UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Nordiques Look For 3rd Straight Win Against Whalers

ODDS:	Nords By 2 Goals
OVER/UNDER:	10 Goals

After loosing two straight games, let me rephrase that, after the Nordiques got slaughtered in back to back games by Tuck(9-0) and the Gamblers(6-1) they have bounced back with a pair of wins against Dead River to sit 3-2-0 on the young season. Yes, we will keep that in perspective, they beat Dead River twice...but the first one was an aweful abortion of a hockey game that saw the Nordiques squeak away with a 3-2 win. The second game was a MUCH better defensive and offensive output by the Nordiques as they ran Dead River into the ground 8-1.

The Whalers only win this season also was credited to Dead River in a 5-4 barn burner. They've recorded a pair of 5-2 losses to the high powered Gamblers and an 11-3 slaughter at the hands of the Tuckies. Week 1 saw a 6-3 loss to this week's opponent the Nordiques.

The Whalers miss the offensive exploits of "Jumbo" Joe Gaudet this year but Woody "Youngblood" Redpath has recorded a point in all 4 games played this season and paired with Scotty "Sugar" Shaw and Jimmy "Clutch" Kerrigan and they've got a dynamic offensive threat.

The Nords are powered by Jordy "McBreakaway" McGee who finally broke through last week with 3 goals and 2 assists and Roger "The Drill" Phillips (5 goals). Their typical shutdown defensive system has been spotty to start this season but they seem to have worked out some of the bugs.

Goaltending...the Nords clearly have the advantage with Johnny "Temper Tantrum" Turner's 4.20 GAA and .892 Save % compared to Kenny "Arthritic Old Man" Lallier's 6.20 GAA & 8.25 Save %.

Vegas says Nords win this on 6-4 with Redpath putting in at least 2 goals.

Whalers Out-duel Nordiques 7-4

The Nordiques were favored in this one by a pair of goals based on their season opening 6-3 win. Apparently that was a fluke as the Whalers dismantled the Nordiques tonight 7-4. They started the night out by putting the Nordiques in a 4-0 hole and finished strong with 3 in the third. The Nordiques were completely outclassed tonight, except for the efforts of Jorday "McBreakaway" McGee who scored 3 goals and added an assist to help his team dig out of that hole.

The Whalers had a great night from their goaltender Kenny "The Legend" Lallier who gets the thankless 4th star in this one for putting up 32 saves and the win. Offensively they were supported by Scotty "Sugar" Shaw's 2 goals and 2 assists and James "Nord Killer" Kerrigan put up a goal and three first assists against his old team. Jay "The Zamboni" Zanleoni was an early contributor with a pair of early goals including an 80 foot dump-in that caught the Nordique's Johnny "Temper Tantrum" Turner napping.

The scoring started almost 9 minutes in on a Whaler's power play. A turnover high in the Nordique's zone turned into a shot by rookie Kevin "Santa" Clausen. Dillan Pierce gobbled up the rebound and put it past Turner. Then things went to shit for the Nordiques as they let in 3 goals in 58 seconds. The first one happened when Gary "The Pearl" LaPerle entered the zone on the far boards, cut back and threw a 27 MPH wrister on net from the blue line. Nord's defenseman Kelly "Always In The Way" Park screened Turner who never saw the puck that passed him inside the post blocker side. Turner was caught napping 29 seconds later by Zanleoni's dump in and then Zanleoni followed that play up by 29 seconds after that goal by taking a Nord's defenseman wide, cutting across the crease and roofing a backhander upstairs over the splayed out Turner. Absolutely nasty goal.

That was a pretty fugly start for the Nordiques and exactly where the Whalers were looking for. The next shift was dominated by the McGee line as he beat Lallier on a breakaway and then found Pierce "Mayhem" Mayhew from behind the net to get his team back within a pair of goals.

END OF THE FIRST: Whalers 4, Nordiques 2. Turner(NDQ) 11 Saves, Lallier(WHL) 13 Saves

McGee turned a turnover in the neutral zone into another goal at 13:41 of the second period storming in all alone on Lallier and going to his backhand and then Mayhew sent him in again with just 25 seconds left to play tying the game at 4 goals apiece heading into intermission.

END OF THE SECOND: Whalers 4, Nordiques 4. Turner(NDS) 22 Saves, Lallier(WHL) 25 Saves

The Nordiques clearly were way too happy with themselves after digging out of pit of despair and tying the game. They should have focused on playing hockey as the Whalers clearly were pissed about giving up that 4 goal lead and played with more of an edge than the Nordiques. You know what they say in hockey...a 4 goal lead is the toughest to keep.

The trio of goals started with two only 11 seconds apart, both on rebounds off of high shots, and both saw the goal scorers beat the Nordique's defensemen to the rebound. The first came off a Scotty Shaw breakaway where he threw a high shot off of Turner's shoulder, the rebound dropped just outside of the crease and Jimmy Kerrigan pounced on the rebound...5-4. Just 11 seconds later a high shot by Kerrigan off of Turner's mask landed in the slot and Shaw jammed that one home...6-4. The 3rd goal was 3 minutes later, but came on a 2 on 1 where Kerrigan drew defenseman Kelly Park to the near post and dropped the pass to Scotty Shaw in the low slot. Shaw fired a one-timer far side up and over Turner's shoulder. A ridiculously nice shot with not much to shoot at.

END OF REGULATION: Whalers 7, Nordiques 4. Lallier(WHL) 32 Saves, Turner(NDQ) 31 saves.

Whalers wanted it more, Nordiques had many mental lapses in this game. Whalers earned it and were clearly the better team tonight. Rematch on January 7th, should be a great game.

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
NDQ	06:59	Penalty	Park, Kelly(3)	2 minutes for Hooking
WHL	06:09	Goal	(PP)Pierce, Dillan (2)	Assist(s): Clausen, Kevin(1) Zanleoni, Jay(2)
WHL	03:35	Goal	Laperle, Gary(1)	Assist(s): Pierce, Dillan (2) Crapser, Tom(2)
WHL	03:06	Goal	Zanleoni, Jay(3)	Assist(s): Kerrigan, James(1)
WHL	02:37	Goal	Zanleoni, Jay(4)	Assist(s): Shaw, Scott(3)
NDQ	01:49	Goal	McGee, Jordan(6)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	01:18	Goal	Mayhew, Pierce(2)	Assist(s): McGee, Jordan(5) Racicot, Brian(2)
2nd PERIOD
NDQ	13:41	Goal	McGee, Jordan(7)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	00:25	Goal	McGee, Jordan(8)	Assist(s): Mayhew, Pierce(4)
3rd PERIOD
WHL	11:33	Goal	Kerrigan, James(6)	Assist(s): Shaw, Scott(4) Redpath, Woody(8)
WHL	11:22	Goal	Shaw, Scott(4)	Assist(s): Kerrigan, James(2)
WHL	08:32	Goal	Shaw, Scott(5)	Assist(s): Kerrigan, James(3) Redpath, Woody(9)
WHL	02:30	Penalty	Pierce, Dillan (1)	2 minutes for Cross Checking

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