UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

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Lallier SHUTS down Bruins 1-0 for 3rd straight LEAFWIN! LEAF WIN!

Can you believe the turnaround for the Leafs? THREE IN A ROW to leapfrog the Bruins into 5th place in the Battle of the Basement! It is nothing short of amazing, and credit is due to Leaf captain Sean Casavant for making some tough decisions to improve his team. Dave Fitts has sparked the offense, Colin Vernon has taken control of the blueline, and veteran goaltender Ken Lallier continues to defy Father Time by posting a 1-0 goalie's duel SHUTOUT in his mid-40's. Lallier was un-fucking-believable in this contest. He was in the zone, controlled rebounds, stuffed chances, and even had help from a goalie's best friend, the posts and crossbar. Not to belittle Bruins goaltender and captain/GM Greg "Twisted Steel" Hadley's performance at the other end, but Lallier stole the show (well, except for the festivities Fred "Rage" Redden put on - more on that later). Hadley, sick with a cold/flu and struggling to feel better for more than two weeks, could do nothing but feel extra proud of his own superhuman effort at the other end in a 1-0 loss. Hads did all he could do to keep his team in it and give them a chance to win, and man-oh-man did they have chances! Multiple power play opportunities galore were there for the Bruins, but Lallier was there to turn them into nada.

In the first the scoresheet started with Bruins F Tony DeFelice in the box at 9:25 for hooking, but the Leaf PP was negated by their captain who was guilty of holding at 8:47, but the Bruins could not score during the remaining 1:22 on their gift PP. Dave "Boots" Bouthillier went to the Leaf box at 5:29 for slashing, and then the B's had a 5-on-3 for 1:16 after Brian Racicot took a holding penalty at 4:45. Lallier stood up to the challenge and sent the Bruins back to their bench shaking their heads showing he was ready to play from the first drop of the puck. Hadley turned away all Leaf chances until Chris Gogan scored an unassisted goal with only 5 seconds left in the first to put the Leafs up 1-0. No worries, mate! Lots of game left to play, eh? Didn't matter, because that was the only goal of the game.

In the second, there were more chances at both ends, and the goalies were equal to the task. Amy LeClair decided to beat up on the boys and took a hooking call at 7:01, but the B's PP was inept and they squandered it with a Too Many Men blooper at 5:39 that sent Rawley Massoth to the box, and THEN Derek DeYoung took a hooking call at 4:33 to give the Leafs a 5-on-3 that Hadley's men killed off with his help. Late in the period Joe Hayes went to the Leaf sin bin for holding at 0:16.

The third period started with a B's PP for 1:44, but Lallier kept the door shut. The "play of the game" happened at 10:05 when super-intense Leaf winger Fred Redden accidentally took out a Bruins player from behind, that he did not see (apparently), and appropriately got called for roughing. Actually, it could have easily been interference or bodychecking, take your pick. This author and 3 other Nords saw the whole thing, and none of us argued with the call. Unseen or not, a Bruins player was taken down by Redden and the penalty was deserved. However, Redden didn't see it that way and voiced his opinion. He was understandably upset because he also went down on the play, and ended up with a cut at the base of his helmet where he was unprotected, and got the penalty. I'd bitch, too, but honestly it was the right call. Well, the opining got louder, more intense, and it added an unsportsmanlike to the roughing minor and became a 4 minute PP for the Bruins. Redden continued his commentary, and then decided he wasn't going to serve the bullshit penalty and actually left the penalty box for which he received a game misconduct. The expletives abounded, and it was awesome, a sight to behold, music to the ears, stimulation for all a hockey fans senses. Redden was on his way to the locker room and then came back to the bench to let the refs have it just one more time (not a good idea), and then the game misconduct for next week was doled out to the furious Ragin' Redden. Freddie then marched back to the corner to let the Commish have it, showed him (me) the blood on the back of his head (sorry, eh, I do see your point on that one, Fred - shoulda been matching minors for the blood, accidental or not), and then started into a littany about how much bullshit it was, and that he pays too much good money to play in this (choose your expletive) league, and so on, and so on. It was a rant worthy of the Hall of Fame, right up there with the infamous "Have another donut". Unfortunately for Redden, all 4 Nords standing around bearing witness to the special occasion, including the Nord getting a new one ripped, saw the penalty the same way - deserved, but too bad he inadvertently got cut during the scrum - and that he lost it and it was unfortunate it escalated into a night off both this night and next Tuesday. One ref put it this way after the game: Redden turned a routine stop in Woodstock for a headlight out, and thanks for letting me know officer, I had no idea, into 30 days in jail for not keeping his mouth shut or emotions in check. Hmmm, sounds about right. It could have ended at a double minor, but it escalated to a night home with Monica and the kids next week (not that that is equivalent to 30 days in jail, mind you - charming family, really, Canadian, too).

Well, the Leafs somehow killed off the 4 minute disadvantage and held off the Bruins for the rest of the period, and squandered a PP of their own while the B's Marrazzo was sent to the box during the B's man-advantage for holding at 7:28 negating the final 1:23 of the PP for a Leaf advantage for 37 seconds. And that ended it, LEAFS WIN! LEAFS WIN! LEAFS WIN!

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
WHL	00:00	Goal	gogan, chris(1)	Assist(s): none
GMB	00:00	Penalty	DeFelice, Tony(1)	2 minutes for Hooking
WHL	00:00	Penalty	Casavant, Sean(1)	2 minutes for Holding
WHL	00:00	Penalty	Bouthillier, David(1)	2 minutes for Slashing
WHL	00:00	Penalty	Racicot, Brian(1)	2 minutes for Holding
WHL	00:00	Penalty	LeClaire, Amy(1)	2 minutes for Hooking
GMB	00:00	Penalty	Massoth, Rawley(1)	2 minutes for Too Many Men
GMB	00:00	Penalty	DeYoung, Derek(1)	2 minutes for Hooking
WHL	00:00	Penalty	Hayes, Joe(1)	2 minutes for Holding
WHL	00:00	Penalty	Redden, Fred(1)	2 minutes for Roughing
WHL	00:00	Penalty	Redden, Fred(1)	2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike
WHL	00:00	Penalty	Redden, Fred(1)	2 minutes for Misconduct
WHL	00:00	Penalty	Redden, Fred(1)	10 minutes for Game Misconduct
GMB	00:00	Penalty	Marrazzo, Matt(1)	2 minutes for Holding

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