SKATER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #7
| CLARENCE SKATER | TEAM | GP | GOALS | ASISSTS | POINTS | PM | +/- | SOG | S% |
| Gare, Danny | CAP | 4 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 27% |
| CLARENCE GOALIE | TEAM | GP | GOALS AGAINST | G.A. AVERAGE | SAVES | SAVE % | |||
| Resch, Glenn | PIT | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 64 | .955 | |||
| WALES SKATER | TEAM | GP | GOALS | ASSISTS | POINTS | PM | +/- | SOG | S% |
| McNab, Peter | CHI | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 33% |
| WALES GOALIE | TEAM | GP | GOALS AGAINST | G.A. AVERAGE | SAVES | SAVE % | |||
| Peters, Pete | CHI | 4 | 12 | 3 | 128 | .914 | |||
| Syracuse Bulldogs | |
| Weekly Preview: | Syracuse has 3 at home this week. Charlestown, Charlotte and CapJack come to town. |
| Charlestown Chiefs @ Syracuse Bulldogs | Reggie Dunlop and the Chiefs defeat Oggie Oglethorpe and the Bulldogs 4-1. Stars #1 CHC Riggin 43 saves #2 CHC Gardner 1G 2pts #3 CHC Paiement 1G 2pts |
| Charlotte Dynamo @ Syracuse Bulldogs | Syracuse scores the first 4 and don’t look back winning 5-2. Stars #1 SYR Larson 2G #2 SYR Larouche 1G 3pts #3Higgins 1G 2pts |
| CapJack Rangers @ Syracuse Bulldogs | Capjack scores with a minute left in regulation tying it up at 6. Unfortunately for the Rangers the home team nets one with 6.2 seconds left winning it 7-6. Stars #1 Syr Fraser 2G 3pts #2 Syr Johnstone 1G 3pts #3 CJR Trottier 2G |
| Weekly Summary: | Syracuse wins 2 of 3 at home |
| CapJack Rangers | |
| Weekly Preview: | Rangers have 2 home games this week, St. Clair Shores and Ohio. Expect a couple of dull, low scoring games to put everyone to sleep. Yeah, right! |
| Saint Clair Shores Saints | This one featured 4 PP goals and 2 EN goals. Score was 3-0 after 4 minutes of the 2nd period with the Satints seemingly running away with it. Gare gets an early tripping penalty in the 1st and Nilan scores his 1st of the year PP to get the Saints going. Malone makes it 2-0 late in the period when he steals the puck from Vadnias and leads a team rush resulting in his snap shot splitting the pipes. Schutt gores off for hooking early in the 2nd and 4 minutes into the 2nd, Dion makes a nice save and the Saints clear it out and Kelly fires one into the Rangers net for a PP goal and a 3-0 lead. Malone goes off for hooking late in the 2nd and Gare finally gets the Rangers on the board with a PP goal and it’s 3-1 after 2.
THEN the Rangers show up. Shutt scores a PP goal 4 and a half in. Then Dudley ties it up 3 minutes later. MacMillan keeps his scoring streak intact making ti 4-3 with 5 to go. Saints pull Dion for the final minute plus and Long and Lonsberry bury pucks into the empty net for a 6-3 CapJack win. |
| Ohio Legends | In a game that features 47 SCORING CHANCES – 23 by Ohio, 24 by CapJack, let’s just say goal tending was, well, something that worked once in a while. 5 goals in the 1st and 5 more in the 2nd made for a dull third period where only 4 goals were scored. Ohio took the early lead 1-0 when Savard scored at the 2 minute marked. It was answered by Gare but Federko regained the Ohio lead just before the midway point in the period. That was the last Ohio lead. Gare gets his 2nd goal of the period 3 minutes later and Trottier his 1st of the game closes out the 1st period scoring: 3-2 CapJack. Rangers get the 1st 2 goals of the 2nd – Schutt and DeBlois – Deblois’ goal was a SH variety and it was the 2nd SH goal of the game for CapJack. And the Younghans scores a SH goal for Ohio 2 minutes later. Remember – goalies are optional. Williams gets another Ohio tally and it’s now 5-4 CapJack before Shutt closes out the 2nd period scoring; 6-4 Rangers. THIRD PERIOD Maloney tallies 5 minutes in to cut it to 6-5 and we still have a tight game. Trottier then notches his 2nd of the game 8 minutes in and it’s back to a 2 goal lead. BUT – Younghans – who hadn’t done much scoring this year, gets his 2nd of the game (3rd of the year) with just over 5 to go and we’re back to a 1 goal game – 7-6 Rangers. Final minute, and Rutherford (in for Herron) is pulled and once again Lonsberry nets an empty netter to put the game away 8-6 CapJack. Stars (all CAP) 1. Schutt 1 goal 3 assists 2. Gare 2 goals 1 assist 3. Trottier 2 goals |
