UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Another battle between the Nords & Whalers

ODDS:	EVEN
OVER/UNDER:	8 goals

This should be another great game between two "hot" teams. The Nordiques are rolling with a 3 game winning streak, including a solid 6-3 win over Tuck last week, a 5-3 win over the Brewers 2 weeks ago and a 7-3 butchering of Dead River.

The Whalers on the other hand are coming off of a tough 3-2 loss to the Brewers where they just couldn't muster much offense against the craft Brew Crew veterans. They have gone from a 1-9-2 team to a 6-12-2 team, with solid wins over the Nordiques (4-3), Dead River (11-7), Gamblers (8-6 & 5-4 S/O).

One high note out of the 3-2 loss to the Brewers last week was that their defensive play was outstanding. They needed to do something after getting into two barnburners with Dead River & the Gamblers.

This one is a toss up after the Nordiques took the first 3 games of the series & the Whalers took the last one.

Again, my prediction is a 4-4 game going to a shootout.

Nordiques Surge Late to Beat Whalers 7-2

Another classic battle between the Nordiques & Whalers ended in a 7-2 win for the 'Diques. Despite the 5 goal win, this game was actually much closer than it appeared, and without some stellar goaltending & defensive efforts could have ended turning the other way early. Both teams had a full roster in this one which made for a fast paced game and without the leagues leading antagonist, Liam "The Shit Disturber" Oliver, this was a clean and enjoyable game up until the last 20 seconds of play.

One fine note was that Jay "Healthy Scratch" Zanleoni, may or may not have been at the game. I seem to recall a couple of big shots from the perimeter, but don't remember seeing "The Chin" out on the ice all game.

The Nordiques jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first period of play. The Nords broke the stalemate with a nice pass to the point from Ian "The Grin" Coates to Tommy "The Minister of Defense" Dakai, beating Kenny "Powers" Lallier with a quick snapper through a screen at 10:23. Mikey "Three-way" O'Neil made it 2-0 from 10 feet out, dead center in the slot, at 8:51, after taking a nice short pass from Kelly "The Turnover" Park sending O'Neil in all alone. Roger "The Silver Fox" Phillips put his first of two goals in with 2:3 to play in the first period off of a nice tandem of passes from Tommy "Guns" Dakai & Coates.

The 2nd period was perhaps the best of the game, like a chess match for the first 13 minutes until Phillips tallied his 2nd goal of the night from Greg "The Butcher" Marsh & Coates. The Whalers won the ensuing faceoff, pulling the Nordiques forwards into Whaler territory before hitting their forwards in stride on a 3 on 2 going the other way. Turner made about 5 saves as Scotty "The General" Leger, Joey "The Mute" Hayes & Cody "The Boy" Vose moved the puck around as if there weren't any Nordiques in the zone. The 5th rebound found it's way to Vose at the far hashmarks and a quick snapshot beat Turner who was down and out.

The Vose goal seemed to light a fire under the collective asses of the Whale as the 3rd period opened up. That and Joey "The Mute" Hayes' stoic silence had then entire Whaler bench on the same page. A costly turnover from the Nordiques defense in their own zone saw Kirt "The Dirt" Johnson steal a puck on the far boards, cut to the center and make a beautiful short pass to Stevie "Wonder" Bernier who roofed a wrist shot from above the hashmarks to get the Whalers right back in this one, but still down 4-2. The Whalers continued to press, knowing that they had to take some chances if they wanted to get back into this one, but Turner stood tall & the Nordiques seemed to find their defensive groove, shutting down the Whalers at every turn. The Whaler's pressing turned into a Nordique goal when too many of their men left the zone early, leaving Park, O'Neil & McGee to muck it up on the boards with only 2 Whalers. McGee walked away from the pileup, only to get completely mauled by Whaler's defenseman Sean "The Claw" Clausen. McGee fought off the hooks protecting the puck as he walked to the front of the net and beat Lallier with a quick snapper high. Kevin "Washer &" Dwyer cleaned up his own rebound after turning 2 whalers inside out to make it 6-2 with 5:11 to play before a Park to Coates to Park to Coates to Park to Coates goal squeaked through Lallier and rolled inside the far post for the 7-2 final.

