UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Whalers Start Gaudet-less Era Against Nordiques

ODDS:	Nords By 1
OVER/UNDER:	9 Goals

The Whalers will be playing their first game without "Jumbo" Joe Gaudet in nearly 3 years. Gaudet's offense will be surely missed but the real story is that the Nordiques still took 4 of 5 games last year and have a choke-hold on the Whalers by winning 34 of 49 in the all-time series.

The Nordiques are coming off of an epic collapse where they were ousted from the playoffs in the first round by the 1-21-0 Dead River squad. It was devastating, horrible, embarrassing and epically awful. The Whalers had a sub-par season going 8-12-2 last season, but were always a threat as they scored 124 goals last season, second only to the Gamblers 134.

The Whalers are backstopped by the local legend Kenny "5-Hole" Lallier. The old man has given the Nordiques fits in the past. The Nordique's own John "Temper Tantrum" Turner has had fits on the ice in the past.

On paper, the Nordiques should take this one by 3 goals, but since this is week one Vegas has it as a 1 goal game, Nordiques win it 5-4.

Nordiques Double Up Whalers 6-3

Week one of the 2013-2014 season provided a classic matchup with rivalry written all over it. The Nordiques hosted the Whalers for their 50th meeting in the past 10 years. The Nordiques hold a stranglehold on the all-time series with 34 wins and 15 losses to the Whale, but you never know what you're going to get each season.

The Whalers showed up with a short bench, only 8 skaters to start and added 2 players by the end of the first period. The Nordiques rolled 3 lines and 4 defensemen, and once they took the lead, they didn't look back.

Despite the 6-3 win, the Whalers jumped out 1-0 on the first shift after a Nordique's defensemen(Kelly "The Mouth" Park) made a poor decision to pinch on the crafty veteran Gary "The Pearl Necklace" Laperle. Laperle fed Dillon "Fierce" Pierce heading into the Nordique's zone and beat the Johnny "Temper Tantrum" Turner with a high snapper off the post and in.

The Nordiques scored the next 4 goals in this game, behind goals from Eric "Special K" Krivitzky, Jordan "McBreakaway" McGee, Ian "Jacket" Coates and Brian "The Beard" Racicot. Krivitzky took a nice pass from Greg "The Butcher of Guelf" Marsh and beat Lallier up high. Pierce "May Day" Mayhew took a faceoff with 3:30 to play to the right of Lallier and fed McGee going to the net for a 2-1 lead. Coates blasted one by Lallier from the hashmarks with a golf-swing type slapper and Park set up Racicot in the high slot for a shot under Lallier's arm for a 4-1 lead just over 2 minutes into the 2nd period.

Shawn "More Cushion for the pushin'" McDermot had the pass of the night as he tried making a cross-iced pass from deep in his own corner. That pass went RIGHT ON THE STICK OF Jay "The Zamboni" Zanleoni in the slot. Zanleoni then took two strides and let a full blown slapper go from the top of the crease, off the post and past Turner. I've never seen anyone take a full-blown slapper from that point, Turner should have charged out ant Timmy Thomas'd Zanleoni before he got the shot off...or after for that matter.

Roger "The Rocket" Phillips extended the Nordique's lead back to 3 goals from Krivitzky before Mayhew received a pass from his BFF, Jordy McGee with 2:36 to play in the second, and put the Nordiques up by 4 goals.

The Nordiques had a mental collapse late in the period as a couple of easy opportunities to clear the puck led to Jay Zanleoni stealing a puck and feeding Scotty "Sugar" Shaw for a goal with just one second left in the period.

The third period was a wash, with no goals and just one penalty as Stuart "Little" Grande got thrown in the box for body checking "Sugar" Shaw with 5:41 left in the period. The Nordiques survived the penalty kill, but the Whalers continued to press for the remainder of the game.

In the end, the Nordiques only put up 22 shots in their win, while Turner stopped 38 of 41. Turner took home the first star followed by Krivitzky with the second starand Jordy McGee with the 3rd, both with a goal & assist.

The Whalers were missing some key components to both their offense & defense. Most importantly the talented Dan "McNoShow" McGee & Woody Redpath up front. They meet again in 6 weeks, December 10th, mark your calendars.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
WHL	14:24	Goal	Pierce, Dillan (1)	Assist(s): Laperle, Gary(1) Stallsmith, Jonathan(1)
NDQ	13:52	Goal	Krivitzky, Eric(1)	Assist(s): Marsh, Greg(1)
WHL	12:36	Penalty	rouillard, jason(1)	2 minutes for Body Checking
NDQ	03:27	Goal	McGee, Jordan(1)	Assist(s): Mayhew, Pierce(1)
NDQ	02:15	Penalty	McGovern, Ryan(1)	2 minutes for Holding
2nd PERIOD
NDQ	13:36	Goal	Coates, Ian(1)	Assist(s): Grande, Stuart(1) Nightingale, Poli(1)
NDQ	12:43	Goal	Racicot, Brian(1)	Assist(s): Park, Kelly(1)
WHL	12:23	Goal	Zanleoni, Jay(1)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	10:52	Goal	Phillips, Roger(1)	Assist(s): Krivitzky, Eric(1)
NDQ	02:36	Goal	Mayhew, Pierce(1)	Assist(s): McGee, Jordan(1)
WHL	00:01	Goal	Shaw, Scott(1)	Assist(s): Zanleoni, Jay(1)
3rd PERIOD
NDQ	05:41	Penalty	Grande, Stuart(1)	2 minutes for Body Checking

