UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Tuck vs Mustangs - Round 2

Tuck(-225) is back and followed up their first half dominance with a pair of wins; 9-3 over the Whalers and 8-5 over the Lumberjacks.  The Mustangs(+225) are riding a 7 game losing streak, dating back to November 8th when they somehow beat Tuck 6-5 in a shootout.  The Mustang's goaltender Colin Farr "From Bad" stood on his head that game and played much larger than his 5' 4" frame.  Farr sits dead last in Wins(1) & GAA(5.11) and second to last in Save%(.822), but his numbers don't tell the full story as the team in front of him have been trash in their defensive zone, giving up a dozen or so high quality scoring opportunities per game to their opponents.  At the other end of the ice, Tuck's Matt "Bet on Me" Betten has been solid with the second best GAA(3.40) in the league.  His .843 save percentage is 3rd.

Luckily for the Mustang's, Tuck is coming off a LONG weekend where they hosted the annual Tuck Business School Tournament, losing in the finals on Sunday morning to a tough squad from Booth, 6-5.  Tuck rode a short bench and looked absolutely gassed and/or hungover on Sunday morning.  4 games and some serious partying all weekend surely will have an effect on the Tuckies and I would assume we will not see their best effort tonight.

Their league leading offense has been outstanding, led by the "Perfection Line" of Luke "The Stick" Stickel(27pts), Aidan "Rocky" Balboni(27pts) & Jon "Karma" Carkeek(25pts).  Carkeek has been missing the past week after welcoming a new baby to his family.  

If the Mustangs can talk some of their stud defensemen into staying up past 8pm, this should be a good game.  The team is significantly different with Chris Warrington, Max Gavin, Maggie Lague & Craig Switzer on the blue line.

Their offense has been improving weekly with the addition of Matti "Hart Trophy" Hartman (1g, 7a in 6gp).  Hartman's chemistry with Schuyler "The Tower" St. Germain(7g, 4a in 8gp) and Matt Derouchie (3g, 7a in 9gp) has been solid.

We will see what happens and whether Tuck was able to rest up enough since the weekend.  If the Mustangs want to be successful, they need to play stellar defense when 22-12-91 are on the ice.

Vegas thinks that this is still a Tuck win by 3 goals with an over under of 9 Goals.

Mustangs Outlast Shorthanded Tuck, 4-3

Tuck entered this game fresh off a loss in the final of their annual tournament this past weekend. Kelly and Will reffed it and said that the Tuckies were dead tired by the time Sunday morning came around, but at least they beat those Harvard fucks 2-1 on Saturday night at Campion, right? RIIIGHT? Atta go, boys. That was definitely the most important game of the tourney. Consider the message sent to those arrogant Masshole fucks. So, to start this game it was “The Healthy Seven” on the ice with Betten between the pipes against 9 very determined Mustangs with chips on their shoulders and the very capable Colin Farr defending the ‘Stangs net. However, at the start of the game Betten was nowhere to be seen, so the Tuckies started off 6-on-5 and the Mustangs were neighing and kicking the ground in anticipation of a stat padding embarrassment they could put on Tuck. Believe it or not… Tuck got the first SOG, the Mustangs barely got possession, and Betten made his way into the net at 14:14. Opportunity wasted! You coulda been up 2-0 by that point, eh! Especially with a Warrington sighting. Chris made his first appearance in about 6 weeks by my estimation, and his presence always changes the game for the Mustangs. The ‘Stangs had a 3-on-1 with three of the tallest UVHLers in the league with St. Germain, Warrington and Smith trying to beat the Tuck defender and Betten but no dice. Shots were even 6-6 @ 7:07. Warrington was moving well with the puck advancing it up the ice or finding a teammate with a good pass. Tuck looked like a cohesive unit out there after playing together so much in the past week, and not even Warrington could penetrate or generate a scoring chance to beat Betten or Tuck’s defense in the first. In fact, Mikey “It’s Long” Yablong and Jack “Always Horny” Torney played the WHOLE GAME on defense for Tuck. Fucking impressive, guys. I know all too well that’s not easy having to hold back and pace yourself the entire game. I hope you had a case of Pedialite and massage girls back in the locker room post-game. The only goal of the period was scored in this very even contest when Matthew “I Have No Nickname Yet” Goff solved Farr at 4:40 from Nick “Ice Water” Sullivan and Mikey “It’s Long” Yablong. The period finished 1-0 Tuck and shots 14-9 in Tuck’s favor.

