Daveurs Double Up! Both teams advance to Thursday!

Schlitz vs Blues

Monday September 21

Canton 9:30pm

5-2 win!

There was more doubleheader playoff action last night in Canton and this week was both similar and markedly different than last. Both games were very close, and tied most of the way just like last week's games but this time the Suds and Zombies pulled off the win in both cases and now advance to face each other on Thursday night at the same rink.

The first game saw a very nice Schlitz lineup against ancient rival's the Blues in the first elimination game of the evening. Here's the lineup.

D1: George, Jeff

D2: Dave, Mark

O1: Nelson, Steve, Pete

O2: Neil, Kevin, and AK

Matt in Net

This game would go through a long process of "feeling it out" and finding the pace of the game as the teams went back and forth. Both keepers warmed to the task and the Zeebras were calling things tight as there was clearly a competitive "playoff" atmosphere on the ice.
Steve Baker would go for a rough, a match with 38 from the Blues only 3 minutes into the game. Capraro would go at the end of the first for an interferece. No blood on any of the power plays. The first would end 0-0.

The second would continue back and forth, Kilroy made some just tremendous stops, scooping up anything that came near him. Capraro (thug) would go again on a iffy holding the stick call but again the PK did just fine. Then the Blues would get a break. A classic unable to clear problem in our own end and plunk it was 1-0 Blues with 6 and a half left in the first.

Capraro wasn't done making the scoresheet as he would find teh net, on a helper from Steve to tie the game back up 1-1 with just under 4 left in the second. The play would continue, fast (relatively) and intense and we would go to the third still tied at one.

The third got off to a bang when Kevin Parker and 38 from team Blu would go for matching roughs and the sides skated 5-5. The Blues would take another penalty, and the Suds, AK in particular showed great composure resisting the retaliation and staying clear of the box the rest of the way. Miracle... I know.

The play continued past the 6 minute mark and George made a long end to end push that resulted in another snuffed shot by the Blue keeper. Worse yet number 6 (red pants) would scoop up the puck and race down the other end on a long break away and would finish it past Kilroy and the Blues would lead 2-1 with only 5 minutes left.

Once again, the pride of Old Milwaulkee would rise to the top and the tuckered Suds would take the game right back to the Blues over the next 3 minutes. Then 35 would lose his cool and once again AK would do a first rate job in drawing the penalty without retaliation and off 35 went to the box with 2:29 remaining on an interference (mugging). It was classic. He popped off as the entire Blue bench was screaming at him to keep his cool. Not to be smug but that due was overdue for a call all night long and it couldn't have been sweeter for it to come when it did.

The result was astounding. The Suds would hold the play in the zone, make a nice couple of passes and George would unleash his best slapshot of the game that would find its way through traffic and into the net for the tie with just 2:11 on the clock. Credit Kevin Parker with the assist.

Obviously nothing was over yet, and the Suds refused to relinqish the momentum they had worked so hard for. The play stayed in the blue end, and a minute later the puck would go around the zone from Nelson to Steve then back out to George who topped his best slapper on the previous shot, with an even better one that would hit paydirt and gave the Suds the lead with 1 minute to play. Just massive.

The blues would pull their keeper but couldn't muster a comeback and first Neil then Nelson would would pot empty netters at 41 and 18 seconds respectively to put this one, and the Blues on ice.

The Blues were very stand up and congratulatory in the handshake and there has rarely been a more satisfying playoff win for the Schlitz... other than championships... as far as I can recall.

Good stuff. Major ups to everyone involved.

Game Stars:

3rd Star: Matt Kilroy. Excellent work by the BMF/CEO as he turns away a lot of rubber in this one. Our boy continues to gain experience in the pipes.

2nd Star: Steve Baker. The man with the wicked shot didn't get a goal but 2 assists and a lot of legwork on the night. Good game.

1st Star: George "get that coon outta here" Moorachian for two unbelieveable slappers that would tie then win the game for the Suds. A great effort by George all night long and a well deserved game star for the defenseman.

This comment came in this morning from Pete Capraro about this game:

"Grit" is all I have to say for game 1, Braveheart style."

Which brings us... to the nightcap.

Cadavers vs D-Minus

Monday September 21

Canton 10:40pm

4-2 Win!

The nightcap would see a tired group of suds join the 6 guys scheduled to play for Team Zombie. The Dead would defer to the Minus and thier red shirts and would again play as the Schlitz for the sake of visibility. Here's how the lineup went.

D1: Steve, Mark

D2: George, Jeff

O1: Roman, Matvey, and Hammit

O2: Nelson, AK, and Howard

O3: Neil, Scott, and Ken G.

Lizzy in Net.

Lots of double ups as you can see from the roster.

This game was not nearly as contentious as the first game, as witnessed by the complete lack of a penalty from either team for the whole game. The Dead in Yellow would strike first, about 3 minutes into the game when AK Douville would bury a pass from Neil and put them up 1-0. AS really good night all the way around for Ken who had good chances all night.

The score would stay that way until well into the second.

Jeff would make a horrible clearing attempt on the right boards that was scooped up and bandied about in front of Lizzy until they popped it home for tie. This was only a minute or so into the second. The play would continue at a slower, but still urgent pace for both teams until the Dead would break the tie with a bang bang play of their own. Keeping the puck in the red end Mark would feed Nelson who would feed Mitch who would tap home the puck for the lead after a lot of gritty hard work in front of the net. This goal has been up for debate and probably could be credited to Ken G or Nelson but from my perspective Ken touched it last so he's getting the goal weather he wants it or not.

Before the period was out Old Reliable Nelson would surface again with more mucking in grinding that would result in paydirt. Nelson would bang home a play from Jeff, and Mitch and would give the Golden Dead the 3-1 lead with a minute left in the second. We would go to the third 3-1 Zombies.

D-Minus wasn't done and again capitalizing on a shakey play in our own end would make the game 3-2 with 7 minutes remaining. That led to some anxious moments on the Zombie bench but those fears would be put away when Roman would do his best Nelson imitation and woudl plunk one home from the side of the net after mucking about the zone for a minute or so. Credit Matvey and Howard with the helpers on Roman's goal.
That was it. Game over 4-2 and a pair of nice playoff wins for the 'daveurs.

