THE

UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Gamblers
Whalers
1st
1
2
2rd
2
3
3rd
1
0
FINAL
4
5
Shots
45
28
April 5th, 2011 - 8:25PM
Campion Rink - West Lebanon, NH
Pre-Game
Recap
Box Score
Discussion
Game ID: 746

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? #6 Whalers upset #1 Gamblers 5-4 in nailbiter!

Oh for two. That is my record on semi-final night. Talk about being out of touch with the league! What a pathetic excuse for a Commissioner! If you're older than 8 years old, you'll remember at least one upset in the sport you love, be it baseball, basketball, football, or the sport of all true intelligent, good looking, passionate and great in bed athletes: HOCKEY. It has been said "That is why we play the game" because "anything can happen" in the playoffs. I'll stop boring you with cliches and classic sport quotes, but will leave you with this, hockey fan: DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? Oh yes, it happened. The unthinkable. The unimaginable. The unlikely. It had about as much chance of happening as Park scoring on a breakaway or being quiet in a library, as much chance as McD winning Mr. Vermont, and as much chance as JT not being angry after a loss. Yes, hockey fans, the 22-1 Gamblers who absolutely destroyed everyone all season were upset by the 4-16-3 last place Whalers in the Whalen Cup semi-finals. Sometimes it is all about who is playing the best come April, and that team is the Whalers.

The Whalers have had a top secret pre-game ritual during their late season winning streak. I have heard rumor that it involves a pentagram scrawled on the locker room floor, peanut butter, a gay pit bull, beer funnel, and a "personal massager", but only those within those walls will ever know... The first SOG in this semi-final was also in the back of the net. A nasty trend? I dunno, but it happened two games in a row against the less likely goaltender to give it up. Marrazzo, still drunk from vacation, uncharacteristically put the puck right on AJ Hamel's stick in the Gambler's zone for a lethal turnover that Hamel sent through Condon's pads at 14:09. The Whalers bench was boisterious right from the get go, and they whooped it up when the suddenly had the 1-0 lead. Their 3rd SOG also found the net, and Gramling beat Fraser going to the outside & then went top shelf with a shot that beat Condon's glove after he waited the netminder out at 11:24 from defensemen Johnson and Rouillard. More cheers from the Whalers bench, and the Gamblers looked shocked to be down 2-0. Papa Z f'd up on a 2-on-1 jumping up into the play, and Condon intercepted the puck. Shots were 6-0 for the Whalers at 10:22. Ammel and Rouillard were trading pleasantries and expletives, but only Rouillard got the call. The Whalers had all of the early momentum, but it was spoiled by Rouillard's slash at 10:08, but luckily for them the momentum was not killed entirely. However, on the ensuing PP the Gamblers scored, and their clutch second line made it happen. The Seely-Malcolm-LaCroix got 4 shots in a row, 2 on the PP, with one of them for a key goal to bring it to 2-1 as Seely found the net from his linemates at 8:23. At the end of the play Whalers D Zaneloni was called for a bodycheck, and I assume it was after the PPG because it was not negated by the goal, but I did not see it. The Gamblers, as they have done so many times previously in their 3 year existence, had come from behind before, and the Whalers looked like they were going to give it away after such a good quick start only to kill their own momentum with 2 untimely penalties. But, the Whale killed off Z's infraction, and with 2 seconds left on the PP Marrazzo went for cross checking with 6:25 left in the first. Hall put one over Condon's net and had only two more like that to go to complete the "Hall Hatty". I believe in you, Nick! You can do it! Shots were an amazing 13-9 for the Whalers. I can't remember when the Gamblers were outshot in a period.

"Mr. Windup" Jason Young scored yet another key goal for his team with a high slapper from the point right into the top corner fed by Marrazzo at 14:12 to bring it to a 2-2 score, and the Whalers could have let it slip away like so many times before, but they remained positive and loose. Just over a minute later the game changer happened. Gramling made a sweet move & put it tight & right over Condon's shoulder in the slot off a pass from Hamel for the Whaler's first SOG of the period. It was a HUUUGE goal, and a momentum changer, as the Gamblers had grabbed it back and thought the early jitters were over. Papa Z was blocking shots, and the MMA line was getting frustrated. The Whalers scored on a rebound and beat Condon 5-hole at 10:06 when Chris Gogan found the back of the net off a Rouillard point shot, and suddenly it was 4-2 and the Gamblers looked nervous down 2 goals once again. "LeLallier" made a big save on Ammel in the slot at 9:08 with a 2 pad stack, and then Kenny showed LaCroix the glove at 8:45, all to cheers from his boisterous bench. Hamel was hauled down at 8:35 and received a penalty shot, but Condon made the clutch R pad save! LaCroix went for high sticking at 8:25, and a quick give-and-go on the PP as LaCroix was just out of the box and making his way back to the defensive end beat Condon's glove at 6:22 by Zaneloni from Hall as Z jumped in from the point. Matching minors were doled out to Gogan for hooking and Marrazzo for slashing. A nice block by Marrazzo in the slot at 2:39 off of a rare Hall shot that wasn't neck high gave some momentum back to the Gamblers, and Allison Malcolm scored a big goal late in the second off a rebound in front that she squeezed through Lallier from her linemates Seely and LaCroix at 1:41. The Score was 5-3 Whalers, and the Gamblers had some momentum going into the 3rd. The 2nd line was doing everything for the Gamblers, and they were carrying their team. For some reason the MMA line was shut down, but it didn't appear to me that the Whaler's deserved the Selke trophy or full credit for that... the famous Meyer-Marrazzo-Ammel line just looked off, and out of sync. Their usual chemistry wasn't there. There were flashes of some good individual plays, but really none of their usual synchronized dominance was on display. Shots were reversed compared to the first, and were 14-9 in favor of the Gamblers in the second.

