Cads Electrocuted. Badly.

Cadavers(12) vs Shock
Monday August 1
Dedham 9:00pm


0-11 loss (yup… that’s right)


The Dead in Red showed up in Dedham last night looking to stay over 500 (5-5-1) and faced the Shock, a group we hadn’t seen for a few months. The Shock were sporting their slick new jerseys, Reebok NHL style with a great new logo, a lightning bolt zapping a skeleton. Schlidaveur management immediately had thoughts of copyright infringement but the lighting bolt was clearly a central part of the logo… so the team lawyers advised against it.

The Shock have a bunch of Mooks that we’ve seen before in a bunch of different configurations, but clearly they have a healthy amount of talent on the roster. Baker commented to Jeff pregame that they had a bunch of really good guys. Baker’s words would be prophetic and it wasn’t long before we found out just how good they were.
Jeff has also decided he may not want to remind the scorekeeper to write down the times of the goals… the scorekeep, Charlie did just as he asked… too bad there were no goals written on the Cadaver side of the sheet.

Here’s a roster breakdown.
Randy Dudek – from the goalie list in Net
D1: Baker, George
D2: Bauer, Fosdick
O1: Scott, Ken, and Elliot
O2: Sully, Larry, and Gregson
Nelson floated between lines.

Well… it took almost no time at all for the Shock to show their class and ability as the their large fat defenseman, number 77, a blockhead named Chris Baron found his way to the box after tripping one of the Cads. Of course he had plenty to say on the way and was clearly just getting his stupid into gear. He would go again only a couple of minutes later when he and Bauer tangled down low in the offensive zone. Bauer came across and Baron planted him with a total crosscheck takedown. Again he had plenty to say along the lines of “slash me again and see what happens’ and more eloquent brilliance as he went to the box. Apparently someone had the gaul to make contact with him. It was difficult not to as A. he takes up so much space, and B he can’t move his fatness very fast one way or the other. He would be only emboldened however as his teammates would be soon to show the flash and ability they had.

The Shock would get on the board when number 24, their no face shield wearing D would get it going and start to take us apart. First he would take the puck at the blue line and turn Jeff like a carousel and flip one past the keeper for the 1-0 lead. A pair of shifts later he would take a loose puck and slide into the slot and unleash a laser that beat Randy cold.

Number 24, Sean Curran was another genius on the Shock and he seemed to be all lathered up to put a hurt on the Red, because apparently we tried to play hard against them, even though we clearly were a step below in talent. Sean is a great player. He’s fortunate that he’s still in his youth, ( I guess mid-late twenties) and the extra weight he carries hasn’t hurt him much yet. He can turn it on whenever he wants and dominate, and coast the rest of the time and have the game well in hand.
Give him another 10 years and he wont be able to move as well when he needs it and will probably turn into a maladjusted pathetic version of the player he could have been who takes a lot of frustrated penalties and doesn’t do much for his team, except add to the class they show on the ice of course.

However that will be down the road, and last night he and the rest of the Shock had more than enough to put a serious hurt on the very pathetic looking Cadavers. It was 3-0 at the end of the first and the Cads were pretty clear on the fact that they’d be fortunate if they could hold them to only 3 a period.
The second would see the Shock land another 3 exactly and their bench was still whooping with the goals up until the 5th, because again, apparently we had the nerve to try against them, as futile as that was. Baker would go for a trip, and Bauer for a slash during the second. I think only one of their 3 goals in that period was on the PP.
6-0 after 2. Baker was melting down by the end of the period and had to be hosed off between periods due to some stupid disagreement with one of the refs. Thankfully he pulled it together and didn’t get himself ejected.

The Shock would keep afer it, and continued to show their class, as they landed two goals in the first 3 minutes of the 3rd. They would send a guy to the box for a slash but the Red had nothing on the PP. The Shock would land another 3 goals, all a bit shakey in the last 5 minutes as the Red clearly had had enough and were ready to be done.

