UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Brewers @ Nordiques

ODDS:	EVEN
OVER/UNDER:	9 goals

I can't imagine anyone would have called it....Brewers & Nordiques in the finals! Maybe one of them would shock the world, but both teams? The Nordiques slithered their way into 2nd place as Tuck took 3 forfeits this year due to scheduling conflicts, and handing the Nords a first round bye. But the Nordiques put that theory to rest as they beat Tuck 7-5. The Brewers were terrible in their first round against the Whalers, but a stellar 3rd period moved them into the semifinals match against the Gamblers last week. They bullied & beatdown the best team the UVHL has ever seen, sending them home with their jocks in their hands 7-2.

The Brewers have had the Nordiques number this year taking 3 of 4, but the Nordiques took the last game 5-3. The Nordiques have come together perfectly in their last 8 going 6-0-2 with both shootout losses coming to the Gamblers who the Brewers easily handled. The only reason the Brewers are not favored is due to their season long run of inconsistency. They ended up 12-13-0 on the season and 4-4-0 in their last 8 games. You never know which team is going to show up for the Brewers.

Another battle of the goaltenders tonight. These are two evenly skilled teams with a couple of superstar forwards, solid defense and excellent goaltenders. This is another game that will come down to the goaltenders. Both Bartline & Turner will need to play well to keep their teams in this one.

This should be a 5-4 game, one way or another.

Brewers Beat Up Nordiques, 5-2, for Whalen Cup

The Brewers have gone from a sub .500 team to the UVHL Whalen Cup Champions for the 2009-2010 season. They handily discarded the Gamblers in the semi-finals 7-2, followed by a 5-2 thrashing of the Nordiques tonight. They muscled their way through the playoffs, garnering 70 penalty minutes & 2 ejections in 3 playoff games.

The Brewers came out with an agenda, beat up the Nordiques, get under their skin, and capitalize on their mistakes. The Brew Crew had 3 stars tonigh, goaltender Pete "The Man Meat" Bartline, Nick "The Stick" Bayley & Garren "Teed Penalty" Poirier. Bartline was stellar as he turned away 22 of 24 shots en route to the win. Bartline made 10 or 12 great saves when he was called upon and the two goals he let in were impossible to save. Bayley was on fire, scoring the first 3 goals for the Brewers and adding a perfect assist on the empty netter to close out the game. The third Brewer star was Poirier who only didn't even make it through 5 minutes into the 3rd period before being ejected for his 4th penalty, but adding 2 assists to his tenacious play.

The Brewers came out in the first period banging. Their forecheck was tenacious, causing turnovers in all 3 zones of the rink, and ultimately outshooting the Nordiques 13 to 3. Despite the lopsided shots, the score at the end of the first was tied 1-1, and the first goal of the period wasn't registered until 10:05 into the game when Bayley took a pass from Poirier and broke into the zone on his off wing. Bayles cut across the tops of the faceoff circles on the Nordique's Tommy "The Minister of Defense" Dakai and fired a quick snapshot through the defenseman and 5-holio on Johnny "Temper Tantrum" Turner. The Nordiques tied the game up with 2:13 to play with a power play goal and Poirier in the box for Interference. The Nordiques moved the puck around the zone, from Jordy "McMuffin" McGee in the near corner, to Shawn "McTitanic" McDermott at the point. McDermott moved to the boards faked a shot, and hit Mikey O'Neil at the backdoor. O'Neil took a second to gather the puck as Bartline traversed the crease and then beat him with almost nothing to shoot at in the top near corner.

END OF THE FIRST: Noriques 1, Brewers 1

The first period was relatively tame, as there were only 3 penalties called in the frame, all 3 going against the Brew Crew. The 2nd period tilted a bit the other way as the Nordiques outshot the Brewers 9-5 but gave up two shorthanded goals and ultimately going 0-3 on the Power Play. Bayley got his 2nd of the game on a bad dump in and line change from the Nordiques that saw Poirier hit Bayley from his own goal line at center ice for the breakaway goal. That bad dump in, line change & goal came on the Nordiques powerplay which is even worse, as Bayley raced in on Turner and made him look like a squirt goalie with new pads. "I just love to score" said Bayley, "on the ice, off the ice, with myself....scoring is the best."

The Nordiques continued to press, and tied the game up with 4:45 to play in the 2nd on another great pass from McDermott. McDermott had the puck at the point and fired a fake slapshot / pass to Jordy McGee on the near post. McGee took the hard pass right along the ice and redirected it past Bartline who wasn't expecting the change in velocity & direction.

Bayley completed the hattrick with 30 seconds to play and AGAIN on the penalty kill, as he made a mockery of the Nordiques powerplay. Bayles walked, again on his offwing, cut across the tops of the circles and used McDermott's ginormous body as a screen, taking full advantage of Turner sliding laterally across the crease and burying the puck deep in Turner's 5-hole again. "I haven't had so much rubber between my legs since college, and that night involved lots of booze & lube" said Turner.