| Weekly Summary: | 2 games, 4 points, lots of goal, no D. |
| Philadelphia Firebirds | |
| Weekly Preview: | Philly plays one game…LEAGUE LOVES CHICAGO |
| Silk City Wales @ Philadelphia Firebirds | 1ST – Jamie Hislop scores only his 2nd of the year from GOD Paul Holmgren and Boxxy 2ND – nothing – like Chicago on a saturday night 3RD – Maruk gets his 14th putting Philly up 2-0 Johnson pulls the Silkies close to 2-1Beaupre pulls it out for PhillyPhilly 2 SC 1 |
| Weekly Summary: | Philly struggles to with 2-1 but will take the win |
| Saskatoon Cyclone | |
| Weekly Preview: | Overachieving Saskatoon plays host to underachieving Columbus as its only home game of the week. |
| Columbus Owls @ Saskatoon Cyclone | This game started with its own share of controversy – none of which occurred on the ice. Saskatoon coach and grand maestro Scotty Bowman announced that the starter for the game would be pre-season draft acquisition Glen Hanlon who has supplanted Rogie Vachon in the goaltending tandem with Reggie Lemelin. “He is not only the goalie of our future,” Bowman said in an interview prior to the game. “He is the goalie of our now.” The statement was greeted with a barrage of questions from the gathered press, most asking Bowman to confirm or deny comments he was reported to have made earlier in the week that he would gladly trade Vachon for a tin of Planters Dry-Roasted Peanuts. Vachon’s sieve-like performance over the past two weeks had caused him to fall out of favor with the team hierarchy. “I definitely did not say that,” Bowman stressed. And then with the mic still on as he left the podium he was heard to mutter “it was for a bag of unsalted cashews.” Third string netminder Vachon refused comment saying he would let his successes since the demotion speak for themselves (it was learned he was ranked as the #2 goalie behind Nathalie “Knockers” Thibodeau in the Taschereau Boulevard Afterschool Street Hockey league). This game first five minutes was a recurring theme of Saskatoon making a few nice passes, getting in position to take a shot and getting knocked off the puck. All that player bonking resulted in no offense and after the first 5 minutes Columbus led with a whopping 1-0 edge in shots. Saskatoon got its first try at landing a shot on net without fear of being pummelled when high-flying Owls’ forwards Blaine Stoughton was called for a high-sticking double minor when he got “all in Dennis Ververgaert’s stuff”. Well that four-minute advantage resulted in three shots and getting knocked off the puck half a dozen times. Sheesh. Finally at 10:32 of the period, a faceoff deep in Columbus’s end went Saskatoon’s way with Merlin Malinowski weaving his magic on the draw and passing the puck over to Rick Vaive who for a change was not knocked off the puck and fed it back to Malinowski (6) on the edge of the circle and the wunderkind wristed it high and neatly past Doug Soetart and under the crossbar for a 1-0 home team lead. Hanlon looking brilliant so far after facing 3 shots. The two teams fumbled around the rest of the period like a couple of virgins in an toddler sleeping bag with an uninspiring 8-8 shot total. The highlight of the period came in the dying seconds when Mike (tete de merde) Milbury was checked Rick Green while the Owls’ defender was scratching himself absently and resulted in a dislocated finger and an early exit to the game. Down one defenceman heading into the 2nd period, let’s see how the Owls fared. Less than 2 minutes in Columbus got the break it wanted when Gretzky staggered and fell into the boards, but was called for boarding as Michel Goulet was in between Gretzky and the boards. The Owls made the most of it with Mike Zuke flying in across the blueline on the ensuing power play, sliding a cross-ice pass over to Goulet who snapped it back to Zuke and then over to winger Jim Fox who made no mistake beating Hanlon low stick side to tie it up. It was Fox’s 9th of the season. As an encore, Gretzky linemate Dave Taylor laid the lumber on Zuke on the next shift and was handed a slashing penalty. Columbus looked about to pull into the lead when Hanlon was caught out of position leaving the net wide open for Greg Fox who rifled a slapshot and promptly deposited the puck into the stands to the right of the net. WTF? Midway through the period Taylor once