UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Quarterfinal Action: Dead River @ Tuck

ODDS:	Tuck by 4 goals
OVER/UNDER:	10 goals

The third seeded Tuckeroonies take on the last place Dead River Rats. DR finished the season on a 1-10-0 tear, and getting their only win on a Tuck forfeit because they were on spring break. Tuck essentially handed over 2nd place & a first round bye by forfeiting 3 games this season.

This should be a cake walk for Tuck, but you never know what you are going to get with Dead River, so Tuck needs to play this one tough, get out to a quick lead and sit back and enjoy the night.

If Dead River has any hopes of advancing, they need to protect their own zone. Their goaltending has been dreadful this season, worst in the league, as they gave up a ridiculous 5.78 goals per game, and that is including two 1-0 shutout forfeits from Tuck. In that time they have also managed to score a league low 65 goals.

If Robbie "Big Boy" Pattison turns up the intensity, he can dominate a game and easily pop in 4 or 5 goals, but his defense needs to do their job and shut down Tuck's powerhouse offense. Greg "The Egg" Hadley needs to stay on his feet, make some saves and reduce the number of rebounds he gives out if he wants to be successful.

Tuck boasts the best defensive corp in the UVHL this season with Ryan "The Mayor" McGovern, Andrew "Hellboy" Helming, Ryuchi "The Gooch" Kikuchi, Jordan "Barry" Barnett & Colin "Campbell" Carihill. Their breakout is perfection & they jump up into the offense better than anyone.

Tuck should have a full roster and see the return of their dynamic top line with Halsey Coughlin, Derek Nowak & Simon "The Bum Looker" McKay tearing apart the offensive zone.

I'd love to see this be a competitive game, but Dead River hasn't had it all season....Tuck wins 7-3.

Tuck advances to Semis with Shootout win over DR

This was one hell of a hockey game. Tuck was coming off a tough weekend where they played 5 games in 3 days to win the Harvard Business School tournament, congratulations. The results of their long weekend took a toll on their legs which you could tell from the initial puck drop.

"What an abortion of a game! Ugliest effort by a Tuck team in 3 years, but a win's a win" said veteran Tuckie defenseman Ryan "The Mayor" McGovern. Tuck did look tired, but Dead River played their best game of the season.

A desperate team can be a dangerous team, and tonight, Dead River was as dangerous as can be. They had been searching all season for some sort of consistency at all positions. Greg "The Gimp" Hadley broke his mold as a sub-par goaltender and turned away 37 shots in the shootout loss. Hadley was spectacular, shutting down Tuck on 6 of 7 power plays and stopping 3 of 4 shootout attempts.

"Hadley looked like a man possessed, he must have had a young broad in the stands he was trying to impress. Or a young boy." Said a low level scout from the Philippines. Hadley was bested by Tuck's Danny "Dimebag" Yacey who turned away 29 shots and all 4 shootout attempts.

Both teams seemed shocked by the addition of the two new refs brought in for a Fox News Quality Game...."Fair & Balanced." What they weren't prepared for was the tight calls from the experienced whistle blowers compared to the player refs from the regular season. Dead River's chippy play landed them on the PK 7 times with Tommy "Stick 'Em" Scull taking 6 minutes & Ricky Golden "Showers" adding another 4 minutes to his resume. "I just don't get how you are supposed to play hockey if you can't hit someone, give them a good hook or break their arm with a good slash?" Said Scull.

Dead River's Rob "Big Boy" Pattison was on fire, scoring all 3 goals for DR. The first was a shorthanded goal early in the 2nd period and 2 in the 3rd period, one of which was a partial breakaway where a Tuck Defender caught him at the hashmarks and laid some lumber on him. Pattison muscled through the slash and beat Yacey 5-hole for the 3-2 lead.

The Tuckies tied the game at 3:15 of the 2nd period on a goal by Simon "The Bum Looker" McKay from Jimmy "Mayes" Hays and Andrew "Hellboy" Helming.