Game Stars

3rd Star: Lizzy. Another very solid playoff performance from our Gal in the pipes. Great work.

2nd Star: Ken Goldenberg for a goal and an assist and an all around good night.

1st Star: Do I have to say his name? Doubling up. Mucking and grinding like he... likes it. Working hard and making others play hard around him. A goal and an assist at least. Nelson Bleeping Sharfman. Great work as always my man.

So now we are down to the nitty gritty.

Playoff 'Daveur.

Thursday Night.

Canton 10:40pm (I know the schedule says 10:50 but lets go with the normal rink time)

Bring it. Loser goes home.

Shock and Tigers beat Daveurs to open Playoffs

Schlitz vs Shock
Monday September 14
Bavis 9:30 pm

Cadavers vs Tigers
Monday September 14
Bavis 10:40pm

Monday night saw both teams in action as the summer playoffs began. Both games were very close, in fact both games were tied 1-1 as the the game went into its final minute. Both games saw a great and sincere effort by the assembled ‘daveurs, and yes… both games resulted in heartache for our beloved Suds and Zombies as both teams would lose and be exiled to play in the “losers” bracket starting next Monday night… when both teams again play on the same night.

These same night games are killers for us, even with the expanded rosters because anyone that can’t make it… can’t make both games. We were very thin for Monday night’s playoff games but, being the good do-bees that we are, no extra subs were called in to fill in the gaps as these are the playoffs, and all players had to have at least 5 games service to be eligible to play.

The first game saw the Schlitz, playing as the 6 seed meeting the Shock who were the 3 seed for the division. The Shock are very similar to us and we’ve had some decent results playing them in the past. This game would show that we could certainly run with them, and clearly the Suds had every opportunity to take the game… but the Shock would have something to say about it.

Here’s your early game roster.
Matt CEO/BMF in net.
D1: Dave Di, Kevin Parker
D2: Steve Baker, Jeff
O1: Capraro, Shah, and Slate
O2: Sharfman, Jasse, iJosh and KenMitch.

The game would be very even and there were good chances at both ends as the play got going. The Shock goaltender would have a terrific night turning away plenty of rubber… only to be matched by Matt in our end who again had a very solid performance in the pipes. No blood … or score after the first period. The Shock would take a penalty in the first but no luck on the PP.

The second would only be more of the same as the forwards would get plenty of chances, just none that found their way in, and the Gold played solid on D.

The game would go to the third… at this point with regular updates from the zeebras on the score of the Patriots game that was going on… and finally there would be some scoring.

About halfway through the third the Gold would have a breakdown int their own end and the Shock would jump on it and finally get one past Matty for a 1-0 lead. True to Beercan pride the Gold would knuckle up and get one right back. This one would be a textbook hard work goal that went from Steve Baker on the point, down to Nelson who would muck it out into a chance and Dr. Jasse would provide the finish to tie the game up 1-1.

Down the stretch we all came, Dave Di and Steve taking some chances, Kilroy making great stops, all kinds of good things happening for the Gold in a very tight game.

Then just under a minute the Shock would unleash their best defenseman… a number 43 who would go end to end, turn our D and bury one past Matt at the 40 second mark. Interesting that as I go back an look at the roster on the score sheet there is no number 43.. but what can you do? The Shock had taken it to us, and despite pulling Matt the Gold were unable to answer in the time remaining. The Shock would pot an empty netter at about 20/-15 seconds and that made it 3-1. The little bastards would throw another one at the net as time expired and it would go making it an unnecessary 4-1 and that was that.

A tough game for the Gold given how close and how many opportunities there were to be had. Once again a beatable team slips past us, just at the last minute.

The mood postgame was fairly somber and it didn’t help that Management was asking for players to double up as the roster was VERY thin for the nightcap against the Tigers, who you know were going to be ready for the playoffs.

The Cadavers would dress in Yellow, as we always do when playing El Tigre and despite the confusion of the scorekeeper and Zeebs, managed to field a full 13 for the game.
Here is your Zombie lineup.
Lizzy in Net
D1: Steve, Kevin
D2: Mark Reynolds, Jeff
Offense: Dr. Pounds, Howard, Roman and Matvey were joined by returning skaters, Jasse, Nelson, iJosh, Neil, and Chuck Slate

Major kudos have to go out to the guys that doubled up right off the bat. Thanks to everyone who was willing to brave the stiffness and soreness that was sure to come the next day from a double game skate

The Golden Zombies, despite fielding such a tired team played great against the Tigers. This game looked like a carbon copy of the first game through the whole first period. Great chances for the Gold, great goalie play by the opponents keeper, and good play on our own end. Lizzy made some great stops and the Gold got after everything the Tigers threw at us. Just before the end of the first the Tigers would finally get one and would go up 1-0.

The Gold would answer quickly, just like in the first game and it wasn’t many minutes into the second when Roman would take a feed from Mark Reynolds and shot one that was deflected, then went end over end in a perfect arc right into the net to the amazement of the Tigers and our bench. Just like Roman planned it.

The Tigers had taken a penalty in the first, and Chuck took one for the Zombies also. The second would see Reynolds go for a check but no blood on the power play.

Again a 1-1 game into the end of the third. Great chances all over the place. I’m sure the blogger is leaving out many interesting opportunities but given that he skated twice… just can’t recall them right now. Please comment if you know I’m leaving something out.

Down to the final minute we go. No goals but a very interesting call came with just 25 seconds left. On the far boards Steve would tangle with one of the big Tiger forwards and both would fall as the Tiger held his stick. The Zeebra would call STEVE and give the Tigers a power play for the final seconds of the game.

Thankfully the RedGold would kill the penalty, in regulation and into the overtime period, but got no significant boost form the kill. The Tigers would be able to hold it in our end as the time went below 2 minutes and then a shot from the point would receive a perfect deflection on its way and went in to seal the deal for the Tigers.

sigh.

Another just brutal game to lose, this time in Overtime against a team we could not only run with, but had every opportunity to beat. There were good portions of the game when we took the play right to them, but their keeper kept coming up with great stops.

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!

GoldenZombies take D-Minus.

