UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Will Whalers Get Last Laugh Against Gamblers

ODDS:	Gamblers By 2
OVER/UNDER:	12 Goals

Last season the Gamblers took a 21-0-0 record into the last game of the regular season. Their opponent that night? The lowly, last placed Whalers. The Whalers ruined the Gambler's bid for a perfect season. They met again 4 weeks later where the WHalers upset the top ranked Gamblers in Overtime to win the Whalen Cup. Fast forward through this season and the Gamblers have beaten the Whalers all 4 times they've faced them this season.

Can the Whalers upset the Gamblers again? Knock them off their pedestal heading into the playoffs? It's possible, but highly unlikely. The Gamblers got all of their losses out of the way early as they started the season off 8-5-0. Since then, they have rattled off 8 straight wins and sit at the top of the standings. The Whalers sit in 5th place(out of 6 teams) witha sub-500 record(8-11-2). They've been great at times and horrible at others. Their -8 Goal differential is not good until you realize that they've scored a gaudy 119 goals and then realize that they've let up a remarkable 127 goals this season, over 6 goals per game. Their opponents have a league high 53 Goal Differential on a 122/69 goals for / against line.

If the Whalers can get their full roster to show up including the league leading point producer "Jumbo" Joe Gaudet(60 points), Scotty "Sugar" Shaw(46 points) and Woody Redpath(39 points)...they can keep this one interesting...losing 7-5...if not, this will be an 8-3, 9-4 game.

Whalers Slow Start Puts Them in 7-0 Hole, Lose 12-5 To Gamblers

The Gamblers absolutely took it to the Whalers early as they mounted a 7 goal lead in the first 9 minutes of play. The Whaler's netminder Kenny "Le Mustache" Lallier was not sharp and had some issues with rebounds early on. Matty "The Milkman" Marrazzo lead the way with a hat trick in the first seven minutes while the LaCroix brothers(Thing 1 & 2) combined for their own 'trick.

That seventh goal lit a fire under the asses of the Whalers, who were without 2 of their top 3 scorers in Joe Gaudet and Woody Redpath. That fire produced 4 goals in a 5 minute span to get the Whalers back in this game. Jay Zanleoni lead the charge with a pair of goals and a helper.

End of the first and it looked like the Whalers might actually make it a game but the Gamblers kept rolling. They added another three goals in the second and two in the third while keeping the Whalers to just one more goal.

Overall, Lallier had a very rough night saving only 28 of 40 while his counterpart was 23 for 28. The Gamblers used 6 different goal scorers and 7 total players added points. Marrazzo was outstanding early the MAG line(Marrazzo, Dan "The Danimal" Ammel(1g,1a) and Marc "The Narc" Gattie(1g,2a) put up a total of 9 points. The second line of Cody Dodds(2g,3a), Ryan "Thing 2" LaCroix(2g,3a) and Topo "Thing 1" LaCroix(2g,4) were even better as they combined for 16 points on the night.

The Whaler's top line of Jay "The Zamboni" Zanleoni(2g,2a), Scotty "Sugar" Shaw(1g,2a) and Ryerson Stinson(1g,1a) were the only bright spot for the Whale who's defense, goaltending and defensive zone coverage were all exploited. The Whalers, with the right players, are a much better team than they showed tonight. With the right players they are legitimate contenders for the Whalen Cup.

The Gamblers showed why they have both the President's cup and a league leading 134 goals scored this season. Chances are that the Gamblers and Whalers will meet in the semi-finals on April 5th.

Some game notes:

GMB - Scored 5 goals in the first 6 minutes. Lallier was leaving rebounds like unwanted used condoms at a crack house.

GMB 1-0 - Rouillard falls down, Topo makes Lallier look foolish with Patrick Kane-esque deke to his backhand up top.

GMB 2-0 - Matty passed down low to Gattie crashing the net, snuck through Lallier along the ice.

GMB 3-0 - Gattie pulls a rebound off of Lallier, who should have covered it. Gattie can't jam it home but Marrazzo does.

GMB 4-0 - Goose one-on-one and lets a bomb go from the top of the near circle, high glove side on Lallier. Weak goal. Lallier was behind his goal line.

GMB 5-0 - Matty rebound

GMB 6-0 - Gattie picks off a pass in the slot and snipes high glove

GMB 7-0 -

WHL 7-1 - Two passes and stinson comes out of the corner, bad angle glove side along the ice.

WHL 7-2 - Zanleoni shoots while Shaw is crashing the net hard.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
GMB	13:30	Goal	LaCroix, Topo(13)	Assist(s): Dodds, Cody(1)
GMB	11:39	Goal	Marrazzo, Matt(28)	Assist(s): Gattie, Marc(19)
GMB	10:36	Goal	Marrazzo, Matt(29)	Assist(s): Gattie, Marc(20)
GMB	10:12	Goal	LaCroix, Ryan(30)	Assist(s): LaCroix, Topo(22) Bergeron, Ryan(15)
GMB	09:06	Goal	Marrazzo, Matt(30)	Assist(s): none
GMB	08:01	Goal	Gattie, Marc(8)	Assist(s): none
GMB	06:30	Goal	LaCroix, Ryan(31)	Assist(s): Dodds, Cody(2) LaCroix, Topo(23)
WHL	05:08	Goal	Stinson, Ryerson(4)	Assist(s): Zanleoni, Jay(21) Shaw, Scott(27)
WHL	03:40	Goal	Zanleoni, Jay(17)	Assist(s): Shaw, Scott(28)
WHL	02:31	Goal	Crapser, Tom(7)	Assist(s): Stinson, Ryerson(7)
WHL	00:33	Goal	Zanleoni, Jay(18)	Assist(s): Pierce, Dillan (15)
2nd PERIOD
GMB	14:45	Goal	Ammel, Robert(21)	Assist(s): none
GMB	08:45	Goal	LaCroix, Topo(14)	Assist(s): LaCroix, Ryan(12) Dodds, Cody(3)
WHL	05:36	Penalty	Pierce, Dillan (6)	2 minutes for Roughing
GMB	05:36	Penalty	Harrington, Mike(9)	2 minutes for Roughing
GMB	03:49	Goal	Dodds, Cody(5)	Assist(s): LaCroix, Ryan(13) LaCroix, Topo(24)
WHL	03:05	Goal	Shaw, Scott(21)	Assist(s): Zanleoni, Jay(22)
3rd PERIOD
GMB	14:59	Penalty	LaCroix, Topo(7)	2 minutes for Cross Checking
GMB	06:48	Goal	Marrazzo, Matt(31)	Assist(s): Ammel, Robert(20)
GMB	04:26	Goal	Dodds, Cody(6)	Assist(s): LaCroix, Ryan(14) LaCroix, Topo(25)

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