There would be one more classy move on the Shock’s part. Number 10, Derek Phillipon would blatantly cross check Bauer from behind in our own slot in an epic cheap shot with less than a minute left on the clock. Like I said… classy. Nothing like beating a team 11-0 and then taking cheap hacks at them as time winds down. Curran and Baron (24 and 77) had all kinds of things to say during the handshakes too showing true sportsmanship and class all the way.

All I can say is, there may be a chance at redemption somewhere down the road. Douchbaggery begets douchbaggery and really… that’s no way for us to go. Our only option against a team that much better than us is to shut up, play hard and try to socre a goal. Last night wasn’t a horror show, but it sure was embarrasing.

The only bright spoot was beer from Dr. Pounds and Larry Minivan Bell. Ice cold Limeys to sooth the sting and burn of the beating we just took. Thanks guys.

To quote Bauer postgame “ It wasn’t much fun in the bouncy house tonight”
True Fax.

Zombies survive the Shock!

Cadavers (9)vs Shock

Monday July 12th
Canton 9:20pm

6-5 Win

Here's Guest Blogger Larry Bell with a quick game story from the nightcap game from Monday night. Some guys did try to skate both and left the locker game after game 1 a Cadaver loss to the XXX and drove over to lend a hand.
Here's Larry:

The CADs showed up with a weel-stocked roster of 7 skaters at the beginning of the game: Capt George, Parker, Elliot, Hammitt, Seaver, LB and George's friend Greg. We received a bit of good news in the locker room that the goalie didn't have his skates because his mom forgot to pack them. Luckily? Greg brought an extra pair of size 9 skates for the goalie to put on his size 12 feet.

While he was busy stretching out Greg's skates, the Shock goalie was late coming out onto the ice which resulted in a delay of game penalty. The Dead in Red took advantage of the man advantage. I carried the puck over the blue line on the right wing and dropped a pass for Seaver trailing. Seaver's shot lead to a bobbling rebound that Hammitt was able to corral and deposit into the net. 1-0 Cads.

Later in the first, after getting hemmed into our defensive zone for a shift, Parker sent the puck 3/4 the length of the ice. Hammitt beat the goalie to the puck and fired it into the empty net. 2-0 Cads, end of the first.

In the second period we received some reinforcements as DWH, Daley, Bauer and Gregson arrived from the 8:00 game in Quincy. With our added bench depth we quickly coughed up the lead. 3-2 Shock end of the second.

Then DWH would take a feed from Bauer and tie the game at 3. Seaver then found Greg on the left wing and he buried the go-ahead goal for a 4-3 win. Great goaltending by Matt at the end of the 3rd with the Shock skating 6-5 preserved the win.

Nice stuff Larry. The Blogger greatly appreciates your contribution to help keep this space alive...

Zombies tied up by Shock

Cadavers (4) vs Shock

Monday May 24th

Canton 9:20pm

5-5 Tie

The blogger wasn’t in house for this one… and there were no guest blog contributions, but we will have a semi game story nontheless. Thanks to a well completed game scoresheet we have a good idea of how this one went down. Kudos therefore right off the bat Larry Hudson, Canton scorekeeper extraordinaire.

This was apparently a pretty good matchup, but the dead in Red felt that they let one slip away that they should have had. Team Zombie led most of the night only to succumb to the Shock in the end and finished up with a tie.

Lets check the roster.

Matt CEOBMF in Net

D: DWH, Eric Bauer, Reynolds, Daley (?)

O: Baker, Hammitt, Elliot, Shah, Sharfman, Nikhamik, Capraro and Kurin

A good group to be sure, and the Red had some confidence to start off.

Capraro would lead off scoring with a a goal from DWH just 3 minutes into the first.

The Shock would counter with a goal at the ten minute mark to pull even.

Hammitt would score, assisted by Matvey just under the six minute mark and the period would end 2-1 Red.

Hammit would continue to roll and would score the first goal of the second, this time assisted by Neil and the Red would lead 3-1 just two minutes into the second.

The Shock didn’t stay down though, and they countered with another goal just a minute later. They would also see three penalties before the end of the period.

