2016-2017 PLAYER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #16
| EASTERN SKATER | TEAM | GP | GOALS | ASISSTS | POINTS | PM | +/- | SOG | S% |
| Karlsson, Erik | BGR | 4 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 2 | -1 | 8 | 0% |
| EASTERN GOALIE | TEAM | GP | GOALS AGAINST | G.A. AVERAGE | SAVES | SAVE % | |||
| Ullmark, Linus | HAM | 3 | 5 | 1.64 | 57 | .919 | |||
| WESTERN SKATER | TEAM | GP | GOALS | ASSISTS | POINTS | PM | +/- | SOG | S% |
| Gostibehere, Shayne | SCC | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 25% |
| WESTERN GOALIE | TEAM | GP | GOALS AGAINST | G.A. AVERAGE | SAVES | SAVE % | |||
| Domingue, Louis | RIP | 2 | 2 | 0.96 | 60 | .968 | |||
| Jagr Mullets | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Just one home game this week against Ripon – and it’s a hum-dinger!
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| Game #1: | We’re not even 5 minutes into the game, and a MASSIVE brawl breaks out! Spooner, Jenner, Nurse, and Dillon take on Staal, Jokinen, Abdelkader, and Brodie – with all 8 getting 5 for fighting.Apparently Ripon’s fists got the better of the Mullets, as Jagr remained intimidated most of the game. Looks like we’ll have to dress Tom Wilson the next time we face the Rockets!Jagr outshoots Ripon over 2-to-1 in the game, but finds themselves down 3-1 halfway through the 2nd. But TJ Brodie (6) finds the back of the net at 16:15 of the 2nd to rise the Mullet spirits and make it a game.The endless onslaught of Jagr shots continues into the 3rd, and Ripon actually becomes the intimidated team! And for good reason, as Pavelski (27) continues his MVP campaign with a goal at 11:17 to tie it up at 3. Ripon is on their heels, as the Mullet’s continue to throw shot after shot at Enroth… and the home crowd EXPLODES when Kadri puts one in the net with 11 SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME! Jagr calmly wins the ensuing faceoff and dumps the puck to secure the amazing come-from-behind win in a game where they out-shot (45-22), out-faceoffed (37-30), out-hit (28-21) and out-attempted (75-38) the Rockets and nearly lost. 1 2 3 F Scoring Summary Penalty Summary SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3 RIP JAG Star 1: JAG Kadri 1 G, 2 Pts GWG: Nazem Kadri Notables: RIP Duchene 18 faceoffs won, Enroth 41 saves Ripon GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate Jagr GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate |
| Weekly Summary: |
Jagr very lucky to take 2 points in their only home game this week.
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| Hampton Blizzard | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
A single game to be played in Hampton this week with the Blizzard taking on division rivals New Jersey and their yeti defenceman Dustin Byfuglien.
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| Game #1: | Carey Price shakes off the cobwebs to take the net against Jersey’s Cory Schneider and at the start it looks like Price is in for a long night with Viktor Arvidsson getting a breakaway right after the opening faceoff. Lucky for Price goals come with crossbars which Arvidsson nailed sending the puck over the net and off the glass. The next 10 minutes of the 1st period were all Hampton after being spooked at the start as the Blizzard pelted Schneider with the next 10 shots of the game. Alex Killorn struck a revenge blow against the Deflection in Front of the Net Gods (hockey has gods for everything) by getting a rare one FOR Hampton rather than against as he tipped a Andrej Sekera point shot past the sprawling Jersey netminder for a power play tally. And I thought basketball was a game of momentum … The next five minutes were all New Jersey when Hampton ran into a couple of penalties. The Grizzlies, down 11-1 in shots at one point, stormed back to tie the shots but could not put the puck in the net with Price providing steady but not spectacular goaltending. Tyler Myers gave Hampton a 2-0 lead at 18:52 of the opening period with a blast from the point and that’s how #1 ended. Period 2 was a lackluster affair that seemed a lot like basketball with one team coming down taking one shot, missing and then the other team doing the same. A big snoozer for the fans for that 20 minutes except for once again the dreaded deflection paid a role. Surprisingly it was Hampton again getting the benefit as they bumped their lead to 3-0 when Patric Hornqvist bounced a shot off Vinnie Trocheck’s buttcheeks for the young Florida centre’s 19th of the year. Hampton coach Scotty Bowman gave the team his usual “don’t blow the lead like usual” pep talk and the team, of course responded. Or rather New Jersey did. The league’s best defenceman, Shea Weber, coolly cruised into the slot on the power play barely into the 3rd period and drilled a wrist shot high stickside past helpless Price to give the Grizzlies a breath of life. It was Shea’s 14th. Kyle Okposo – does he score against anyone else??? – followed it up two minutes later when he took advantage of a poorly timed line change and backhanded one from point blank range to make it 3-2. Nice pep talk Scotty. Thankfully, Killorn continued his inspired play hitting everything that moved (he finished with 7 hits!) and his unexpected promotion to the power play paid dividends once again when he parked his Fat Albert-like ass in front of Schneider, could not be moved and knocked in the puck from inside the crease. Hampton hung on with New Jersey pressing in the final minutes and came out with a 4-2 win.Scoring Summary: 1st period 1. HAM, Killorn 7 (Sekera, Stastny) 6:37 (PPG) 2. HAM, Myers 11 (McGinn, Burkovsky) 18:52 2nd period 3. HAM, Trocheck 19 (Hornqvist, Ribeiro) 13:14 3rd period 4. NJ, Weber 14 (Sedin, Arvidsson) 1:53 (PPG) 5. NJ, Okposo 11 (Johansen, Arvidsson) 4:43 6. HAM, Killorn 8 (Sekera, Stastny) 11:04 (PPG) |
| Weekly Summary: |
Hampton gets revenge two-fold by beating New Jersey after recently falling to them and doing it by scoring a couple of goals on deflections. Next … actually scoring a goal during a shootout.
