SKATER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #21

Guy_ChouinardRon_LowMarcel_DionneMike_Palmateer

CLARENCE SKATER TEAM GP GOALS ASISSTS POINTS PM  +/-  SOG S%
Chouinard, Guy PIT 3 2 7 9 0 4 8 25%
                   
CLARENCE GOALIE TEAM GP GOALS AGAINST G.A. AVERAGE SAVES SAVE %
Low, Ron VER 2 7 3.5 53 .883
                   
WALES SKATER TEAM GP GOALS ASSISTS POINTS PM  +/-  SOG S%
Dionne, Marcel PHI 4 5 7 12 6 4 20 25%
                   
WALES GOALIE TEAM GP GOALS AGAINST G.A. AVERAGE SAVES SAVE %
Palmateer, Mike MAC 3 7 2.34 81 .920

Syracuse Bulldogs
Weekly Preview: Last week of the season
New Castle Ducks @ Syracuse Bulldogs 4-4 tie
Stars #1 SYR MacAdam 2G 4pts
#2 NEW Allison 1G 2pts
#3 SYR Peterson 1G 3pts
Philadelphia Firebirds @ Syracuse Bulldogs Philly wins it 5-2
Stars #1 PHI Dionne 2G
#2 PHI Hatrsburg 1G
#3 PHI Langway 1G
Weekly Summary: Syracuse nets 1 of 4 possible points
CapJack Rangers
Weekly Preview: Final home games of the season – tight race for 2nd place in Patrick Division and CapJack hosts top seed (in the league) Pittsburgh and Charlotte – while facing Pittsburgh and 2nd place challenger Brooklyn on the road. 4 points is a must…..
Pittsburgh Spirit @ CapJack Rangers OK Ranger fans, hold on to your hats. Spirit comes in and seeks to shut down the Rangers and they attack relentlessly for for the opening 20 minutes firing 15 shots Bouchard – but he stops them all! On top of that, Trottier gains the opening face-off, Shutt gets it off the end boards, to Trott, the shot and Gare tips it in for a goal in the opening 15 seconds! Then Robinson fires one past Resch 13 minutes in and Rangers CAPitalize on 40% of their 1st SOGs and take a 2-0 lead after 1.

2nd Period – CapJack makes it 3-0 when Siltanen scores a PP goal (won’t be the last PP goal for the Rangers) 6 minutes in. AND then the Spirit wake up! 6:28 Maloney fires one glove side high on Bouchard and it goes right to the back of the net. 10 SECONDS later Hagman scores – stick side high (Bouchard can’t get the high ones) and just like that in a span of 10 seconds, the scores has been cut to 3-2 CapJack. But another Pittsburgh penalty seconds later (Redmond – his 2nd of the game) leads to another Ranger PP goal – Schutt, and it’s 4-2 Rangers. 2 minutes later Risto Siltanen (what a pickup he was) scores his 2nd of the game and it’s now 5-2 CapJack. But MacLeish helps the Spirit breakout of their own end and after a great team effort of controlled passing, he snaps one past Bouchard and it’s 5-3 Rangers – and that’s how period 2 ends.

3rd Period – 6 and a half in, Ribble blocks a shot, passes it off – Spirit works it up ice, Chouinard takes it in, passes to Pettersson it gets back to Chouinard and he shoots and scores and we have a 1 goal game, with more than 13 to play. NEXT GOAL will be big! What’s that? A whistle? Yup, Hart is whistled for charging midway through the period and the Rangers get another PP opportunity. And once again, they find a way to work their magic and Schutt puts one in the net for a 6-4 lead and breathing room. Spirit DON’T get any more penalties in the game! BUT they do get a goal from Pettersson with just under 5 to go. And what a sequence. Lafleur starts it all with a shot block, Ribble gets it, to Sittler, who losses it, but Lafleur (shaking off the block) gets the puck off the boards, slides it to Pettersson, slaps it and beats Bouchard glove side (Dan was looking around wondering where the puck came from). But it’s now 6-5. TWO MINUTES later and Pettersson and Lafleur team up AGAIN to TIE the game!!
Minute 58 to go, 6-6, and Rangers are desperate for 2 points. But Pittsburgh keeps control, Rangers finally get it but Huber checks DeBlois to gain control – 1:12 left. Spirit looking for the winner, Hagman takes it over the line with 48 seconds left – Redmond shots, Houle deflects, but it goes wide left (oh so close)…. 32 seconds left and CapJack gains control and tries a last ditch rush. Mulvey chips it ahead to DeBlois, Dudley carries it into the zone, to Mulvey, we wings around, sees DeBlois in front, zips it to him, shoots SCORES! DeBlois scores with 14 seconds left to give the Rangers a 7-6 lead. And even though Pittsburgh wins the ensuing face-off, they are unable to get off a shot and CapJack prevails in a wild and wooly shoot-out, 7-6!
STARS:
1. CAP – Schutt 2 goals, 1 assist
2. CAP – Siltanen 2 goals, 1 assist
3. PIT – Pettersson 2 goals, 1 assist

YIKES, what a game.

