SKATER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #17
| CLARENCE SKATER | TEAM | GP | GOALS | ASISSTS | POINTS | PM | +/- | SOG | S% |
| Babych, Wayne | SCS | 4 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 18% |
| CLARENCE GOALIE | TEAM | GP | GOALS AGAINST | G.A. AVERAGE | SAVES | SAVE % | |||
| Liut, Mike | SCS | 3 | 7 | 2.33 | 74 | .914 | |||
| WALES SKATER | TEAM | GP | GOALS | ASSISTS | POINTS | PM | +/- | SOG | S% |
| Walter, Ryan | NEW | 4 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 25% |
| WALES GOALIE | TEAM | GP | GOALS AGAINST | G.A. AVERAGE | SAVES | SAVE % | |||
| Peeters, Pete | CHI | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 66 | .930 | |||
| Chicago Underground | |
| Weekly Preview: | The bad guys from Philadelphia come into the Windy City for an important game this week. Chicago dresses Jack Carlson (Enforcer) for what might be his only game of the year. |
| Philadelphia Firebirds @ Chicago Underground | Chicago gets off to a 1-0 lead after 2:15 Seconds in the first, but Philly ties it 5 minutes later. Chicago takes a 3-1 lead into the 3rd Period, but Philadelphia gets hot in the 3rd, but Chicago holds on for the win.Final Score: Chicago 5 – Philadelphia 4Labatts Three Star Selection: Star #1 – John Tonelli – 1 Goal, 3 Assists Star #2 – Peter Stastny – 1 Goal, 2 Points Star #3 – Paul Holmgren – 1 Goal, 3 PointsPete Petters 34 Saves for ChicagoGame Winning Goal – Peter Stastny |
| Weekly Summary: | Who out there really doesn’t hate Philadelphia? Chicago has a great rivalry with them, but that does’t prevent us from hating them. Chicago plays a game at the Philadelphia Civic Center which is a urine smelling hell hole that Philadelphia calls home. |
| Syracuse Bulldogs | |
| Weekly Preview: | Ohio and Chicago come to town |
| Ohio Legends @ Syracuse Bulldogs | Ohio doubles up the Dogs 6-3 Stars #1 OHI Kerr 2G #2 OHI Federko 1G 3pts #3 Ohi Williams 1G 2pts |
| Chicago Underground @ Syracuse Bulldogs | Syracuse surprises the red hot Chicago team 5-3 Stars #1 SYR Higgins 2G #2 Chi Brasar 2G #3 SYR Petersson 1G |
| Weekly Summary: | Split 2 out of 4 pts. Doesn’t look like a playoff year |
| Mackinac Island Moose | |
| Weekly Preview: | Brian Propp and Reed Larson get a chance, once again, to say Hi to their old teammates, as the two guys swapped sides before the season began. Syracuse (21-29-10) takes the ice breaker out to the Island to take on the Moose (32-18-10). Neither team features a top 25 scorer, so we expect a more defensive oriented battle today. This is the only home game for the Moose this week before they head out for a 3 game road trip. |
| Syracuse Bulldogs @ Mackinac Island Moose | Bulldogs 3, Moose 3 – As expected, the first period is ruled by the goalies with Edwards (13 svs) and Meloche (6 svs) perfect in goal, sending both teams to the locker rooms to sort out some offensive changes. Some action did take place as Walker and Dunlop skirmished, and a little later Marsh did a little shoving and wrestling with former teammate Propp. The Moose killed one penalty and the Bulldogs killed 2. No blood.