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| Long Beach Ice Dogs | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Long Beach hosts the 2 best teams in the league.
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| Game #1: | Long Beach (31-16-0-5) hosts California (35-15-0-3). This game was between the top 2 teams in the Pacific Division. The teams traded goals in the first by Reinhart & Stamkos. Perron gave Long Beach a 2-1 lead in the 2nd. For the last 10 minutes of the 2nd and first 10 of the 3rd, Long Beach peppered Holtby but couldn’t score a 3rd goal. Then California took over. Reinhart scored his 2nd goal of the game to tie it and Di Giuseppe scored the game winner with 2:10 left. Zbaneiad scored an empty netter to make the final 4-2. Holtby made 48 saves to give his team a chance to comeback.Stars: 1. Reinhart 2. Holtby 3. Zbaneiad |
| Game #2: |
Long Beach (31-17-0-5) hosts Hampton (35-11-0-7). Hampton totally dominated this game, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the 2nd period and went on to a 5-2 win. Ullmark had 25 saves in picking up his 12th win.Stars:
1. Forsberg 2. Burakovsky 3. Hertl |
| Weekly Summary: |
This week was a test of the playoff readiness of the Long Beach team and they failed losing both games.
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| Alamo Defenders | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Alamo plays host to both Brentwood and Scottsdale
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| Game #1: |
Brentwood at Alamo Cam Ward comes out of the starting lineup for Daniel Sedin. Parenteau starts up the scoring for Brentwood, but Alamo scores 3 consecutive goals to make it 3-1 for Alamo. Crosby and Malkin score consecutive goals for Brentwood – and its tied 3-3. Marchand and Sedin trade goals and its tied, 4-4. With 42 seconds to go, Pacioretty scores the game winner for Alamo. Alamo 5 Brentwood 4 1-Crosby |
| Game #2: |
Scottsdale at Alamo Lucic and Pacioretty exchange goals and its 1-1. Boedker breaks the tie in the 3rd, and Scottsdale leads. Then, Alamo goes on a penalty killing spree as Scottsdale gets 4 of them in the 3rd period. Johnson scores 1 and its 3-1, Scottsdale. Alamo shows some heart and scores 2. Marchand and Gardiner get the goals for Alamo. Late in the 3rd, Scottsdale calls a timeout, and sets up a nice goal by Josi with 35 seconds to go. Scottsdale wins. Scottsdale 4 Alamo 3 |
| Weekly Summary: |
2 real exciting games there were decided with less than 1 minute left.
Alamo 5 Brentwood 4
Scottsdale 4 Alamo 3 |
| Thunder Bay Nor’Westers | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Three of our four games this week are within our division so we want to dominate these games to make a statement that the Nor’Westers are going to be the team to beat. Looking to give O’Reilly a couple of days off.
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| Game #3: |
Hampton (1) Thunder Bay (3)
Petry (3rd) opened the scoring but not until the 2nd period. Nestrasil (4th) tied the game at 1-1 after 40 minutes. Seth Jones (2nd) gave the Nor’Westers the lead 2-1 and then Barkov netted the insurance goal for the 3-1 win. Reimer with a solid 29 saves for the win. |
| Game #4: |
New Jersey (3) Thunder Bay (4) in a Shootout
Thunder Bay lead 1-0 after the first on DeKeyser’s goal. Anthansiou pushed the lead to 2-0 in the 2nd, but Shattenkirk (8th) and Johansen (7th) tied it up 2-2 after 40 minutes.The 3rd saw Thunder Bay jump back in front 3-2 on Nestrasil’s (5th) send of the week. New Jersey battled back at the big guy, Dustin Byfuglein tied the game with his 20th goal of the season.OT saw no scoring. Shootout: Okposo (G) – Barkov Miss Draisaitl Miss – Saad (G) Ryan Miss – Eberle (G) and the 2 points. |
| Weekly Summary: |
Solid week at home – now we will see what happens on the road against Corktown and 2nd City.
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| Corktown Suds | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Corktown has one home games this week.
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| Game #1: |
Thunder Bay- Corktown gets a pair of goals by Neal (13,14) in the victory.
Corktown 4-1 |
| Weekly Summary: |
Corktown takes care of their one home game.