Cadavers (14) vs D-Minus
Monday August 24
Quincy 7:10pm


8-1 Win


Another good night by the swamp for Team Zombie as the summer season begins to wind down. We have collectively had good luck with this new team, who has struggled through their first year in our division. The Tenured ‘daveurs will recall when we looked just like that team, for many years, just scratching for a tie or a win. We’ve been where they are now, many times for sure. They have a lot to like about them in the Blogger’s opinion. Excellent unis. First rate logo for said unis. Good turnout and thanks to their keeper a good effort against the skating Zombies. The Cads wore the Schlitz colors as the D-minus jerseys were red.

The roster for the Dead in Yellow looked like this. Captain Mark Reynolds wasted no time assigning the positions in the pregame room
D1: Mark, Steve Baker
D2: Jeff, Roman
O1: Larry, Jasse, and Neil
O2: Goody, Parker, Scott and Nelson showed late to make the “rotation”

The game would go pretty much as expected but thanks to the D Minus goalie it stayed very close for a very long time.The Red in Gold would get lots of chances and the Minus Keep would be more than up to the task turning all kinds of junk aside. The Zombies wouldn’t break through until just under 3 minutes left in the first when Neil would bury a pass from Mike Jasse for the first of the night. This was followed not more than minute later by a classic breakdown in our own end that would tie the game.

This particular play was one of a handful where Roman and Jeff tried to show textbook examples of how NOT to play Defense. Holding the puck too long (Roman), not passing cleanly out of the zone and turning it over (Jeff)..the result… a wraparound goal on Matt and exchanged angry stares between Jeff and Roman.

Larry and Jasse would prop up the Dead though just before the end of the first when Larry would score courtesy of a Jasse rebound and the Zombies would have the lead back, 2-1 after 1.

The second period would stay close and scoreless for nearly the duration. Both keepers played very well, and Matty continues to round into a very nice keep in his own right, showing genuine talent and cool in the appropriate situations.

The Zombies would take a penalty, Larry for a check, but the kill would be no problem. Then the Gold would knock hard on the Minus doorstep getting bunches of chances. Kevin Parker would finally answer the multiple calls from the bench to “lift it” and would score on a wobbly floater that would find its way home. Mike “Goody” Goodwin would help close out the period on a play from Roman and Nelson and would finish the play nicely for a cozy 4-1 lead after two.

Those last two goals took the wind out of the Minus, who had really played pretty well up to that point. Again the Tenured ‘daveurs will be familiar with the feeling that once it goes… it goes hard. That’s the way it went for the Minus as the Zombies would have their way for 4 goals in the third. Neil from Larry at about 8 minutes. Then Larry from Neil and Nelson at about 3 minutes. Nelson would get his own hard work goal (what else does he score?) from Neil and Jeff with 2 minutes left. Things were in full decline and slide at this point. Goody would wrap things up with his second, with a helper from Steve Baker just 30 seconds later.

At this point the Blogger needs to mention that the Zombies in Gold were clearly taking advantage of a wounded team at this point. Piling on came to mind, but there was really no malicious intent. Again, we’ve been there, we’ve had another squad feed on us like sharks with blood in the water when we were down, that’s just the way it goes. One exception however. Steve Baker has quite a shot… a cannon really… and Steve was clearly anxious to get on the board as he unleashed said cannon from about 10 feet away in the slot as time was winding down. That was probably unnecessary. In fact one of the Zeebs even mentioned to one of the Gold that if someone had done that to us up 8-1 there would have been a scene… and the Zeeb is right.

Just for future reference lets try to keep things on the “good sport” side of things. The D-Minus were a bunch of good guys that were trying hard and didn’t really need to have their noses rubbed in it too much. … in that vein… The Coon of Shame kicked open the locker room door during the post game. Steve had already left but the Coon went sniffing around for his bag, asking for him, dropping cigarette butts and hiccuping around the room… mumbling something about being called “George” for the rest of the season and something about ‘Where the bleep the Tuna guy went”… just a word to the wise… lets keep the old Coon at bay and play smart.

So that aside… lets give out some Stars and awards.

3^rd Star: Nelson “late to the show’ Sharfman. One goal and 2 helpers and all the hard work you can watch…

2^nd Star: Larry SW Bell for a pair of goals, and an assist

1^st Star: Another great night for Neil “R.O.Y.” Shah, with a nice round 2 goals, 2 assists. Great work.

Honorable Mention1: Goody for a pair of goals and a nice all around night.

Honorable Mention2: Roman Bleeping Kurin. That’s right. Roman played D all night, as Jeff’s partner no less, and had a helper. He not only survived the night with Jeff, despite glares and comments, and had an all around solid effort. This capped off with the fact that ROMAN BROUGHT BEER for the 4^th period. A very nice clutch of BL Limeys on ice. So nice for an early night by the Swamp. Thanks Roman, for the beer and for skating D with Jeff all night.

Cat chow again... Zombies fall to Tigers

Cadavers(13) vs Tigers
Monday August 17th
Dedham 9:00pm

2-1 loss

This one sounds like it was frustrating. A good matchup against a team we've had some really great games against this season, the Zombies let a one goal lead slide and and lost by one to the division rival cats.

Sounds like there was 12 Dead in Red on the scene with the CEO in the pipes.

The good news was the goal by Mike Campbell that put the Zombies on top. By all accounts it was a beauty with the assist from Matvey.

Here's Mike with a description of the goal:

"Campbell scored the sweetest goal of his life. Pass from Matvey, to me in the slot, skating backward so I could receive the pass on my forehand, and poked it right by him, stick side. Woooo."

The funny thing is this is almost exactly how the goal was described to the blogger by another player earlier in the day. Here is Pete Capraro with his own take on it:

"Campbell had a thing of beauty goal even with audio "ding" to it."

Nice.

That was the end of the good news.. other than the CEO but we'll get there in a second. Hammitt took the gate when his temper got the best of him (you're shocked... I know) and resulted in some shuffling among the players. The resulting let down saw 2 goals by the Tigers and not much hope for the Zombies to regain the momentum.

Here's Pete again on Hammitt's exit:

"Hammit was like a bull in the china shop on his final double penalty, hilarious to watch from a few feet behind him, guys dropping left and right."

