THE

UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Tuck
Nordiques
1st
0
0
2rd
1
1
3rd
1
2
FINAL
2
3
Shots
32
33
November 10th, 2009 - 7:55PM
Union Arena - Woodstock, VT
Pre-Game
Recap
Box Score
Discussion
Game ID: 596

Tuck brings out the best in the Nords

When you have a great opponent then sometimes you'll answer the challenge. That is what happened to the Nords on Tuesday night. Playing their best game of the young season (only because they had to!) the Nords rose above mediocrity to go nose-to-nose with a solid Tuck squad. This was a tight contest from the drop of the puck, a defensive and goalie battle royale. I know it is cliche, but it could have gone either way, and the pre-game coin toss did not go with the law of averages for the predicted winning squad.

The first period was full of hard work, fast hockey, and great saves at both ends by Yacey and Turner. In fact, Turner made a HUUUGE glove save while sprawled out to keep it scoreless and send a Tuck forward back to the bench shaking his head. No goals were scored and the teams entered the second period at a scoreless draw. Not until 13:56 dans la deuxieme periode did a puck find the back of the net. Nords big winger Greg Marsh scored from super speedy linemates Jordan McGee and Alex Brands. Nords D Kelly Park and Tuck winger Simon McKay went to the box at 6:17 for hooking and tripping on a play that saw McKay crash in to Nords netminder John Turner and send him folded backwards into the net after making the key save. Tuck answered to tie it at 1 when thre Tuck veterans combined for a goal with Derek Nowak scoring at 3:22 from McKay and defenseman Ryan McGovern. Jordan Barnett sat in the Tuck penalty box for hooking at 1:28, but the brilliant Yacey and his defenders sloughed off all Nords' PP chances.

The tenacous and defensively conscious squads traded goals early in the third two minutes apart with the Nords gaining a brief 1 goal lead on a Park slapper from 6 feet inside the blueline fed from the corner by McGee that found its way through the 5-hole at 12:20. This was answered by Tuck on a screen shot from the point by Colin Carrihill assisted by McGovern and Nowak that saw Carrihill barely get a piece of the puck and send it fluttering towards the Nords' net like a Black Monarch butterfly (rare, but sometimes seen in this part of New England) past 3 players into the net not seen by JT until it was past him. Tuck had momentum, and the Nords desperately did not want to give up another goal in the last two minutes of the game...AGAIN. Nords captain Tao Smith led by example getting a bodychecking penalty with 6:23 left to go giving his team a greater chance to win 4-on-5 reasoning that they gave up too many 5-on-5 goals late in the game so why not change things up? Hmmm. During the PK returning Nords D Andy Puchalik took an intererence penalty at 5:52 taking his captain's strategy way too seriously thereby giving Tuck a 1:29 two-man advantage and an extended PP. The Nords buckled down, and Turner did what he had to do, Tuck came at the Nords hard, but they couldn't get one to the net very often, and when they did Turner was there. Momentum had changed once again, but the Nords were frantic about not choking late in the third...AGAIN, so they called time-out and settled themselves back down. Nords winger Brands got loose and found a puck in front sent to the net by linemate Marsh and buried it with only 1:32 to go for the slim 1 goal lead. Tuck called timeout, pulled the goalie, but they didn't have enough time to complete the comeback and the Nords prevailed (barely).

Final Score: Nords 3, Tuck 2

Final Analysis: The defensive play and goaltending by both teams was fantastic. This game was fast, hard, clean, and was a pleasure to play in! Kelly Park wanted me to make sure you knew how good he was in this game because I made him (and you) wait a few extra days for the write-ups. Sorry, eh. Actually, Park wasn't the only one who played well...everybody did. There were no weak links or really stupid plays on either team, and plain and simple it was a great hockey game with hard work and fantastic goaltending. Tuck is the real deal, and they brought out the best in their opponent forcing them to play at a higher level of hockey than they have done so in the previous games this season. My hat is off to the Tuckies! Sorry aboot the glare, eh... Turner and Yacey both played great, and they along with Condon and Bartline have enough skill and talent to lead their teams to Whalen Cup glory.

Final Tally: Check out the boxscores section and don't forget to vote for the Long Trail UVHL player of the Week! The winner gets to claim a free case of beer at Long Trail!
LEAGUE PICK 'EM
 69%
Tuck
31% 
Nordiques
13 PICKS
THREE STARS

John Turner

GA: 2
SAVES: 30
SAVE%: 0.938

Alex Brands

GOALS: 1
POINTS: 2

Derek Nowak

GOALS: 1
POINTS: 2

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