The Red would take advantage and get the lead out to 2 again when Mike Daley would score from Matt Elliott with 6 minutes left in the period. Good guys 4-2 at the end of two.

Dan with Hands Herbert (DWH) would lead off the third the right way and would score unassisted at 14:32. This meant a three goal lead for Team Zombie, but unfortunately it also meant the Shock had them right where they wanted them.

The Shock would take the next 3 penalties, one a misconduct and then things really started to change. Neil went for a highstick that looks like a match to one of those Shock penalties, but regardless when those penalties expired The Electric Company would take over.

Scoring at 9:35 they would bring it back to 5-3. Then the Shock scored again at 4:13 and again at 2:13 to tie the game. Apparently a torrid comeback from three goals down to tie up the Zombies… and that’s how this one would end. 5-5.

Sounded like a whiz bang of a game, too bad about the total collapse.

I’m thinking no game stars.

…nice to see the CEO back on the ice…

Suds fall in Championship to Shock

Schlitz 3-1 vs Shock 3-0
Tuesday September 29
UMass Boston 8:10pm

Championship Game Islanders Division

Shock 2
Schlitz 1

Season over.


The Schlitz, courtesy of a wild and improbable win on Monday night, gained a berth inn last night’s Championship Game against the Shock at the Prison By the Bay. The Shock, a much improved group showed up in legion, eighteen guys for the much anticipated tilt that could bring them their first division championship as a club

The Schiltz were not so thick in numbers. The crew from the Monday night spectacle was thinned by not only injury (Howard and his patella) but from the rest of life’s commitments that left the Gold with only 9 skaters out of the ENTIRE ROSTER that could conceivably make the game. Poor Neil Shah, who took an earlier flight back to town to make the game, had never played at Umalcatraz and spent some confused time int the parking lot before making the game. He didn’t get to the bench, to make 9, until the first period was in its final minutes.

That’s right. Championship Game, everything on the line, and the Golden Beercans skated a hearty and heady 8 players to battle the Shock Juggernaut. They had guys falling off the bench they had so many. It was noted that even though they had so many, the D that really mattered for them, Number 43, and 53 seemed to spend every other shift on the ice, at the very least. Also interesting to the Blogger is that again, 43 doesn’t appear on the roster on the scoresheet, just like when the Cads played these guys in the first round. Just interesting is all I’m sayin.

Lets get back to the hearty few that made it happen for the Gold.
Matty CEO BMF Kilroy in the pipes
D: George, Mark, and Jeff
O1: Nelson, Larry, Steve
O2: KenMitch, Neil, and Kevin Parker

Just for reference sake friends let me pass these items along. Mark Reynolds changed work travel plans to be able to play. Neil changed work travel plans so he could be back in time for the game. Kilroy cancelled a planned evening with his wife’s friends. Jeff scrambled for a sitter and worked it out (not to much success) with the Mrs. to make it, despite her plans. We only had 9 guys for a game that… well, meant quite a bit. To use a cliche we’ve heard before… I’m not bitchin’… I’m just sayin’.

That being said. The Gold played great against the well rested Shock. Not quite as many sparkling moments as the night before, but really there were long periods of time that the Beercans have every right to be very proud of.
We played smart, and tough and kept the Shock from just inundating our end. A major part of the Shock’s success has been their very young, very talented goalkeeper and he would serve his roll very well keeping the puck out of the net on many occasions when it seemed impossible for him to do so. He had just a sick game. Larry was flat out robbed on the doorstep a minimum of two times during the night. Parker, Nelson, Jeff all would have solid chances that somehow he would end up with.

The first period was a sort of controlled chaos on the Gold bench, just trying to make some changes and not let anyone get too tired until Neil could get dressed. The game was scoreless for a long time. Ken Goldenberg would take the game’s first penalty, a rough(thug), and was followed by George not too long after for a check. The Gold did a nice job keeping the Shock at bay and keeping it even.

The Shock would get the inevitable break and pop one home past Matt before the first would end. This goal was punctuated by 52 barrelling like a train through the slot, making his shot (wicked) and smashing through Mark Reynolds just for good measure as it went in.