Charlotte Dynamo @ CapJack Rangers After a beat down and win (barely) over Pittsburgh, the Rangers are hoping to finish the final home stand with a perfect 2-0 for the week…..

Lee Corso is fond of saying “NOT SO FAST”

And so it was in this one, maybe a hangover from the Pittsburgh win, or a Dynamo team that was poised to SPOIL things for over-confident contenders. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t pretty for the Rangers.

Even so, the Rangers came out hard, and produced an offense that fired 38 shots on goal, took 63 shots total and didn’t register a penalty for the entire game. But (and he didn’t even get a star 1, 2 or 3 for his effort), Mr. Esposito played an impressive game in front of the vistor’s pipes. He stopped 35 of the 38 shots the Rangers got through to him – FAR, FAR better than Roggie Vachon who only faced 21 shots on goal – but 5 of those slipped, blew or otherwise got past him.

1st Period Simmer notched his 57th for the only score of the period. Perreault then made it 2-0 1 minute into the 2nd. Crowder tried to fire up his team scoring midway through the 2nd for a 2-1 score, but Boschman (14) and Sims (18) both score within the next 5 minutes and its 4-1 Charlotte after 2.

3rd period the teams match goals alternately with Tookey getting a PP goal a minute into the period then Smith matched his goal 9 minutes in, then Lapointe makes it 5-3 with 1:51 to go, but all hopes ended when Anderson (23) gets the empty netter with 45 seconds left and the Rangers skate off with their heads drooping 6-3 losers. UGH Charlotte does a Dynamo dance!
STARS: (all CHD – as it should be)
1. Simmer 1 goal, 1 assist
2. Sims 1 goal, 1 assist
3. Anderson 1 goal, 1 assist

But the real hero was the notable Tony Esposito with 35 big saves.

Weekly Summary: Rangers made a bit of shift in the PP teams between games and maybe that was a problem (or else maybe Charlotte has a great Penalty Kill) but Rangers were 3 or 5 in games 1 and 1 of 6 in game 2.

Anyway you look at it, Rangers went 1-1 at home. Their road games this week are against the same Charlotte team and the Rangers finish the season at Brooklyn. That game will probably end up deciding the 2nd place finisher in the Patrick.

Saskatoon Cyclone
Weekly Preview: An uphill battle to make it to the playoffs for Saskatoon as they have to beat both divisional rivals Silk City and Vermont in order to have even a slight hope of the post-season.
Silk City Whales @ Saskatoon Cyclone Statisticans had the two points already going to Saskatoon as they faced the Silk City Whales, but statisticians don’t know crap.

The Whales score three times in the final period to come from behind and take it 6-5 against Glen Hanlon. He’s really the dufus that should get stuck with the L and not the entire Cyclone team.

The Cyclone dominated the game, outshooting Silk City 41-24 and had triple the time on attack as the Whales but once again stats didn’t matter.

Rick Kehoe led the Silk city parade with two deflection goals with the second one tying the game 4-4 early in the 3rd period. the goals gave Kehoe 46 on the year and gave him an outside shot at breaking the 50-goal mark. Kehoe also scored the Whales first goal late in the first period that tied the game 1-1 after Wayne Gretzky had staked the Cyclone to a 1-0 lead with his 56th of the season.

MIA for much of the season and getting almost no ice time now Brent Ashton gave the Cyclone a 2-1 lead with a power play goal at 17:56 of the 1st period and then Dave Maloney blasted a point shot past Bob Sauve with two seconds left in the period with another power play goal. AShton’s goal was his 4th and Maloney’s was his 12th.

Perry Turnbull (32) deked past Hanlon to make it 3-2 with a power play goal at 7:33 of the 2nd period, but Keith Acton (14) re-established the two-goal lead at 13:04 for Saskatoon.

On probably my favorite of the goofy DKS play-by-play lines, Mike Crombeen swiped the puck from Joel Quenneville at his own blueline and raced in on Hanlon all alone. I guess Hanlon was dozing, kept his back to the play or was not even on the ice as Crombeen rifled it into the Sasktoon net to make it 4-3 but “Hanlon never even saw it.” Great stuff. Must be the same person doing the narratives that manages what Donald Trump tweets.