Lallier wasn't bad in this one, it just so happens that Turner was on fire. The Whaler's had their chances but couldn't convert.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
NDQ	10:23	Goal	Dakai, Tom(1)	Assist(s): Coates, Ian(10)
NDQ	08:51	Goal	O'Neil, Michael(5)	Assist(s): Park, Kelly(17) McGee, Jordan(20)
NDQ	02:53	Goal	Phillips, Roger(8)	Assist(s): Coates, Ian(11) Dakai, Tom(5)
2nd PERIOD
WHL	06:57	Penalty	Clauson, Sean(7)	2 minutes for Tripping
NDQ	01:16	Goal	Phillips, Roger(9)	Assist(s): Coates, Ian(12) Marsh, Greg(13)
WHL	00:56	Goal	Vose, Cody(7)	Assist(s): Hayes, Joe(7) Leger, Scott(10)
WHL	00:55	Penalty	Hayes, Joe(1)	2 minutes for Interference
3rd PERIOD
WHL	13:16	Goal	Bernier, Steve(8)	Assist(s): Johnson, Kirt(3)
NDQ	07:18	Goal	McGee, Jordan(22)	Assist(s): Park, Kelly(18) O'Neil, Michael(4)
NDQ	05:11	Goal	Dwyer, Kevin(11)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	05:11	Goal	Coates, Ian(8)	Assist(s): Park, Kelly(19)