The Gold didn’t back down and our typical 2^nd period let down wasn’t as dramatic as it could have been. There was plenty of courage and effort in the tired faces on the Beercan bench, but everyone played strong and stuck with the game and kept it tight. The Shock would extend their lead when one of their faster forwards rushed up the left side staying outside of Jeff who was backtracking (slowly) as the play came into our zone. Their guy stayed outside and then fired a laser that found the top left corner over Matt’s shoulder. Just for reference sake the dude was on the move and below and outside the faceoff dot in our end. A good shot for sure. Despite being down 2 the Gold continued to grind. They kept generating chances against the goalie that would not be beaten

The third period saw the Gold gain some as they crawled and clawed their way back into the game. Nelson and Larry would hook up on a classic hard work goal, keeping the play in the zone Larry swung around the back of the net and hit Nelson who was parked out front and he banged it home. The goalie had no chance at all and was the first time we got him really moving and out of position all night. So down just one the Gold was bearing down and gaining some momentum as the minutes ticked away.

With just under 5 minutes to play the Zeebras would finally give the Blue a whistle, and it turned out to be a 2-fer. The Gold were handed a 5-3 power play and the Shock took their time out so the big guys could get their wind and stay on the ice.
Unfortunately this is where things caught up to the Beercans and things started falling apart. The Gold got a wicked shot right away but then could hardly muster another shot as the penalty time melted away along with the golden opportunity we’d been handed. The penalty over, the Shock scrambling the Gold would again get some excellent chances. Jeff pinched and took a nice shot from no more than say 8 feet. Not only does the Keeper make the stop, but Ken Goldenberg who was perfectly positioned on the doorstep whacked at the loose puck and it went under his pads. Kenny would whack at it again, Jeff was sure the puck was in… but the whistle blew… and there was the puck, safe and sound, just outside the line. No dice. It just wasn’t going to happen against this keeper. This was his night.

The Gold would pull Matt with just under a minute and that only resulted in a Too Many Men penalty as Jeff went back out on the ice when Matt got on the bench. He hadn’t looked to see that someone else had already gone.
The last 30 seconds would pass without event, even with the empty net there was no blood as time expired and the Shock began the celebration.

The trophy was handed to the Shock along with some very nice Royal Blue shirts as is the standard Division Championship Booty. Good for them. A good match, and only a slightly bitter defeat for the Schlitz who really came very close to forcing just one more game. It just wasn’t to be this year.

Kudos to Larry for sponsoring the fourth period with ice cold Bud Lites and everyone, all 9 of us nursed our wounds and toasted the now completed season in the parking lot.

It was a nice playoff run for what was really a kind of mediocre season.

Someday when the Schlidaveur International Statistics Division is reconstituted we’ll get a handle on how things stacked up.
For now, its over. That big thump you just heard is the book closing on the summer of 2009.

See you next week when the winter season starts.

Cads go down in Season Finale

Cadavers (15) vs Shock
Monday August 31
Dedham 10:10pm


4-2 loss.




This one sounded like a tough one for the dead in Red. The blogger is going to throw it out to a bevvy of Guest Bloggers who all contributed to this one. Lets start off with a very well rounded summary by ROY Neil Shah.
Here's Neil:

Forwards (LW-C-RW):
Chuck-Ken-Neil
Howard-Goode-Kevin
Defense:
Matvey-Steve
Hammitt-George
Lizzy in Net

General Comments on the Game:

Generally, we outplayed them- we were skating hard and our team definitely generated the lion's share of chances in the game. Unfortunately, we could not finish. Numerous times we were stopped on point blank shots at the door step. I personally missed two breakways that could have tied the game late in the third period. The first one was a decent save on a backhand deke; the second one I had the guy beat but completely flubbed the shot on a rolling puck.

In terms of individual performers, Howard deserves to be singled out for having a solid game. In addition to the goal, he played hard and generated some good chances through forechecking and hard work on the boards. Our defense was solid most of the game, but we had a few breakdowns late that led to their goals. Offensively, we generated a ton of chances but just didnt score enough.

