SKATER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #9

So by the 5-minute mark Charlotte was up in shots 5-0 and Marc Tardif figured he would take advantage of his ever-shrinking ice time by taking a hooking penalty. It took only 10 seconds for sniper Ed Hospodar to clunk one off the post and in from wayyyyy out and give Charlotte an early 2-0 edge. For Hospodar it was #2 on the year and a chance for a second celebration of the day as big Ed earlier lost his last tooth when he bit into a wooden apple in a fruit bowl decoration in the lobby of the team hotel.

Sigh … five minutes later Charlie Simmer got into the act bamboozling Hanlon to look the other way as Simmer raced behind the Saskatoon net and backhanded it in on a nice wraparound. Simmer’s 17th of the year made it 3-0 and beer sales in the rink began to rise … after all enough beer and any game looks close. Surprisingly, Charlotte only outshot Saskatoon 12-10 in the period which had coach Scotty Bowman drawing some questioning looks for starting Grade 5.0 Hanlon ahead of 7.4 backup Rogie Vachon. Hanlon did his part to silence doubters though as he made a brilliant save on a sure goal by Wayne Cashman late in the period to keep it at 3-0.

Somewhat perplexingly, saving a sure goal did not qualify in the stats for a great save but then again Cashman scored the opening goal on a pass from Gordie Lane, but only Smith and Pronovost got assists so clearly don’t believe everything you read.

On to the 2nd period …

About a minute in and the suddenly supremely pissed Cyclone get rowdy with Gretzky leading the charge by valiantly taking a checking from behind penalty after he nailed Pronovost and then raced to the Saksatoon bench.

Ten seconds later heavyweights Hospodar and Chris Kotsopolous re-enacted the last 2 minutes of Rocky slugging the living tar out of each other. Kotsopoulos did his best to knock out Hospodar’s teeth apparently unaware they were no longer where God meant them to be and wound up heading to the dressing room for stitches after Hospodar nearly gnawed off two of the Cyclone defenceman’s fingers.

The spent the rest of the period storming the Charlotte zone and although the shots were only 10-6 they had Charlotte reeling for most of the period.

Dave Taylor continued to wake from his early season scoring slumber and got the Cyclone on the board at 6:23. Defenceman Dave Maloney crushed Mike Rogers near the Sask blueline and the puck caromed off to Gretzky who raced up ice with Taylor and Rogers hot on his heels. Taylor took Gretzky’s drop pass and looked to pass back but Greztky was smothered under a Rogers blanket so instead wound up and blasted it off the glove of and past Tony Esposito to make it 3-1. It was Taylor’s 15th.

Ninety seconds later Cyclone centre Keith Acton won a faceoff deep in the Charlotte zone passed off to Bob Gainey who scooted behind the net and snapped it out to Acton waiting out front and he knocked it past Espo for his 3rd of the year to make it 3-2. Again, although the puck went straight from Acton to Gainey per the announcer Tom Laidlaw got an assist on the play apparently for looking “really menacing” at the blueline.

Whatevs …

Down a goal to start the 3rd period it was more of the same from the Cyclone as they completely swamped the Charlotte zone the entire period, outshooting them 16-5.

Esposito held the Cyclone at bay until 11:13 when Taylor finished off a nice 2-on-1 with Gretzky by cleanly beating Esposito on a deke for his game-tying 16th of the year. Once again, Rogers was the victim on a goal by the dynamic duo as it was Greztky who stripped the puck off his stick as he attempted to stickhandle up ice past the forechecking cyclone forwards.

Game tied 3-3 of course it was complete knuckle head and strongman Stan Jonathan (5) (another friggin’ ex-Bruin) who ripped a one-timer from Bob Rouse past Hanlon with less than five minutes left to put Charlotte back up by one goal.

Jonathan almost put the visitors up by two when Hanlon robbed him on a breakaway with only two minutes to go in the game.

Charlotte’s net was aswarm with buzzing Cyclone players in the dying seconds of the period, but the puck stayed out and an overall pretty good game for Saskatoon ended with the big L as Charlotte downed them 4-3.

Charlotte had the refs’ ears this game with six power plays (1/6) as opposed to only two for Saskatoon (0/2), but the Cylcone owned the faceoff circle winning 60% of draws.

Game Stars:
1. SAS, Taylor 2 G
2. CHA, Simmer 1 G
3. CHA, Cashman 1 G

A pleasant disappointment – the game was pretty much all kinds of crazy with end to end action sprinkled liberally with players pummelling each other for 60 minutes.

The first period saw Saskatoon outshoot Brooklyn 14-10 but the goaltending was great and kept the score at 0-0 with the highlight save by none other than can’t get no respect Glen Hanlon who stoned Harbor Rats’ scoring machine Bobby Smith on a 3-on-2 late in the period.

