UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

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Storm Kings muscle 6-3 win over rival Nords on 1/23:

Let me put it this way, it was a physical game, and the refs let us play. Unlike the first half of the season, this game was called with a new standard different from USA Hockey's mandate. If it was allowed to continue for another period it would have been ugly, and somebody would have gone home injured. Guaranteed. It should be a surprise to noone that Will Meyer started the scoring for the Nords within the first minute of play. At 7:23 of the first Kings goaltender Dan French was called for delay of game when he covered the puck behind the goal line, which is against the rules according to USA Hockey. Nobody had to like it, and JT remembers well when the very same penalty was called against him in the Mud League Finals last season against Potter when we experimented with the ref and 2 linesman system for the championship. Experiment failed, but Muds or UVHL, 'dems da rules as it is said, and Frenchy liked the call a lot less than JT did, and he let the whole world know about it, especially our dear Ref-In-Chief, Tony Gove. Fortunately for Frenchy, the only thing that kept him out of the box for a 10 minute misconduct was his teammates pleading with the ref not to throw him out of the game. Gove did assess an additional 2 minute unsportsmanlike to the protesting goaltender, and that gave the Nords a huge opportunity to build on their 1 goal lead. Too bad the Kingers are just as dangerous playing a man down because the Nords could barely penetrate Sean Coakley and Adam Hogg's incredible St. Lawrence Saints PK skills and anticipation. Frenchy remained focused, and turned away all Nords PP attempts, and this gave some momentum back to the Storm Kings.

In the second period, it was evident that Marshy was working well with Meyer all night, and Marshy found linemate Ian Bartrum who fed Meyer for the early goal at 14:22. The Nords were poised and focused for the first half of the game, and may have caught the Storm Kings off guard. Marshy set up Meyer again for another tally, with some help from Ian Coates, at 12:28 to give the Nords a commanding 2-0 lead. Everything was going according to plan thus far for the Nords, but it changed in an instant. Nords forwards stopped backchecking hard, and forgot to remain in their own defensive zone, and Coakley made them pay for it quickly. Coakley pounced on feeds from Hogg and Mike Fitzgerald after the Nords failed to clear their own zone, and cut the lead to 2-1 at 10:50. The same trio connected a mere 22 seconds later, this time it was Fitzgerald at 10:28 from Hogg and Coakley and suddenly the game was tied 2-2 and you could hear a pin drop on the Nords bench. The Kings continued their onslaught and Hogg found Coakley at 8:02 to make it 3-2 Kings. The Nords started to sing "You've got...that sink-ing fe-eeel-ing!", and before it was all over their star goaltender, their rock between the pipes, would leave woozy. JT took a slapper off the stick of Hogg right in the melon with about 4 minutes left in the period. JT went down, and was visibly shaken up. It took a minute or two, but JT regained some semblance of composure and decided to remain in the game, but was obviously suffering from at least a mild concussion (and that's my official diagnosis). Old time hockey! Grapes would be proud! (That's Don Cherry to you Yankees, eh, in case you didn't know). Dan Bullock capitalized on JT's confusion and scored a blooper while JT was "seeing double" as Bullock found the corner of the net past JT's left pad at 3:24 as Bullock tried to split the D, couldn't, and then shot while he could as McD tapped the lower end of his stick to slow the shot down. Any other time JT would have sloughed it off like a tiny fly bouncing off of him, but not this time. It might have as well been an Adam Hogg slapper from the top of the circle, because JT was slow to react and flat-footed, and he didn't know which puck to try and stop! Luckily for the Kingers it gave them a 4-2 lead and command of the game, and to Bullock's credit, they all look the same on the scoreboard, and he did have to work hard, and beat a Nord or two just to get an opportunity to even shoot the puck. Things started to get a little testy, and minor penalties to Nords F Ian Bartrum for hooking at 3:08, and to Kings D Andy Weber at 1:36, also for a hook, were doled out.