2nd period sees some puck in net action finally. First the home team gets a tally with a disgruntled Propp getting one in. After that its all Bulldogs as Johnstone nets 2 and Fraser adds another to make Meloche feel stupid, and the visitors giddy, heading to the intermission leading 3-1. Third period sees the home team constantly getting in their own way, spending three 2 minute sessions on the PK. At least they were able to kill them all and not see the hole get any deeper. The Bulldogs have one penalty to kill, but that goes horribly wrong as the Moose powerplay unit converts with Propp getting his 2nd of the game only 19 seconds into the PK and the score goes to 3-2 Bulldogs with a little over 13 minutes to go. Syracuse backs down on the offensive pressure, but the Moose continue to by stymied by Edwards in goal. Finally in the last act of desperation, Mackinac Island pulls the goalie and launches the all out attack. The Bulldogs get the puck twice but cannot get it past the neutral zone, and in a final desperate attempt, Robert fires a wounded dove at the net, an easy stop for Edwards, if not for his old teammate Propp was in front of the crease to tip the puck over his glove and into the net with only 31 seconds remaining. When asked about the Propp trade, coach Borzenski said, “It seems to be working out just right for us.” 1st star – Propp hat trick |
| Weekly Summary: | One game and a tie for the Moose.
Propp with the hattrick, Johnstone with 2 goals for the Bulldogs, |
| CapJack Rangers | |
| Weekly Preview: | Crunch time and Rangers have players who are so sore they can’t dress – roster shuffling is getting tough and wins are a must. AND our road games are against Brooklyn and Pittsburgh, boy do we need some good stuff at home. Game 1 – Meese Game 2 – the Worms (I mean Wales) |
| Mackinac Island Moose @ CapJack Rangers | Rangers start strong, but the games go more than 1 period and a 4 goal 2nd by Mackinac Island (carless town – but it’s fun to bike around) was enough to carry the day. Period 1 – Rangers get 2 – Gare (35) and Marsh (3), but Dunlop (Reggie?) gets his 17th shortly after the Marsh goal and that opens things up. 2-1 CapJack after 1. Period 2 – Barber (35) scores 35 seconds into the period to tie it up, then O;Connell (4) and Dupont (14) score before 5 minutes are gone and suddenly the game is 4-2 Moose. Schutt (32) scores less than a minute later to make it 4-3 and give the home town fans hope. But Propp (26) puts one past Bouchard with less than a minute remaining in the 2nd to make it 5-3. Period 3 – Gare (36) fires up the team scoring in the opening minute of the 3rd to make it 5-4, but Robert (7) scores midway to perhaps ice it. And indeed it was as the Moose use their antlers to stifle the Rangers the rest of the way and win 6-4 spoiling things for Rangers fans. Ranger had tons of chances, but Palmateer thwarted 37 shots to keep his team in the game. STARS: 1. CAP – Gare 2 goals 2. MAC – Dupont 1 goal, 1 assist 3. MAC – Robert 1 goal, 1 assist |
| Silk City Wales @ CapJack Rangers | Rangers can’t afford any more losses and they come out firing and put 3 past Lessard in the 1st and 2 more in the 2nd. Vachon gets the start and stops all but 3 – so it’s 5-3 CapJack. Schutt (33) – PP, Marsh (4) and Schutt again (34) – PP score in the 1st. Marsh gets his 2nd goal (5) very early in the 2nd and it’s 4-0. Sutter (27) scores before Shutt (35) adds a 5th goal for the Rangers. Murphy manages a 2nd period goal for Silk City and the Wales end the 2nd down 5-2. Late in the 3rd, the Rangers have a Power play, but it’s Messier (24) who scores – SH – for the Wales and that finishes the scoring. STARS (all CAP) 1. Marsh 2 goals 2. Schutt 2 goals 3. Shutt 1 goal, 1 assist Murphy was flagged for 12 penalty minutes for the Wales. They had 37 minutes total and gave the Rangers 9 PPs which resulted in 3 goal for CapJack (and 1 for the Wales). Rangers had 20 minutes topped by Bowness who earned 14. |
| Weekly Summary: | Well – needing 2 wins, the Rangers manage 1 of 2 for 2 points. Hope the road does as well or better!! |
| Saskatoon Cyclone | |
| Weekly Preview: | Two home games this week to break the cold monotony of the Saskatchewan tundra as the Cyclone play host to Charlotte (22-30-9) and defensive powerhouse Brooklyn (29-19-13) |
| Charlotte Dynamo @ Saskatoon Cyclone | Sheer and utter lunacy in this one with defense only being an afterthought. Goals came fast and in bunches.