Rookie Mark Messier scored his 27th of the year on a wrist shot from in close that Hanlon didn’t get … well … because he sucks giving the Whales the lead at 8:59 of the 3rd prompting the Cyclone’s coach to scream “WTF!!!”.

Dave Maloney’s 2nd goal of the game on a wrist shot pinching in from the point tied it up again at 9:17 but the mid-period goal scoring flurry hadn’t yet ended as Bob Bourne lifted a backhander up and over Hanlon’s lounge chair into the Cyclone net for the final goal of the game at 9:35. Three goals in 36 seconds … a busy time.

UNIMAGINATIVE DKS GAME STARS:
1. SCW, Kehoe 2 goals
2. SAS, Maloney 2 goals
3. SCW, Bourne 1 goal and two assists

Vermont Foresters @ Saskatoon Cyclone A game very similar to the previous one had Cyclone faithful muttering “oh no here we go again” as Saskatoon hosted Vermont. Pretty much a must-win for Saskatoon after squandering their leads against Silk City last game.

Rick Vaive (22) smoked the puck past Richard Brodeur at 3:12 of the period to give Saskatoon an early 1-0 lead once again. The goal was significant as well for Vaive as he flipped from the right wing to his off-wing for this game to make room for Dino Ciccarelli on the line with Jacques Richard. Anyway, 1-0 it was.

Tom Gorence (20) tipped an innocuous looking slapshot by Jay Wells through Reggie Lemelin’s legs at 10:01 to tie it back up again, but a power play goal by Brent Ashton (5) made it a 1-goal game with about 2-1/2 minutes left in the first period.

Once again, Saskatoon was dominating the play outshooting the Foresters 13-7 in the opening period.

The Cyclone extended the lead to 3-1 when Jacques Richard ripped a slapshot past Brodeur with the man advantage again at 1:24 of the 2nd period. For Richard, it was #40 on the season with usual suspects Dave Taylor and Wayne Gretzky drawing assists.

The “Here we go again” birds started chirping a couple of minutes later when Dale Hunter stickhandled past Gaston Gingras (picture someone dodging a pylon) and tapped it past Lemelin to make it 3-2. Hunter’s 22nd made it a 3-2 game.

The difference in this game was that Hanlon was not in nets for Saskatoon.

Lemelin stoned the Foresters the rest of the way while the Cyclone offense kicked it into gear on goals by Taylor (45), Gretzky (57) and Ashton (6) … what the heck is with that guy … two goals in six minutes of ice time. Final was 6-2 Saskatoon.

Besides the Lemelin factor, the bribing of the refs certainly didn’t hurt as the game was totally lop-sided in calls with Saskatoon scoring four times on eight tries while Vermont was unsuccessful in their lone power play opp.

STARS:
1. SAS, Ashton 2 goals
2. SAS, Gretzky 1 goal, 2 assists
3. SAS, Richard 1 goal, 1 assist

Weekly Summary: With Pittsburgh clinching a post-season birth back in October the last three playoff spots are being contested by Capjack (not a place by the way) (93 pts), Brooklyn (90), and Vermont (87) with Saskatoon (86) on the outside looking in with only two road games versus Silk City and Charlestown to go.

A split likely won’t be enough to make it into the playoffs so there’s no more sitting on the edge of our seats in Saskatoon awaiting results … just waiting for the priest to deliver last rights.

On a side note … given the relatively horrid AI for road teams and the large advantage in being a home team in the playoffs is it possible to have it written into the league rules that barring extreme circumstances that teams must play online against each other in the post-season? Just sayin’ …

Columbus Owls
Weekly Preview: The Owls close out their home schedule with 2 home games before looking towards the draft.
Ohio Legends @ Columbus Owls Ohio takes this game 5-3

Williams G and A
Federko G

Saint Clair Shores Saints @ Columbus Owls Last home game ends in a 2-2 tie. Phil Esposito scored for Columbus and Clement and Nilsson lit the lamp for the Saints
Weekly Summary: The Owls end with the leagues worst record and will turn their attention to improving through the upcoming draft.
Charlestown Chiefs
Weekly Preview: Two games to wrap up a mediocre season.
Vermont Foresters @ Charlestown Chiefs Charlestown skates to a 5-5 tie; pretty much sums up the season.
Saskatoon Cyclone @ Charlestown Chiefs We lose our final home game to the Shastagoons; on the bright side, we don’t have to watch Gretzky do any more triple lutzes for a few months.
Weekly Summary: If you didn’t have mediocre teams, you wouldn’t know who the good and bad ones were.
Philadelphia Firebirds
Weekly Preview: Philly Plays 3 home games against division foes this week

