UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Umm... didn't anyone tell you guys no yellow and no gray?!?! That's like the very first rule of pick-up hockey, eh. Not only are the jerseys fugly but they are confusing when you're supposed to pass to a dark or a white. Well thankfully this wasn't pick-up hockey. This is the UVHL and it's a real effin' game cuz there was no confusion out there but the jerseys were still fugly both ways. Time for some serious upgrades, eh. I think the Lumberjacks' jerseys look like cheese vomit.

 

I have a disclaimer this week for the game write-ups though... I'm sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Florida getting ready to hop on a 5-day cruise and I'm using only my game notes chicken scratched in horrendous doctor cursive onto a yellow legal pad. My apologies to all those who got goals and assists (and penalties, too!) because I won't be going through every one of them. You'll have to check out the game stats on your own for this one. Kelly and Will are gonna dock my pay 50% as a result and I'll only be able to buy one Busch Light 20oz Brewtus for 4 bucks and a one dollar tip at Applebee's post-game on my return.

After a week 1 bye, the Mustangs made their UVHL debut against a very seasoned Lumberjacks team.  Seasoned with cheap beer and bad aftershave.

The Lumberjacks' Dillan Pierce had a breakaway a minute into the first and was stopped by the Lumberjack's netminder, Colin Farr. Mustangs forward Will Mudge had a hard fall in the corner at 11:21 and his helmet came off but he was okay. There were lots of missed nets by the Mustangs early on and they had only one legit SOG until 7:43. A 2-on-1 for the Mustangs tied it up with Matt Derouchie scoring from Jamal Sabky. The Lumberjacks were in the box with Evan Seely sitting down for a hook but the Mustangs killed it off. Interestingly enough, there were no other SOG's for the Mustangs after the 7:43 mark of the first except for their two goals. Sabky put the Mustangs up 2-1 with just under 3 minutes to go in the first from Derouchie and Schuyler St. Germaine.  Shots were 12-5 for the Lumberjacks at the end of the first with the Mustangs holding a 2-1 lead.

 

Early in the second a 1-on-1 and a nice shot by Mad Max Gavin found the back of the net on the Mustangs' goal at 13:53. The Lumberjacks cleared out a wraparound attempt to keep it 3-1 in favor of the Mustangs. The Jack's Andrew Kimbell deked out the Stangs defense and goalie to bring it within one. Jordan McGee was handled nicely by Maggie LaGue on a 1-on-1 attempt by the Lumberjacks star. On the very next shift Tim Patten missed the net high over Farr's glove side. The Mustangs just missed the net on a nice tip and on the very next play and the Lumberjacks did the exact same thing at the other end. Late in the 2nd it was Neil "The Real Deal" MacKenzie with Anderson Harris on a 2-on-1 vs. Maggie LaGue resulting in a nice glove save by Farr. Mustangs Greg Dadekian deked himself out and had a total whiff in the slot in tight right after the Lumberjacks tying goal. One job... Farr made a last second save to finish the second with shots at 24-11.

 

Honestly... the ice looked slow tonight. Or was it just the aging demographic of the UVHL? Time will tell, I guess, cuz the ice is almost always great quality at the WABA here in Hartford, VT. Seely and Andrew Miraldi convened in the Lumberjacks penalty box to give the Mustangs a 2 man advantage. A nice defensive stop was made by Kevin Clarkson on Matthew "May" Day blocking a shot after their first penalty was killed off and it was back to 5-on-4. A broken stick off a howitzer shot by the Mustangs sent the blade flying high over the net into the glass behind the Lumberjacks net with a carbon clang and on the next play at the other end a shot to the goalie's head by Lumberjacks was echoing throughout the rink. Farr made yet another good glove save with 4:14 to go. A nice passing play by the Jacks to an open player at Farr's right made it an easy goal at 3:39. The Mustangs pulled Farr with 1:48 to go but an empty netter finished the scoring leaving it at 7-4 for the Jacks and the shot totals in their favor 35-18.

 

Final thoughts... This was my first time seeing the Mustangs. They controlled a good part of the game until the Lumberjacks got going and eventually caught up to complete the comeback. Regardless, the Stangs dominated for a while until the depth of the Jacks slowly took over. This wasn't a pretty game, and it was uneventful for a lot of it with many missed nets and passes. It kind of looked like a Mud League game to be perfectly honest... a mix of A and B level players playing to different abilities and with varying efforts. Don't get me wrong here. The game didn't suck. It just wasn't a UVHL classic or up to the old standard when we were all young and beautiful back in the mid-2000's and early 2010's, that's all.

 

MVP? Both Farr and Maggie LaGue stood out for me in a losing cause. Farr was peppered with 35 shots and made some memorable saves. LaGue was solid defensively and was right up there with her female peers of the UVHL's past lady high school and college players that graced us with their presence.

 

LVP? Every single one of you pathetic post-game losers that weren't there at Applebee's to greet me there after I and 9 out of 10 Tuckies arrived after the late game. Boooo! Bad form. And you call yourselves hockey players? A beer in the parking lot doesn't count, eh... not that anyone did that (official legal disclaimer).

Mustangs
#	Player	W/L	GA	Saves	Save%
1	Farr, Colin	L	6	28	0.824
#	Player	G	A	Pts	PIMs
37	Clarkson, Kevin	0	0	0
29	Dadekian, Gregory	0	1	1
23	Derouchie, Matt	1	1	2
1	Farr, Colin	0	0	0
39	Gavin, Max	2	0	2
16	LaGue, Maggie	0	0	0
5	Mudge, Chris	0	0	0
8	Mudge, William	0	1	1
20	Sabky, Jamal	1	1	2
43	Smith, Jack	0	0	0
42	St. Germain , Schuyler	0	2	2

Lumberjacks
#	Player	W/L	GA	Saves	Save%
1	Libbey, Ryan	W	4	14	0.778
#	Player	G	A	Pts	PIMs
16	Day, Matthew	1	0	1
10	Frisch, Ryan	0	1	1
11	Gattie, Marc	0	1	1
20	Harris, Anderson	1	0	1
21	Kimbell, Andrew	1	0	1
17	laBelle, Jared	0	0	0
1	Libbey, Ryan	0	0	0
22	MacKenzie, Neil	0	0	0
8	McGee, Jordan	2	1	3
6	Miraldi, Andrew	0	3	3	2
9	Patten, Tim	0	1	1
3	Pierce, Dillan	2	3	5
4	Seely, Evan	0	0	0	4
19	Zanleoni, Jay	0	2	2