The first bunch belonged to Saskatoon with Kevin Lowe (15), Keith Acton (10), Doug Risebrough (9) and Bob Gainey (15) on a short-handed breakaway giving Charlotte keeper Tony Esposito fits for the first 12:34 of the game. The power of the power play (or maybe it was shitty penalty killing) then took over with three consecutive power plays by Charlotte which stretched into the 2nd period and three consecutive power play goals – Derek Smith (12), Mike Rogers (22) on a cheesy deflection, and Rogers (23) again on a nice wrist shot from the slot with Charlie Simmer and Ian Turnbull assisting on both Rogers’ goals. Tom Laidlaw somehow managed to float a slapshot from the blueline that found its way past Esposito to make it 5-3 Saskatoon by the midway mark of the 2nd period, but then the Dynamo went berserk with a late 2nd period goal by Laurie Boschman (12) moments after a power play expired and then two goals in the 3rd period by Smith (13) and Rogers (24) to complete the hattrick to give Charlotte a 6-5 lead. Hard to blame the keepers on this one as the defence was atrocious throughout and Saskatoon edged Charlotte 39-38 in final shots on goal. Rick Vaive (17) cashed in on a power play opportunity midway through the 3rd period to tie it up. Remember what I said about crappy defense? Well there were no less than four breakaways in the final 10 minutes of the game with Derek Smith and Charlie Simmer both being stopped by shellshocked Saskatoon keeper Glen Hanlon and two by Joel Quenneville (10) and Wayne Gretzky (46) that Esposito did not stop. Miraculously there were no goals and few shots on net when Charlotte finally was able to pull Lozinski (who took over for Esposito after the 8th goal) and the game ended 8-6 in Saskatoon’s favor. STARS: |
| Brooklyn Harbor Rats @ Saskatoon Cyclone | The Saskatoon Cyclone scored four times in the first 23:15 of play as the fans braced for another goaltender bloodbath, but it was not to be as Wayne Stephenson gave up nothing after that while Reggie Lemelin was sharp and turned aside 29 of 30 shots to give the home team a 4-1 win.
Scoring for Saskatoon were Rick Vaive (18), Joel Quenneville (11), Wayne Gretzky (47) and Marc Tardif (13) while Kevin McCarthy was the only one to solve the Lemelin puzzle with a blistering slapshot at 7:03 of the 3rd period. The game did feature a couple of middleweight bouts with Pat Hickey getting the stuffing knocked out of him by Cyclone defenceman Dave Maloney and Rick Vaive sucker punching Mike Polich. Stars: |
| Weekly Summary: | For the first time in a while the Cyclone were able to max out on home game points winning both games versus two tough opponents. |
| New Castle Ducks | |
| Weekly Preview: | On December 31, 1980 the Ducks were 10-24-5. 1981 has been much better for the New Castle squad as they have gone 11-11-1 in the new year. While still a long shot the resurgent Ducks are now in striking distance of Syracuse, Chicago and Ohio for a playoff spot. Two home games this week- one against the powerful Mackinac Moose and the other against the Columbus Owls |
| Mackinac Island Moose @ New Castle Ducks | Things started out badly for the Ducks as the Moose scored four unanswered goals in the first 11:06 of the first period. And then BOOM – the Ducks caught fire, scoring SIX unanswered goals of their own to come away with a shocking, upset, victory 6-4! Bill Barber, Norm Dupont and Walt Tkaczuk (twice – first two goals of the year) gave the Moose the early 4-0 lead as Bunny Larocque looked awfully shaky in the New Castle net. The Ducks started their comeback at 14:41 when D Brad McCrimmon scored (7) on a power play. 4-1. THen less than four minutes later Ryan Walter netted his 23rd of the year to make it 4-2 after one. New Castle came out flying in the second period , as they outshot the Moose 15-4. The aggressive play paid off as Rick Middleton scored his 33rd at 10:18 to make it 4-3 and then 6 minutes later fourth line LW Ron Sedlbauer scored (5) to tie it as the Ducks fans went crazy. 