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| Bathgate Rangers | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Bathgate has a fun week – we get to play Jagr twice, once at home and then once again on the road! Oh, boy. We also get to host Columbus – a family affair (and we’ve been
getting the best of it all year – wish we had to play them 82 times, it seems it’s the only time the defense can keep up with the offense. |
| Game #1: | JAGR MULLETS – Best vs. Worst in Metropolitan division and a miracle happens. Even after Jagr scores with 3 minutes left in the 3rd to tie it – Rangers give up nothing in overtime and actually win the shoot out.Rinne stops Pavelski and Smith while Kane and Benn both score for the win.Rangers took an early 1-0 lead in the first but Mullets came right back 26 seconds later to tie it up, then poured in 2 more goals in the 1st but only led 3-2.
Kane tied it in the 2nd and King got his 2nd goal of the game midway through the 3rd to give the home team a 4-3 lead, but Stralman scored the tying goal at 17:02. Then the overtime – blank for both and shootout. |
| Game #2: | Local Rivalry – Columbus vs. Bathgate Like to say we’d be nice to the Brew Jackets, but that’s no fun. Zajac got the home team up 1-0 in the 1st. Then the Brew Jackets tied it twice in the 2nd on goals from Subban and Iginla sandwished around a Benn goal.3rd Period – Rangers get a PP goal from Klingberg and then a goal from Tierney to go up 4-2. Brew Jackets try for comeback with a PP goal by Nash with 21 seconds to go, but that was it as Rinne and defense manage to hold on during those final 21 seconds for the 4-3 win. STARS 1. BGR Tierney 1 goal, 2 PTS 2. BGR Benn 1 goal, 2 PTS 3. CBJ Subban 1 goal, 2 PTS |
| Weekly Summary: |
Rangers accomplish a 2 game win streak at home – woohoo!
Bathgate 5 Jagr 4 (SO) Bathgate 4 Columbus 3 |
| Jagr Mullets | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Scheduling snafu results in Jagr realizing they have a 2nd home game this week, vs. Bathgate.
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| Game #1: |
Jagr jumps all over Bathgate, taking an early 3-0 lead. But Bathgate storms back with 3 goals in the 3rd… but also allows 3 more goals in the 3rd and ultimately the Mullets prevail 6-3. Pavelski scores his 29th and 30th goals to continue his MVP caliber season, and Vasilevskiy goes to 6-0 on the season as the backup Mullet Goalie. |
| Weekly Summary: |
Jagr continues to get balanced scoring, but has been allowing too many goals as we head into the final months.
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| New Jersey Grizzlies | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
New Jersey welcomes Minneapolis to the rock just before the circus arrives with all the bells and whistles.
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| Game #1: |
New Jersey goes into week 15 welcoming Minneapolis into the Rock just before the circus arrives. The Grizzlies struck a cord early when young Viktor Arvidsson started the scoring. NJ leads 1-0. Luke Schenn evened the game at 1. Derrick Brassard gave Minneapolis their first lead of the night at 2-1. In the second period Viktor Arvidsson tied it up and really has stepped up and grabbed the momentum back. Derrick Brassard netted his second and goal gave the lead back to Minneapolis. A late goal gave Minneapolis the 4-2 win.
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| Weekly Summary: |
New Jersey finally loses at home but it will be a long road to hoe on the home stretch.
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| Lakeland Flying Tigers | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
4 Games, Lakeland goes 1-3 Ripon 2-1 L |
| Weekly Summary: |
Lakeland goes 1-3.
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| Brentwood Bandits | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Brentwood appears to be gaining some chemistry on and off the ice, even though they are resting up superstar center Evgeni Malkin.
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| Game #1: | Long Beach comes to town. Great game. All scoring in the first with Brentwood up 2-1. Goals scored by Ekman-Larsson (20) and Marleau (17) for Brentwood and Perron (8) for Long Beach.Score holds until the last 1:08 left when Phaneuf (3) puts it into an Empty Net to give the Bandits the 3-1 lead. Hainsey (5) adds insult to injury with another Empty Netter.Bandits win 4-1 in a game in which they dominated, but Talbot was equal to the task after allowing two in the first.
Brentwood outshot Long Beach 40-25 Star 1 – Marleau 1G, 1A Notables – LBD Soderberg 16 faceoffs won, Talbot 36 saves |
| Game #2: | Bathgate comes to The Hallow to try to knock Brentwood down a peg or two.Scoreless first period, despite Brentwood outshooting Bathgate 16-6. Pekka Rinne would be stellar this game.Second period Bathgate opens up the scoring with Donskoi starting things off with his 10th of the season, assisted by Klingberg (20) and Kane (39)
Crosby answers back at 15:40 with his 30th of the season off a beautiful feed by (temporary?) new line mate Daniel Sedin (20). Enter the third period tied 1-1 at 18:12 Patrick Marleau rips a slapper from the slot on a nice feed from Hemsky (9) for his 18th of the campaign. Niederreiter gets the second assist (15) Bathgate pulls Rinne, after an outstanding performance, and does him no favors as they give up the empty netter to Daniel “Don’t call me Henrik” Sedin (10), assisted by Parenteau (30) and Crosby (38). Al “Inigo” Montoya is impressive in a rare backup appearance spelling MAF. Final score Brentwood 3, Bathgate 1 Star 1 – Sedin 1G, 1A Notables – BGR Rinne 36 saves |
| Weekly Summary: |
Bandits take both home games and seem to be putting things together around the right time. Coach Tom Atkins is very pleased and was unusually all smiles at his post game press conference.”I’m just glad that Cam Ward stayed in the press box and didn’t try to impersonate Daniel Sedin again…”Look out Mullets… we’re coming for ya! |
| Minneapolis Deep Freeze | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Minneapolis gets only 1 home game this week, facing off against division opponent Lansing.