END OF THE SECOND: Nordiques 2, Brewers 3

The third period saw the Brewers pick up their intensity and chippiness. Through 2 periods, the Nordiques were 1-6 on the power play and gave up 2 shorthanded goals. There were 12 more penalties called in the 3rd frame, including 3 matching calls as tempers started to flare up. The Nordiques had 3 additional power plays that were even worse than dismal, as the tenacity of the Brewers broke up every single play. Bayley killed of at least three quarters of one penalty as he positioned himself behind his own net and did circles every time someone came after him, Bobby Orr-esque. Poirier was ejected with 10:44 to play for taking his 4th penalty, and Jason "Mr. Interference" Yehle took his 3rd & 4th penalty with 1:43 to play as he mucked it up with the Nordiques Jordan McGee, taking him off the ice with him for the remainder of the game. The Nordiques even had a 5 on 3 that they couldn't muster more than a shot or two on.

The Brewers scored a powerplay goal at 8:22 with the Nordique's Kelly "Turnover" Park in the box for hooking Bayley on yet another breakaway. Billy "The Kid" Fletcher scored the powerplay goal as he walked out of the far corner and fired a quick wristshot from the boards, through a screen and just over the pad of Turner who was down searching for the shot through the screen. The Brewers added an empty netter to close out the scoring with 11 seconds to play as Bayley made a perfect pass to Chris "Open Netter" Johnson, who walked in all alone. "Sure....it was a nice pass from Bayley, but the real talent is getting wide open, behind the defense with 15 seconds to play....it takes a real man to do that."

BREWERS WIN: 5-3

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
BRE	09:16	Penalty	Fletcher, Bill(7)	2 minutes for Tripping
BRE	04:55	Goal	Bayley, Nick(23)	Assist(s): Poirier, Garren(8) Yehle, Jason(7)
BRE	03:38	Penalty	Mancuso, Aaron(6)	2 minutes for Tripping
BRE	02:57	Penalty	Poirier, Garren(35)	2 minutes for Interference
NDQ	02:13	Goal	O'Neil, Michael(7)	Assist(s): McDermott, Shawn(13) McGee, Jordan(23)
2nd PERIOD
NDQ	14:28	Penalty	Dakai, Tom(10)	2 minutes for Roughing
BRE	12:08	Penalty	Yehle, Jason(11)	2 minutes for Hooking
BRE	10:13	Goal	Bayley, Nick(24)	Assist(s): Poirier, Garren(9)
BRE	06:52	Penalty	Poirier, Garren(36)	2 minutes for Cross Check
NDQ	04:45	Goal	McGee, Jordan(30)	Assist(s): McDermott, Shawn(14) Coates, Ian(14)
NDQ	03:13	Penalty	Crapser, Drew(1)	2 minutes for Holding
BRE	00:49	Penalty	Poirier, Garren(37)	2 minutes for Holding
BRE	00:30	Goal	Bayley, Nick(25)	Assist(s): Sorrentino, Alfonse(4)
3rd PERIOD
NDQ	11:27	Penalty	Crapser, Drew(2)	2 minutes for Holding
BRE	10:44	Penalty	Poirier, Garren(38)	2 minutes for Holding
NDQ	10:04	Penalty	Park, Kelly(9)	2 minutes for Hooking
BRE	08:22	Goal	Fletcher, Bill(22)	Assist(s): Johnson, Chris(20)
BRE	04:57	Penalty	Yehle, Jason(12)	2 minutes for Holding
NDQ	02:43	Penalty	Marsh, Greg(4)	2 minutes for Roughing
BRE	02:43	Penalty	Mancuso, Aaron(7)	2 minutes for Roughing
BRE	02:37	Penalty	Crowson, Matthew(6)	2 minutes for Hooking
BRE	01:43	Penalty	Yehle, Jason(13)	2 minutes for Interference
NDQ	01:43	Penalty	McGee, Jordan(4)	2 minutes for Interference
BRE	01:43	Penalty	Yehle, Jason(13)	2 minutes for Interference
BRE	00:24	Penalty	Barton, Brock(12)	2 minutes for Roughing
NDQ	00:24	Penalty	Dwyer, Kevin(3)	2 minutes for Roughing
BRE	00:11	Goal	Johnson, Chris(8)	Assist(s): Bayley, Nick(23)