4-4 after two.It didnt take long in the third period for the Duck Pond to erupt. At the 42 second mark, on the power play, Tony Currie scored his 19th of the season, assisted by Middleton (43) and Walter (20) and the Ducks had come all the way back to take the lead 5-4! Larocque had long since settled down and he stood tall in net the rest of the way as Jim Schoenfeld clinched things with an empty net goal in the final minute.THREE STARS: 1- MAC Walt Tkaczuk 2G 1 A 2- NEW Rick Middleton 1G 2 A 3- NEW Ryan Walter 1G 1 AThe Ducks outshot the Moose 44-28 as Palmateer made 38 saves in the losing effort. Three of the Ducks goals came on the power play. |
| Columbus Owls @ New Castle Ducks | For a team that struggled to score for much of the season, something has really clicked recently for the Ducks, as they routed Columbus 8-3. The Owls opened the scoring at 4:46 of the first when Steve Payne lit the lamp behind Billy Smith. New Castle came back to tie it at 16:18 on a goal by Ryan Walter (24). Less than a minute later Captain Bobby Clarke scored (16) from Middleton (44) to make it 2-1. And the Ducks never looked back. Less than a minute after Clarke’s goal Vaclav Nedomansky scored (8) and it was 3-1 Ducks after one. THREE GOALS IN less than two minutes! After outshooting Columbus 15-5 in the first period, the Ducks kept the pressure on in the second with a 15-9 shot on goal advantage. FOUR of those shots found the net as Clarke (17), Schoenfeld (8), Russ Anderson (1-playing in his first game of the year) and Dave Debol (2) each scored to make it 7-1 New Castle after two. Colorado scored twice in the first five minutes of the third period before Steve Kasper scored (14) to make the final 8-3 New Castle.THREE STARS: 1- NEW Bobby Clarke 2G 1 A 2- NEW Ryan Walter 1G 2 A 3- COL Steve Payne 2 GSmith made 21 saves in the winning effort. New Castle’s Mike Allison was called for hooking early in the third period and got a 10 minute misconduct for refusing to go right to the penalty box. The Ducks scored four of their goals on the power play (4-5) as their once dormant special teams were dominant in this week’s home games. |
| Weekly Summary: | New Castle shocks Mackinac Island and then routs Columbus to win both home games and gain the maximum four points. New Castle is now 21-35-6 -48 and trail Syracuse and Chicago by 7 points for the final playoff spot. |
| Silk City Wales | |
| Weekly Preview: | The Whales welcome in division rival Charlestown as well as conference rival Charlotte this week. If Silk City is to make a late bid for the playoffs, it had better start now. |
| Charlestown Chiefs @ Silk City Wales | The Whales jump all over the Chiefs in the second period, scoring four goals to chase Michel Plasse on their way to defeating Charlestown 7-4. Either the power plays were on fire or the penalty killing units were awful as the two teams combined to go 7-12 with the man advantage.
1st Star – Larry Murphy (SCW), G, 3A |
| Charlotte Dynamo @ Silk City Wales | Charlotte takes control early and handles the Whales in a 4-2 win. Silk City suffers a letdown facing the last place Dynamo after the big win against Charlestown. Tony Esposito was strong in the Charlotte net, stoppng 34 of 36 Silk City shots on goal.