Although I'm normally loathe to complain about the refs, there were some blatant missed calls. Hammit got called for interference when two of their guys skated into each other and fell down. It was so obvious that one of their forwards flat out admitted that there had been no penalty; the two guys literally just ran into each other and Hammitt got the penalty because he happened to be standing a few feet away. Perhaps even more harmful, the refs blew the whistle twice where Kenny was literally all alone in front about to tee off a shot because the goalie had "accidentally" knocked the net off on the moorings. It was complete coincidence that both times he knocked the net off were after making saves on breakaways that left him sprawled and out of position with Kenny wide open in front of the net.

Excellent work Neil. Thanks for your contribution to the blog.
Now lets hear from Kevin Parker who always has a colorful story to tell:

Let's see... 10 guys. George, Hammit, Matvey, and Steve On defense.
Goody, Howard (who played a very good game by the way) and I were a line and Neil, AK, and Chuck rounded out the squad. Lizzy in net. We played well enough to win but had one bad stretch where we had some 'timely'
penalties and gave up 2 goals in the span of like 30 seconds which kind of killed us. D had a good game and the forwards skated hard all night.
Not going to say we got hosed by the zebras....but we got hosed by the zebras. Decent showing for the 4th, Howard had a dizzying array of beer available (MGD, The Champagne of Beers, Miller Light and I think I even saw a BL Lime or two) and we did ourselves proud by finishing off the entire cooler before leaving. Little victories. Little victories.

Hope this helps. Had a tough time remembering all the way back to Monday. Need to go lay down now.

You'll be glad to know that Kevin made a full recovery after a long nap under his desk earlier today...
Now lets hear from Howard on the game:

Opponents Goalie - “Iron curtain”

Sit down… I scored the first goal. We held the 1-0 lead going into the 3rd period. We went up 2-0 briefly with a sneaky short-handed goal by Matvey who got the assist from the opponents defenseman who when attempting to skate the puck up ice looped in front of their goalie and Matvey simply tweaked the puck off his stick and past their unprepared goalie for a nice 2-0 cushion. Then within about 30 seconds it was 2-1 while the Cadavers were still short handed and 60 seconds later, 2-2. The elder Zeeb set the tone in the 4th quarter with some horrendously bad calls that left even the opponents team members scratching their heads. The lop-sided penalty calling continued and soon enough the score was 2-4. Major let down! According to Kenny, the player of the game – the Zeeb for his bad play calling. Calls the zeebs failed to make that they should have included the two times Neil led a 2 on 0 breakaway with Kenny close behind and as Neil’s first shot was rejected by their goalie, he then conveniently popped the net out of position, which resulted in the Zeeb blowing the whistle to end play and denying Kenny the easy follow-through.

Tough game to digest if it weren’t for the nice ample variety of cold beer (Schlitz, Bud, Bud Light, Bud Light Lime, Miller High Life and Miller Lite) waiting in the parking lot.

Thanks Howard. Great job on the summary and the goal. The Blogger thanks you.
Lastly lets hear from Matvey:

Our scouting report on them was that they shoot from everywhere, and that proved to be true. They took shots from mid-ice, and everytime they crossed our blue-line they looked to get into a shooting position. Lizzy made a number of great stops, one of those was a "clean" breakway from their blue-line - begotten by the guy dropping Hammit while pursuing the puck coming out of their zone. That was as clean of a trip as you can get, but ref's arms must have been too tired 'cause no call followed. So Lizzy stopped the breakaway and shut the door for most of the game.

In the 3rd, after gettting some slight idea of how we are being slighed by the zebras a call on Hammit led to a penalty-kill. We had a great effort killing the penalty and everyone was so eager to step in that at one point we had 5 people on the penalty kill, but luckily that went unnoticed, for about 10-15 seconds. In the resulting confusion I jumped on the ice, but ending up a 3rd D on the ice, I played up. After some intersting maneuvering by their D and trying to skate the puck in front of their own net, all I had to do is to time my poke-check :) - having the goalie sliding away from the post helped as well, but that ended up being our 2nd goal. I just skated back, but the guy who turned over the puck was pretty mad, and by all accounts threw his stick to the ice - no punishment or reaction from the refs on that one either.

