brings you all a new stick, new blades or whatever else you might be needin.... see you all next week (Tuesday) for the Schlidaveur.

Merry Christmas.

Left to right... Lizzie bundled up, Hammitt, Jasse and Mark Reynolds braving the cold the night before, the night before.... good work everyone.

Suds Cheesed by Rats!

Schlitz (13) vs River Rats

Monday Decmeber 15th

Bavis 10:20pm

5-0 Loss

This one didn't go much better than the first one on Monday night. There were a bunch of guys who skated both games as we only had a handfull of guys show for the nightcap.

This is how things looked. The guys in bold skated twice.

Campbell, James, Jeff and Valenti on D. Brian in Net.

Nelson, Larry, Ken Douville, Chris, Gregson, Daley, Reynolds, iJosh, Mitch

Again... a tough team with decent talent. They had at least 2 guys who could turn it on and off as needed and made for an uphill climb for the tired boys in Gold. This game was similar to the first one in that we hung with them for a long time and the game was very close for a long long time. Then things fell apart at the end. (seems to be a theme...).

The Rats would score one about mid way through the first, and despite clearly being the better team, they were being pushed a little by the guys in Gold and there were chances at both ends... albeit more frequently at our end...

Here's what it boils down to. 1-0 after one. They scored with a minute left in the second to make it 2-0 (that was killer goal). Then the third was a washout. The Gold took 2 penalites, Greg James in the first, Larry in the third. Unfortunately there was nothing else on the scoresheet to discuss....

The Rats scored 3 times in the third to put this one away, and really it did feel closer than 5-0 ... but since the Suds never even got on the board... you can 't really say that.

So there you have it, outscored 12-1 in the course of 2 games on 1 night. Sheesh....

No game stars.