1st Star – Brian Sutter (SCW), 2G |
| Weekly Summary: | After a big win in the first home game this week, the Whales fail to gather any momentum in a loss to Charlotte. |
| Charlestown Chiefs | |
| Weekly Preview: | Two home games this week. Pittsburgh comes to town for some sibling rivalry action. |
| Brooklyn Harbor Rats @ Charlestown Chiefs | Brooklyn takes it 5-3. Smith collects his 89th assist on the year
Scoring Summary Star 1: BRO Stastny 1 G, 4 Pts GWG: Pat Hickey Notables: BRO A.Stastny 3 assists, Millen 39 saves |
| Pittsburgh Spirit @ Charlestown Chiefs | Chiefs pull off the upset, scoring two goals late in the 3rd (Coffey and Lanny McDonald) to come back and win it 4-3.
Scoring Summary Star 1: PIT Chouinard 1 G, 3 Pts GWG: Lanny McDonald Notables: PIT None |
| Weekly Summary: | Drop one, win one this week at home. |
| Ohio Legends | |
| Weekly Preview: | The Ohio Legens open the week against the Chicago Underground, whom they are working to knock out of a playoff spot. |
| Chicago Underground @ Ohio Legends | It takes Chicago just thirty seconds to break the seal on this one, as Peter Stastny gets his 22nd of the year. Glen Sharpley needs just thirty seconds to tie it and after a minute of play it is one to one. Stefan Persson would net his sixth goal at 4:26 and the first period ends with the Underground leading, 2-1.
The second period features a very slanted officiating position as Chicago goes three-for-seven on the power play! Goals by Clark Gillies (33), Dan Labraaten (10) and Butch Goring (10) pretty much seal the game. A late power play goal by Tim Kerr (17) narrows the lead to 5-2 after two periods. With time running out in the third, Kerr strikes again with 20.4 seconds to go to make the final, 5-3. Hardy Astrom takes the win, stopping 32 shots, while Denis Herron turns away 19 shots. The Underground went three-for-twelve on the power play (with 21:20 in advantage time), while Ohio went one-for-four. |
| Notes: | The first game of the week turns into a train wreck and now the best is yet to come, as Jim Rutherford gets the start against New Castle. New Castle rolls into town for the second game of the week against Ohio. The Ducks have stepped up their efforts in recent weeks. Can the Legends pick up two points? |
| New Castle Ducks @ Ohio Legends | No. The Legends will not get points, dropping a 4-3 decision to New Castle.
Dave Debol’s second goal of the year is the only scoring of the opening frame. Mike Allison’s 34th of the year in the second gives New Castle a 2-0 edge. The Ducks push the lead to 3-0, when Yvon Lambert’s 22nd goal of the year hits the back of the net at 2:48. THEN, Ohio gets interested. Blair MacDonald’s eleventh at 10:01 gets the scoring started. Brent Callighen’s tenth at 14:25 closes the game to one. MacDonald’s second a bit more than a minute later at 15:28 ties the game at three. But these are the expansion Ohio Legends and they have Jim Rutherford in goal. Brad McCrimmon slipped his seventh goal of the year past Rutherford with 19 seconds remaining to seal Ohio’s fate. Billy Smith stopped 41 shots in the win, while Rutherford was superb with 18 saves. |
| Weekly Summary: | Another disappointing week in Ohio, where the Legends now have the fourth-worst record in the league. |
| Saint Clair Shores Saints | |
| Weekly Preview: | The Saints host New Castle and Ohio this week. |
| New Castle Ducks @ Saint Clair Shores Saints | Saints 4 Ducks 1
With 40 seconds to go, Lambert scores for the Ducks to avoid the shutout. Thompson and Duguay score for the Saints. Ftorek scores 2. 1st star – Ftorek 2 goals |
| Ohio Legends @ Saint Clair Shores Saints | Legends 3 Saints 3
Ohio scores with 38 seconds to go courtesy of Kerr to tie the game. Babych, Kelly, and Ramage score for the Saints. Legends get 2 from Kerr and 1 goal from Kirton 1st – Kerr 2 goals – Ohio |