again got a little uppity and stuck his stick into John Ogrodnick as if he was jigging squid. With the ref’s arm high in the air, Ogrodnick came up with the puck and served it up for Mario Marois who absolutely crushed the puck off Hanlon’s trapper and into the net to give Columbus a 2-1 edge. Number 3 on the year for Marois. A minute later the Cyclone tandem of Taylor and Gretzky broke out of the Saskatoon zone with Lee Fogolin as the last man back for Columbus after Gretzky had beaten Marois at the blueline. The duo passed the puck around Fogolin and only a nice skate save by Soetart kept the game from being tied, but the puck went back right back to Taylor as the trailer on the play … and he shot the puck low and wide. Ugh. The Cyclone kept on pressing and with less than two minutes to go a bad line change resulted in Kevin Lowe being left all by his lonesome at the point as the lucky recipient of a pinpoint pass from Taylor and he blasted the puck past Soetart for his 6th of the season. The Owls 2nd goal of the game seemed to have awoken the Cyclone offense and resulted in a late period surge that sent the teams to the dressing room tied 2-2 with Saskatoon holding a 20-18 edge in shots and a chance for more as Stoughton took his 2nd penalty of the game right at the end of the 2nd period. Saskatoon was impotent on the power play but the surge kept coming and at 5:32 of the 3rd the dam finally broke. Checker Magnifique Bob Gainey pulled a pass from low around Fogolin and then backhanded it over to charging Brent Ashton and Timmy Stop the Presses … Ashton finally came through with a nice low shot that beat Soetart for his first goal of the season. Almost at the midway mark, Columbus had begun its counter-attack and was pressing deep in the Cyclone zone when Steve Payne misplayed a pass from Doug Wickenheiser. Cyclone centre Malinowski scooped it up and raced down the ice with Jacques Richard in tow and no one between them and the Owls’ net. Richard deked drawing Soetart over and slid the puck over to Malinowski who tapped it home for his 2nd goal of the game and 7th of the season putting Saskatoon up 4-2. The two-goal margin didn’t last long though. Columbus bounced right back with a 3-on-1 that ended with Marois dunking Wayne Merrick’s pass high over Hanlon’s outstretched glove and into the net. #4 on the year for that guy. Good show, dude! Columbus was not done though and once again it was Marois playing a key role. Marois hit Gretzky as he tried to make it over the Owls’ blueline with the puck and the puck wound up on Zuke’s stick with only Green back on defence for the Cyclone and three Owls screeching down the ice (screeching … as in screech owls … it’s a play on words … clever, right?) and Ogrodnick capped off the rush with his 7th of the season to tie it 4-4. Where Hanlon stood tall like a sequoia for most of the game suddenly he looked like trampled crab grass covered in dog turds. Soul-crushing … that was the only thing you can call it after Columbus had several faceoffs deep in the Cyclone end, winning them and then putting shots on Hanlon that he barely stopped only to have Richard a faceoff in the Owls’ end and take a return pass from Taylor and deposit it behind Soetart. His 18th of the year gave the Cyclone a 5-4 lead with only 1:27 to go. The Cyclone penned the Owls in their own end for much of the next minute but with just over 30 seconds to go Soetart finally had a window to race to the bench for the extra attacker. Columbus managed two good scoring chances in the dying seconds but even with monstrous rebounds given up by Hanlon on his skin-of-his-teeth saves the Cyclone managed to keep the puck out of the net to preserve the 5-4 home ice win. Notables: – despite the scrappy play no penalties were called in the 3rd period – Saskatoon outshot Columbus 34-26 – Columbus right winger Murdoch earned the Don’t Let Him on the Ice Anymore award after posting a scalding MINUS 4 on the game – despite logging over 29 minutes of ice team, Wayne Gretzky was a MINUS 1 and was held pointless which obviously made him ornery as her registered 8 hits as compared to the next closest skater (Owls’ defenceman Fogolin) who had 5.STARS: 1. SAS, Malinowski (2 goals) 2. COL, Marois (2 goals, 4 blocks, 2 hits) 3. SAS, Richard (1 goal, 1 assist) |