Unfortunately, we were still on the pentalty kill, and they did manage to score a goal before the penalty expired. Another goal followed within a minute and all of a sudden it was 2-2. In the meantime the game featured 2 clean breakaways for Neil, one was set up by a nice pass up the middle (I think), and another one was Neil intercepting the puck in the mid-air during penalty kill and taking off. Both times Neil was stopped by the goalie (different moves on each breakway), but both times the goalie knocked the goal of its moorings. Again, no call from the refs, and both times we had a man coming for clean rebound opportunity.

Well, Shock did score 2 more times, with us going to the box, and them not so much...one of the plays was George making a great effort, back-checking a guy trying to get a break-way. George was sent off for hooking, while the "Shock" guy told George "Great Play" and then after the game was also saying that he had no idea where the penalty call came from.

After the game, by a unanimous vote in the locker room, the game star was awarded to the zebras

Very nice! Very nice indeed on the guest blogs gentlemen. Too bad about the game result but... them's the breaks.

Looks like both teams are in action for the begining of theplayoffs on Monday September 14th... so mark you calendars... we will need everyone for that night!

zombies dont survive shock therapy...

Cadavers (3) vs Shock

Monday June 1st

Hingham A 10:00pm

2-1 loss

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

Without further ado... here's iJosh.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final Score 2-1 Shock.

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

Scoresheet:

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

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.

Zombies survive the Shock!

Cadavers (P2) vs Shock

Monday August 25

Canton 9:30pm

5-4 Win

Big playoff showdown at home rink Canton against the Shock last night. This is a team we have had some success against so spirits were high going into the game in the pregame lockerroom. There was lively banter and some colorful comments by Lizzy which showed she was ready to go and get playoff win number two for the Dead in Red. The Red were joined by Captain George, filling in for Capt Campbell, and Mike Jasse filling in for Matt Elliott. So there was a full 13 in the Zombie sweaters ready to take on the Shock. Here are the breakdowns.

D Pairs Capt.George and Pearlman, and Valenti and Jeff.

Offense: Jim Sullivan centered Parker and Jasse. Roman centered the Dux Duo Capraro and Reynolds. then iJosh centered Ken and Scott.

Lizzy in the Pipes. Mom & Dad in the stands.

The Shock had some niffty unis sporting a white galaxy (lighting?) on the front of an old Buffalo Sabers jersey, Blue with the small gold stripes. They didn’t have as many players as the Red but seemed to have some decent talent and honestly they came out buzzing.

The Shock proceeded to take the game right to the overconfident skating dead and had some chances early. The Red went on the attack but Jeff made a bad play at the offensive blue line and the Shock took the rush all the way down. In the fast scramble of players getting back the Shock skater moved around the net and buried a wraparound that put the Galaxybolts up 1-0 just 1 minute into the game. The Cadavers were still very confident but not happy to be behind.

The Zombies were able to move the puck a little and got some good action right away in the Shock zone but nothing broke. Instead on another bad pass from Jeff, this time a turnover in our own end results in another close Shock shot that beats Lizzy and the Red were bumming. Now down 2-0 the Zombies went to work.
All three forward lines were able to create pressure, and to play in the Blue end over the next few minutes. Clearly the red had more skaters on the ice and the bench and should be fine, but the scoreboard said otherwise. Shots came in groups but nothing fell until Marc Valenti made a pass to Jeff Fosdick in the neutral zone. Intent on redemption for his first to shifts (-2) Jeff tapped the puck forward through the clogged neutral zone. The Shock D got crossed up as Jeff’s momentum carried him through them and into the zone. He continued to barrel right down in front and slammed a 5-hole shot home to get the Zombies on the board at 8:45. Back to -1 for Jeff.

Only one minute later the first line offense would join the fray. Hard working Kevin Parker kept the play going down low, then fed Sully who fed a wide open Jasse who popped it home for the game tying tally. Things were getting a bit better on the Zombie bench as the momentum had clearly shifted into our favor.