...and Mike Campbell on the same:

"Hammit got thrown out, so we made him go buy beer. The no one drank it, so I took it home.
That was it."

The other player I spoke with said you could see the fuse shortening on Hammitt as he got more frustrated... he decided not to say anything... then never got the chance as Ham never came back from his next shift. There's no official ruling here... but the Coon shook himself got up... walked around the bag a few times and took a long hard hungry stare at Mike as he was leaving after the game... I'm just sayin'.... Mike, try to stay to the end of the game next time?

The only other good news here is that very quietly and workman like our friend and CEO and spiritual leader Matt Kilroy is turning into a very nice little goaltender. Here is another comment from Pete on Matt and other notables from the game:

"Many comments from the bench that big Matt is starting too look and act like a top level D league goalie.

Jasse had 2 stellar backhand passes, leading the defenders into the boards, then dishing behind himself onto the tape of another dead in Red.

Larry had too much caffeine before the game, blatantly trying to break some noses, impressive work though and fun to watch."

Thanks guys. No game stars. Tough one.

Lets get'im next time.

DONT FORGET!

TONIGHT IN QUINCY SCHLITZ VS BLUES 7:00PM!!!

Lets have a good night against these punks!

Zombies sink Blues midweek redemption!

Cadavers (12) vs Blues

Wednesday July 29th

Dedham 10:10pm

1-0 WIN

The Zombies went to Dedham Wednesday night in search of redemption against team Blue, who has had their way with us over the last few games, and came home with a rough and tumble, gritty 1-0 win that would be our first this season against the division rival. The good news came in over the 'daver network as several players would chip in the good news of the hard fought victory. To that end we will go right to the email reports and the Blogger wants to get his sincere thanks in early to all the Guest Bloggers that contributed to this space.

Lets start off with first responder Kevin K-9 Parker and his take on the night:

"1-0 win baby!

Solid two-way effort by the forwards and good defensive play. Brian had a great game, making some tough saves when there were breakdowns.

Forwards: Roman, Matvey, AK, Mitch, Nelson, Goody and Neil.

Defense: George, Greg, Kevin, and Campbell.

Neil got hosed on a phantom "which one of these red shirts is not like the other" calls that made for his 3rd penalty. Roman (I think) got the goal from me late in the 2nd. Best team effort we've had all season. Defense rushing the puck, forwards fore checking and getting back, goaltender stealing a few here and there. Egad, we looked like hockey players last night!

Oh yeah, chippiness. #3 is a tool and should be taken out back and beaten with a rotten salami. Cheap shots and dives all over the place and a very "un-captain like" performance that cost his team the game. He tried to draw a penalty on me when I bumped him on the puck instead of playing defense (which led to the goal). And late in the 3rd he gave Mitch a forearm shiver at the blue line that earned him the gate and pretty much sealed the deal for us as we were on the PP for the rest of the night.

Oh yeah, Greg clanged one off the post on an empty-net bid in the waning seconds. At least he can shoot it hard enough to make it clang...small victories.

~Kevin"

Nice! Thanks for the words Kevin. Great recap. Now here's Mike Campbell for another entertaining take on the night in Dedham:

"NO water bottles.
NO Pucks.
NO Beer.
And….

NO GOALS given up by Brian “Brickwall” Carey, who played out of his mind, making at least three spectacular, diving saves to lead us to a 1-0 win.

Tons of chaos…penalties galore. Uhm…except for yours truly, who stayed out of the Sin Bin surprisingly. Neil got tossed for three though, wrongly.

Roman got the one goal, on a shift after dallying and dallying and carrying the puck too long in the wrong direction, and not claiming the blue line, and not passing, the fucker goes ahead and gets the only goal.

We shut down the Autographer – kid in the red pants, and made their captain (#3) lose the show, so he got ejected. We played hard. Forechecked hard – after his second shift in a row of doing so, I had to compliment Roman on his effort. We kept at it all night and played one of the better games we’ve played as of late.

~Mike"

Very nice Mr. Campbell... and Management apologizes for the lack of water bottles and cringes with shame and regret that there was no cold beer to be had after such a victorious night.

We've got another report here from 'The Vet" Nelson Sharfman as well:

"Epic 1-0 victory.

Truly standout performance by Brian. Multiple ten bell saves including several of the "flopping" variety when he had to make the third or fourth save on a series of rebounds.

Clutch goal by Roman.

Strong team effort, especially on defense.

Neil got tossed in the second for accruing his third penalty. Happily we had a perfect 11 on hand.

The refs were definitely whistle happy, though curiously more on the Blues than on us. We had a stretch in the second where the Blues had four or five consecutive penalties which should have led to about ten minutes of 5 on 3 for the Cads. However the scoreboard operator/ref combo was sufficiently clueless-apathetic that they just let the penalty time expire on running time while various people discussed the calls and SLOWLY made their way to the penalty box. No power play goals were scored.

In a gross violation of the space-time continuum, with all the penalties that were called Mike Campbell was unable to log a single minute in the sin bin.
-- Nelson"

Phenomenal. Thanks Nelson. We've got one more guest blogger to go team, here is Mitch with a very nice recap of his own:

"Lots of penalties on both sides (at one point they had ~4 guys in the box) though we couldn't score on the brief 5-3. Neil got tossed for 3 penalties, though the 3rd one was a phantom that was a questionable call on someone else. Refs (as usual) didn't really want to discuss this. Matt probably SHOULD have been tossed with a minor and a double-minor, but neither the refs nor the scorekeeper seemed to notice this...

Roman had the only goal, certainly not his prettiest ever, but I had a clear view while ineffectively hovering in front of the net. I like to think I screened the goalie, but that may just be hindsight to feel better about my inability to score into an empty net as the seconds wound down in the 3rd.

Tough fought game on both sides and the difference was clearly goaltending. We easily could have been down 3-0 after 2, but Brian stood on his head and kept us in it.

My wrist is killing me from getting flattened late in the 3rd. No water bottles (scavenged some), no pucks (same), no beer (parking lot emptied pretty quick).
--Mitch

Brilliant. Thanks again for the words guys. Mitch, I know how you feel, #3 has left a "lasting impression" on me after a few of these games. All I can say is that we are not done with the Blues, not even close. There will be more games this season, certainly a playoff matchup and there will be more close hard fought games like this one.