First game Up The Chicago Undergaments

Chicago Underground @ Philadelphia Firebirds 1st- Jensen gets Philly on the board early with his 3rd ( Linesman/Holt) Labrataan ties the game up for Chicago his 13th (McNabb) but before the period ends Jamie Hislop puts Philly up 2-1 on the feed from Martin
2nd- The second period…well lets just say Coach Stray was not a happy camper and Hardy Astrom played like ummmm Hardy Astrom..
Philly scores SIX goals from Dionne (2), Schmautz (2) Martin, and Ruff put the Birds up 8-1 to end the 2nd periodWhat else is there to type….Chicago leaves Philly with a 9-4 lossIt was rumored most of the Chicago players were looking forward to the offseason and their traveling Drag Queen show
Syracuse Bulldogs @ Philadelphia Firebirds Philly takes on the tough Syracuse squad on a Saturday afternoon game

1st- Philly dominates the first period outshoot Syracuse 13-3 but only manages a Rick Martin goal (9th) from The Rate.
2nd- Al Secord puts Philly up 2-0 his 7th (bridgeman/Hislop) and then runs over Jim Craig sending him to the locker room. Enter Dave Parro… Van Boxmeer puts Philly up 2-1 with a blast past Parro his 16th ( lee/Dionne) But Curt Frasar pulls the Bulldogs within 2 with his 27th ( Hamel, Young)
3rd – But like in the last game against the Underground Phillys offense explodes ( where was all this offense all season
Lee 37th (Maruk,Dionne)
Schmautz 18th ( Dionne)
Maruk PP 37th ( Rat/Martin)
Martin PP 10th ( Van Boxmeer, Bridgeman)
Langway 18th ( MAruk , Schmautz)

Philly outshoots Syracuse 53-27

PHILLY 8 SYRACUSE 1

New Castle Ducks @ Philadelphia Firebirds 1st- Rick Middleton slams home his 40th (Walter) to put New Castle up 1-0 as they dominate the early going. Bobby Schmautz ties it up before the 2nd of the first with his 19th ( Martin)
2nd- The Ducks continue to control play but Carlyle blasts one from the point his 11th on the PP ( Dionne/Schmautz) to put Philly up 2-1 …a couple minutes later Paul Holmgren gets his 17th ( Dionne) to end the period with Philly up 3-1
3rd- Steve Kasper scores a minute in on the PP with his 21st unassisted. But on a breakaway Denis Maruk gets his 38th ( Carlyle/Linseman) and Philly holds a 4-2 lead. But the Ducks ( who came with their own refs) get a 5 on 3 PP and Ryan Walter gets a PP goal his 26th ( Lambert/Clarke). Pulls the Ducks within 1 as the game time runs down the Ducks pull their goalie and Philly makes them pay as Hardy gets his 6th EN (Bridgeman/Martin) The ducks continue to have the goalie pulled and again Philly capitalizes as Dionne gets his 48th EN ( Holmgren/Lee)PHILLY 6 DUCKS 3
Weekly Summary: Game 1 of the homestand went well.  Game two of the home stand goes well 17 goals in 2 games is more then we could ever imagine.  

Best home stand of the season for Philly 3-0-0 with 23 goals for 8 against.

Lets just hope they just blew their load before the playoffs!

Vermont Foresters
Weekly Preview: last 2 home games and a playoff race still going on.
Charlestown Chiefs @ Vermont Foresters charlestown tries to keep vermont from the division title. don marcotte gets vermont off to an early lead with a goal 3 1/2 minutes into the game. this lead holds until early in the 3rd period when ray bourque scores to tie the game at 1. less then 1 minute later denis potvin gives the chiefs the lead with a blast from the point. but, less then 2 minutes later, reggie leach ties it with a ppg assisted by slumping kent nilsson. the game looks like its heading to a tie when foresters defenseman mark howe scores with 53 seconds left. 9 seconds later howe puts another in the empty net and dale hunter yet another empty net for a 5-2 final that was way closer than the final score. charlestown held the edge in play but went 0-6 on the powerplay and ron low made 34 saves for the victory.
Silk City Whales @ Vermont Foresters silk city closes out the regular season at the bjc with the playoff race still close. vermont again off to a quick start with eric vail scoring 3:46 into the game to give the home team the early lead. the game became really chippy after this as a fight broke out a little over a minute later and the second period saw an explosion with a bench clearing brawl saw each team get 5 fighting majors and a player ejected. it started with dale hunter pummeling borje salming then the benches empty and hicks got kicked out for vermont while murphy got tossed for silk city. beck and price dropped the gloves late in the 2nd and then langevin and foligno early in the 3rd and howe and turnbull in the middle of the 3rd. oh yeah, and there was some hockey going on in between but still no goals. that is until less then 90 seconds to go and eric vail scores his 2nd of the game and dale hunter adds an empty net tally with 10 seconds left for the 3-0 victory and shutout for murray bannerman. the whales dominated the first 20 minutes outshooting vermont 11-5 but vermont took over and held a 30-13 edge after the first.
Weekly Summary: scoring early makes a big difference for the foresters with 2 big home wins to close out the regular season.
Ohio Legends
Weekly Preview: The Ohio Legends enter the final week of the 1980-81 season needing two wins to clinch a playoff berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The expansion team is currently holding second place in its division. Prior to this, the club had taken a win at Columbus–so the Legends now need just a win at home with Columbus and Mackinac Island visiting.
Columbus Owls @ Ohio Legends The Legends took no chances in this game, as Tim Kerr scored his 25th goal on the first shift of the game–just 19 seconds into the contest. Seventy-one seconds later, Tim Younghans notched his tenth and the Legends led 2-0 in the second minute. Tiger Williams picked up his 35th at 16:17 and Ohio had a 3-0 advantage.

