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THE

UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Nordiques
Labatt Blues
1st
2
3
2rd
4
2
3rd
1
2
FINAL
7
7
Shots
40
44
October 27th, 2009 - 6:30PM
Union Arena - Woodstock, VT
Pre-Game
Recap
Box Score
Discussion
Game ID: 589

Nordiques Battle Dead River to a Shootout Win 8-7.

WE WELCOME GUEST WRITER ROBERT GRUNDSTEIN (aka rgrunds in the UVHL Forum) THIS WEEK FOR OUR WEEK 3 GAME WRITE-UPS! (I arrived late and missed most of the first period) This was a game of competent players with different team histories. DR doesn't have one. The Nords do and it shows, except when they choose to act like ice cretins, waste their accumulated knowledge and repeat documented errors of strategy. DR adjusted and improved over the course of the game and the Nords kept making acute errors of...um...%u201Djudgment%u201D to jeopardize it's advantage. In particular, the Nords defense has to plan ahead. The %u201Cturn around and chase%u201D events are hurting them. They have to break up plays sooner and spread out better in their end. Number 22 and 9 really screwed the pooch on a terrible goal from behind the net. And.... and......truly and.....Watch the Clock. Power plays are wonderful things. You have a delightful advantage. It's fun and feels good too. But, sometimes they end and an awful, aggressive, oogie man returns to the ice. You lose your advantage. So, it's good to watch the clock. Penalties are recorded in Large Red Numbers on Two 6 foot clocks suspended by industrial cable visible everywhere on the ice. The penalty box never changes it's location and when a guy leaves the box behind your team, he can breakaway. It was fascinating and awful to watch K. Park chase the DR shooter after a 70 foot lead pass, then stand there with his cock in his hand after the goal. Oh well. What's a mother to do? Is it legal to put defensemen in camps and work them to death? I'll have to ask JT about that. He looked VERY good (except when he passed to DR in the slot) and so did Lallier. About time someone helped LaLicque, le batarde pouvre...sans defense. The first period ended with DR confused. They kept overloading the corners and leaving the net open. The second period started with the same defects. At one point DR had four players on the puck in their own corner. It looked like a wild boar hunt in Papua New Guinea, with a horde of men wearing skates and penis gourds chasing the puck. The far side was so open, JT could have scored from his own crease because DR wasn't playing zones. But, as the period progressed DR adjusted and started to spread out and maintain coverage in their own end. I assume their intrepid coach told his players there would be no corporal punishment if they didn't watch the slot. DR kept improving. They used their speed and started to back-check effectively. They also started to rotate their defense better as a more organized Nords offense shifted positions. G. Marsh worked from the weak side to the strong side well and forced the defense to move. The Nords came out looking confused in the third period. They didn't cover well in their own end but managed to get the puck in the DR zone and take advantage of a terrible DR pass (#7) to the center about 10 feet from their own crease. (#8 Nords, scored). After a show of tempers at 13:22 the game opened up with good end to end action. Both the Nords and DR recovered on some long passes to break up scoring threats and the teams looked identical for a while. DR also showed good forechecking and pursuit at the Nords blue line. Due to a characteristic Nords failure, the game was decided by shoot out. At .50 in the 3rd, DR got the Nords D to collapse into the slot and passed TWICE from the top of the circle, to center to the inside of the left circle and scored. I mean, why don't the Nords just serve sushi while the offense moves in? If someone is going to spend that much time in your end, isn't it polite to serve food? In the end, it came down to the goalies. Lallier was good. JT was very good. DR is ascending while the Nords are not taking advantage of their time together as a team. Both teams made similar mistakes with passes to the center from the mid-boards and little play formation in the neutral zone. Nords defense has to catch up to it's offense. They can do it.
LEAGUE PICK 'EM
 73%
Nordiques
27% 
Labatt Blues
11 PICKS
THREE STARS

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