UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

ODDS:	EVEN
OVER/UNDER:	10.5 goals

If the Storm Kings actually show up, and show some heart, and focus on hockey without all of the bitching and whining, they can't be stopped. They are clearly the most talented team offensively, have the bash brothers on defense with Stout & Scull and the craziest netminder of all in Dan French. French has shown flashes of brilliance this season and tends to bring his "A" game when facing Johnny "Temper Tantrum" Turner & the Nordiques. There has been a ton of speculation this season as to why the Kingers have been a roller coaster...but most believe that it is the pure evil that resides in the Kinger's that has caused this karmic downfall of a once proud franchise.

The Nordiques are coming off one of their best games of the season, where they shut down the power house Gamblers 6-3 and ultimately killed their chances at the first 10 game winning streak in the history of the UVHL. The Nord's are powered by super-duper cool guy Poli "The Nightmare" Nightingale who is like a rabid squirrel chasing after a nut, Johnny "Temper Tantrum" Turner who is one lost marble away from total melt down & Shawn "McMuffin" McDermott who is in turn powered by chocolate covered buffalo wings.

This is a tough one to call, If I had my say it would be a 5-5 tie, but given the records I'll say 6-5 win for the Nordeeeeeeeks.

Will the Storm Kings call in Sick Again? Can the Nords Roll?

What a game!!!!!! The Nordiques led off the week by trash talking the Storm Kings for their no show the week before leaving a full Maple Leaf Squad with no opponent, as well as questioning the Kinger's love for the game and trying to shame them into showing up with a full squad. The Nordiques were pleasantly surprised with a top-notch game between two of the UVHL's most successful & storied franchises. Much to the dismay of the Nordique's captain, Tao "Panties in a Bunch" Smith who did not approve of the fun pre-game bantering, and called his team's performance a disastrous embarrassment to all things sports, comparing their trash talking to that of NFL & MLB loud mouths that did not fulfill their prophecies. Smith later apologized to his team & the league in a webcast based out of his basement.

This was a hard fought battle with 8 goals & 20 minutes of penalties. At times it got a bit chippy with 2 sets of matching penalties being assessed for some extracurricular activity on the ice. Ronnie "The Angry Little Dwarf" Dupuis is the pound for pound the angriest man alive, playing with a chip on his shoulder and Marty "Young Gun" White is gonna slug the next person that calls him "OLD MAN". As a personal favor, lay off my buddy Marty.....he may be old, but for a guy who is closing in on 100, he skates pretty well. The Nordiques came into the night sporting a tie with the Gamblers for top team with an 8-2-3 record while the Storm Kings were posting a VERY disappointing 6-5-2 record, as attendance, injuries & inter-squad bickering have hurt their play. Regardless, without a weak link, the Storm Kings are the deepest team in the UVHL. Their puck control is outstanding, and they have an aggressive style of play merged with intelligent zone coverage, taking away passing zones which in-turn forces turnovers.

The Storm Kings came out flying....dominating play in the first 3 plus minutes before "Tricky" Ricky Hughes took a pass from White & "Mean" Dean Cashman to put the Storm Kings up 1-0 just 3:14 into the game with a blast through a screen, right along the ice and inside the far post. The Nordiques woke up after that one, and the ice started to level out when Andy "The Pooch" Puchilak taunted White with some sort of derogatory "Old Man" comment. The two exchanged a couple of slashes, quickly followed by some shoving and a trip to the box with 10:12 to play. The Nordiques went on 2 powerplays shortly thereafter, with Stuey "Gooey" Close playing captain hook & Dupuis tripping a Nordique. Kelly "The Mouth" Park tied the game on the latter powerplay, after Greg "The Butcher Of Quelph" Marsh hatched a shot on Danny French "Fries" that was kicked out to the high slot. Park let a knuckly puck rip through a screen and just inside the post with 4:22 to play. Frenchy was outstanding in this game, and was excellent when called upon as he stopped 20 of 23. At the other end of the ice was Johnny "The Zen Garden" Turner who has Turnered a new leaf since his 30 day suspension for striking a referee. Turner stopped 24ish of 28, as he did let in an empty netter of sorts.....you'll learn about that one later.

END OF THE FIRST: Nordiques 1, Storm Kings 1

The Nordiques had officially gotten out of their first period slumping woes as they matched intensity & play with the Kingers to make it a chess match of a period. The Nordiques struck 3:52 into the 2nd when Mikey "Doggy Style" O'Neil fed Ian "The Jacket" Coates in the high slot to give the Nordiques a short lived lead. The Kingers tied it up just 1:59 later on a Patty "Cakes" Turcotte to Mikey "Fitz of Rage" Fitzgerald to tie it up at 2 apiece. The Storm Kings also added a pair of penalties to their period, but the Nordiques could barely break through on the excellent Kinger penalty kill.

END OF THE SECOND: Nordiques 2, Storm Kings 2

The 3rd period opened up a bit as 4 of the 8 goals were scored and it was a fairly clean period. The play continued to be back and forth, as both teams racked up some scoring changes but both netminders stood steadfast in their tracks until Robbie "Big Boy" Pattison broke the tie on a feed from Fitzgerald at 6:44. On the ensuing faceoff the Nordiques carried the puck into the zone which was quickly turned over to the Storm Kings defenseman Tommy Scull. Scully made an errant pass up the middle that was easily picked off by O'Neil who fired a weak change-up through the five-hole of French, who was completely in awe as the puck seemed to change speeds 3 times, defy gravity and actually stop......Matrix Like at the top of the crease. It was O'Neil's first game played in 6 weeks, and he looked as though he learned some sort of evil sorcery during his break......not to mention the 20 extra lbs he added to his petite frame. With the game notted at 3 apiece and over 6 minutes to play you could TASTE the tension in the air.....or maybe it was just McDermott letting go of some buffal wing gas that he had accumulated between periods.