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Game Comments:
Z-Skate White River Jct, VT Registered: Posts: 108	Tonight.. Oct 22nd, 2013 07:44 AM Yes, we are without Joe but rumor has it Mrs. LaPerle has added some muscle in the off season and is down to a BMI of 29.75%. Thanks, at least in part to preseason at altitude in Arizona where he asked the server to hold the pink umbrellas and loaded up on the guacamole. Yes, I would say he is primed for a break out season and will easily fill the shoes of our dearly departed JG. Just received an email from Chuck, who's in Vegas, and has informed me the house has been swung and has the Whale a heavy favorite at 6.. due to: 1) LaPerle's Camp in AZ 2) Mr. Shaw was seen drinking the blood of a helpless fawn in the woods over the weekend. He was quoted in the Snooze as saying "road kill or not it's still a trophy on my wall" 3) Kirt spending the last 3 nights in Nick's man cave in Tunbridge learning the methods of the reclusive beast in preparation for a stint on O 4) Woody losing a member of the HHS hockey line of the century but gaining another in James Kerrigan 5) Dillan has promised his girlfriend he will stop shaving his legs and be the she-man she has dreamed off.. I would stay out of the corners if I were you. 6) Kenny.. he was busy plugging holes at the Q-Club so Vegas is assuming the 5-hole will be plugged as well. Now if we can only do something about the "ducking" 7) Stally b/c he will bring the talent (from fucking Concord, NH - crazy?) that raised numerous titles on the west coast for the once prestigious USC. 8) Dad has said no more cross ice passes in the d-zone... ya right. 9) Z - If I can get over the excitement of being able to stick Turner in the mask, Park in the Nuts (not McD b/c he gets too excited) and Alex with a cross-check from behind in to the net.. I may actually be an offensive threat b/c "Gord" (Yes, I looked up to him and said oh man) knows I'm anything but defensive. 10) Tomahawk b/c he is well the tomahawk riding a single ring around Asctuney all summer. In all honesty.. it should be a good game. See everyone on the ice.
kpark Quechee, VT Registered: Dec 2003 Posts: 723	I LOVE IT! Oct 22nd, 2013 08:08 AM Z, you may have just swung my vote. I'm picking Whalers all the way. KP
hkydoc WRJ, VT Registered: Jan 2004 Posts: 517	Whaddya mean you "Couldn't care less", Z? Oct 22nd, 2013 09:49 AM That sounds like a pre-season rant of excitement from one who proclaims over and over he doesn't care about hockey anymore. Yeah, your secret is officially out hockey-lover. Aside from that, it was fucking hilarious! Nice to see someone contributing to the banter and getting us all worked up for yet another great season of the best men's league hockey ever! YAAAAAAAAAH! GO, NORDS!!! McD P.S. How did you know I get aroused when I get sticked in the balls? Some funny things happened to my body post-surgery... P.P.S. My money is on Marshy to strike first tonight - I got him REALLY pissed off so he's gonna be playing angry for once, and might even backcheck. Watch out for the big one-timer!
JTStally Hanover, NH Registered: Posts: 159	The Legacy Continues Oct 22nd, 2013 10:09 AM No worries, we kept our Marauder count up by adding Kerrigan. I'm pretty sure if he thought the Nords were a better team, he would haven't jumped ship for the Whale. #JustSayin ...And, McD, let's not get carried away and make outlandish comments, like insinuating that Marshy even has a conceptual understanding for this "backchecking" fad.
Z-Skate White River Jct, VT Registered: Posts: 108	Caring about hockey... Oct 22nd, 2013 11:06 AM McD I have never said I didn't care; however what I do say and continue to stand by is that if I never played hockey again.. I'd be okay. I don't miss it or yearn for it but I would miss the locker room banter!! I can only imagine what you just told Marshy - Some opinions are better left unsaid or said once and left alone. Also no grabbing the Tragically Hip reference in "Looked up to the Gord (lord) above and said hey man thanks".. You're such a poser? You eat the cheese out of women's toes.. getting stuck in the balls is probably some sort of foreplay in your world.
hkydoc WRJ, VT Registered: Jan 2004 Posts: 517	Only clean, pretty toes, Z... Oct 22nd, 2013 01:11 PM I did appreciate the Hip reference, though, regardless of it being confusing and inaccurately typed (Oh man vs Hey man), but thanks for explaining it to me. Yeah, the locker room banter is half of it, and the post-game beers the other half... and the hockey is the other, other half... I guess that makes three halves, or periods, in Canadian math, eh. See you on the ice! YAAAAAH! McD