Before the period was out Sully would capitalize on a Valenti rebound and bury the go-ahead goal with 1:22 remaining. Still we would go to the second after a very close played first period 3-2.

The second period would be a grinder as it usually is. The Cadavers continued to get decent pressure but the Shock were playing for their chances and took them from time to time when the opportunities were there. They had several 2-1 situations that Lizzy came up big on with some key stops. The Red were still confident but the one goal lead remained only 1 for better than 10 minutes. Then at 6:45 remaining the Shock got another odd man rush that Lizzy made the save on. This time the rebound rattled around and in the scramble the Red couldn’t clear. A turnover and the Shock buried the 3^rd chance and tied the game. We were back to serious faces on the Red bench and clearly in a game.

The Zebras were going with the playoff theme and kept the whistles in their pockets the entire night with only one exception. The Shock took a penalty in the 3^rd for the only call, in a game that did have pleanty of “give and take”.
The forwards were feelign it for sure as they worked the low part of the zone. Sullivan and the boys would come through to break the tie again with less than 30 seconds in the period when Sully put home another one from Jasse and Parker. Still into the third we went 4-3 and a closer game than we had bargained for.

The Red didn’t get much going on the power play but continued with good effort up and down the lineup. Mad Russian Roman Kurin would then make a rush and working a pass from Pete landed a nifty shot for a 5-3 lead with 8:47 remaining in the game. The Red felt better again, but knew they weren’t out of the woods. The chances would still come for both sides despite the Zombies deliberately trying to kill the game clock shuttling it down the ice every chance they had.

Still the Shock, who deserve a ton of credit for their effort all night, wouldn't go quietly. With 12 seconds in the game, after chasing around in our own end the Shock tallied another goal to pull within one. There were some tense moments, but despite the guys in Blue taking the extra attacker the Red killed the final seconds and went away with a nice playoff win.

So the Cads move to 2-0 in the summer playoffs with a critical game in 2 weeks against the Double Runners. The Cads can, with a win, get into the Championship game for the second season in a row. But, before the Blogger gets ahead of himself....

Game Stars

3rd Star: Marc Valenti, and George Moorachian. These guys were solid on D all night. It was nice to have George's legs in the game. Valenti had a pair of assists while George's hard work went unnoticed again by the zebras. Good job both of you.

2nd Star: Kevin Parker (2 assists) and Mike Jasse (goal and an assist) These guys were buzzing around the zone and the Shot net all night long. Parker has a motor that won't quit and Jasse had a nice goal to tie the game in the early going when things looked sketchy. A good night all around, thanks boys.

1st Star: Jim Sullivan. 2 goals, both that broke a tie to put the Red back in front. Sully had another typical great game for him and even threw in an assist to round out the e point night. Great work with the offense Jim, you are always an asset. Must have been inspired... his wife and family were in the house... but the rumor has it that she didn't see the goals...doh!

Honorable Mention1: Roman for his niffty goal... scored while Jeff was still yelling at him for a soft play in the neutral zone. Good work all night by the Radical Russian. Sounds like his other team has been doing well, so he is clearly looking to finish strong.

Honorable Mention2: Billy for the Patented Pearlman Power Slide. Bill came across the zone late in the game and flopped on the ice smothering a Blue opportunity, and tying the puck up in the corner.

Honorable Mention3: Jeff Fosdick for the rumblin bumblin momentum turning first goal...even though I still think he ended up -1 for the night...

Overheard in the Parking Lot: "I dont get what this means" says Roman, reffering to the "shocker" hand signal (all fingers but the ring extended). "I don't know why don't you ask your Mom..." replies Dr. Pounds.

Cadavers Deaden the Shock

Cadavers (13) vs Shock
Monday August 4th
Dedham 9:10pm

3-1 Win.