The back-breaker came from Blair MacDonald, when he picked up his 19th goal–on the power play–with one second remaining in the opening frame to end the competitive phase of the game at 4-0 after one. Ohio outshot the Owls, 9-8, in the opening stanza.

In the second, Bernie Federko got into the act, as he tallied his 25th goal at 3:54. Columbus cut the deficit to 5-1, as John Ogrodnick slotted his 23rd goal at 12:14 on the power play. Federko got the goal right back, twenty seconds later–also on the power play and the lead was back to 6-1. That was how the second ended and Columbus won the shots battle in the period, 18-7.

In the third, Ohio got another score from Brett Callighen (his 17th) at 3:25 and Kerr’s second goal of the night at 17:38 closed out the scoring for the Legends. The Owls collected the final goal of the night as Dave Hunter lit the lamp for the fifth time and the final score was 8-2 for Ohio. The Legends won the shots battle in the third at 8-7 and Columbus held the edge for the game at 33-24.

Ohio finished two-for-four on the power play, while Columbus was one-for-four. Eddie Mio took the victory, stopping 31 shots along the way. Phil Myre started for Columbus and took the loss, while turning away nine of 15 shots. Gary Bromley mopped up, stopping seven of nine shots.

Tim Kerr was the game’s offensive hero–picking up five points (2-3-5), while Bernie Federko had two goals and an assist.

Mackinac Island Moose @ Ohio Legends Mackinac Island came to town for the final home game on the Legends inaugural schedule. The Moose skated off with a 5-2 triumph.

Don Maloney opened the scoring for Ohio with his 34th goal at 15:16. The Moose evened things up twenty-three seconds later as Brian Propp registered his 33rd goal. The first period ended that way and the shots went the way of Macinac Island, 13-11.

In the second, Bill Barber gave the Moose a 2-1 edge, with his 49th score at 2:56. Tim Younghans would even things for Ohio with his eleventh at 12:12. That was the end of ther offense for the Legends on this day.

Propp collected his second of the night at 34th of the campaign at 19:07 and the Moose held a 3-2 lead after two periods. Mackinac Island again winning the shots battle, 13-5.

In the third, the Moose got Barber’s 50th goal at 17:33 to put the game away and Blake Dunlop’s 20th goal went into an empty net with 26 seconds remaining. Ohio did win the shots battle, 8-7, and for the game Mackinac Island held the shooting edge, 33-24.

Ohio went one-for-four on the power play, while the Moose went one-for-five. Gilles Meloche took the win, turning aside 22 shots. Eddie Mio absorbed the loss with 28 stops.

Bill Barber had two goals and as assist for Mackinac Island, while Mark Napier handed out three assists for the winners.