Jordy Barnett gave Tuck a 2-1 lead early in the 3rd period from Steve "They Killed" Kenning. Pattison followed with his 2nd & 3rd goals in a 2 minute span and looked as though they were poised for the huge upset of Tuck.

Dead River was in control, but it looked like they were sitting back trying to hold on to the win when Hays tied the game with 3:58 to play after burying a rebound from a Ryan McGovern point shot. Neither team could muster anything in the last 3 minutes, sending the game to Overtime.

Dead River had the better chances in the extra frame, outshooting Tuck 6-5. Both goaltenders came up huge when they needed to and OT led to a shootout.

The first 7 shooters couldn't break the ice until Jimmy Hays ended the game with a quick move across the crease and a quick shot under the blocker of Hadley who was coming across the net fast. Hays has been clutch for the Tuckeroonies this year leading his team in goals & points this season.

Great game, tough loss for Hadley who was at his best. The better team did win, at least if you look at the rosters & records. Tuck takes on the second seeded Nordiques next week in the Semi-Finals while Dead River will batt the Whalers for 5th place.


MCDERMOTT'S TAKE: AWESOME GAME! Best UVHL game ever by Hadley in net, and a great game by the Dead River Oilers to bring a semi-final berth almost within reach only to have the game tied by Tuck in the last 3-4 minutes. Pattison had a hat Trick for DR and was NASTY. No scoring on a 5 minute sudden death OT, and then the 4th shooter for Tuck (Hay) scores the only shootout goal to advance Tuck to the semi-finals. GREAT GAME!

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
TCK	06:56	Penalty	Coughlin, Halsey(7)	2 minutes for Holding
LAB	06:56	Penalty	Duggan, Evan(13)	2 minutes for Cross Checking
LAB	02:34	Penalty	Scull, Tom(12)	2 minutes for Holding
2nd PERIOD
LAB	13:36	Penalty	Golden, Richard(9)	2 minutes for Hooking
LAB	12:34	Penalty	Scull, Tom(13)	2 minutes for Interference
LAB	11:43	Goal	Pattison, Rob(14)	Assist(s): none
TCK	07:14	Penalty	Coughlin, Halsey(8)	2 minutes for Checking
LAB	05:05	Penalty	Golden, Richard(10)	2 minutes for Holding
TCK	03:15	Goal	McKay, Simon(8)	Assist(s): Hay, James(14) Helming, Andrew(16)
TCK	02:22	Penalty	Carrihill, Colin(4)	2 minutes for Hooking
3rd PERIOD
TCK	12:50	Goal	Barnett, Jordan(3)	Assist(s): Kenning, Steve(2) Yacey, Daniel(1)
LAB	10:54	Goal	Pattison, Rob(15)	Assist(s): Golden, Richard(5)
LAB	09:03	Goal	Pattison, Rob(16)	Assist(s): Cashman, Dean(8)
LAB	06:45	Penalty	Scull, Tom(14)	2 minutes for Holding the Stick
TCK	03:58	Goal	Hay, James(21)	Assist(s): McGovern, Ryan(17)
LAB	00:32	Penalty	Cashman, Dean(4)	2 minutes for Holding the Stick
SHOOTOUT
LAB	1	Duggan, Evan		SAVE BY Daniel Yacey
TCK	2	Helming, Andrew		SAVE BY Gregory Hadley
LAB	3	Pattison, Rob		SAVE BY Daniel Yacey
TCK	4	Coughlin, Halsey		SAVE BY Gregory Hadley
LAB	5	Golden, Richard		SAVE BY Daniel Yacey
TCK	6	Nowak, Derek		SAVE BY Gregory Hadley
LAB	7	Hughes, Rick		SAVE BY Daniel Yacey
TCK	8	Hay, James		GOAL Scored on Gregory Hadley

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Game Comments:
stevekenning Hanover, NH Registered: Posts: 15	Assist Apr 1st, 2010 08:58 PM Are you %$^*ing kidding? I get my first career assist and I have to suffer the indignity of seeing that Yacey got the second? Brutal, the kid has completely ruined my year. YACEY!!!