Great work by all the Zombies from wednesday night.

Game Stars:

3rd Star: Mike Campbell. In a game with lots of penalties somehow Mr. Campbell stays out of the box. I dont know if this is a sure sign of the impending apocalypse or just some bizarre twist of coincidence... either way it needs to be recognised.

2nd Star: For a tough goal by Roman Kurin. Its always nice when our Radical Russian finds the net, even better when its a game winner. Good job Roman.

1st Star: Who else could it be? How about Brian "Brick Wall", "Solid Blue Line", "Long Arm of the Law" Carey with a stand on your head, clutch performance that brought home the shutout. Great work by all reports from Brian. Nice to have you back there.

Good job everyone. There will be a game next week and Hockey at the Beach posts maybe later today or Monday.

The Dead sing the blues... again.

Cadavers (10) vs Blues
Wednesday July 15
Quincy, 7:00pm


6-2 loss




Another whiz bang matchup with old rival The Blues. We have a long history of interesting games against these guys, we see ‘em every year, the games are close, and always eagerly contested, this week was no exception.
The Dead in Read managed to get everyone in the house but not on the ice for the opening whistle. Zombies arrived to the bench in the first few minutes.

The opening 5 of Campbell and Jeff on D, Howard, AK (angryKen) Douville, and Mitch held down the fort with support from Scott and Matvey. The Russian played D with Mike and Jeff and Dave Diloretto showed up and they skated as a pair as well.

The forwards were supported by Roman, iJosh and Nelson. This meant an 11 for players and unfortunately the early confusion was only a foreshadow of numeric difficulties we would have at the end of the game. CEO BMF and all around good guy Matt Kilroy backstopped the team looking good in his new/old Goalie stuff and in general looking and playing the part of starting goalie quite well of late. Need some more stickers for that helmet.

So not only did the Red “hold the fort” for the opening shifts, it was clear immediately that we were, as always well matched, even challenged, but very well matched and in a game. The boys went right after it and got some good chances and wouldn’t you know it, just over 2 minutes in Howard Heppelman would tuck home a rebound from Dr. Pounds and would put the Red up 1-0. Nice work from AK, Scott and Howard in the early going. Naturally this being a good matchup, the Blues would come back three minutes later with a nice goal from the Blue’s stud, red pants Robbins. He is apparently the son side of a father son thing les blues have going. He was clearly their standout and he did a good job all night shoving it down our throats. 1-1 after 1. No penalties. Really.

That would change in the second when MC would go on and inevitable collision on the boards and that would be the start of something. Red hung tough, Matt played great tying up the puck when necessary and getting in front of the shots. AK would go for a rough, that I think was a match with his wrestling partner from the slot.
Pretty quiet by the bench in the second intermission. It was clear we needed to outwork the Blues to win the last period. We couldn’t afford a meltdown with the Zebras. So you know whats coming, right? Do I need to say the words? Do I need to lay it all out in the cold light of the blog for all to see? … of course.
The Zombies proceed to open the period like this. Red Pants Robbins and the blues took the opening face off and charged into the zone. Turning Campbell then walking past Jeff he tucked the lead past Matt about a minute in. That would be followed 30 seconds later by AK’s second rough, for which he wanted an explanation and the Zebra wanted none of it. This would be followed after Mike’s time expired by another goal from the Blues. This one came as a tip off the shaft of the stick out front. 3-1 badguys. It would take the Blues another 3 minutes to get the next one, another walk in from Red pants. 4-1 and the meltdown was on.

Campbell would go again followed by AK taking his third and an ejection. The Red would have some trouble working the numbers out around the penalty times. We had trouble putting 5 guys out there on 2 occasions in the last 10 minutes. Seriously at this point we should be able to keep track... sigh.

Matvey and Nelson would hook up on the only shining moment of the period for the Dead nice hard work by both guys and Nelson would feed Matvey who would be right out front and bang it home. Of course Team Blu would answer about a minute later and then put one more up on us just to round of a 4 goal win 6-2 over the wheezing Dead.

Just pathetic.

The only saving grace was the BL Limeys in the parking lot courtesy of Mr.Diloretto and some very curious talk about Ben Franklin being the Father of the Orgy and Betsy Ross's tramp stamp American flag... with the 13 stars in a circle... Strange evening by the swamp. There was even a mention of Jordache jeans and Caldor... yes... Caldor. Anyway the Franklin stuff made me thing of this...

Everyone beat it by the time the mosquitos decended. Not a memorable evening. Except for the Ben Franklin stuff... Father of invention or penetration...?

Zombies gnawed by Tigers... again.

Cadavers (9) vs Tigers
Mon July 13 7:00pm
Milton Academy



2-1 Loss


An early night and a good matchup in Milton last night as Team Zombie faced off against division rival El Tigre. The Tiger has had the best of our little rivalry the last few seasons and this one has been no exception. Last week we dropped a heartbreaker 2-1 to these guys.

Roman, Matvey, Larry, Hammitt, George, Greg, Kevin, Chuck, Dave, Mark R, Ken G, Goody, Steve, and Lizzie in Net is about what I have for a roster.

Here is guestblogger Greg James with a quick recap:

"Lost a tough one. We had a strong team, but the tigers worked a little bit harder on the boards and in the corners. I think the final score was 2:1. Lizzy was solid despite still recovering from her surgery. Dave DiLorretto is the new Mike Campbell in terms of the box. Opponents just have to stop bumping into him and falling down..., and no beer in the parking lot after the game."

... and a comment from Rookie standout DaveDiLo:
"Well, we would have had more goals if Larry didn't enjoy admiring the very clear view of the puck's flight trajectory into the corner instead of to the net, but I digress...I had 2 penalties... 0 points Seriously, we had plent o' chances just didn't convert"

Sounds like another tough one for the Dead in Red. We have to get over on those guys... maybe the playoffs. Thanks for the words guys.
Thats all from here... no game stars.

Dead in Yellow down the Preds

Cadavers(8) vs Predators
Monday July 6th
Quincy 7:00 pm


8-3 Win!


