UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Blues look to continue dominance over Whalers

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Whalers sing the Blues, lose 6-1 to Labatt.

Another week in the UVHL, another week the Whalers get their asses kicked.  This week it was the highly skilled Labatt Blues that did the whoopin'.  In all reality, it was actually a pretty good effort put forth by the Whalers through two periods, despite being down 0-2 and outshot 25-12.  The Whalers were without team anchor...I mean team manager Kelly Park and their starting goaltender Tucker "Litte Sexy" Garrity-Hanchett.  Filling in for TGH was the Lumberjack's netminder, Ryan "The Libido" Libbey.  Libido was solid between the pipes tonight, giving the Whalers a chance and turning away 34 shots on the night.  

"I always wanted to know what it was like to play for the Whalers.  Now I know.  I would compare it to some sort of medievel torture, where they just let people throw stones at you for an hour straight." Said Libbey.

The Blues brought some talent yet again, with big nights from Kyle "King" Richards(2g, 1a), Max  Major(1g, 2a), Colin Clark(2g) and Keith "Bubba" Lazarczyk(1g,1a) leading the way.  Big contributions on the backend from defensemen Mikey Anderson(2a), Tyler "T-Bone" White(2a) and Jake Rick(1a) as they played solidly in front of their goaltender Jon "Showtime" Hall.  Hall wasn't tested early, only needing to turn aside 12 pucks in the first 2 periods, but was much busier in the 3rd period as the Whalers became desperate and carried play, putting 16 shots on Hall.

Yet again it was turnovers and poor defensive zone play that plagued the Whalers...that and the fact that I've seen U10 players with better shots than the Whalers.  Watch the video recap below to truly understand the depths of despair that the Whaler's defensive zone is in.

The Blues worked the puck around early in this game, looking like a power play despite it being 5 on 5.  It did take a full 5 minutes before they were finally able to beat Libbey on a horrible turnover by a Whaler forward, leading to a 2 on 0 where King Richards hit Bubba back door.  

A ton of puck watching by the Whalers combined with a GORGEOUS drop pass from Rick to Richards led to a 2-0 lead for the Blues with just under 5 minutes to play.  You would think being down 0-2 after one period would be horrible, but at the end of the day, that was a huge win for the Whalers who gave up 6 goals in the first period last time these two teams played.

END OF THE FIRST PERIOD: Whalers 0, Blues 2.  SHOTS: Whalers 8, Blues 13.

The middle frame was pure domination from the Blues.  They peppered Libbey like a good ribeye and only allowed 4 shots on Hall.  It was pure survival for the Whalers, but did manage to make Hall work near the end of the period.  No goals scored and only one penalty called on Brian "Smith for tripping.

END OF THE SECOND PERIOD: Whalers 0, Blues 2.  SHOTS: Whalers 12, Blues 25.

The Whalers finally woke up in the third and started to carry play at times, pushing Hall to make some big saves.  It took almost seven minutes for someone to break the ice, and it was Colin Clark with a pair of goals mid-way through the period.  Both of Clark's goals were assisted by Anderson and White.  The first came on a feed from White as he entered the zone, cruising to the faceoff dot to the left of Libbey before firing a quick snapper that beat the Whaler's net-protector far side, possibly using the defenseman as a screen.  The second goal was a result of poor defense, as Clark got to rebound off of Anderson's point shot before the 3 Whalers that were there could, sliding the puck in past a down and out Libbey.

Teddy "Puff Daddy" Pupilla notched the Whaler's lone goal, unassisted, after pulling a loose puck off the boards, cutting back on a Blues attacker and beating Hall low glove side.  Great goal, but just not enough.

The Whalers continued to push, notching 16 total shots in the period and this game should have ended in a 4-1 loss, but a handful of mistakes in the final minute lead to a pair of goals for the Blues.  Maxie Major found a loose puck on the near boards and let a bomb go through a screen that beat Libbey with 32 seconds to play, and just 12 seconds later another Major slapshot left a rebound that two Whaler's defenders couldn't get to before Richards got his second of the game.  No balls in front of that net for the Whalers.  If they want to have ANY success this year, one of two things needs to happen..

1.  They will need to play better in their third of the ice, toughen up and help out their goaltender.
2. The other team will have to forfeit and not show up.

Check out the video recap below:



The Whalers did have