Weekly Summary: With the split, Ohio advances into the postseason–most presumably to face Philadelphia (who really wanted Chicago to sneak through).
Charlotte Dynamo
Weekly Preview: The Charlotte Dynamo, assured a basement spot in the Patrick division, sought to play the role of spoiler in its final two home games, as it hosted two division opponents battling for the top wildcard spot in CapJack and Brooklyn.
CapJack Rangers @ Charlotte Dynamo First-star Charlie Simmer and the Dynamo spoiled the Rangers second-place hopes with a 6-3 victory. Simmer all but assured himself of the league’s goals scoring title over Wayne Gretzky with a hat trick, including lighting the lamp twice in the first period (both goals unassisted) as the Dynamo grabbed the 3-1 lead and outshot the Rangers 16-4 in those first 20 minutes. Charlotte never trailed from there; following a Rick Dudley Rangers goal that closed the margin to 3-2 in the second period, Laurie Boschman and Simmer answered with Dynamo goals early in the third that put the team ahead 5-2. A Grant Mulvey goal narrowed the margin to 5-3 with 13:46 to play. But Charlotte backup goalie Larry Lozinski (31 saves), getting the rare spot start, played outstanding down the stretch. and stopped 19 shots in the third period. An empty net goal by Charlotte defenseman Pierre Bouchard put the game on ice with one minute left. Bob MacMillan accounted for Cap Jack’s other goal on the power play 12 minutes into the first period that had tied the game at 1-1 before Charlotte pulled away: Gil Perreault answered with a goal later in the first period that put the Dynamo ahead to stay.
Brooklyn Harbor Rats @ Charlotte Dynamo Charlotte was unable to spoil the hopes of its New York borough visitors as the Brooklyn Harbor Rats erased a 1-0 deficit that had stood through much of the game, and ultimately prevailed 4-1. With the Dynamo still leading 1-0 in the second (courtesy of a Laurie Boschman goal scored 2 minutes into the game) , first star Anton Statsny scored back to back goals within a two minute timeframe midway through the period. Statstny’s goals past Tony Esposito, at 10:13 and 11:53 in the second, put Brooklyn ahead to stay. Harbor Rats’ goalie Greg Millen deservedly grabbed second star honors with 35 saves, including 19 in the third period when the Dynamo attempted a late charge. The Harbor Rats, however, turned away Charlotte’s only two power play opportunities in the third and in fact cashed in on a short handed goal from Billy Harris that closed the scoring and clinched the Brooklyn victory. Darryl Sutter with Brooklyn’s other goal in the third that put Brooklyn ahead 3-1 at the time, earned third star honors.
Weekly Summary: Charlotte gets just two of four points at home. In the final analysis, the Dynamo allowed two many goals throughout the season to be a legitimate playoff contender, giving up 327 at the time of this writing, bad enough to be second worst in the league. Additionally, there was not enough firepower after Simmer, who has scored more than 20 percent of Charlotte’s goals (59 of 285). He will play no more than 65 games due to usage in a spectacular season and will impressively average close to one goal per game he played. Unfortunately for Charlotte, his career took a pronounced dip after this 1980-81 season.
Saint Clair Shores Saints
Weekly Preview: Mackinac Island and Ohio visit St. Clair Shores.
Mackinac Island Moose @ Saint Clair Shores Saints In the first period, the Moose score the first two goals, but the Saints match those goals. Its 2-2 after the 1st period. In the second period, the Moose score, then the Saints take the lead on two goals. In the 3rd, Napier scores for the Moose and the game ends in a tie.

Mackinac Island 4 SCS 4

1st – Napier 2 goals 1 assist
2nd – Duguay 1 goal 1 assist
3rd – Huddy 1 goal 1 assist

Ohio Legends @ Saint Clair Shores Saints Babych has a great game for the Saints as he scores a hat trick. Unger and Ramage also score for the Saints. Roberts and Kerr score for the Legends. The Saints win their final home game for the season.

SCS 5 Ohio 2

1st – Babych 3 goals
2nd – Ramage 1 goal 1 assist
3rd – Unger 1 goal

Weekly Summary: The Saints take 3 points as they tie the Moose and defeat the Legends.
Mackinac Island Moose
Saint Clair Shores Saints @ Mackinac Island Moose Moose 3, Saints 2 – Scoreless first period, but 2 fights. Sutter and O’Connell on the undercard with both earning 2 minutes. The headliner was Ferguson (5 + 10) vs. Hangsleben (5 min.). Ferguson the winner in a split decision. Moose kill 2 penalties.

2nd period opens with Babych vs. Park, each getting 2 minutes. Barber interrupts the fighting with a goal at the 2 minute mark, putting the Moose up 1-0. The Saints then kill 2 penalties, score a goal (Sutter) to tie it at 1, and kill one more penalty before heading to intermission. All tied 1-1.

3rd period opens with the Moose killing a penalty before Malone pumps one in the net to put the visitors up 2-1. The 4th fight of the day sees Nilsson hook up with Robert. 2 minutes each. As the game winds down toward the end, the desperate Moose crank things up, resulting in the 2nd goal by Barber with 3:30 to go. Then Lysiak gives the Saints 2 minutes on the advantage, which the Moose are able to kill. With one minute left, the Moose get one last zone entry and they find Propp in the open, and he capitalizes with his 35th, giving the Moose the win.