Game one of a dava double headah was an early start in the City of Presidents. An early affair against a club that according to the crew we’ve played before… but the blogger will be darned if he can remember it. Regardless the Cadavers showed up and wore yellow so we played as the dead in yellow for no particular reason, hopefully we wont throw off the league office when the scoresheets come in.
The Cads in Yellow were well represented with a nice round 10 players. It broke down like this.
D1: Roman (yes that Roman) and Steve Baker
D2: Dave Diloretto and Jeff Fosdick
O1: Larry, Nelson, and iJosh
O2: Angry Ken, Mitch, and Dr.Pounds
Brian “Long Arm of the Law” Carey in the Pipes.

The game would really be decided in the first period and Larry would set the tone right off the oppening draw. Larry beat his man, turned the d and shot, Nelson and Josh kept it in and in less than a minute Nelson fed Larry who would bang it home for the 1-0 lead. Things were looking good. The Preds had a couple of good skaters but they were on one of the forward lines and it looked like they had at least three lines of players over there. The D was, well, not their best players and it looked good for the Red/Gold early. Of course the Yellow jerseys come with the usual attention from the zebras and we took a couple of penalties a few minutes after the first goal.
Baker would go for a trip (on their best player)
Jeff would go a minute later for a trip also. That left a breif 5-3 that the Gold killed off well. Of course the Green was gaining a bit of momentum, and when the penalties had expired they were able to break through with a goal that Brian didn’t have any help on.
Not to be outdone, Larry would take the faceoff and again turn the pylon defenders and plunk it home unassisted to put the good guys back on top. This would be followed within 2 minutes by a nice goal by iJosh, again from Nelson, and in the closing minute of the period Jeff would step up into the play in the neutral zone and went in on a breakaway that he finished by going 5 hole on the shakey keeper for a very nice 4-1 lead at the end of one period.

The second would see Nelson grabbing a goal from iJosh who was returning the favor, then Larry would complete his Hat Trick, again fed from Nelson, and Dave Di. Sporting a comfortable 6-1 lead the Dead in Gold got just a tiny bit complacent and the Green would land another one and held off the blow out to make it 6-2.

The third period would start off with Larry scoring his fourth goal of the game, this one from Jeff. There was more than a little banter about Larry being motivated by Jasse’s 4 goal night last week, and knowing Larry, it may not be too far from the truth. Whatever it was Larry was all over the ice last night. He had no fewer than 3 tremendous backchecks on their best player, to go along with all the scoring.
The Green would score another one, amazingly not on the power play as both Steve and Dave Di would go during the third for tripping. Steve would make up for it with a really nifty break away and wicked shot that capped the night off at 8-3.

Great effort all the way around. It didn’t show on the score sheet but it needs to be mentioned that the line of AK, Mitch and the Doc was very productive and came very close on more than a handful of opportunities. Also notable was the very solid Defensive play by Mr. Roman Kurin. Our Radical Russian deserves big kudos for not only volunteering for the position, but for good effort and solid play all night.

Game Stars
3rd Star: Hrm…hard to pick. I’m going with the Defensive corps. Roman for chipping in. Steve for a goal. Dave for a helper and really playing shut down all night, and Jeff for a goal and an assist.
2nd Star: Nelson “just doing my job” Sharfman. A quiet 4 point night for the cagey vet, with 3 assists and a goal. Its just something to watch the man work, shift after shift, season after season.

1st Star: Larry “anything you can do I can do better” Bell. a very nice game all the way around and 4 goals to really pad the stats. Larry was a force all night. Great work.

Check out the next post for the second game of the double header.

Just a quick note on last week's business. Everyone on both squads has been asking about Chris and he is doing much better. Everyone sends their best wishes and thoughts bro, we are all thinking about you.

Chris himself just checked in with an account of how his injury took place and I've added it to the game story from last week. Check it out, with gruesome visuals here.

Also here is a pic that iJosh grabbed of half the team in the penalty box. Shame it isn't clearer... it would make a nice banner for the blog from now on. Its pretty hard to win when 40% of the roster is in the box and busy yelling at the zeebs. Some of those calls were crap, to be sure, we just can't let our mouths blow the game for us...

wait that didn't sound right...

aw shut up Parker and stop looking at me like that...

....aahh just forget it.

Rocked Lobster!

Cadavers (7) vs Blues
Thursday July 2nd
BU 10:20pm


7-0 WIN!



The Blogger is glad to report 2 things. The first is that he is finally starting to catch up on his "side-job" as team blogger and again apologises for the backlog. The Second (which is even better) is that Uber Guest Blogger iJosh is on the ball with a terrific game story from the Lobsters game from last Thursday.

Here's iJosh with a recap of the action:

"Over the last year or so the Lobsters, with the exception of one hard fought tie, have had our number. So if I told you that one team would be outnumbered, out hustled, out defended and just out played, which team would you think I was talking of? Well SURPRISE!!! You probably
didn't guess correctly. Yes boys and girls this one was a one sided
game in our favor and it was a wire to wire team effort.

So the rainy Thursday night game started with a full squad of 12. The Dead in Yellow's (we are playing the Lobsters so the Cads would don the yellow jerseys this night) defensive group consisted of: Capt George, Stephen Baker, Dave Di and Kevin Parker. The offense would be set with:
Larry and Roman as centers with the wing pairs of: Jasse and iJosh; Ken Douville and Matvey; Dr. Pounds and KenMitch.