Ug... the Blogger is way behind. So far behind he didn't even show up for the game last night. That said, lets not waste any more time and get right to the GuestBlogger of the day (and most of the time) iJosh.
Here's iJosh:

"Another game chalked in the should not have been this close category.
This game would be played hard and mostly well. However there was little to show for most of the effort. The pre-game summary as usual is:
Cadavers started the game with 10, no wait Nelson just showed, 11 players. That would leave the lines as follows: Mike Campbell, Mark Valenti, George and Dan with Hands would anchor the defense. Forwards were: Larry centering Parker and Capraro. iJosh would center Dr. Pounds and Mark Reynolds. Nelson was the floater. The Shock had a little trouble fielding a team. They would start with a temp goalie until theirs could get on the ice. They would start with 7 skaters and eventually finish with 8.
The first period was uneventful. There was a goalie line change in the middle of the period and a few rushes by either team. But nothing would get by. Mr. Campbell would add to his team leading PIM total with a hook late in the first. The 1st would end with both teams scoreless.
Into the 2nd we go. Play was getting better for the Cads. Lots of passing. LOTS of shots. And overall aggressive play. Many times the Cadavers would do the necessary things to keep the puck deep in the zone or to steal the puck from the opponent to keep the puck in the zone.
About 3 minutes into the second, some of that aggressiveness would pay off. iJosh would reclaim the puck in the corner and send a pass off to Mark Reynolds. From Mark, the puck would find its way to the stick of Dr. Pounds. And Scott would not disappoint burying the puck for a 1-0 Cadavers lead. The Skating Dead would not be done. A tic-tac-toe play from Larry to Parker to Nelson would give the team a 2-0 advantage.
Just great passing. So late in the period the Zombies on Ice would strike again as another string of passes would land in the net. This time Parker from Nelson and Capraro. And though there would be no more scoring the Shock goalie was just peppered with shots.
The final frame would see more action from the Dead in Red. Shot after shot after shot. More good passing and generally good defense. Lizzie played well keeping the second chances at a minimum. One defensive lapse would get the Shock on the board. A breakdown would send 3 Shock away toward Lizzie who had no chance on the play as the puck was buried, stick side high. Larry, though on pretty good behavior, was called for a late interference near the bench. The call was made by.....yup you guessed it, our 4 eyed friend and Larry's new drinking buddy. Larry could be seen leaning out of the penalty box discussing the play and apologizing for the play to the ref. As the clock wound down, the Dead would essentially freeze the puck and prevent the Shock from pulling their goalie.
Final score 3-1 Cadavers.

Scoresheet:
1st Period
Penalty: Campbell, hooking
SOG: Cads 5, Shock 3.
2nd Period
Goal: Pounds from Reynolds and iJosh
Goal: Nelson from Parker and Larry
Goal: Parker from Nelson and Pete
SOG: Cads 12, Shock 3
3rd Period
Penalty: Larry, interference
SOG: Cads 8, Shock 3.
Game Notes:

* Yes the scorekeeper payed enough attention to track shots on goal. A grand total of 25 vs 9. I'd say that is a well controlled game by the Cads.
* Larry slipped two past the goalie as he announce he is having twins.
I guess he couldn't get the hat trick. Commence the congrats and teasing now.
Game Stars in no particular order:
Parker, Nelson, Lizzie."

Nice. Here is a late arriving commentary from GameStar Nelson Sharfman:
"I had a goal and an assist. The goal was on a beautiful cross ice feed from Larry. One of those on-the-tape slam-dunk can't-miss ones. And I didn't.

The assist was on a great effort goal by Kevin when he picked up some really messy slop I scooped over in his direction on the far post to finish a not really textbook three on one. Thanks Kevin.

It was a tight game despite the fact that they only had eight skaters. Well into the second period they were back checking with ferocity and beating us in one-on-one grinding battles. Their goalie was very strong and stoned both myself and Larry on separate one on no one breakaways. He also stuffed a number of my rebound attempts, many will real mustard behind them.

A good game, and since we won it was even better."

Great work iJosh, Nelson and Cadavers. Keep up the momentum as the playoffs are closing in.
Lets see how our friends in Red fare tonight against the Tigers.

Don't forget, 7:00pm start time.