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| Game #1: | Lansing Capitals (2) @ Minneapolis Deep Freeze (3)
Minneapolis gets off to a strong start, outshooting Lansing 11-1 through the first 11 minutes. After making several great saves, Varlamov finally conceded a goal when Getzlaf (9) beat him to give Minneapolis the 1-0 lead. After another powerplay for Minneapolis in which Varlamov made 5 more impressive stops, Eriksson picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and created a 3-on-2 rush for Minneapolis. After some tic-tac-toe passing between Eriksson and Boyle, Hoffman (17) extended the Deep Freeze lead to 2 with 3 minutes left in the first period. Minneapolis holds onto the lead and goes into the first intermission feeling very confident after dominating Lansing in the opening period. After only getting 1 shot on goal in the first period, Lansing peppers Lundqvist with 5 shots in the opening minute of the second period. Lansing gets on the board under 3 minutes into the period when Ward (13) made a beautiful deflection on Vanek’s shot from the point. They would tie it at 2 only 90 seconds later when Steen (8) beat Lundqvist with a shot that probably should have been stopped. Through 5 minutes of play in the second period, Minneapolis hasn’t mustered a single shot on goal. 40 seconds after I wrote that, Markov (2) would beat Varlamov with a blast from the point to give Minneapolis back ahead 3-2. Minneapolis would get back into their first period form and manage to outshoot Lansing 17-5 over the last 15 minutes of the period and leads by 1 entering the third. Lansing turned up the heat on the Deep Freeze in the third period, but couldn’t break through Lundqvist again, and Minneapolis holds on to win 3-2. Star 1: MIN Hoffman 1 G, 2 Pts GWG: Andrei Markov Notables: LAN Varlamov 43 saves LAN MIN |
| Weekly Summary: |
Minneapolis returns to form this week with a dominating performance in a tough divisional game. Minneapolis continues to be very strong at home, but needs to find a way to win more road games.
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| Wausau Lumberjacks | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
The Lumberjacks will play the following opponents at home. Lansing and Minneapolis. Also Lumberjacks will play road game at Chicago
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| Game #1: |
Wausau 4 Chicago 1
Wausau-Zuccarello 1 goal 3 pts. Chicago -Wennberg 1 goal |
| Game #2: |
Wausau 5 Minneapolis 2 Wausau- Holland, Giroux , Zuccarello all had 1 goal |
| Game #3: |
Wausau 6 Lansing 5 (so) In a wild game Wausau wins in a shoot out. |
| Weekly Summary: |
Wausau goes 3-0. Great 3 games for the Lumberjacks.
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| Indiana Sycamores | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
4 games – a roadie at Lansing, home vs. the dangerous Lumberjacks, then a pair vs. division rival Corktown.
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| Game #1: |
IND(1) @ LAN (5) This one was no contest from the start – Lansing jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, IND got frustrated and took 6 consecutive penalties (Bergeron with a major + a 10-minute misconduct)…this game was over early. Lansing was outshot but still had a 14-4 edge in ‘scoring chances’. 3 stars: #3 Maroon 1G, #2 Steen 1G, #1 Little 1+1 |
| Game #2: | WAS(3) @ IND(4)
Looked like a repeat of the Lansing game at first.. Wasau dominated early play, and jumped out to a 2-0 lead with just over 3 mins to go in the first…but FINALLY the Sycamores sprung to life, as ‘ironman’ Doughty potted his 15th just seconds after Wasau’s 2nd goal. A goal from Koivu tied it up early in the 2nd, but a few minutes later Zuccarello scored his 2nd of the game to give Wasau another lead. Captain Toews to the rescue one more time, with a mid-2nd period goal. We went to the third tied, and it looked like OT – but then 4th-liner MAtt Read found himself in alone and buried it for the win. 12 of Indy’s 18 skaters recorded a point. As usual, Indy dominated the faceoff circle and the shot clock. Stars: #3 Toews 1G, @2 Koivu 1G, #1 Zucarello 2G |
| Game #3: |
CRK(0) @ IND(2) Pretty boring game. Neither team had that many shots or PPs – Indy killed a double-minor late in the 1st, scored two early in the 2nd, and that was that. Bobby Lu was strong when he had to be. Stars: #3 Letestu G, #2 Koivu G, #1 Luongo 25 saves |
| Game #4: |
CRK(3) @ IND(4) After a boring, scoreless first period..things got CRAZY. Indiana took three leads only to see Corktown return fire every time. There were 8 combined power plays in the last two periods and the Suds were outshot 28-13 over that span, but it took a late power-play marker from little-used Tomas Plekanec to seal the deal. Bobby Lu was off this game, giving up three on 19 shots. The rest of the Sycamore squad was dominant – 34 shots to 19, 63% on faceoffs, 3-6 with the man advantage. STARS: #3 Doughty 1+1 #2 Bergeron 1+1 #1 Methot 2G |
| Weekly Summary: |
3-1 keeps Indy in the hunt…for now.