But this wasn't without a sour feeling as two days before fellow teammate Chris Fosdick was put on the DL after having surgery to repair a broken wrist from the previous game. He was in our thoughts and just before the game began some guy sauntered into the locker room and started a little speech. Some old guy. His name might have been Nat or Ned or maybe Knute. Anyway he said: "I just came from visiting Chris and he told me: 'sometime, when the team is up against it -- and the breaks usually beat the boys -- tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Chrisser. I don't know where I'll be then', he said, 'but I'll read the blog the next day - and I'll be happy'"

So motivation in hand, the first shift promptly set the tone. Off the face-off the puck would bounce around the neutral zone and back to the defense. The defense would send a pass to iJosh just beyond the red line, who hit a streaking Larry Bell. Larry took the puck deep, made the pass to Jasse, who got sort of caught on his own stick and started to lose his balance and control. But the Jasseman would keep himself in control just long enough to get off the shot before collapsing into a heap in the crease and sliding into the scrum. The puck would find its way into the net for a very quick 1-0 lead. Then the Lobsters would get the one and only penalty of the game, a "too many men on the ice"
penalty that is usually reserved for the fine players of Schlidaveurs.
Play would go back and forth a bit and the Cads seemed to be giving up the puck and not necessarily making the best of passes. But the defense and Brian would bail them out a bit. But a few shifts later, Jasse would strike again. This time he would net one from Roman and iJosh, who fell to the ice and found a way to send the puck to Roman without using his hands, giving the Zombies a 2-0 lead. Play would continue to be inconsistent, but at the end of the period the score would be 2-0 Yellow.

Second verse, just like the first...and I mean that in a good way. The Schli...er Cads continued to take it to the Lobsters. Playing with a 2-0 lead the Cads hoped not to give up the gritty play and or the momentum that so often eludes us. And they would not lose it as Larry would send a backhand to iJosh, who would send a back pass to Jasse, who would send the backhand back to Bell, who would backhand the black disc into the back of the net. 3-0 Cadavers. So two shifts or so later, the Jasseman would continue to play inspired hockey. This time Dave Di would rotate deep into the offensive zone. Jasse would cover the point. Dave would make an attempt and then would slide the puck back to the point where Jasse would wrist a BEEE-EAUTIFUL shot past the keeper short side. 4-0 Dead. Then Roman felt the need to get involved as he would put one in from Parker and Dave Di. That would close out the 2nd period and the Zombies would take a 5 goal pad into the 3rd.

The third would be a bit more defensive. The Lobsters, I am sure, did not want to lose to us. Especially not like this. They were a bit steamed. The were trying to claw back and made some hits. But the Cads would not give in and played level-headed hockey. In one shift I swear Matvey was going to retaliate after being knocked to the ice. Nope he didn't. Then I though Ken D would do something after taking a check.
Again nope. And so the Cads were able to continue their assault. This time Mr. Bell would take a pass from Roman and rush toward the net.
Over on the bench Jasse turned and declared, "He is going backhand". Lo and behold, Larry would go top side on his backhand to pretty much put this game away. But Jasse, already with the hat trick was getting addicted and needed his next hit, I mean goal. This time he would take a pass from iJosh and Larry as he put it away for his 4th of the game.
This would round out the scoring and as the horn sounded, we looked up and saw a 7-0 win.

This blog has been mostly about scoring, since there was so much of it.
However the defense from the goalie to the D-men to the entire team defense was just in tune almost all night. I'm not saying we didn't have breakdowns. We did. But there was always the one person to pick up the slack (thanks Brian mostly). There were also at least 5 pucks that hit the post. 2 or 3 from us. So this could have been a 7-2 or a 9-0 game depending on a centimeter here or there. All in all just a great game. The beer, provided by Larry and iJosh, tasted good especially after a win like this. But Jasse wouldn't know as he is on a 28 day program or so and is without beer. You make the assumption.

Stars for the Game:
3rd Star: Brian for his shutout and the Team Defense: There are just so many people to give stars to tonight. But without the overall effort of the team defensively, this could have gone the other way against a team like the Lobsters.

2nd Star: Larry Bell for a 2 goal, 2 assist night. He helped set the tone and made the right moves at the right time.

1st Star: You know him, you love him, you think he's in outpatient rehab, but it is really a workout regiment, Mike Jasse for his 4 goal, 1 assist night that was just awesome. "


Scoring:
1st Period:
Jasse (Larry, iJosh)
Jasse (Roman, iJosh)
2nd Period:
Larry (Jasse, iJosh)
Jasse (Dave Di, Roman)
Roman (Parker, Dave Di)
3rd Period:
Larry (Roman)
Jasse (iJosh, Larry)

That is just tremendous. The blogger offers a standing ovation to not only iJosh but Dr. Michael F*in Jasse for his breakout performance. Great work boys.

Cads edged by 'goats

Cadavers (6) vs Scapegoats
Thursday June 25th
Milton Academy 9:20


2-1 Loss



This is the only info I have on this one. Short and sweet from Captain Mark Reynolds and just a few words from power forward Chris Fosdick. Anyone with something to add is more than welcome to add it in the comments section or email me directly. Here's Mark:
"The Goats got the better of the Red last evening by a score of 2-1.

The Red played a tight game against an evenly matched opponent, but it just wasn’t enough. We definitely had our share of scoring chances and close calls.

BMF Kilroy between the pipes was outstanding and kept the game close. Kilroy faced a deluge of odd man rushes and played the angles perfectly. His glove hand was on fire.

Defense:
Campbell – Reynolds
George – Steve

Forwards:
iJosh – Kenny – Hammitt
Pete – Nelson – The Dr
Chris F – Goody – Parker

With all the “Lady Bing” candidates in this lineup, the penalties were surprisingly few. Both teams played a clean game.

Our lone goal originated with a Goat turnover in the neutral zone that we capitalized on. As George likes to say, “take away the opponent’s passing lanes”.

Ouch, no beers last night. Talk about painful.
Mark"
Thanks Cap. Let it be known that the only goal was scored by Captain Reynolds hisownbadself.
Here's Chris:
"We lost to the 'goats 2-1 last night. Kilroy did a very good job in net. Very close game, we just weren't sharp enough on offense. We looked like we hadn't played in 8 weeks...rusty.
C "

Ok. Thanks for the words guys. The blogger always appreciates.
Matty is certainly playing very well so far as a regular rotation keeper and I think that only means good things down the road.

Cads crushed by Cones

Cadavers (5) vs Streetcones

Sunday June 14th

Quincy 7:50pm

6-1 loss.

A tough night at the rink for the Dead in Red against a crew we haven't played often, and have certainly not had much luck against. The Cones had at least 2 full plus some and clearly have played together for a while. They are your typical High-D team with a few very good players and a bunch of grinders like us. Notabley the defense, especially the dude with the yellow helmet were excellent and proved to be more than a match for the Dead in Red.