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Game Comments:
The Dark Canuck Fairlee, VT Registered: Dec 2004 Posts: 340	Gonna be a good game Mar 5th, 2010 02:45 PM With the Whale coming to play each and every game, I KNOW they'll have it out for us on Tues. The Nords are on a roll right now, and the right time of year to be playing well. The 'Diques are back to playing Nordique hockey, and I personally don't think the Whale will get it done. They DO have some good scorers, and a couple decent defense. But they can't play the entire game, and our bench is full of talent, just waiting to pounce on those HUUUUUGE rebounds in front of LALALALALALALALALALALLALALALALALIERRE!!!!! Nords win easily...7-3
Z-Skate White River Jct, VT Registered: Posts: 108	.. a talented bench .. Mar 7th, 2010 10:46 AM Marshy - I am assuming that's when you are on the ice ..?
The Dark Canuck Fairlee, VT Registered: Dec 2004 Posts: 340	just saying Mar 7th, 2010 02:04 PM IN RESPONSE TO: BY: Z-Skate Marshy - I am assuming that's when you are on the ice ..? I know it'll be a hard fought game. I'll do my best to create havoc in front of LaLALLIER, but hopefully you won't steam-roll Park in front like last time, I think you shattered his paper-thin pelvis, and bruised his ego a little. Hopefully he'll still have some swagger left over from playing with the Bruins Alumni to razzle-dazzle some magic, and set up a few goals. You are a tough competitor Z, hopefully you guys bring the pain, because the Nords are on a roll MISTA!!!!
kpark Quechee, VT Registered: Dec 2003 Posts: 724	Nords! Mar 8th, 2010 11:09 AM IN RESPONSE TO: BY: The Dark Canuck I know it'll be a hard fought game. I'll do my best to create havoc in front of LaLALLIER, but hopefully you won't steam-roll Park in front like last time, I think you shattered his paper-thin pelvis, and bruised his ego a little. Hopefully he'll still have some swagger left over from playing with the Bruins Alumni to razzle-dazzle some magic, and set up a few goals. You are a tough competitor Z, hopefully you guys bring the pain, because the Nords are on a roll MISTA!!!! Marshy is right. The Nords are on a roll, but let's be realistic. We beat abysmal Dead River team, a .500 Brewers squad, and a Tuck team that was missing 5 of it's top players. No disrespect to my Nords, but we still have a ton of work to do to get into playoff shape. This will be one hell of a test, early game where all hands should be on deck. Z, please don't cut hard to the net because I'm just not smart enough to get out of the way...plus if I die, it will look as though you did it intentionally, and you may go to jail. You probably shouldn't even play. KP
JTStally Hanover, NH Registered: Posts: 159	Oli's Back Mar 9th, 2010 04:54 PM Oli, not Ali, although our small heavyweight should return to the ice tonight like Ali returned to boxing. When he gets one-on-one against Parky, I'll be cheering like the people in the Congo in Will Smith's "Ali": Bumaye Oli!
JTStally Hanover, NH Registered: Posts: 159	Good Game...mostly Mar 10th, 2010 11:57 PM Another solid game between the Nords and the Whalers. I certainly felt that if we could have converted a few chances we missed in the second period we could have swung the momentum our way, but the Diques put up a solid 45 minutes at both ends. We were poised for comeback, but they knew how to step on our heads with three quick goals midway through the third to turn a 4-2 showdown into a 7-2 laugher. As usual this was one of the cleaner, faster, and more fun games to play. Although the two-handed hack at the end of the game was completely bogus. I lost my head on that one and I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but, to be honest, I was offended that there's a player in the league classless enough to throw a two-handed slash in a game that his team is winning by five goals with 17.2 seconds left. That frustrated me, as I'm sure most of the Nords bench noticed, but I still shouldn't have gone off like I did.
The Dark Canuck Fairlee, VT Registered: Dec 2004 Posts: 340	not sure if you really knew why Mar 11th, 2010 07:56 AM IN RESPONSE TO: BY: JTStally Another solid game between the Nords and the Whalers. I certainly felt that if we could have converted a few chances we missed in the second period we could have swung the momentum our way, but the Diques put up a solid 45 minutes at both ends. We were poised for comeback, but they knew how to step on our heads with three quick goals midway through the third to turn a 4-2 showdown into a 7-2 laugher. As usual this was one of the cleaner, faster, and more fun games to play. Although the two-handed hack at the end of the game was completely bogus. I lost my head on that one and I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but, to be honest, I was offended that there's a player in the league classless enough to throw a two-handed slash in a game that his team is winning by five goals with 17.2 seconds left. That frustrated me, as I'm sure most of the Nords bench noticed, but I still shouldn't have gone off like I did. Stally, I agree with you, that for the most part, it was a great, clean and mostly fast game. I didn't see you lose it or whatever, but Drew acted accordingly for the most part. I believe he was slashed right before that, and I KNOW Crapser is the type of player that would NOT slash someone for no reason, let alone if we're up by 5 at the end of a game. I didn't see exactly what happened, but I was on the ice, and I was about 20ft away when the slash occurred. I didn't see why Drew slashed him, but I thought I heard him say he was slashed prior to that. Normally our two teams play a good clean game, unless Oliver shows up and gets under a few guys' skin. Hey, everyone loses their cool once in a while, I know I have, and I'm sure it won't be the last time. JT really made a lot of great saves, and you're right, it could have gone either way mid-way through if he hadn't made those saves. Good luck in the playoffs..
JTStally Hanover, NH Registered: Posts: 159	JT was the key Mar 12th, 2010 12:34 AM IN RESPONSE TO: BY: The Dark Canuck Stally, I agree with you, that for the most part, it was a great, clean and mostly fast game. I didn't see you lose it or whatever, but Drew acted accordingly for the most part. I believe he was slashed right before that, and I KNOW Crapser is the type of player that would NOT slash someone for no reason, let alone if we're up by 5 at the end of a game. I didn't see exactly what happened, but I was on the ice, and I was about 20ft away when the slash occurred. I didn't see why Drew slashed him, but I thought I heard him say he was slashed prior to that. Normally our two teams play a good clean game, unless Oliver shows up and gets under a few guys' skin. Hey, everyone loses their cool once in a while, I know I have, and I'm sure it won't be the last time. JT really made a lot of great saves, and you're right, it could have gone either way mid-way through if he hadn't made those saves. Good luck in the playoffs.. I agree that JT played a superb game and, even though the final score was lopsided, his play was the difference maker. I understand that slashes, jabs, elbows, etc. go back and forth, but there's never a reason for a two-handed hack. I was probably only about 10 feet away and he definitely raised the stick to about his shoulders before swinging down Paul Bunyan style on Scotty's ankle. Even a retaliatory slash shouldn't knock the other guy to the ice unless you're swinging with a certain malice. A few things that added to my frustration were that in the three times I (personally) have played the Nords this season, two different players have taken down Scotty Shaw (one of the league's better skaters) with two-handed hacks...and neither time did the player receive a penalty. But, oh well, now that I've said my piece, I've moved on. I'd just appreciate that before the Nords speak out against Oliver's antics again, they realize that each team has a few dirty moves, which, in their case, tends to be the two-hander.