1st star – Barber 2G
2nd – Propp GWG
3rd – Palmateer 29 saves

Columbus Owls @ Mackinac Island Moose Owls 1, Moose – Napier opens the scoring in the first at the 4 minute mark. Both teams then get powerplay chances, but none are successful. The Owls get the equalizer late in the period from Hunter. Period ends tied at 1.

The Moose then see 2 injuries deplete the skater list down to 16. They add to the problems with 7 penalties through the rest of the game, but the PK units stand tall and hold the Owls scoreless the rest of the game. The Owls kill 3 penalties of their own.

Game ends tied at 1.

1st star – Bromley 39 saves
2nd – Palmateer 29 saves
3rd – Hunter 1G

Weekly Summary: Moose get 3 points this final week.

Palmateer with a fine week, 59 saves, 3GA, 1 win, 1 tie. Strong finish to the season at 10-3-4 after a so-so start.

Silk City Whales
Weekly Preview: The Whales host division foes Saskatoon and Charlestown this week. The Cyclone still have an outside chance at the post season while the Chiefs are playing out the string similarly to the Whales. Silk City’s Rick Kehoe has an outside change to score fifty goals this week. He needs four tallies to get to the half-century mark; expect plenty of ice time for him this week.
Saskatoon Cyclone @ Silk City Whales If the Cyclone had post season hopes coming into this game, they were dashed in this matchup. Midway through the first period, Bob Bourne scored for Silk City and the Whales led 1-0. At the end of the first period, all hell broke loose as three separate fights occured simultaneously resulting in six fighting majots and four players getting tossed (Bourne and Korab for the Whales, Kotsopoulos anfd Laidlaw for the Cyclone).

This seemed to light a real fire under the Whales; or it may have been the $.50 beer night. Perry Turnbull and Doug Smail scored in the second period and then Silk City scored six times in the third period to chase Reggie Lemelin. Mario Lessard has his first shutout if the season in his last start and the Whales win 9-0.

1st Star – Brian Sutter (SCW), 2G, A
2nd Star Perry Turnbull (SCW), 2G
3rd Star – Mario Lessard (SCW), 19 saves

Charlestown Chiefs @ Silk City Whales The Whales kept the momentum from their first game going into the matchup against the Chiefs, scoring two goals in the first two minutes to take the lead. But the Chiefs had the kind of pride that would have made Eddie Shore smile, getting goals from Andre Savard and Steve Tambellini to tie the game going into the forst intermission.

The Whales took the lead in the second period on a short-handed tally from Mike Crombeen, his third shortie of the season. But Paul Gardner’s 30th knotted the game at 3 heading into the third period. The game looked like it was headed for a tie until Tom McCarthy scored the go-ahead goal for Charlestown with 2:35 remaining. The Whales were unable light the lamp behind Michel Plasse and the Chiefs had a 4-3 win.

1st Star – Steve Tambellini (CHA), G
2nd Star – Andre Savard (CHA), G
3rd Star – Paul Gardner (CHA), G

Weekly Summary: Silk City finishes the season in last place of the Smythe Division for the second consecutive year with 70 points, though with a marked improvement over the 1979-80 season’s 49 points. Rookie defenseman Larry Murphy led the team with 88 points, which led all league defensemen. Rick Kehoe ended up with 46 goals.
New Castle Ducks
Weekly Preview: The Ducks have only one home game this week and it is a must win to stay mathematically alive for the final playoff spot. New Castle takes on the Chicago Underground another team battling for the final playoff spot.
Chicago Underground @ New Castle Ducks CHI 4 NEW 3

In a pattern that was symbolic of the Ducks season, New Castle took a lead into the third period only to lose it and the game. New Castle opened the scoring in the first period on a breakaway goal by Vaclav Nedomansky. The Underground tied it later in the period on a goal by Brasar and took the lead in the second on Foster’s 16th of the year. The Ducks then came back with an unassisted goal by Rick Middleton (40) and less than two minutes later Mike Allison scored his 43rd to put New Castle ahead 3-2.
In the third period, the Underground tied it on a power play as Carlson got his first goal of the year at the 6 minute mark. The game remained tied throughout the period as the Ducks stormed the Underground net – yet it was the Underground who won it with 1:18 to go when Peter McNab scored his 31st of the year assisted by Rautakallio and Labraaten.
Ducks outshot Chicago 33-32 but the big difference in the game was on the power play as Chicago scored twice in 6 PP attempts while the Ducks were 0-4. The Ducks drew three 5 minute majors, killing off the first two but allowing Carlson to score on the third one (spearing on Silk).

