UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Gamblers Look to Rout Dead River Again.

ODDS:	Gamblers By 6 Goals
OVER/UNDER:	11 goals

Five weeks ago, Dead River walked out of Union Arena with their heads down after a 12-1 thumping from the top ranked Gamblers. This week Dead River looks for redemption, to prove to both the league and themselves that they aren't that bad.

The Gamblers, after a 4-3 week one loss to Tuck, have been perfect with 6 straight wins. Dead River sits in 4th place in the league with a 2-4-1 record, but their only two wins are over the winless Whalers.

Dead River is not the same team they were 5 weeks ago, but they still aren't playing to their potential. They have put too much focus on offense, leaving their goaltender & defense out to dry, which is why you have seen Greg "First Period" Feiden's GAA balloon to 6.29 this season.

The Gamblers have two solid lines and four solid defensemen sitting in front of their superstar goaltender, Jered "The Condor" Condon. Condon who missed most of last season with a knee injury looks as if he hasn't missed a day.

The MMA line, has been motoring, combining for 57 points over the first 7 games of the season. Willy "Weeble" Meyer leads the league with 14 goals in 7 games while linemate Matty "The Milkmaid" Marrazzo leads all skaters with 13 assists in 6 games.

Dead River's Ricky "Golden Girls" Golden is on par with Meyer, scoring 10 goals in only 5 games, and scoring 40% of his team's goals, but the rest of DR's offense has been anemic, scoring only 25 goals in 7 games this season.

This should be another cake walk the Gamblers. Dead River is better, but they still don't seem to understand how to play against a potent offense. If Dead River can focus on shutting down the top line of Meyer, Marrazzo & Ammel, they can keep it close. Ultimately, the youth & legs of the Gamblers will open this game up in the 3rd period. If Dead River has all of their pieces: Pattison, Warrington, Golden, etc....that will help.

Gamblers should win this one, how easily depends on the roster of Dead River. This should be a 9-3, or 10-4 win for the 'Blers.

Gamblers Run Through Dead River, 8-2

Topo LaCroix made his name known tonight, and not for being the the best looking dwarf in the Upper Valley, but for some seriously potent offense. LaCroix single-handedly opened up this game with points on all three of the Gamblers first three goals en route to a 4 point night in the Gamblers 8-2 win.

Also having big nights for the Gamblers were Willy "Weeble" Meyer (1g, 3a), Dan "The Danimal" Ammel(1g, 2a), Evan "Almighty" Seely(1g, 2a). Defenseman Marc "The Narc" Gattie(1g, 1a) & Jason "Slap Shot" Young(2a) also were major contributors while the Gambler's Jered "The Condor" Condon lowered his league leading GAA by allowing only 2 goals on 27 shots.

Despite the blowout 8-2 score, Dead River played the Gamblers tough for the first half of this game before the wheels completely came off. In fact, Dead River limited the G-Men to only one goal through the first 19:22 of play.

Dead River's Greg "Clothes Line" Feiden was left out to dry again tonight, as his team's short bench and lack of natural defensemen have consistently kept Feiden off his game and on perpetual suicide watch. Feiden was busy as usual, being peppered with 54 shots in tonights game.

LaCroix got things started with 5:26 elapsed from the clock after controlling the puck along the near boards and playing catch with defenseman Jason "Slap Shot" Young. LaCroix curled away from two Dead River defenders down low and headed to the near point before cutting across the tops of the circles and hitting Marc "The Narc" Gattie who was camped out in front of the net for a nice tip in goal past Feiden.

The Gamblers had to kill off a late Holding penalty to Mike "Hugs" Harrington to keep the lead, and Willy Meyer took his 5th career penalty in 112 career games when Evan "Dirty" Duggan got under his skin late in the first period and the referee took both Duggan & Meyer to the box for roughing.

END OF THE FIRST: Gamblers 1, Dead River ZILCH

Feiden was especially excellent to start the 2nd period, and did all he could to keep his team in this game, but LaCroix was the difference as he made an excellent pass to Evan "Almighty" Seely breaking down the near boards. Seely fired a quick shot on net that Feiden couldn't control, leaving a juicy rebound in the slot for Allison "The Hook" Malcolm to jam home for the 2-0 lead. LaCroix scored the 3rd goal at 7:16 from Seely & Young. Marrazzo got his 9th goal in 7 games from line-mates Meyer & Ammel.