| Weekly Summary: | A tough fight against the Owls nets the Cyclone two points in its lone home game. The offense is clearly there but netminding remains a big “?” if Lemelin is not playing. |
| Ohio Legends | |
| Weekly Preview: | The Ohio Legends enter the week in second place in the Adams Division just four points behind Mackinaw Island for the top spot. Pittsburgh, the Patrick Division leader and the club with the best record in the MWOTHL rolls in. Here’s a chance to show that Ohio belongs among the league elite! |
| Pittsburgh Spirit @ Ohio Legends | This one could not have gone worse to the script in Ohio…
For 28 and a half minutes, the Legends actually went toe-to-toe with Pittsburgh. Jim Rutherford was doing his best Glen Hall impression and there was an air of playoff hockey in the old barn. Then, a 2-2 battle went completely sideways with one Mike Busniuk brain-fart. Committing a slash from behind that took down Anders Hedberg–Pittsburgh used the momentum of one act to steamroll Ohio, 7-3. Hedberg scored on the ensuing penalty shot and then Pittsburgh buried five of the next six goals to claim its league-best 16th victory. Dan Maloney proved to be the offensive hero, netting three of the five goals and Guy Chouinard collected three assists. Jim Rutherford proved to be the same Rutherford well all know and hate. The white towel went up in the Legends goal as quickly as the red light caused sunburn on the back of his neck. Amazingly, this game appeared statistically to be pretty even (other than the obvious location on the scoreboard). Faceoffs won were 23 apiece, hits were 15 each and blocks were six each. Shots slightly favored Ohio, 29-26. The Jim Rutherford factor favored the Spirit, who had Rick St. Croix stop 26 shots, while the aforementioned waste of hockey development turned aside 19 shots and dropped to 1-4-1 on the campaign. Pittsburgh was deadly on the power play, netting a pair of scores in five tried against the league’s best penalty killers, while Ohio was able to sneak in one-of-five tried with the man-advantage. |
| Weekly Summary: | Ohio comes up empty in its lone home game of the week. The good news is that remarkably, Ohio is still somewhere on the roadmap to the MWOTHL’s playoff map. They will be seeking answers to finding that path (and looking to see if Jim Rutherford can be left off said bus!) and move forward. |
| Chicago Underground | |
| Weekly Preview: | Chicago with 3 home games. Fans can only hope they get their heads out of their, well you know… |
| CapJack Rangers @ Chicago Underground | CapJack gets the only goal of the 3rd period & ties the game late, leaving it tied at the end.
Final Score: CapJack 3 – Chicago 3 Labatts Three Star Selection: Pete Peeters had 32 Saves for Chicago |
| Saskatoon Cyclone @ Chicago Underground | The Canadians came to the Windy City & in a rough affair head home with a loss for the team from the North.
Final Score: Chicago 4 – Saskatoon – 1 Labatts Three Star Selection: Pete Peeters had 35 Saves for Chicago |
| Charlestown Chiefs @ Chicago Underground | We now know the truth. Chicago Owns the Chiefs. OOOWWNS the Chiefs.
Final Score: Chicago 6 – Charlestown 3 Labatts Three Star Selection: Pete Peeters had 32 Saves, BIll Wesley 15 Penalty Minutes, Peter McNab 3 Assists & Per-Olov Brasar 3 Goals for Chicago |
| Weekly Summary: | Chicago nabs 5 out of 6 points on the home stand & looks to see if they can continue the points ride on the road. But they OWN the Chiefs… |
| Charlestown Chiefs | |
| Weekly Preview: | Two games at home this week. |
| New Castle Ducks @ Charlestown Chiefs | The Ducks come in and waddle out with a 5-4 victory, thanks to a late 3rd period PP goal from Rick Middleton (15).
The Chiefs looked so good early, but have wet the bed in recent weeks. Could they be sellers? Time will tell. Scoring Summary Injuries: Bourque(CHA)-game Star 1: NEW Middleton 1 G, 2 Pts GWG: Rick Middleton Notables: NEW Clarke 17 faceoffs won |
| Philadelphia Firebirds @ Charlestown Chiefs | The stench of a Philly team is like smelling salts to the Chiefs, who play an inspired game and beat their bitter rival 4-3. It’s the first head-to-head meeting of the unlikely recent trade partners. The Rat collects an assist against his former squad, while Tony McKegney is kept off the scoreboard.