THREE STARS:
1- CHI Carlson 1G 1 A
2- CHI McNab 1G
3- CHI Foster 1G

Hardy Astrom made 30 saves for Chicago. Gary Edwards, in only his third start of the year, was the losing goalie. In addition to his first goal and first assist of the season big Jack Carlson had 5 hits contributing to his being the #1 Star of the game. Bobby Clarke had 4 hits for NEW and Nedomansky had 6 SOG.

Weekly Summary: With the loss, the Ducks are eliminated from playoff contention. They had a great second half surge to get into contention but fell short. Mike Allison (43 goals) and Rick Middleton (40 goals) had great seasons as the Ducks finished 27-42-9, last in the Norris Division. New Castle is looking forward to the draft and next season when they hope to be able to tighten up their third period defense and compete for the MWOTHL Cup! 
Brooklyn Harbor Rats
Weekly Preview: Last two regular season games at the Pond feature division rivals Pittsburgh and Capjack
Pittsburgh Spirit @ Brooklyn Harbor Rats Rats host their likely first round playoff opponent, the President’s Trophy winning Pittsburgh Spirit, from whom they have only won one home game this season, and that was their most recent meeting, 12 days ago. Dan Maloney and Marc Chouinard help the visitors open a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play in which Brooklyn holds a 22-9 shot advantage. Behn Wilson’s goal with 7 minutes remaining evens the score but Rick MacLeish puts the Spirit back on top with 3 minutes left. In the final minute, with the Brooklyn net empty and the extra attacker on, Wilson gets his second of the night with just :25 seconds left. The Rats win the ensuing faceoff and Pat Hickey buries a rebound with just :02 on the clock as Brooklyn stuns Pittsburgh, 4-3
CapJack Rangers @ Brooklyn Harbor Rats The Rangers come out blasting away and Lucien DeBlois nets a hat trick for Capjack before we’re halfway through the game, opening a 4-1 lead for the visitors who had to hang on for a 5-4 win when the Rats got a pair in the 3rd period.
Weekly Summary: the win over Pitt was nice, proving we can hang with the big boys 🙂 nice to make the playoffs for the Brooklyn fans
Chicago Underground
Weekly Preview: Chicago hanging on for a playoff spot takes on two division rivals, with the last game having much meaning for both clubs.
New Castle Ducks @ Chicago Underground A back and forth affair with little goal tending results in a tie. Chicago’s playoffs hopes are alive and well after this game as they are tied with the Syracuse Bulldogs after 79 games with 68 Points.

Final Score: Chicago 6 – New Castle 6

Three Star Selection:
Star #1 – Per-Olov Brasar – 3 Goals, 4 Points
Star #2 – Ric Seiling – 2 Goals
Star #3 – Rick Middleton – 2 Goals

Bobby Clarke – 3 Assists for New Castle
Stefan Persson – 2 Assists & Per-Olov Brasar Hat Trick for Chicago
Game Winning Goal – None

Syracuse Bulldogs @ Chicago Underground It all comes down to game #80 for a shot at the playoffs or a round of gold in the morning.
Chicago gets the first tally & the Bulldogs answer quick taking a 2-1 lead after one period of play.
Chicago ties it & the second period ends with the score deadlocked at 2 each.
Chicago comes out and completely dominates the third period. A quick goal 1:08 into the 3rd gives them the lead & they score two more to hold on for the win & a shot at the playoffs.
Syracuse out shot the Underground 33 to 19, but it was Mike Veisor in net for Chicago who earned his 1st victory on the season.Final Score: Chicago 5 – Syracuse 2Three Star Selection:
Star #1 – Peter McNab – 2 Goals
Star #2 – Eddie Johnstone – 1 Goal, 2 Points
Star #3 – Clarke Gillies – 1 GoalJack Carlson – 11 Penalty Minutes, Mike Veisor – 31 Saves for Chicago
Game Winning Goal – Ric Seiling
Weekly Summary: Chicago wins game #80 & heads to the playoffs with very little chance of going very far.
Pittsburgh Spirit
Weekly Preview: Pittsburgh closes out it’s season. Let’s see if we can beat the curse of the President’s Trophy!
Brooklyn Harbor Rats @ Pittsburgh Spirit Pittsburgh wins it 7-4. Sittler with 2G, 1A.
Charlotte Dynamo @ Pittsburgh Spirit Pittsburgh wins 9-3. MacLeish and Pettersson each have 2G, 1A, Sittler 1G, 2A, Chouinard 4A, and Lafleur with 3A.
Weekly Summary: The big dogs are ready for the playoffs!