In the third, Meyer sped by the Whalers defenders on the outside, but "Father Time" Lallier was there to stop the backhander. A goal was called off for a high stick and the Gamblers were disappointed, but it was clear to both refs as they conferred. I have only seen this 4 or 5 times in my life, twice for goals, and I recall one in the playoffs years ago as a child when the Rangers scored right off a face-off; and the Gamblers' best player in this game, Evan Seely, wired a shot right off the puck drop at Lallier at 10:12! My jaw dropped open in amazement, and I unfortunately lost the chicken wing and drooled bleu cheese all over myself. Soon after Lallier made a big save on Ammel. A point shot found its way through a crowd and Scott Fraser had himself a BIG playoff goal from Seely at 8:25 to make it a 1 goal game! There was an undisciplined offside by Hamel with his center Cody Vose on a nice rush at 7:16 right after Z and LaCroix got tangled up & then untangled in the defensive corner. Lallier started to fight the puck for the last 4-5 minutes of the game. It looked like it could unravel any second for the Whalers, and then Chuck Gaede was called for tripping LaCroix at 5:40. It was a tough call because both were leaning and reaching forward for the puck, and Gaede got his stick tangled underneath LaCroix even though LaCroix was possibly already on his way down. The thing is both refs had their hands up on this one, so there was no doubt. Regardless, it started to look like a predictable and classic late Whalers collapse and late Gamblers comeback. Lallier re-focused, and came up with 2 big saves on the PK against the MMA line pushing hard on their PP. Hamel had a shorthanded chance and Condon came up with the BIG GLOVE at 4:03 to keep his team in it! I felt the Whalers made bad decisions regarding who was on the ice in the final 2-3 minutes of the game, and feared they would regret not shortening their bench or calling a timeout. However, in the final minute of the game it was the MMA line against the "Young Guns" Hamel-Vose-Gramling line. Hamel knocked down a high clearing attempt with his back turned just catching it in his peripheral vision with 36 seconds to go. The Gamblers called a timeout, and the face-off came deep into the Whalers zone to the right of Lallier. The Gamblers pushed hard, and worked the puck to the front of the net, and the whistle clearly went BEFORE the play with 0:11.9 seconds left on the clock as the Gamblers jammed at the puck and forced Lallier and the puck over the goal line. I could see and hear it from the scorebox that the puck and the goalie were in the net AFTER the whistle blew, so there is zero controversy and the refs got it right. Lallier and the Whalers held on for the final seconds and the classic "Do you believe in miracles?" was shouted from the #6 seed Whalers bench as they upset the #1 juggernaut Gamblers who hadn't lost in 22 games for the Whalers' first ever franchise appearance in the Whalen Cup Final. CONGRATS!

Final Score: Whalers 5, Gamblers 4

Final Tally & Analysis: Seely led all scorers with 1G, 2A, and his line had 7 of 10 Gamblers points. Only Marrazzo had a single point generated for the fabled MMA line. Malcolm was solid positionally as usual, and chipped in with a solid 1G, 1A; LaCroix had 2A; and JY and Fraser each had goals from the point. Condon faced a little more than his usual low 20's shot total, and saw 28 potential goals come his way, but he came away with an uncharacteristic 0.821 save percentage, and allowed a goal on the first and third shots of the game, and another goal on the first shot of the second period. Extremely poor timing on the goals allowed, and a below average outing by the Gamblers' goaltender and top line did them in, and the Cinderella upset was complete. Ken "Father Time" Lallier, on the bad side of 45 with multiple knee surgeries and a still burning desire to compete, played one of his best games ever in 8 UVHL seasons when it counted most. I was particularly impressed with how Kenny fought through a rough patch in the 3rd that in the past could have been the Whalers' undoing. But, this team has been playing great hockey for 4-5 weeks now and is in a roll, feeling loose, having fun, and are enjoying themselves, maybe a little too much with pre and post-game "rituals", whatever those may be. Lallier faced 45 shots and came away with a clutch emergency 0.911 save percentage. In every other game this seson for the Gamblers, they won with those kind of stats: over 40 shots for, low 20's against, domination of their top line, support from their 2nd line, and solid Bordeur-like goaltending. But not on this night. Leading the Whalers on offense (NOT defensive play!) was Jason "Ultra Toe Drag" Gramling, who scored a clutch game changing goal and added another one for good measure; AJ Hamel had 1G, 1A; Jason Rouillard had 2A; Jay Zaneloni had the GWG and played great all night on D directing traffic, blocking shots, and frustrating the MMA line; Chris Gogan had 1G; and Kirt Johnson and Nick Hall had 1A each. Therefore, Tuck and the Gamblers will face-off at 7:00 in a Battle for the Bronze. The Whalers are well overdue for playoff glory, and I am happy to see it come together for them this season! Their date with destiny and first Whalen Cup Final is April 12th at 8:25 PM against the upstart Dead River Oilers. It will be a 4 vs. 6 match-up for the Cup, so don't miss it, cuz the fat lady hasn't sung yet!

See you on the ice!

McD
LEAGUE PICK 'EM
 67%
Gamblers
33% 
Whalers
6 PICKS
THREE STARS

Ken Lallier

GA: 4
SAVES: 41
SAVE%: 0.911

Jason Gramling

GOALS: 2
POINTS: 2

Evan Seely

GOALS: 1
POINTS: 3

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