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| Ripon Rockets | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Ripon hosts Alamo
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| Game #1: | February 4 2017 Galaxy Centre 01-31-2017
1 2 3 F Scoring Summary Penalty Summary SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3 ALA RIP Star 1: ALA Greiss 29 saves GWG: Jay Beagle Notables: ALA Thornton 15 faceoffs won |
| Weekly Summary: |
Alamo takes Ripon 2-1 in a tight checking game.
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| Second City Chiefs | |
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| Game #1: |
Hampton wins over Second City 4-3 in the shootout.
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| Game #2: |
Second City outshoots Thunder Bay 38-22 but a craptastic performance from Rask who allows five goals, and a great performance from Mason who shuts out the Chiefs. 5-0 Thunder Bay wins.
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| Game #3: |
Second City leads the whole way until Chicago ties it with the empty net with under 30 seconds to go. Then Chicago wins it in OT 2-1.
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| Weekly Summary: |
Second City loses all three because they suck. Front office is open to trades.
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| Scottsdale X-Men | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
2 Games Against California
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| Game #1: |
California Wins
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| Game #2: |
Scottsdale Wins
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| Weekly Summary: |
1-1 Both Against California This Week
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| Hampton Blizzard | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Hampton coasts into the early free agent signing period with four tough home games against four tough teams in Corktown, Long Beach, Thunder Bay, and New Jersey. Hampton went into the homestand with #6 league point-getter Paul Stastny on the shelf running on fumes heading into the home stretch and plucky giant Martin Hanzal taking his spot centring the top line.
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| Game #1: | The Blizzard came out of the gates with their offense in high gear peppering Long Beach keeper Cam Talbot with 17 shots in the opening frame against only five by the Ice Dogs. It was none other than callup Martin Hanzal who got Hampton on the board first, poking a puck in past Talbot during a scrum in the crease at 4:09 of the 1st period. It was Hanzal’s first of the year. Midway through the 1st Steven Stamkos registered the 3rd Long Beach shot on the power play tipping in Mr. Yandle’s slapper from the blueline to even it up. Hampton’s recipe for success in this one looks like it’ll mean outshooting Long Beach by more than 3:1 as they went into the dressing rooms with a big gap in shots but tied 1-1 and down one fight to none as Perron kicked Andrew Shaw’s ass in a fight near the end of the period. Coach Scotty Bowman’s fascination of quantity over quality was painfully obvious throughout the game. In Period 2, Hampton could only manage to outshoot Long Beach 11-5 in a scoreless, penalty-less 20 minutes. Hampton kept its 2:1 shot ratio alive with a 18:9 margin in the 3rd but Talbot continued his dominance with only a Filip Forsberg slapshot through a crowd a minute into the period as his only mistake. Noodle-armed Swede Soderberg somehow bamboozled Linus Ullmark with only 2 minutes left in the game to tie it 2-2 and send it into dreaded overtime. It was the Colorado centre’s 3rd goal of the season. With only 11 seconds left in overtime, Aaron Ekblad fired Hampton’s 55th shot of the game – a big rebound off Talbot’s pads – past the sprawling Long Beach netminder to cement a 3-2 win for Hampton. It’s not too many games you give up three goals and finish with a .945 save percentage, but Talbot was amazing turning aside 52 shots in the game, but somewhat bizarrely was not only not named 1st star but was not even among the top three. Somewhat ashamed, Forsberg crossed the ice after the game to give the honor to the player that actually deserved it. |
| Game #2: |
Hampton’s Mikael Backlund scored three straight goals to lift the Blizzard to their 2nd straight win on the homestand with a 4-1 defeat of the New Jersey Grizzlies.