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Game Comments:
hkydoc WRJ, VT Registered: Jan 2004 Posts: 517	Classic battle! Apr 8th, 2010 06:22 PM This is gonna be a good one, and it isn't even for 3rd Place this time!!! I'm looking forward to the challenge of earning a third Whalen Cup for the Nordiques. McD
bayley Hanover, NH Registered: Jan 2007 Posts: 15	Classic battle, indeed Apr 9th, 2010 02:20 PM IN RESPONSE TO: BY: hkydoc This is gonna be a good one, and it isn't even for 3rd Place this time!!! I'm looking forward to the challenge of earning a third Whalen Cup for the Nordiques. McD Palmer-Nicklaus, 'Niners-Cowboys, McEnroe-Connors...this is right up there as one of the greatest rivalries in all of sport. Like I said to Parky after the games last week...I couldn't think of a better way to end a UVHL career than Nords vs. Brewers for the Whalen Cup. Should be a good one fellas...best of luck. (Obligatory) prediction: Not sure of the score, but a vision came to me in a dream last night of Alfonse - still in Brewers uniform - snorting a Coke-can-sized line of blow out of the Whalen Cup, whilst on stage at Shenanigans. Captain Poirier was ripping body shots off Bartline, and Dano repeatedly muttered the word "whoooore" as he extinguished his cigar on the small of a stripper's back. It went on for hours. Remember: "If you will it, it is no dream." - Walter, The Big Lebowski
kpark Quechee, VT Registered: Dec 2003 Posts: 723	Classic! Apr 10th, 2010 03:20 PM IN RESPONSE TO: BY: bayley Palmer-Nicklaus, 'Niners-Cowboys, McEnroe-Connors...this is right up there as one of the greatest rivalries in all of sport. Like I said to Parky after the games last week...I couldn't think of a better way to end a UVHL career than Nords vs. Brewers for the Whalen Cup. Should be a good one fellas...best of luck. (Obligatory) prediction: Not sure of the score, but a vision came to me in a dream last night of Alfonse - still in Brewers uniform - snorting a Coke-can-sized line of blow out of the Whalen Cup, whilst on stage at Shenanigans. Captain Poirier was ripping body shots off Bartline, and Dano repeatedly muttered the word "whoooore" as he extinguished his cigar on the small of a stripper's back. It went on for hours. Remember: "If you will it, it is no dream." - Walter, The Big Lebowski Bayles, that is a beautiful dream, but for the sake of the Upper Valley, I will try to make sure it doesn't happen, because nobody wants to see anyone doing body shots off of that big pasty nerd Bartline! KP
PaleWhale Lebanon, NH Registered: Posts: 13	Championship game Apr 11th, 2010 05:57 PM This should be a good one. I generally like the 'diques better as a "non-douche bag" team, but am going to give the edge to the Brewers. It looks like they hit their stride at the right time. Plus, I would feel better if the team that beat us wins the cup.
vtdownhiller , AL Registered: Posts: 67	A Classic redux Apr 12th, 2010 09:09 AM I am not sticking my neck out on this one. Both teams will get shots, both teams have great goaltending both teams move the puck well, one team will take penalties, one team will use their sticks like tomahawks, one team will complain alot and one team will win. Both teams will drink in the parking lot but I will say this, and it is completely biased, Brewers 6-4.
SK8VT Woodstock, VT Registered: Posts: 45	Apr 13th, 2010 09:10 AM PUMPED! Gonna be a good game...So any bonuses in that Brewer contract if you bring that Cup back to the home town Brewery
Garrentee Killington, VT Registered: Posts: 20	Non-douche bag team...? Apr 13th, 2010 11:02 AM IN RESPONSE TO: BY: PaleWhale This should be a good one. I generally like the 'diques better as a "non-douche bag" team, but am going to give the edge to the Brewers. It looks like they hit their stride at the right time. Plus, I would feel better if the team that beat us wins the cup. Isnt every team that your not on a douche bag team? Well said Al!! And yes I will be doing shots off bartlines pasty white abs!!
JTStally Hanover, NH Registered: Posts: 159	Who to root for? Apr 13th, 2010 05:28 PM On one hand, I just don't like the Brewers, and 82 PIMs to the Brewers' league leading 167 says the Nords are, as previously implied, a "lesser douche bag" team. But could I really put up with a whole year of Parky's bragging about how, despite his poor -3 defense and 6 missed shots in the championship, he won the Whalen Cup?...I guess so, I mean he acts like a giddy kid, but a kid always has big dreams!...Go Nords!
hkydoc WRJ, VT Registered: Jan 2004 Posts: 517	Congrats, Brewers! Apr 14th, 2010 11:49 PM Nice job on winning your first ever Whalen Cup in your first appearance in the UVHL Finals. You guys deserved it and had a great playoffs peaking at the right time. If it couldn't be us, I'm glad it was you guys. Enjoy the feeling, it never gets old even though we do. McD
vtdownhiller , AL Registered: Posts: 67	Thanks McD Apr 15th, 2010 02:16 PM It was a hard fought game, you could tell both teams wanted it and could have gone either way. The Whalen cup as it turns out is a little bit of a lightweight and couldn't handle all the long trail being drunk from it. It got a little tipsy and had a minor fall right before it passed out at Denny's into his scrambled eggs at 3am. Nothing that a quick bath and nursing couldn't take care of. Thanks for a great season!