Paul Baxter is dressed for this expected bloodbath, and he does his job by collecting 18 penalty minutes in his 10 minutes of ice time. Scoring Summary Penalty Summary Star 1: CHA Paiement 1 G, 3 Pts GWG: Anders Kallur Notables: PHI Dionne 15 faceoffs won |
| Weekly Summary: | One unexpected loss, one unexpected win. It’s been that kind of year. |
| Silk City Wales | |
| Weekly Preview: | The Whales have three home games this week, with our friends visiting from the Midwest (Columbus, Ohio and Chicago). The Whales feel like this may be a barometer of where the season where go from here as they feel they match up well with the three visitors. |
| Columbus Owls @ Silk City Wales | The Whales score three first period goals (two by Rick Kehoe) and go on cruise control. Unfortunately, there was no let up in the Owls, who scores two goals early in the third period to make it a one goal game. A little bit of an ass-chewing on the bench got Silk City back on track as they scored two insurance goals to win 5-2.
1st Star – Rick Kehoe (SCW), 2G |
| Ohio Legends @ Silk City Wales | After a scoreless first period, the Whales score three goals (two by Larry Murphy) in the first 8:04 of the second period to take a 3-0 lead. And then, as in the first game this week, they started to take the foot off of the gas pedal. The Legends scored twice in :22 to make it a one-goal game and here came the requisite ass-chewing. Bob Bourne scored late in the second to give Silk City a two-goal advantage but in the third period Tim Kerr scored from his office in front of the net to make it a one-goal game again. The Whales were largely able to bottle up the Legends in the neutral zone to preserve the lead and win 4-3.
1st Star – Larry Murphy (SCW), 2G, A |
| Chicago Underground @ Silk City Wales | The Whales score three times in the first period and Bourne’s goal 8:33 into the second period gave them a 4-0 lead. A Peter McNab goal made it 4-1 before Borje Salming found the back of the net on the power play to give Silk City a 5-1 lead after two. Cue up the movie, the Whales go on cruise control during the third perios. Peter Stastne scored on the power play to make it 5-2; Pierre Mondou scored to make it 5-3; and Serge Savard scored to make it a one goal game with 2:42 remaining in the third period. Inside of a minute remaining, the Underground pulled the goalie and McNab scored to tie the game at 5 with :52 left. That’s how it ended, a 5-5 tie as the Whales blew a four goal lead in the third period.
1st Star = Bob Bourne (SWC), 2G, A |
| Weekly Summary: | Never has a five point week at home seemed so disappointing. The Whales tendency to blow leads is alarming and is something that needs to get fixed as the top defense pairs and forward lines are spending too much time on the ice; but the lack of discipline is keeping us from rolling all four lines and three defense pairs. |
| Brooklyn Harbor Rats | |
| Weekly Preview: | Moose sighting in Brooklyn |
| Mackinac Island Moose @ Brooklyn Harbor Rats | The visiting Moose jump out to a 3-1 lead midway through the game but the Rats Paul Reinhart scores a pair of goals just :20 seconds apart to even the score heading to the 3rd. It remains tied until Anton Stastny’s goal with just 1:17 remaining to hand Brooklyn the 4-3 win. |
| Weekly Summary: | An exciting win in our only home tilt this week |
| Saint Clair Shores Saints | |
| Weekly Preview: | The Saints host Brooklyn and Charlotte this week. |
| Brooklyn Harbor Rats @ Saint Clair Shores Saints | The Harbor Rats invade L’Anse Creuse Arena. And, they jump all over the Saints. Dupont, Keon, and Harris pump goals in the 1st period. Harris’ goal was with 1 second to go in the period and shorthanded. In the 2nd, the Saints score on a Malone goal. But, Brooklyn puts it away with 2 more goals courtesy of Sutter and Polich.
Brooklyn 5 SCS 1 1st- Millen 30 saves |
| Charlotte Dynamo @ Saint Clair Shores Saints | The Dynamo visit the Saints. This game was more competitive than game 1. Both teams score 2 goals in the 1st period. In the second, Rogers scores his 2nd goal for Charlotte.