In the 2nd, Sully had a big bang into the boards after an accidental and awkward collision with Kevin Clarkson in the first minute of play. Luckily, everyone emerged unscathed. Warrington went end-to-end but was stopped by Sully on a backhand chance in tight to the net. Warrington was fed a pass by Jack Smith and unleashed a nice point shot that was tipped in front by St. Germain at 11:52 to tie the game at 1 apiece. The Mustangs went up 2-1 at 8:07 on their third consecutive shot when Will Mudge found the top corner from Greg “DeDick” Dadekian and Jack Smith. Aidan “Rocky” Balboni answered less than 30 seconds later at 7:40 going 5-holio off a pass from Jack “Always Horny” Torney. Shots were 14-14 at the 6:31 mark. Yablong made a nice defensive stop in the slot on St. Germain. Warrington almost went end-to-end again, but a teammate went offside to negate the play at 5:19. One job… Balboni continued his hot streak and went on a nice break up the L side for a goal at 5:11, but no assists were given out on the play. Parky will correct that, I’m sure, all you stat whores. Unfortunately, I was cock blocked by a ref on the goal and could not see how it went in. Shots were tied up at 20-20 at about the 4:00 mark. At 3:34 I couldn’t see it, but I think I heard Betten take a shot right in the melon. Warrington put a shot just over the net from the slot late in the period and shots finished up at 23-20 for the Mustangs.

In the 3rd, there were two missed nets early on good chances. There were no fans in the stands all night long… probably because the Whalers weren’t playing and their girlfriends weren’t there. The rink seemed eerily empty all night, but the freezing rain didn’t help. The first legit SOG of the period happened at 12:48 by the subbing Ray Nolan for the ‘Stangs, and it found the back of the net assisted by Brian Geraghty after a bad clearing attempt by Tuck. The score was 3-3 in this very even contest with most of the period still to go. The contest got a little chippy after Greg “DeDick” Dadekian fouled Matt “Pinot Grigio” Ouelette and there was no call on the play. Ouelette took exception and Dadekian responded in kind. Words and shoves were exchanged but nothing significant came of it. Honestly, it was B-league play and response by Dadekian and I don’t know why he couldn’t understand why Ouelette was upset. Soon afterwards, Goff hit the crossbar behind Farr at 9:49. Sully had a break after a comedy of errors on several passes that hit sticks and skates in the neutral zone by both teams, only to have Sully get the puck and get a nice chance on Farr who made a sweet save. Goff made a nice breakout and went end-to-end at 7:17, but the net came off and the play was dead. Tuck showed great support breaking out of their zone, and then Balboni made a great pass to spring Goff ahead for another scoring chance at 5:31. St. Germain potted the go-ahead goal at 4:48 to make it 4-3, but I didn’t get any assists reported on the play. Jeff “Make Ya Holla” Colla had a dust up with a few Tuckies at 3:26 and was sent packing by Park. Farr made a great glove save to keep his team in the lead at 2:54 on Goff. Right around the last minute of play the Mustangs committed 3 icings in a row. Betten was pulled and Tuck’s net was empty. The Mustangs iced it again with 13 seconds left but missed the open net. The final face-off was won by the ‘Stangs outside their zone and they killed off the final seconds and sealed the deal with a 4-3 upset win over Tuck, their second such victory over Tuck this season. The Giant Killers finished with an even shot total of 29-29 in this impressive win.

MVP: Schuyler St. Germain had 2 G including the game winner and easily gets top honors in this one. Warrington and Smith had at least 2A each (see final stats posted by Parky) and played really well throughout the game.

LVP?: Nobody sucked or cost their team the game. 

POST-GAME:
The Gamblers were still at the bar when 4 out of 8 exhausted Tuckies showed up at Applebee’s after the game: Betten, Ouelette, Sully and Torney. We caught up about their tournament this past weekend, the fun, the partying, the exhaustion, the Pedialite, the partial recovery. It was all worth it they said cuz they beat Harvard and all is well with the world. They were laughing about last week’s write-up as Park highlighted Goff in a video clip and Goff got his balls busted for once. We talked NHL hockey, UVHL, beer and wings. It was a good night, as usual. See you next week, eh!

Respectfully submitted,

McDefense, aka HKYDOC