UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

ODDS:	Storm Kings by 2 goals
OVER/UNDER:	8.5 goals

The Nordiques are in a Franchise WORST five game skid that started 6 weeks ago with a tough 5-3 loss to the Storm Kings. At that time the Nordiques were 8-2-3, and have fallen to8-7-3. The Storm Kings are also a dismal 2-4-1 in their last 7 but lost a heart breaker in a shootout to the Brewers and then throttled the Whalers 8-4 last week.

The Nordiques haven't been able to score, and have lost a bunch of 1 goal games lately, excluding all of the open netters they've given up pushing at the end of the game. Their offense is dismal, but their team game, defense & goaltending have have excellent. The Kinger's are a motley crew that has a power house offense and tough defense, but never has a consistent lineup. This should be a pretty competitive game, with the Storm Kings walking away late with this one 4-3 plus and empty netter.

Nordiques Tally 6 Goals in the 3rd to Pound Kingers 10-5.

This was a MUST WIN game for the Nordiques who had fallen from the top of the league with an 8-2-3 record to the laughing stock of the entire country and an 8-7-3 record. Their dismal scoring woes were epic and chronicled on ESPN Deportes, Sesame Street & HGTV. Their forwards were about as offensively challenged on the ice as limbless Mexicans without any eyes who have never even heard of hockey. Yes, they were that pathetic.

The Storm Kings came into tonight's action losers of 3 of their last 4 games and 5 of 7. Their season has been rocky at best, but they still have some of the most offensively talented players in the league.

Needless to say, this was a must win game for both teams. The Nordiques were rolling deep with 18 lines and 47 defensemen, while the Kingers brought a line & 3 men on the bench. The Nordiques scoring woes had them reconfiguring their lineup and putting their top 3 forwards on the same line, with Ian "Pants" Coates centering Roger "The Rusty Dentist Drill" Phillips & Jordan "Mr. Magoo" McGee. That move paid off enormously, as they combined for seven of the 10 goals the Nordiques scored and 12 points on the night as they beat up the Storm Kings with their puck control and intensity. Leading the way was McGee with 2 goals & 4 assists, followed by a hat trick from Phillips & 2 goals and an assist from Coatsey.

In net for the Storm Kings was Danny "The Eiffel Tower" French who was busy all night, turning away 33 of 43 shots, while Johnny "Temper Tantrum" Turner was not superb as he was fighting off a cold, but managed to keep 28 of 33 out of the net. This was actually a close game early on and tied 4-4 after the 2nd period, but the Nordiques deep bench carried the tempo through 3 periods and clearly had more energy late in this one and scored 5 goals in the last 7 minutes of play. It was also a surprisingly clean game with only 3 penalties called, two of which going to the Nordiques, despite the blowout score.

The Storm Kings got their 5 goals from 5 different goal scorers:

- "Chop" Stuey Close scored a beautiful power play goal at 10:40 of the second as he sniped a snapper up over a downed Turner.
- Mike "The Hot Fuzz" Fitzgerald closed out the scoring on the night streaking down the far boards and toasting Turner with a laser inside the near post to make it 10-5 with 1:16 to play.
- Marty "Gandalf The Grey" White beat Turner through a screen in the first to tie the score at 1-1.
- Kyle "The Mooring" Morin had a questionable goal that redirected off of his skate as he was screening Turner to give the Kingers a 2-1 lead just 11:03 into the game.
- Ronnie "Lover Boy" Dupuis tied the game at 4 apiece late in the 2nd period with a snapper from the high slot.

Other than the top line of the Nordiques, Dan "Jumping" Jodice had an excellent night with 2 sweet goals, the first coming at 10:19 of the first as he dipsy dooed a Storm King winger on the far boards, cut across the faceoff dot and beat Frenchy with a high twisted wrister to tie the game at 2 apiece. His 2nd goal came late in the 3rd and was the 10th for the Nordiques. The only other scorer for the Nordiques was rookie Billy Clark, playing in his first UVHL game. Clark took a pass from Poli "The Nightmare" Nightingale at the near faceoff dot and beat Frenchy along the ice.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
NDQ	14:40	Goal	Coates, Ian(11)	Assist(s): McGee, John(8)
STK	12:41	Goal	White, Marty(8)	Assist(s): Fitzgerald, Mike(9) Dupuis, Ron(3)
STK	11:03	Goal	morin, kyle(1)	Assist(s): White, Marty(6)
NDQ	10:19	Goal	Jodice, Daniel(6)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	06:41	Goal	Phillips, Roger(14)	Assist(s): Coates, Ian(21) McGee, Jordan(18)
2nd PERIOD
NDQ	12:20	Penalty	Park, Kelly(3)	2 minutes for Interference
STK	10:40	Goal	Close, Stu(1)	Assist(s): Cashman, Dean(12) Fitzgerald, Mike(10)
NDQ	07:51	Goal	McGee, Jordan(14)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	05:14	Penalty	Phillips, Roger(4)	2 minutes for Hooking
STK	01:42	Goal	Dupuis, Ron(6)	Assist(s): Fitzgerald, Mike(11) Close, Stu(6)
3rd PERIOD
STK	14:30	Penalty	Dupuis, Ron(6)	2 minutes for Tripping
NDQ	14:10	Goal	Coates, Ian(12)	Assist(s): McGee, Jordan(19)
NDQ	07:01	Goal	Phillips, Roger(15)	Assist(s): McGee, Jordan(20) McGee, John(9)
NDQ	04:41	Goal	Clark, Bill(1)	Assist(s): Nightingale, Poli(3) Willis, David(4)
NDQ	02:37	Goal	Phillips, Roger(16)	Assist(s): McGee, Jordan(21)
NDQ	02:10	Goal	McGee, Jordan(15)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	01:52	Goal	Jodice, Daniel(7)	Assist(s): Marsh, Greg(15)
STK	01:16	Goal	Fitzgerald, Mike(4)	Assist(s): Gill, Ian(6)

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