Dustin Byfuglien (who scores in every game against Hampton) did it again with number 21 as one of five shots Jersey had on Linus Ullmark in the 2nd period. Frans Nielsen got the other goal for Hampton. Jersey goalie Cory Schneider played well through most of the game save for a three-minute span of the 2nd period in which Hampton scored three times. |
| Game #3: | Thunder Bay took a step closer to the division lead by practising the Less is More strategy against Hampton and taking the game 2-1. While the Hampton skaters flew up and down the ice raining vulcanized rubber death on James Reimer, Thunder Bay just watched and bided their time. Their first chance came on some sloppy passing during a power play that allowed Helm to race in on Ullmark and beat him high to give Thunder Bay a 1-0 lead midway through the 1st period while shorthanded. Before the period was over Saad tipped a point shot from Slavin past Ullmark to send Hampton to the dressing room with an uncomfortable 2-0 deficit. The Blizzard kept pouring on the attack and by the time the dust cleared they had outshot the Norwesters by a ridiculous margin of 41-13, but only Filip Forsberg with his 23rd of the season was able to beat Reimer with a low slapshot from outside the slot. About as lop-sided a game can be except on the score sheet with Hampton having 5:35 in time on attack compared to 1:26 for Thunder Bay and attempting 84 shots to the visitor’s 28. Oh well. Fate is fickle. |
| Game #4: | The Corktown Suds mounted the most even competition in the homestand with some great end-to-end action, but Hampton emerged with a 4-2 win thanks to some crazyass, acrobatic saves made by Carey Price. Price, in a rare spot start, saved 28 of 30 shots. The shots in the game were 31-30 Hampton, faceoffs 34-33 Hampton (Ryan Kesler of the Suds won 16 alone!), hits were 23-22 Corktown, blocked shots were 20-17 Hampton and shot attempts were 62-62. Corktown may well have wound up winning this one except that they spent the final 10 minutes of the game killing penalties including a 5-minute major handed to Virtanen for checking from behind … bad boy! Goal scorers for Corktown in the game were the big guys Simmonds (11) and Tarasenko (22). Hampton got goals from the little guys – Trocheck (21), Killorn (9), Hornqvist (10), Petry (4) |
| Weekly Summary: |
Four drastically different games with the one Hampton on paper should have one easily turned out to be the game that they lost. Kudos to Thunder Bay.
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| Jagr Mullets | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Two intra-division Metropolitan games vs. Bathgate and Lakeland.
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| Game #1: | The Mullets have had good success against Bathgate, mainly from keeping Kane and Benn in check and the Ranger shot totals low.This game was no different – except Bathgate made the most of their opportunities.When Grossman (2.8 offensive rating) scores against you on the power play, you’ve got to worry.Game is tied up 2-2 when Craig Smith comes up with a HUGE goal for the Mullets with only FOUR SECONDS remaining in the game. Whew! Pavelski pots his 32nd of the year to continue his MVP campaign. 2016-17 Bathgate 21-33-0-4 0 1 1 2 Scoring Summary Penalty Summary SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3 BGR JAG Star 1: JAG Kadri 1 G, 2 Pts GWG: Craig Smith Notables: BGR Rinne 38 saves Bathgate GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate Jagr GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate |
| Game #2: | Jagr and Lakeland trade goals, and it’s 2-2 late in the 3rd.
Jordan Staal buries his 17th of the season at 17:16 of the 3rd to put the Mullets up 3-2, and Phil Kessel scores an empty netter to ice the game. 2016-17 Lakeland 25-27-0-5 0 1 1 2 Scoring Summary Penalty Summary SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3 LAK JAG Star 1: JAG Kessel 1 G, 2 Pts GWG: Jordan Staal Notables: LAK M.Jones 37 saves Lakeland GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate Jagr GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate |
| Weekly Summary: |
Two big home wins for Jagr as they finish resting several key players. The Mullets will be closing the season strong without having to worry about usage going forward.
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| Chicago Cosa Nostra | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Chicago hosts Bathgate in a match of cellar dwellers.
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| Game #1: | The two teams match goals early on as Lupul redirects one from Tierney past Mrazek at the 3:12 mark only to have Pastrnak slip one under Hutton at the 5:57 spot. But Lupol scored his 2nd goal of the game (and the only PP goal of the game) on a play set up by Karlsson and Kane midway through the 1st for 2-1 lead by the visitors.Baertschi tied it up in the 2nd, but Karlsson quickly responded to give the Rangers a 1 goal lead and the 3-2 score was were it ended after 2.Both teams’ shots totals dropped in the 3rd but 2 of the Rangers 6 shots got past Mrazek (Tierney and Staal) and the Rangers skated off 5-2 victors. STARS (all Rangers) 1. Lupol – 2 goals, 3 points 2. Tierney – 1 goal, 2 points 3. Karlsson – 1 goal, 2 points |
| Weekly Summary: |
Bathgate skates into Chicago and gets a win!
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| Minneapolis Deep Freeze | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Minneapolis will play 4 home games at the Frozen Pond this week, including a rematch against Columbus who got the better of them at Suds Arena last week, and 3 against divisional foes: Wausau, Lansing, and Chicago.