Shortly after Marrazzo's penalty, Duggan was at it again, winding up the Gamblers by going after their best player. Nothing quite illegal, but definitely lacking class. Duggan's actions prompted "The Danimal" to the aid of Meyer with a quick shove and slash to the back of Duggan's neck, drawing the late 2nd period penalty.

END OF THE SECOND: Gamblers 4, Dead River ZILCH

At this point in the game, Dead River was having difficulty moving the puck out of their own zone. The Gamblers were just picking up speed, and the short benched Dead River squad, who had two subs (Ryan McGovern & Jay Zanleoni), weren't quite used to Dead River's "systems." Feiden looked as if he had given up hope and the MMA line of Marrazzo, Meyer & Ammel were at their best. Meyer & Marrazzo both scored early in the third period to put the G-Men up 6-0. Meyer's goal was his league leading 15th of the season, putting him on pace for a UVHL record 43 goals in 23 games.

Dead River finally broke through on Condon with 8:53 to play when Bobby Rosati sliced intercepted a bad breakout pass at the blue line, toe-dragged and juked past two Gamblers before beating Condon with a quick shot, ending the shutout bid.

Just over a minute after Rosati's goal, LaCroix added his 3rd assist & 4th point of the night with a first assist on Seely's 8th goal of the year, with Malcolm getting the second helper. "The Danimal" made it 8-1 with his 9th of the season only 21 seconds later from Meyer, driving the nail in the coffin.

The game continued, but looked as though the Gamblers pulled back on the reigns a bit. Dead River got a late goal with only 10 seconds to play as Zanleoni, Cashman & Pattison mucked it up behind the net. "Mean" Dean Cashman hit Robbie "Patty Cakes" Pattison as he curled out from behind the net for a quick snapshot for the goal.

END OF REGULATION: Gamblers 8, Dead River 2

Willy Meyer took over the scoring lead with his 4 points tonight, but the best player on the ice was Topo LaCroix who contributed early to get the Gamblers going. Feiden will need to be committed soon, and Condon will need a special head unit to keep the swelling down, seeing that both his individual play and stellar defense are making him look like an NHL caliber goaltender.

Dead River is a hurting unit, they need a quick kick in the ass. They have the tools, but are too often shorthanded and too offensive minded to keep up with the Gamblers, Tucks & Nordiques of the league.

The Gamblers are disgustingly good. They have 2 deadly lines, solid defense and a top notch goaltender.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
GMB	09:34	Goal	Gattie, Marc(2)	Assist(s): LaCroix, Topo(4) Young, Jason(3)
GMB	03:28	Penalty	Harrington, Mike(4)	2 minutes for Holding
GMB	00:39	Penalty	Meyer, Will(1)	2 minutes for Roughing
LAB	00:39	Penalty	Duggan, Evan(6)	2 minutes for Roughing
2nd PERIOD
GMB	10:38	Goal	Malcolm, Allison(2)	Assist(s): Seely, Evan(5) LaCroix, Topo(5)
GMB	07:16	Goal	LaCroix, Topo(6)	Assist(s): Seely, Evan(6) Young, Jason(4)
GMB	04:23	Goal	Marrazzo, Matt(8)	Assist(s): Meyer, Will(8) Ammel, Robert(9)
GMB	03:39	Penalty	Ammel, Robert(3)	2 minutes for High Sticking
3rd PERIOD
GMB	13:57	Goal	Meyer, Will(15)	Assist(s): Gattie, Marc(9)
GMB	13:23	Penalty	LaCroix, Topo(1)	2 minutes for Tripping
GMB	11:00	Goal	Marrazzo, Matt(9)	Assist(s): Meyer, Will(9) Ammel, Robert(10)
LAB	08:53	Goal	Rosati, Robert(1)	Assist(s): none
GMB	07:45	Goal	Seely, Evan(8)	Assist(s): LaCroix, Topo(6) Malcolm, Allison(3)
GMB	07:24	Goal	Ammel, Robert(9)	Assist(s): Meyer, Will(10)
LAB	00:10	Goal	Pattison, Rob(4)	Assist(s): Cashman, Dean(8) Zanleoni, Jay(7)

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