Kent-Erik Andersson (11) put the Cyclone on the board at the 2:59 mark of the 2nd period as a result of a terrible line change by the Rats who were deserting their sinking power play ship after they were unable to score with Keith Acton in the box for tripping.

Dave Taylor (17) continued to stay hot, deking out defenceman Behn Wilson and then sliding the puck through Corey Millen’s pads to make it 2-0 Saskatoon on a power play.

Then it was Brooklyn’s turn as the pendulum swung the other way …

Right winger Randy Pierce scored his first of the season on a delayed penalty (once again on that fart bag Marc Tardif who had played just one minute to this point) at 12:44. Pierce’s snapshot from in close while Hanlon was being harassed by Pat Hickey was a no-contest goal for Brooklyn.

Speak of the devil … Hickey came through on his next shift with his 4th of the year assisted by Pierce when he beat Hanlon high glove side from the faceoff circle to tie it up 2-2.

Back to Saskatoon (where it is currently a balmy -50 degrees Celsius according to my daughter who lives and teaches there) …

With just under three minutes left to go in the 2nd and the Rats completely boxed up in their zone by the Rota-Gretzky-Taylor line, Mr. Taylor came through again completing a nice passing play with Gretzky and defenceman DAve Maloney for his 18th of the year to put the Cyclone ahead.

A minute and a half later Dennis Ververgaert rewarded the team for playing him instead of the resting and injury-prone Doug Risebrough when on a nice move beat Rats’ blueliner Kevin McCarthy and lifted the puck over Millen’s shoulder to make it 4-2. It was his 1st of the year and although as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers McCarthy deserves to be beaten with a club, bat or any kind of blunt object (maybe Ed Hospodar, eh?) beating him with a hockey stick will do.

Up 4-2 and Hanlon playing well the Cyclone confidently went into the 3rd period.

Unfortunately, you can’t stop what you can’t see.

Billy Harris slid a low wrist shot through a bunch of milling, scuffling neanderthals in front of the Cyclone net at 6:52 of the 3rd to bring the Rats within one and then at 13:50 Paul Reinhart (12) with the Cyclone scrambling around like headless chickens duplicated the feat with a slapshot through a pile of skates and bodies in front of Hanlon to tie it up 4-4.

… and that’s how it ended. Exhausted, both teams managed pretty much no offense in the last 6 minutes of the game and happily settled for the tie.

Shots – SAS 36 BRK 32
Scoring chances – 23-23

Stars:
1. SAS, Taylor 2 G
2. BRK, Hickey 1 G, 1 A
3. BRK, Pierce 1 G, 1 A

Meh … what can you do? Charlotte and Brooklyn played great and certainly earned the points they got.

1st Star – Anders Kallur (CHA), G
2nd Star – Tim Kerr (CHA), GWG
3rd Star – Mario Tremblay (CHA), G

1st Star – Charlie Simmer (CHD), 2G, A
2nd Star – Mark Messier (SCW), G, A
3rd Star – Rick Kehoe (SCW), G, A

PK unit was 13-13 ….enough said

The game itself was a rather rough one, with many roughing penalties, some cross checks, slashes, boardings & even high stick, but not a single fight broke out between the two squads. “It was rather amazing that the goons from Philadelphia didn’t start their crap with our good boys in here in Chicago” said the Underground General Manager Stray Corrado.

At the end of the game Mike Busniuk hooked Denis Savard & also received a ten minute misconduct. “He hooked me so hard that I pee-ed a little” said Savard. Chicago was livid that all Busniuk received was a 2 minute call, but the referee of the game also gave him a 10-minute misconduct so he couldn’t come back on the ice had Chicago scored on the power play. “That referee saved Busniuk life if you ask anyone of my boys here in Chicago, will be looking for hi goon ass when we play them again, that’s for sure” said Bryan Murray.

Final Score: Chicago 6 – Philadelphia 3

Labatts Three Star Selection:
Star #1 – Marcel Dionne – 2 Goals, 3 Points
Star #2 – Clark Gillies – 1 Goal, 2 Points
Star #3 – Peter Stastny – 1 Goal, 2 Points

Game Winning Goal – Clark Gillies

Mike Busniuk had 14 minutes in Penalties for Philadelphia (Asshole)

Final Score: St. Clair Shores 6 – Chicago 2

Labatts Three Star Selection:
Star #1 – Errol Thompson – 2 Goals, 3 Points
Star #2 – Bob Kelly – 1 Goal
Star #3 – Rob Ramage – 3 Assists

Game Winning Goal – Bob Kelly

Rob Ramage had 3 Assists for St. Clair Shores

Nick Fotiu scored a pair of goals for New Castle to build the lead and ironically, Fotiu’s delayed penalty on the Kerr goal factored into the decision.

OHIO 4, New Castle 3

MACKINAC ISLAND 4, Ohio 1

2nd period – Doug Wilson scores his 2nd goal on a power play. Fidler scores his 4th goal, and its 2-0, SCS. Then, the Legends get a goal by Bernie Federko as he gets his 12th of the year.