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| Game #1: | Columbus Brew Jackets (3) @ Minneapolis Deep Freeze (1)
The game gets off to a good start with both teams generating chances, including 2 powerplay opportunities for Columbus, but Minneapolis would get onto the board first. Under 4 minutes to go in the opening period, Brassard (20) created a 3-on-2 rush with Eriksson and Seidenberg – and after some back-and-forth passing was able to beat Pavelec with a slapshot from the slot. A little over 2 minutes later, Hoffman took yet another penalty for Minneapolis in an unusually undisciplined game, but Columbus came out quickly to start the second though, with Couture (18) winning the opening faceoff and getting the powerplay goal only 12 seconds into the period. 5 minutes into the period with Gaborik already in the box for Columbus, Subban took another penalty to give Minneapolis a 5-on-3 for 1:08, but Columbus was able to kill off both penalties to keep the score tied at 1. Under 5 minutes to go in the period with Hossa in the box for holding, Columbus capitalized on another powerplay to take a 2-1 lead on McDonagh’s 10th of the year. Minneapolis would take yet another penalty but Columbus failed to widen the lead and we enter the third period with Columbus leading 2-1. Coach Larry Murphy needs to talk to his team and get them to play a more disciplined third period and stop taking so many stupid penalties. Naturally, 15 seconds into the period Markov and Nash take coincidental roughing calls. Minneapolis continues to struggle to stay out of the box, and despite one powerplay in their favor fails to put another puck past Pavelec. Nash (6) would add another for Columbus with 1:09 to go to make it 3-1. Pavelec earns the win for Columbus in a game that easily could have gone either way. Minneapolis’ powerplay continues to struggle, as they move to 0-19 with the man advantage in their last 7 games. Star 1: CBJ Pavelec 30 saves GWG: Ryan McDonagh Notables: CBJ Pavelec 30 saves CBJ MIN |
| Game #2: | Lansing Capitals (3) @ Minneapolis Deep Freeze (2)
Michal Neuvirth gets the start in goal tonight for Minneapolis. The first period was mostly uneventful with a powerplay for each team but Minneapolis leading in shots (12-7) and chances (5-1). Minneapolis would control the play for most of the first 14 minutes of the second period, racking up 13 more shots on goal and 7 more chances, but Lansing would manage to strike first. Chimera (12) poked the puck away from Eriksson breaking out of the Minneapolis zone and was able to beat Neuvirth with a backhand 1-on-1. Lansing leads 1-0 with 5:37 left in the second period. Minneapolis gets a late powerplay when Hudler goes into the box for hooking with 1:21 left in the period, but is unable to score before the buzzer sounds. The Deep Freeze go into the locker room feeling like they deserve to be leading this game but have yet to solve Devan Dubnyk. After killing off the rest of the penalty to Hudler, Lansing got another lucky break as Neuvirth ended up way out of position and Vanek (10) banged home a rebound to make it 2-0 Lansing 2:36 into the period. Not even 3 minutes later, with a delayed penalty coming to the Deep Freeze, Lansing makes it 3-0 when Ward (16) ripped one past Neuvirth. Minneapolis would finally score on their 35th shot of the game when Schenn (14) ended the steak of fruitless powerplays with 8:40 left to play. With under 2 minutes to go, the Deep Freeze make it interesting when Hoffman (18) makes it 3-2. Larry Murphy called Neuvirth to the bench with 1 minute to play to get an extra attacker, but Minneapolis was unable to score again and Lansing holds on to win 3-2 despite being outplayed in almost ever aspect. Minneapolis continues to play well but Star 1: LAN Ward 1 G, 2 Pts GWG: Joel Ward Notables: LAN Dubnyk 40 saves LAN MIN |
| Game #3: | Wausau Lumberjacks (3) @ Minneapolis Deep Freeze (2)
Coach Murphy would be happy if his team played as well every day as they did in the loss against Lansing. We’ll win most of our games if we keep playing that well. After controlling play for much of the first period, Minneapolis gets on the board first under 2 minutes left when Doan (12) beat Howard up high. Minneapolis continues their onslaught on opposing goaltenders with 19 shots (8 chances) on Howard in the opening period to only 5 for Wausau. Wausau evened the score at 1 on Palat’s 14th of the year only 3 minutes into the second period. The teams trade powerplays but neither is able to score again. Minneapolis controls much of the rest of the period and holds a 34-10 shot advantage at the end of the second. They’ll need to solve Howard if they don’t want to fall victim to another stellar goaltending performance. Wausau wins the faceoff to start the third period and quickly brings it down the ice to take the lead as Kopitar fed Perry (23) who beat Lundqvist to make it 2-1 in favor of the Lumberjacks. Schenn (15) tied the game back up at 2 when a shot that bean Howard low on the stick side with 8:15 left in the third period. After another failed powerplay attempt for Minneapolis, Zuccarello (26) picked up a loose puck behind the net and beat Lundqvist to make it 3-2 for Wausau. Minneapolis pulls the goalie with about a minute to go and gets several more chances, including a huge glove save by Howard with 5 seconds to go, but is unable to score again. The Deep Freeze lose another game that they deserved to win, despite having 50 shots on goal. Star 1: WLJ Howard 48 saves GWG: Mats Zuccarello Notables: WLJ Niskanen 3 assists, Oduya 5 blocks, Howard 48 saves WLJ MIN |
| Game #4: | Chicago Cosa Nostra (1) @ Minneapolis Deep Freeze (5)
Minneapolis will hope to get back on track with what should be an easier game against division bottom-feeder Chicago. The Deep Freeze continue to struggle to score goals and Chicago strikes first on a beautiful deflection from Kreider (7) with 10:35 to go in the first period. A little over 3 minutes later, Minneapolis catches a break and remembers how to use a powerplay, and Sharp (13) one-timed a shot from Pesce to tie the game at 1 with 7:03 left in the period. The first period ends with the game tied at 1 and Minneapolis continuing on their trend of outshooting opponents handily, as they lead Chicago 16-8 in the Minneapolis will have a chance to extend the lead early in the second period when Larkin takes a penalty for holding, followed by Krug taking 2-minutes for hooking only 30 seconds later to give the Deep Freeze and extended 5-on-3 opportunity. Minneapolis gets another powerplay goal 30 seconds in to the new penalty when Boyle (10) blasted one past Mrazek and Getzlaf picks up his team-leading 42nd assist. Chicago would kill off the rest of the penalty, but Kronwall put them back down a man shortly thereafter and Datsyuk (11) made them pay when he beat Mrazek with a hard one-timer from the slot 4:20 into the second period. Minneapolis is finally finding their groove on the powerplay after being dormant for several weeks. The rest of the period is scoreless, and Minneapolis leads 3-1 entering the third period. After killing off a penalty of their own, Datsyuk catches the Cosa Nostra defense out of position and sets up Eriksson (29) for a one-timer to give Minneapolis the 4-1 lead with 10:52 left in the period. With Seidenberg in the box for Minneapolis, Chicago tries to get back into the game but Lundqvist is there to make a couple of grest saves. Star 1: MIN Datsyuk 1 G, 2 Pts GWG: Dan Boyle Notables: CHI Mrazek 36 saves CHI MIN |
| Weekly Summary: |
Minneapolis plays well but goes 1-3 and fails to take advantage of their 4 home games despite outshooting their opponents by a combined 164-96.