As the two teams moved pawns around the ice, Andy "The Poooochenator" Puchilak took an ill-advised tripping penalty with 3:08 to play. On the ensuing PP, the Storm Kings worked the puck around the zone before Cashman stripped McDermott of the puck behind the net. In one of the best veteran hockey moves, the Kinger's Robbie Pattison took a Nordique Defensmen's stick and guided the two players into the crease, making it look like he was being forced in, bumping Turner into his own net....down and out, as Cashman circled the net and roofed the puck with Turner scrambling to get across the crease. It was a beautiful play by Pattison & Cashman had the patience & poise to finish the play perfectly and put the Kingers up 4-3 with 1:48 to play. The Nordiques took possession on the following faceoff with the plan to pull the goaltender for the extra attacker. Nord's defenseman Tommy "Captain Turnover" Dakai curled in his own zone and headed up ice as Turner started for the bench. Dakai made a move in the neutral zone, losing the puck to Pattison who killed a little bit of time as Turner started back to the net trying to cut off the shot from Pattison. Pattison casually flipped the puck towards the rafters, over the head of Turner one bouncing in the crease and into the open net as Turner looked up in disgust, cursing Dakai. Post game, Turner offered his body in exchange to the stat keeper to count that goal as an empty netter......nice JT....NICE!

END OF REGULATION: Storm Kings 5, Nordiques 3

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
STK	12:46	Goal	Hughes, Rick(3)	Assist(s): Cashman, Dean(7) White, Marty(4)
NDQ	10:12	Penalty	Puchalik, Andrew(3)	2 minutes for Roughing
STK	10:12	Penalty	White, Marty(3)	2 minutes for Roughing
STK	09:26	Penalty	Close, Stu(1)	2 minutes for Hooking
STK	05:02	Penalty	Dupuis, Ron(3)	2 minutes for Tripping
NDQ	04:22	Goal	Park, Kelly(7)	Assist(s): Marsh, Greg(13)
STK	02:19	Penalty	Dupuis, Ron(4)	2 minutes for Roughing
2nd PERIOD
NDQ	11:08	Goal	Coates, Ian(10)	Assist(s): O'Neil, Michael(7)
STK	10:07	Penalty	Cashman, Dean(3)	2 minutes for Hooking
STK	09:09	Goal	Fitzgerald, Mike(3)	Assist(s): Turcotte, Pat(12)
STK	07:22	Penalty	White, Marty(4)	2 minutes for Tripping
3rd PERIOD
STK	06:44	Goal	Pattison, Rob(7)	Assist(s): Fitzgerald, Mike(6)
NDQ	06:26	Goal	O'Neil, Michael(5)	Assist(s): none
NDQ	03:08	Penalty	Puchalik, Andrew(4)	2 minutes for Tripping
STK	01:48	Goal	Cashman, Dean(7)	Assist(s): none
STK	01:11	Penalty	Dupuis, Ron(5)	2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct
NDQ	01:11	Penalty	Phillips, Roger(3)	2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct
STK	00:33	Goal	Pattison, Rob(8)	Assist(s): none

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Game Comments:
The Dark Canuck Fairlee, VT Registered: Dec 2004 Posts: 340	I need to know Jan 21st, 2009 09:50 AM Will the Kingers ACTUALLY have a team to show up? Without all the usual whining and bitching. If so, I can get a lot of that right here at home.
hkydoc WRJ, VT Registered: Jan 2004 Posts: 517	Bring a light and a dark, eh. Jan 24th, 2009 12:00 AM Just in case the Storm Kings don't show, bring two jerseys so we can play some pick-up hockey.
kpark Quechee, VT Registered: Dec 2003 Posts: 723	Big one for the Nords Jan 27th, 2009 03:09 PM Yeah, I hope that the Storm Kings actually show up, and have a full squad too. I promise the Nords won't take it too seriously, maybe we can just toss our sticks in the middle...... YEAH RIGHT!!!!! Too serious? That's gay.
The Dark Canuck Fairlee, VT Registered: Dec 2004 Posts: 340	I was wrong Jan 29th, 2009 11:09 AM I definitely have to give the Kingers credit. They DID beat us, and they definitely DID show up ready to play. Hopefully the next time I talk shit, I'll actually back it up. Great hard-fought game guys, we were definitely in it all the way. Too bad for the un-timely goal by the Kingers to put them up 4-3, and then an empty -netter to seal it. Can't wait for the re-match.
hkydoc WRJ, VT Registered: Jan 2004 Posts: 517	Good game Kingers! Jan 29th, 2009 06:46 PM Thanks for the playoff-like hockey game Tuesday night Kings. Nice to see you haven't totally lost it, and you guys showed up, played hard, and beat us fair and square. Nice veteran move by Pattison to move JT just enough to open up a hole for Cashman to put in the go ahead goal without getting called for goaltender interference. I guess that is why he played in the AHL and we play in the UVHL... I, too, am looking forward to the rematch.