The Dead had a good turn out but were short on regular defensemen again. Mike Hammitt and George manned one pair while Jeff and Kevin Parker (when he arrived) manned the other. Forwards included Chris, Nelson, iJosh, Ken, Neil Shah, Larry, Pete, Howard, ..... crap... I have to go find the game notes. Matt in Net.

Here is what it boiled down to. Matt played a great night in net. We were only losing 1 or 2-0 after the first, and only 3-0 after 2 periods. The Red played reasonably well but were clearly fighting an uphill battle against a good team. As soon as we made a few mistakes they jumped all over us and took advantage. The first one Jeff failed to clear and the guy just pounded it home from short range, the second was a wicked shot on a short breakaway... or something like that.
The good news is we did crack the Orange end and Nelson (who else) scored in the third to make it 4-1 at the time... I think.

As the game wore on, our old legs got the best of us and before the end it was 6-1 and looking pretty grim for the Cadavers. Only a few trips to the box and not much to speak of there. All around a dis-satisfying night at the rink.

Kudos to Mike Hammitt, and I think Neil for beer after the game. Good night of summer hockey...even CEO Kilroy found out what all the hype over BL Lime was....

Any and all comments welcome... sorry about the late post.

Zombies and Jacks Grind it up.

Cadavers (4) vs Inglewood Jacks
Monday June 8th
Canton 9:20pm


1-0 Loss



Some of the new look 'daveurs gathered last night in Canton to take on occasional rival the Inglewood Jacks. The Jacks have had the better of us the last few times we've played them and frankly they are the type of team that usually gives us trouble. The majority of the roster is average guys like most of us, but they clearly have a few gems. They have two guys with Harvard shirts one better than the other, both rock solid. This complemented by a "you know the type" no shield dude with the home made number on a filthy old generic white shirt. Number 17, red seven , black one. He would make a few nice moves, but didn't ever take over the game thanks to the hard working Dead in Red. Speaking of... There were some late arrivals as per usual now that the summer Southeast Expressway Paving is in full swing... but this is what we looked like.
Brian Carey in the pipes
D1: Steve Baker, and Kevin Parker
D2: The Fosdick Brothers
O1: Larry, Neil, and Chuck
O2: Roman, Matvey, and Hammitt, who filled in on D for the whole 1st period.
O3: iJosh, Ken/Mitch, and Mike (Goody) Goodwin

Big props to Hammitt for legging it out on D for the whole first period. Once again we seemed to be a little bit short on regular D skaters for this one. Hamm did a good job and held the fort ably until Kevin Parker showed up. Kudos also to Chris "I'd rather be playing wing" Fosdick for sucking it up and playing very solid defense all night long. Parker also turned in a number of good shifts in his time working with Steve "gotta pick up a cage" Baker who has been yet another plus added to the combined 'daveur roster this season.
This was all backstopped by Brian "Government Bailout" Carey who was doing his best to bail us out all night whenever he was tested. Another very solid night overall for Brian. Don't look now but all three goalies have played very well here in the early going... its a shame we dont have a win or two more to show for it.
The game was tight. There were some solid chances on both sides, and both keepers seemed to jump right into form as the game heated up. So aside from a hand full of chances and stops there wasn't much more to report from the first. Except for a costly breakdown by the Red with 2 and half minutes left. Jeff would pinch on the left and miss badly on trying to intercept the outlet. That left brother Chris with a 2-1 and not much help. He left the shooter but the shot was wicked and beat Brian up high and put the Jacks up by 1. By the time the last shifts were taken in the opening frame, iJosh, Mitch and Parker had joined the fray and we settled into the three full configuration. Down 1-0 after the first.
The second was just a flat out grind. Good chances. Hard work. Zombie pride saw the red slowly work the momentum of the game to their favor as everyone did a good job of keeping the legs moving and the shifts short. Its the blogger's opinion that if we keep playing like this the results will come... we kept expecting them last night... we just couldn't grasp them.
There were a few more breakdowns but none as costly as the one in the first. There was a sketchy outlet from Brian to Jeff that nearly resulted in a goal, if not for a "superman" move by B-Care to save us and himself.
The Red had a few really good chances in the Second and the momentum was clearly on our side by the end of the period, just no goals to show for it. Neil just missed on a very nice tip play. There was another quality set up or two and nice cycles from the forwards but time and again the Jack's goalie stood up to the task. As time expired in the Second Larry would go for an elbow along the boards, called by our longtime friend and colleague... Butterball.
The Red were up to the task of the PK and proceeded to kill it off in the early going. Some of the momentum was gone. More of it went when ol' Butterball struck again this time at 11:36 remaining and a questionable interference on Chuck Slate. Again the Red performed ably on the Penalty kill and again emerged unscathed. The trouble was we never really got going again.
Typifying this was a baffling sequence where Rookie Phenom Neil Shah briefly morphed into Roman and danced along the blue line just long enough to keep the play alive and put all of his line mates offside. Luckily this transformation seemed temporary... we already have one Roman... We just couldn't seem to put it together.
The Zombies ground it out, got more chances than the Jacks for sure in the last 5 minutes, even pulled Brian with about a minute to go... to no avail. 1-0 loss in a game that many of us thought we should have for sure. Tough one, but a good skate. Great effort by all Zombies last night. Thanks for coming out.
No Game Stars.
But... there are 4th period beer credits Parker, Hammitt, and the Blogger hisownself.
Another enjoyable evening in the Canton lot.

This week's nostalgia prize goes to Chris Fosdick for mentioning the old Combat Zone, in particular that great piece of American culture the neon sign from the Naked I ... which, if you are old enough to remember had the eye placed just perfectly... cant be seen in the photo here... but i couldn't find a good shot of it.










Ok. Check for roster updates tomorrow for the game thursday night.
Edited to add....
Forgot to mention the empty netter that was missed completely in the third period on the first occasion that we had the Jack's keeper really dead down and out.
Also a funny scene from before the game...

Hammitt is chatting up the two Zeebs that had just come off duty from the previous game. One of them is telling the other about this game last week and how this guy, a big guy, reaches out and just labels this dude to the boards and he says "Nice hit... but you can't do that"... then Hammitt realises that the guy was talking about him. Pretty funny once they recognised each other.