In the 3rd period, Babych scores his 15th goal for the Saints. The game ends in a tie. Charlotte 3 SCS 3 1st – Rogers 2 goals 1 assist – Dynamo |
| Weekly Summary: | Brooklyn man handles the Saints, and Charlotte and the Saints fight to a tie. |
| New Castle Ducks | |
| Weekly Preview: | The struggling Ducks host Saskatoon and Vermont as they try to start playing better on home ice where they have an awful 2-7-2 record coming into this week. Only Columbus has a worse home record |
| Saskatoon Cyclone @ New Castle Ducks | The Cyclones came in to The Duck Pond like one as they strafed New Castle 8-4. The game was close for a while as the teams finished the first period 2-2. And after Saskatoon took a 4-2 lead in the second period, the Ducks scored to make it 4-3. Then the rout was on as the Cyclone scored three unanswered goals en route to an 8-4 shellacking of the Ducks. It was the third time this season that New Castle has given up 8 goals in a game and the first time this year that Goalie Michel “Bunny” Larocque has done so.
New Castle actually outshot Saskatoon 37-28 but Rogie Vachon made 33 saves for the win. The game’s three stars were: 1. SAS- Wayne Gretzky 1G, 3 A Gretzky also won 16 faceoffs (out of 30). Dave Taylor got the game winning goal. |
| Vermont Foresters @ New Castle Ducks | Vermont beats New Castle for the second time this season, this time by a score of 3-0. Richard Brodeur got his second shutout of the season making 35 saves as the Ducks outshot the Forresters 35-23. Vermont scored twice in the first period as Dale McCourt (6) and Kent Nilsson (14) put the puck past Billy Smith. Mark Howe added an insurance goal (7) midway through the second period. The game was marked by a fight, midway through the second, between the Ducks Frank Bathe and Vermont’s Pat Price. The Ducks were 0-4 on the power play as they continue to struggle with the league’s weakest power play squad. |
| Weekly Summary: | Another week and more Ducks losses. The Ducks lose two out of two and are now 2-9-2 at home this season (they have played much better on the road). Despite shaking up the lines, New Castle continues to struggle especially on offense. Time is running out for New Castle to have any shot at the playoffs. |
| Pittsburgh Spirit | |
| Weekly Preview: | First place defending Cup Champs (never gets old) hope to continue their winning ways , despite “injuries” plaguing the lineup. |
| Mackinac Island Moose @ Pittsburgh Spirit | Pittsburgh 3, Mackinac Island 2
A close game sees the Spirit ride Chico Resch and his 35 saves and Sittler and his 2 goals. |
| Syracuse Bulldogs @ Pittsburgh Spirit | Syracuse 5, Pittsburgh 4
Syracuse comes in and scores the last 4 goals of the game to win. Pittsburgh goes 4-10 on the PP while Syracuse goes 1-1. A little lopsided, but that’s what happens when you play the Champs? 😉 Syracuse rides 2 goals from Johnstone, and 1G, 1A from both Larson and Larouche. As well as Edwards 31 saves. Sittler continues his scoring with 1G, 1A. |
| Weekly Summary: | 2 of 4 possible points. Not good, not bad. With so many players “injured”, we’ll take it. |
| Mackinac Island Moose | |
| Weekly Preview: | On a cold week at the Straits of Mackinac, visiting teams have to take the sled dogs to get here from the mainland. Brooklyn and Saskatoon will enjoy the ride that has the view which the lead dog does not get. The Moose will get another stern test from the Smythe division leader and 2nd place team in the Patrick division. The Moose are 2-6-2 the last 10 games and in need of a turnaround. |
| Brooklyn Harbor Rats @ Mackinac Island Moose | Rats 3, Moose 3 – The Moose waste little time getting the upper hand as Napier quickly put the home team ahead with his 8th of the season. 6 minutes later things look even better when Kurri adds one. Its about this time the defense usually folds, but instead they pull together and keep the Rats at bay, allowing only 9 SOG, and no goals, with the period ending 2-0 Moose.
2nd period sees Brooklyn on the penalty kill for nearly 9 minutes, but their PK unit is up to the task and then some. Thwarting all attempts by the home team, and even kicking some sand in their face when Smith scores a shortie late in the period. Only 10 SOG for both teams combined in the period and we go to the 3rd with the Moose up 2-1. More outstanding play by the goalies Millen and Palmateer in the period until the last 3 minutes. Just as the crowd is picking up their coats and getting ready to head home with a comfy win, Stastny nets his 12th of the season to make thing rather uncomfortable at Bullwinkle arena. Fortunately this is short lived as Boutette answers with his 7th only 30 seconds later to put the Moose back up 3-2, and all hope is now for a good defensive stand the final 2 minutes. The defense answers well, but only for 90 seconds, and the fans are despondent as Christian ties the game at 3, putting another past Palmateer (aka El Foldo) to send nobody home happy at the end of this one. 1st star – Christian 1g1a |
| Saskatoon Cyclone @ Mackinac Island Moose | Moose 7, Cyclone 6 – Thank goodness for a good place kicker.