In the 3rd, its very even, and no one scores.

The Saints hang on for a 2-1 win.

SCS 2 Ohio 1

1st – Wilson SCS
2nd – Fidler SCS
3rd – Gi

At the 1:12 mark, Stan Smyl scores for the Bulldogs. Its his 9th goal of the year. There are no more goals. Syracuse with 28 shots on goal – SCS with 24.

Syracuse 1 SCS 0

1st – Craig 24 saves
2nd – Smyl 1 goal
3rd – Higgins 1 assist

The Owls win for only the fourth time this season, and the second win over the Ducks. It was a see-saw affair as New Castle once again could not hold a lead. The Ducks opened the scoring with 2d period goals by Rick Middleton and Tony Currie. However, Columbus came right back later in the period as Wayne Merrick and Doug Jarvis lit the lamp to tie the score at 2. Then, on a power play, Columbus scored their third unanswered goal as Michel Goulet put the puck behind Billy Smith to give the Owls a 3-2 lead after two periods.

In the third period, New Castle tied it at 1:31 on Mike Allison’s 20th goal of the season. Columbus came right back less than 2 minutes later, scoring once again on the power play as Blaine Stoughton notched his 18th of the year and Columbus was back in front 4-3. New Castle tied it again, at 7:05, with a power play goal of their own as Tony Currie scored his second of the night. 4-4! With both teams skating hard, Columbus broke the tie as Doug Jarvis scored his second of the game and 7th of the season to make the final 5-4 Columbus.

THREE STARS:
1- COL Jarvis 2G 1 A
2-NEW Allison 1G, 3 A
3- NEW Currie 2G

Mike Bromley had 33 saves for the Owls. Bobby Clarke won 16 of 25 faceoffs for the Ducks. Duck defenseman, Frank Bathe drew 11 minutes in penalties including a 5 minute major when he fought with Mike Milbury

After losing to last place Columbus, the Ducks played the Firebirds to a 2-2 tie. New Castle came out flying and outshot the Birds 33-23. After Philly took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Blaine Hardy, the Ducks tied it on Rick Middleton’s 18th of the year (assisted by his linemates Clarke and Allison).
The first period ended 1-1 but New Castle struck early in the second, on the power play, as Bobby Clarke scored (from Allison and Currie) to make it 2-1 Ducks. The Ducks tightened things up and it looked like the 2-1 lead might hold. But John Anderson scored at 8:50 of the third to tie the game and that is how it ended. Firebirds goalie Richard Sevigny made 31 saves.

STARS:
1- NEW Clarke 1G 1 A
2- NEW Middlegon 1G
3- PHI Hardy 1 G

Michel Larocque was in goal for the Ducks and stopped 21 of 23 shots.

Oh yeah, the score. 4-4.

Pittsburgh thinks they win it when Chouinard (15) scores with less than 90 seconds remaining, but Andre Savard (15) scores with only 55 seconds on the clock to swap spit with a sibling (ummm… strike that).

The trend continues early in the 2nd when Boudreau adds another for the home team to make the lead 4. The Bulldogs finally get the puck into the offensive zone with a little more regularity forcing Palmateer to do some work, and he does not do it well, saving only 6 of 8 shots in the period, letting Boldirev and Derlago score, and the lead is cut to 2 by period end, making it 4-2 Moose.

A very nervous crowd senses impending doom, but Palmateer, or someone dressed as him (really can’t tell with those masks, eh?) takes control of the period, fending off shot after shot. Just as the folks get comfy with Palmateer, Smith makes things itchy again with a high sticking major, putting the PK unit on the ice for 4 minutes with only 6 to play. The Moose show plenty of energy on the PK, as they haven’t really been energetic on offense in the 3rd period, and form a wall around Palmateer, holding off all attempts to score on the penalty. Palmateer saves 13 in the final stanza. Dunlop adds a meaningless empty netter near the end to make it 5-2. Free fudge for everybody !!!!!!
1st star – Barber 1g1a
2nd – Lever 1g
3rd – Dunlop 1g (really? for an empty netter?)

Great game for 2 periods with 5 ties and 4 lead changes. Chicago with goals from McNab, Seiling 2, Rautakallio and Stastny. The Moose answering with goals from Lysiak, Barber, Lever, Kurri, and Dunlop. 3 of those on the powerplay.

As the 3rd period moves along, so does the attention span and/or eyesight of Mike Palmateer, as he allows 3 goals in 7 minutes (Gilles 2, Labraaten). The Moose are unable to muster any offense the last 9 minutes and the game mercifully ends for Palmateer at 8-5.

1st star – Gilles 2g1a
2nd – Seiling 2g
3rd – Kurri 1g3a

For the visiting teams, Gilles and McNab each with 3 points.
For the Moose, Lysiak with 6 pts (1g5a) and Kurri 5 (2g3a)