UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

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Nords secure second place with 1-goal game over Bruins

Another UVHL battle between very evenly matched teams saw the Nordiques squeak out a win on the back of perhaps John Turner's very best UVHL performance to date, with the exception of the 2003-04 Whalen Cup Final. Turner was spectacular, and without JT in net the Nords would have surely crumbled under the pressure of the Bruins forechecking and forward pressure in the Nords end that forced poor breakouts and caused the Nords extreme difficulty just getting the puck out of their own end. In fact, the majority of the game was played in the Nords end, and it made this author (a fat defenseman on the Nords - you know it is, eh) quite thankful that the Nords had 6 D otherwise the puke bags would have had to come out! In typical Bruins style they forced a 3rd period comeback showing grit and heart (as usual) after the Nords slowly gained the lead over the course of the game. Luckily for the Nords they capitalized very early in the game, perhaps catching the Bruins off guard, as Dan Coffey scored on his first shift back to the Nords from the very brink of deployment to Iraq (that was thankfully cancelled at the last minute - Welcome back, Dan!) at 14:32 from Nords captain Tao Smith and linemate Dave Willis when Coffey walked in from the point and pounced on a rebound. Actually, the Nords went with a completely full bench tonight, overfull with every player on the roster in attendance at 10 forwards and 6 D. Perhaps this was the difference in the game (well, maybe not since JT stood on his frickin' head) as the Nords were able to roll 3+ full lines and not get completely burnt out against the Bruins spending most of the game in the Nords end and pelting JT with quality chances and watching forwards and D alike run around in their own end chasing Bruins like chickens with their heads cut off. The Nords had very few quality chances in this game, and only two or three times that were not on the PP did they control the puck in the Bruins end. Luckily for them they ended the first period with a 1-0 lead from the early Coffey goal. Hadley and his Bruins were solid in their own end and killed off a penalty late in the first to big D Alec Jessiman for interference at 1:27. In the second the Nords struck early at 13:28 on a Will Meyer unassisted breakaway that Meyer capitalized into a goal with some fierce backchecking that forced a turnover in the neutral zone to give the Nords a 2-0 lead and a little bit of breathing room. The Bruins continued to pressure the Nords in the offensive zone, but had to kill off another penalty early in the second to an unknown player listed as # 13 on the game sheet (and seeing as there is no # 13 on the Bruins, so it MUST have been the UVHL's most sportmanlike player of 2005-06 thus far, Bruins softie Tony DeFelice, getting called for absolutely nothing at all by Tony Gove) at 13:09 for tripping. On the PP Nords captain Tao Smith could not keep up with a Bruin penalty killer and Smith was called for slashing at 12:15 negating the Nords man advantage using his stick instead of his feet trying to slow down his opponent. Howls from teammate Kelly Park filled Smith's ears in the box with things like "Nice example, Captain!", and "Good penalty, loser!". No scoring happened at 4-on-4, and the Nords killed off the penalty and play resumed at 5-on-5 with more action in the Nords end. Alec Jessiman picked up a head of steam and charged into the Nords end from the right point towards the net with the puck. McDermott kept him wide but Jessiman got through close enough to the net and Nords speedy D Mike O'Neil sacrificed his body for the team and threw himself on the ice to stop the play and Jessiman fell over him. O'Neil was called for tripping on the play at 6:53 of the second. During the PK Nords forward Deanna McDevitt received a high sticking minor and the Nords went down to 3 defenders. Somehow JT managed to get a piece of all the Bruins quality shots and scoring attempts and the score remained 2-0 only for his heriocs in net. The Bruins were getting a little frustrated at the fact that they could not solve JT, and Rob Pelletier got a tripping minor for the Bruins with 2:36 left in the period, but the Bruins took care of their own end just as well as the offensive zone and they killed off that PP too. Again the Nords scored early in the period, this time it was Greg Marsh who continued his recent hot streak with a trademark hard shot at 13:57 that somehow found its way through Hadley to make it 3-0 in favor of a Nords squad that was just hanging on. However, the play began in the Nords own end off a pass from behind the net from JT to O'Neil, who was also having a strong game, who made the outlet pass to Marshy who went down the left side and shot from outside the circle to Hadley's right, giving JT an assist on the play! Perhaps the absence of super sniper Ryan Sinclair hurt the Bruins, but they mounted a comeback of their own without him after it looked like nothing could get past JT. After going 0 for 5 on the PP once the Park minor at 11:58 of the third for hooking was killed off by the Nords, the Bruins got things going when Jessiman bolted in on the right side again, this time surprising McDermott with a burst of speed on the outside and powerful charge towards the Nords net. Jessiman had no room but the size of a puck over JT's left shoulder in tight under the crossbar, and given the fact that McD put a stick on his hip to throw off the shot made it even that more surprising that the shutout was spoiled on this chance, but the puck went in at 9:16 and the score was suddenly 3-1 and the momentum had changed. Nords forward Ian Coates was called for slashing in behind on the play, but the penalty was not served because of the unassisted Jessiman goal. The Nords had one final chance on the PP to regain a 3-goal lead after Bruins forward Steve Geiger was called for roughing at 7;19, but the Nords went 0-for-4 on the PP once the Bruins successfully defended again with all goals in this game coming at even strength. The Bruins kept pressuring, and Nords forward Will Meyer caught a few late chances from some more hard work with a breakaway and partial breakaway that were both shut down by Hadley who kept his team in the game with solid play in the Bruins net. Super smooth and fast Bruins D Andy Holland made the game really interesting scoring with only 1:38 left to play from Geiger and Jessiman. It might have fully unravelled for the Nords if time had not run out leaving the score at 3-2 when the buzzer sounded and both teams left satisfied with a well fought and evenly matched Tuesday night UVHL battle.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
NDQ	00:00	Goal	Meyer, Will(1)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	00:00	Goal	Marsh, Greg(1)	Assist(s): O'Neil, Michael(1) Turner, John(1)
GMB	00:00	Goal	Jessiman, Alec(1)	Assist(s): none
GMB	00:00	Goal	Holland, Andy(1)	Assist(s): Geiger, Steve(1) Jessiman, Alec(1)
GMB	00:00	Penalty	Jessiman, Alec(1)	2 minutes for checking
GMB	00:00	Penalty	Powers, Don(1)	2 minutes for tripping
NDQ	00:00	Penalty	Turner, John(1)	2 minutes for slashing
NDQ	00:00	Penalty	O'Neil, Michael(1)	2 minutes for tripping
NDQ	00:00	Penalty	McDevitt, Deanna(1)	2 minutes for high sticking
GMB	00:00	Penalty	Pelletier, Rob(1)	2 minutes for hooking
NDQ	00:00	Penalty	Park, Kelly(1)	2 minutes for hooking
NDQ	00:00	Penalty	Coates, Ian(1)	2 minutes for slashing
GMB	00:00	Penalty	Geiger, Steve(1)	2 minutes for roughing

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