After watching the win evaporate in the previous game, the crowd was definitely on pins and needles for this one, especially with 2 of the league top scorers on the ice and not in Moose uniforms. The only consoling fact was Gilles Meloche in goal for the home team. Things quickly spiraled downward as the visitors netted goals twice (Vaive and Malinowski) before the home team could respond. Fortunately Saskatoon was a little rammy this evening, which allowed the Moose PP units some ice time. McKechnie was the first to respond for the Moose, and then only 2 minutes later Kurri added an even strength goal to even the score at 2 with 5 mintues left in the 1st. Saskatoon responded quickly, Gainey less than a minute later to put Saskatoon up by 1, and then, showing the Moose powerplay unit “don’t do that defense thing” Gretzky adds a shortie just before intermission to send Meloche to intermission in a daze, with the home team down 4-2 The Moose defense wakes up in the 2nd, allowing only 9 SOG, and Meloche improves a bit, allowing only one goal (Gretzky again). Fortunately Saskatoon keeps the rambunkscoius attitude, generating 3 powerplay opportunities for the Moose, who convert on one (Propp) and add one even strength (Propp) to whittle the lead down to 1. Thank goodness for the trade that brought Propp to the Island. We go to the 3rd with the Cyclone up 5-4. The Moose jump on Saskatoon early, with Dunlop scoring the first minute to even things up at 5. Saskatoon helps things again with their final penalty of the game (Rota) and McKechnie gets his 2nd PP goal of the game for the Moose to get their first lead at 6-5. This is short lived however, as Saskatoon, tired of the 3 goal run by the Moose, muster up some offense and Vaive gets his 9th of the season to give us the 3rd tie of the game at 6. Both defenses stiffen and neither team gets many good opportunites the next 7 minutes. Finally the Moose take advantage of a breakdown in the Cyclone defense and Boudreau (who did you say?) scores the tie breaker with 2:34 on the clock. The Cyclones turn up the heat and keep the puck in the Moose zone most of the remaining time, but the Moose skaters are able to use good checking and stick skills to limit the shots at Meloche, with frequent clears to the neutral zone, even in the last minute with an extra man on the ice for the visitors. Buzzer sounds with the scoreboard: Moose 7, Cyclone 6 1st star – Propp 2g1a Brad Park a dismal -4 in the game. |
| Weekly Summary: | A tie and a win against 2 teams with winning records is a good week after how the team has fared the past 10 games. Hopefully a sign of better times ahead.
Propp a nice homestand with 2 goals and 2 assists. |
| Columbus Owls | |
| Weekly Preview: | The reeling Owls play 2 of the better teams in this block |
| Pittsburgh Spirit @ Columbus Owls | Guy Chouinard scored twice and Pittsburgh dominated the Owls 5-1. Chico Resch had 29 saves to secure the easy victory. |
| Brooklyn Harbor Rats @ Columbus Owls | Lee Fogolin scored 2 first period goals to stake the Owls to a 2-0 lead but the Rats scored the last 5 and won 5-2. 5 different Brooklyn players scored goals and Greg Millen stopped 22 of only 24 Columbus shots. |
| Weekly Summary: | The Owls are playing like an expansion team they are but more like the expansion 1962 Mets. only one win on home ice and looking like a high draft choice holder. |
| Charlotte Dynamo | |
| Weekly Preview: | As it stumbles into the basement of the Patrick division, the Charlotte Dynamo strive to remain relevant with the quarter pole of the season completed. The expansion squad hosted cross-division foes Columbus and Philadelphia in late November contests. |
| Ohio Legends @ Charlotte Dynamo | Charlotte gets an uplifting 4-2 home victory over a competitive Legends squad. Three unanswered second period goals from Mike Rogers, Laurie Boschman and Danny Geoffrion erase a 1-0 Ohio lead. A Tiger Williams tally 4:41 in the third cuts the deficit to one, but Tony Esposito shot down the Legends the rest of the way and Swedish defenseman Thomas Eriksson chipped in an insurance goal with under 8 minutes to play. |
| Philadelphia Firebirds @ Charlotte Dynamo | Marcel Dionne’s game winner with 1:15 remaining in regulation lifts Philadelphia to the 5-4 road victory. In this disappointing defeat the Dynamo saw a 2-0 early lead slip away as John Tonelli, Bobby Schmautz and Barry Smith scored unanswered goals for the Firebirds later in the first period. After the opening fireworks, Don Beupre (33 saves) clearly outplayed Charlotte backup netminder Larry Lozinski who only saved 15 and let in five goals, including the last minute heartbreaker. |