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| Alamo Defenders | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
This game features Alamo at Long Beach. Alamo is chipping in for Peter. So, the visitor plays the game in this one.
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| Game #1: |
Alamo at Long Beach Bjugstad starts the scoring for Long Beach. Its 1-0 after 1. In the second, Alamo gets Pacioretty’s 21st goal and its tied. Bjugstand scores his second of the game for the Ice Dogs and after 2, its Long Beach 2 and Alamo 1. In the third, its a wild affair. 6 goals are scored, but Alamo scores 4 of them. With 1:39 to go, Jason Garrison scores his 1st goal of the year, and Alamo wins the game on the road. SOG: 1st star – Bjugstad Alamo 5 Long Beach 4 |
| Weekly Summary: |
Alamo defeats Long Beach, 5-4.
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| New Jersey Grizzlies | |
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| Game #1: |
Indiana loses to NJ 3-1
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| Weekly Summary: |
New Jersey wins only home game this week
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| Indiana Sycamores | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Indy has three important home games – third in a row vs. Corktown, a nonconference tilt with Ripon, and a huge game against Thunder Bay.
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| Game #1: |
Corktown(5) @ Indiana (3) VERY frustrating game for the home side. Despite outshooting the Suds 47-26, earning 7 power plays, and spending most of the game in the offensive zone, the game was tied with under 2 minutes to go when Methot blasted one home for Corktown. Tarasenko added an empty-netter and that was that. Tough to beat any team three times in a row! Stars: |
| Game #2: |
Ripon (8) @ Indiana (1) Not much to say here – Ripon led throughout, but it was still a game after 2..then the floodgates opened. 8 goals on 29 shots..ouch! Throw out the tape, not much to see here. STARS: #3 Spooner 1+2 #2 Taffoli 2G #1 Schiefele 2+1 |
| Game #3: |
Thunder Bay(2) @ Indiana (5) Sensing this was a must-win game, Badger Bob activated some guys low on playing time. Early on it looked like a bad move, as TB jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead. But, the Old Man of the Sea led them back…Jagr scored early in the second, added an empty netter late, and Toews scored 2 as well to give Indiana a much-needed win. Stars: #2 Bergeron 1+2, #2 Toews 2G, #1 Jagr 2G Mason was tested early and often for Thunder Bay and had a strong game despite the final score. |
| Weekly Summary: |
1-2 is NOT what we needed, with a lot of road contests left. Indy hangs onto contention by a thread in the rough-and-tumble Atlantic.
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| Columbus Brew Jackets | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Columbus has 3 home games again this week. Hosting Brentwood, Lakeland, and Bathgate.
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| Game #1: |
Brentwood at Columbus Back and forth game couldn’t be decided in regulation. But CBJ scored early in OT to win 4-3. |
| Game #2: |
Lakeland at Columbus Columbus finally had a blowout victory. Nash scored twice as they won easily 4-1 |
| Game #3: |
Bathgate at Columbus Columbus just can’t seem to beat the Rangers. This continued as they fell 3-2 to Bathgate. |
| Weekly Summary: |
Columbus won 2 out of 3
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| Wausau Lumberjacks | |
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| Game #1: |
Wausau 4 Lansing 0
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| Game #2: |
Chicago 5 Wausau 2
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| Weekly Summary: |
Wausau 1-1 at home.
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| California Regulators | |
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| Weekly Summary: |
California beats Long Beach and loses to Ripon.
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| Ripon Rockets | |
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| Weekly Preview: |
Alamo is the only game this week.
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| Game #1: |
Alamo takes Ripon 4-2
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| Weekly Summary: |
Ripon drops only Week 16 home game.
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