UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Gamblers Seek Revenge Against Nordiques

ODDS:	Gamblers By 2 Goals
OVER/UNDER:	8 Goals

We're five weeks into the season and every team has faced off against each other once. Both the Nordiques and Gamblers sit at 3-2-0 with the Nordiques shocking the hockey world with a 4-3 win over the Gamblers in week one.

There is plenty of Parity in the UVHL this season, but truth be told, the Gamblers are still the team to beat. They may have started off slowly, but their top line is back in full swing with an equally dangerous second line. Five of their forwards are in the top 11 in scoring.

The Nordiques have shot themselves in the foot a couple times this season with mistakes all over the ice. They've looked brilliant in a game like that 4-3 win over the Gamblers, and then completely flat in their 5-3 loss to the Whalers last week. To keep this game close, the Nordiques will need to clean up their own zone.

Gamblers are too hot right now. This will probably be a close game through 2 periods with the Gamblers pulling away in the third period.

5-3 Gamblers...unless McDermott and Park get too much ice-time, then it could be 10-2 Gamblers.

Gamblers Prevail 2-1 After Questionable Penalty Shot & Late Goal.

Ah what a game. Both the Nordiques & Gamblers were 3-2-0 coming into tonight's action and the Gamblers were looking for a bit of redemption after being shocked 4-3 in week 1. This was a great, high-tempo and physical game. The Nordiques clearly had a game plan going into this one. Play Physical, play defense and shut down the MAM line. They did just that, but in the meantime also limited their offensive chances.

The Gamblers outshot the Nordiques 30-17, forcing the Nord's goaltender, Johnny "Goalie McNasty" Turner to play his best game in years. This wasn't his highest shot total of his career, but he made at least 15 or 20 top notch saves.
At the other end of the ice the Gambler's Ryan Van Schoik only had to make 17 saves and about 5 or 6 really good ones.

In the end, this game came down to a questionable call from the refs, or if you ask the Nordiques, an absolutely horrible fucking travesty of a call in a 1-0 game with just 9:38 to play. With the Nordiques up 1-0, the Gamblers put the puck on net where it sat in the crease behind Turner. A Nord's defenseman pushed the puck under Turner and then got caved in from behind by Allison "Captain Hook" Malcolm, landing in the crease. Referee Greg "W.A.G.H.I.P." Hadley, from the corner, claimed that the Nordiques defenseman closed his hand on the puck even though it was underneath Turner and called for a penalty shot...in a 1-0 game. The proceeding penalty shot was taken by Ryan "Goose / Thing 2" LaCroix and fired 5-hole on Turner which squeeked through and dribbled into the net to tie the game at 1 apiece.

With 5 minutes remaining the Nordiques went on the power play looking to take the lead. The proceeding power play may have been the ugliest, sloppiest and most pathetic man advantage the UVHL has ever seen. It was a combination of the Gambler"s positional play and the Nordiques complete and utter ineptitude. The end result was ZERO shots on goal and about 10 seconds of total play in the Gambler"s defensive zone.

The game continued as both teams seemed to be playing for the shootout until the last minute when a Nordique bad change mixed with their forwards hanging too high with their heads up their asses saw the Gamblers make some nice plays to keep the puck in the zone and force an odd man advantage. Mike "The Muscle" Harrington got the puck at the near boards and moved it down low Allison "Captain Hook" Malcolm. "It was the most beautiful backhand sauce ever" recalled Malcolm about the pass to Toppo "Thing 1" LaCroix, who cut across the tops of the circles on his forehand and fired a shot through a charging Nordique's defenseman. The puck changed direction off the defenseman's skate, broke off Turner's left pad, and just inside the far post for the solid win for the Gamblers.

"This is a tough one to swallow." Recalled the Nordique"s Shawn "McDefense" McDermott. "It"s going to eat at me through the entire Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend." The Nords played a solid defensive game, held a lead late and gave the game away. "We knew we couldn"t Run-And-Gun with the Gambler"s offense. We said, %u2018Protect our end. Play them tough. Keep them to the perimeter. Let Turner make some huge saves, and we have a chance to win this one."" Was captain Pierce "Mayhem" Mayhew"s game plan. It was a great game to watch and be a part of, and it came down to one goal. The Gamblers were the better team and almost doubled the Nordiques in shots on net. For the first time in UVHL history, the MAM line of Marrazzo, Ammel & Meyer were held pointless...kudos to the Nordiques.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
NDQ	06:38	Goal	McGee, Jordan(10)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	00:35	Penalty	McGee, Jordan(3)	2 minutes for Hooking
2nd PERIOD
GMB	01:07	Penalty	Harrington, Mike(1)	2 minutes for Holding
3rd PERIOD
GMB	09:38	Goal	LaCroix, Ryan(7)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	08:07	Penalty	McDermott, Shawn(2)	2 minutes for Interference
GMB	05:00	Penalty	Bergeron, Ryan(2)	2 minutes for Roughing
GMB	00:41	Goal	LaCroix, Topo(3)	Assist(s): Malcolm, Allison(1) Harrington, Mike(3)

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Game Comments:
hkydoc WRJ, VT Registered: Jan 2004 Posts: 517	Ouch, Park. Nov 20th, 2012 08:49 PM Hasn't anyone told you that words hurt? You could have been somewhat nice and said 7-2 with us on the ice, but NO, you just HAD to go into double digits... Now I have a complex. I'm going to eat my emotions... Wait - I've already been doing that! McD