| Weekly Summary: | With the crushing last-moment defeat to Dionne and the Firebirds, Charlotte only manages to salvage two of four points in these latest contests. |
| Vermont Foresters | |
| Weekly Preview: | 3 home games this week as vermont tries to keep the momentum going and turn their season around. |
| New Castle Ducks @ Vermont Foresters | new castle comes into the bjc to meet the surging foresters. this game did not start as vermont had hoped giving up 2 goals in the first 4 minutes. bob murray on the powerplay and don marcotte shorthanded tie the game 11:42 into he period though. the ducks have other ideas though as they score 30 seconds later for a 3-2 and with les then 20 seconds left in the period net a ppg for a 4-2 lead at the end of 1. kent nilsson tried to get the foresters back into the game scoring 6:10 into he second but another last minute of the period goal for the ducks makes it a 2 goal advantage again 5-3 at the end of 2. craig ramsey scored 9:16 into the third to make it a one goal game again but it appeared the foresters would fall short until 40 seconds left in the game and ron low pulled, reggie leach somehow found the back of the net to tie the game much to the delight of the home crowd. the delight was short lived though, as 18 seconds later tom gorence turned it into euphoria as he scored to win the game for vermont. it was an up and down, pretty evenly played game that saw the foresters come up big in crucial situations like ron low stopping a penalty shot with less than 4 minutes left in the game. vermont was 1-2 on the powerplay while the ducks were 1-7. a huge victory to start the week for vermont. |
| Philadelphia Firebirds @ Vermont Foresters | norris leading philadelphia comes up to the bjc to visit the foresters. vermont calls on richard brodeur to face don beaupre, the goaltender many in the vermont front office wanted to take in the draft. vermont got off to a great start in this game as reggie leach scores a minute and a half into the game and then again on the powerplay at 3:14 to give the foresters an early 2-0 lead. the excitement doesnt last long though as denis maruk scores less than 1 minute later to cut the lead in half. then schmautz on the powerplay ties it 12:59 into the period and then anderson at 15:30 gives the visitors the lead 3-2. kent nilsson gets a ppg 2 minutes later to knot the score at 3. lee scores another ppg for the visitors at 6:21 of the second to retake the lead 4-3 but don marcotte ties it again 3 minutes later. the game stays tied until 4:37 of the final period when ken linesman scores yet another ppg for the firebirds and philadelphia makes that hold up as the winning goal. vermont thoroughly dominates the game outshooting philadelphia 50-27, 30-14 in scoring chances, 10:49 to 2:06 in attack time yet still manages to lose by going 2-9 on the powerplay while philadelphia was 3-3. don beaupre made 46 saves. |
| Saint Clair Shores Saints @ Vermont Foresters | the saints from st clair shores come in for the 3rd home game of the week in vermont. reggie leach scores his 4th of the week on the powerplay to give the home team the lead 7:18 into he first. less then 3 minutes later nilsson scores, unfortunately for vermont it was ulf and not kent and the score is tied 1-1. robbie ftorek scores late in the period to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. dale mccourt scores another ppg early in the 2nd to tie the score at 2. it remains that way until late the period when the saints score twice in just over a minute to make it a 4-2 lead for the visitors. early in the 3rd the other nilsson scores to cut the lead to 1 for the visitors but the home team is unable to get the equalizer and falls to the visiting saints 4-3. vermont goes 2-3 on the powerplay while holding the saints to 0-5. brodeur struggles again and the hope of a turnaround is dashed. |
| Weekly Summary: | 1 victory in the final seconds and 2 1 goal losses highlight the foresters struggles this season. the pk which has been strong all year has a bad game and it costs them against philly. goaltending also continues to struggle and missing star defenseman mark howe doesnt help as vermont cant seem to find the consistency they had last year. |