Tenacious D Artie Stout also went for a hook with 0:29 left in the period, and then the other half of the duo, Tom Scull, went for the same at 13:59 of the third. On the PP, the Nords FINALLY scored. But guess who it was? Nope, it wasn't any of the other 7 Nords forwards in attendance, funny you should ask! In fact, as strange as it may seem, it was none other than Will Meyer completing the Hatty for the hapless Nords offense at 13:40 from Tom Dakai and Marshy, who actually got his 3rd assist (possibly a personal best). The game was 4-3 Kings, and there will be no excuses offered from the Nords, as they just got worse as the game went on. The penalty box parade continued, and the Nords PP was pathetic. Matching minors to Kings John Murphy and Nords Greg Marsh for hooking and holding respectively were given at 9:46 of the third. The Nords had another PP chance with Stout back in the box at 9:11 for hooking, but Frenchy continued to remain solid. Fitzgerald graced the SK box at 6:13 for holding, and yet again Coakley and Hogg stifled the Nords PP. With 3:14 left to go in this 1 goal game, it was the Kingers who next found the net. Ronnie Dupius solved a recovering JT off of feeds from Coakley and Scull to give his squad a 2 goal lead. Nords captain Tao Smith and defenseman Tom Dakai were ready to destroy someone after the physical play, and basically full on bodychecks, were going non-called, and if it was any other Nords player, with the exception of Marshy, they would have gone down. However, the physical specimens that they are, Smith and Dakai continually remained upright, and fortunately kept their cool for the majority of the game. It wasn't until 1:48 left in the game that Smith's emotions got the better of him and he went to the box on matching minors for roughing after a confrontation with Marty White in front of the Kings net. Coakley completed his Hatty with a mere 42 seconds left, and linemates Hogg and Fitzgerald got the helpers and completed fine games themselves.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
NDQ	00:00	Goal	Meyer, Will(1)	Assist(s): Bartrum, Ian(1) Marsh, Greg(1)
NDQ	00:00	Goal	Meyer, Will(1)	Assist(s): Marsh, Greg(1) Coates, Ian(1)
STK	00:00	Goal	Coakley, Sean(1)	Assist(s): Fitzgerald, Mike(1) Hogg, Adam(1)
STK	00:00	Goal	Fitzgerald, Mike(1)	Assist(s): Hogg, Adam(1) Coakley, Sean(1)
STK	00:00	Goal	Coakley, Sean(1)	Assist(s): Hogg, Adam(1)
STK	00:00	Goal	Bullock, Dan(1)	Assist(s): Weber, Andy(1) White, Marty(1)
NDQ	00:00	Goal	Meyer, Will(1)	Assist(s): Dakai, Tom(1) Marsh, Greg(1)
STK	00:00	Goal	Dupuis, Ron(1)	Assist(s): Coakley, Sean(1) Scull, Tom(1)
STK	00:00	Goal	Coakley, Sean(1)	Assist(s): Hogg, Adam(1) Fitzgerald, Mike(1)
STK	00:00	Penalty	French, Dan(1)	2 minutes for Delay of Game
STK	00:00	Penalty	French, Dan(1)	2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct
STK	00:00	Penalty	Weber, Andy(1)	2 minutes for Hooking
NDQ	00:00	Penalty	Bartrum, Ian(1)	2 minutes for Hooking
STK	00:00	Penalty	Stout, Artie(1)	2 minutes for Hooking
STK	00:00	Penalty	Scull, Tom(1)	2 minutes for Hooking
STK	00:00	Penalty	Murphy, John(1)	2 minutes for Hooking
NDQ	00:00	Penalty	Marsh, Greg(1)	2 minutes for Holding
STK	00:00	Penalty	Stout, Artie(1)	2 minutes for Hooking
STK	00:00	Penalty	Fitzgerald, Mike(1)	2 minutes for Holding
STK	00:00	Penalty	White, Marty(1)	2 minutes for Roughing
NDQ	00:00	Penalty	Smith, Tao(1)	2 minutes for Roughing

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