| Weekly Summary: | The Saints capture 3 points by beating New Castle and tying Ohio. |
| Brooklyn Harbor Rats | |
| Weekly Preview: | The Capjack Rangers come to town, just ahead of the Harbor Rats in the division standings |
| CapJack Rangers @ Brooklyn Harbor Rats | Tim Tookey gets the visitors on the board in the first period, but Behn Wilson ties it in the 2nd. We go to the final period even until Rick Dudley scores on the Rangers 3rd power play attempt to put the visitors in front just 3 minutes into the final frame. 6 minutes later Wilson collects his 2nd goal of the game to once again even the score. The clock continues to tick and we get down to crunch time and with just 1:25 left in regulation, Mike Gartner snaps the tie with his 32nd goal of the season. Greg Millen holds Capjack off for the final 85 seconds in a 3-1 Brooklyn win. Paul Reinhart assisted on all 3 Harbor Rats goals. |
| Weekly Summary: | one home game against a tough division rival and 2 points to show for it |
| Columbus Owls | |
| Weekly Preview: | Owls play 2 at home as they try to get out of the league basement. |
| Saint Clair Shores Saints @ Columbus Owls | The Saints jump out to a 6-0 lead after 2 periods and win easily 10-2.
1st star-Kelly 3 goals 2 assists |
| Mackinac Island Moose @ Columbus Owls | The Moose pound the Owls 7-4 as the Columbus defense continues to spring leaks.
1st star-Lysiak 2 goals 2 assists |
| Weekly Summary: | Goalie will be a top priority in the offseason if the Owls want to improve in the coming seasons. |
| Philadelphia Firebirds | |
| Weekly Preview: | Philly had 3 games…but the computer crashed and we lost a stellar week
oh well here are the sims |
| Syracuse Bulldogs @ Philadelphia Firebirds | Philly 7 Cuse 5 |
| Chicago Underground @ Philadelphia Firebirds | Chicago 4 Philly 1
originally a 5-4 philly win….just sayin |
| Saint Clair Shores Saints @ Philadelphia Firebirds | Shores 4 Philly 4 |
| Weekly Summary: | 3 out of 6 points very disappointing as was losing all the games…
time to reinstall |
| Vermont Foresters | |
| Weekly Preview: | vermont hosts all 3 division rivals this week at the bjc. |
| Silk City Wales @ Vermont Foresters | vermont dominates play but silk city leads 1-0 going into the 3rd despite being outshot 32-13 but vermont finally breaks through in the 3rd for 3 goals and the 3-1 victory. sauve made 47 saves for silk city bannerman 22 saves for vermont |
| Saskatoon Cyclone @ Vermont Foresters | vermont falls behind again trailing 2-0 at the end of the first period despite a 16-6 edge in shots. then, the game reverses itself as saskatoon outshoots vermont 32-21 the rest of the way but gives up 6 goals while only scoring 1 more for a 6-3 final. richard brodeur got the start in a last minute change and made 35 saves. dale hoganson and kent nilsson both scored 2 goals. bob gainey had 2 for saskatoon. |
| Charlestown Chiefs @ Vermont Foresters | another game another 2 goal deficit for the foresters. this time trailing 2-0 less then 10 minutes in. charlestown lives up to their rough and tumble reputation though leading to 8 powerplays for vermont who dominated play outshooting the chiefs 50-19. dale hunter scored 2 goals and ron low had 16 saves to extend his undefeated string to 7. michel plasse made 37 saves for the chiefs before being pulled after the 6th goal for vermont. |
| Weekly Summary: | big week defeating all the teams in the division at home |
| Charlotte Dynamo | |
| Weekly Preview: | The red hot Charlotte Dynamo hosted division nemesis Brooklyn in its latest home outing on February 18, 1981. |
| Brooklyn Harbor Rats @ Charlotte Dynamo | Powered by two goals APIECE from each member of its front line, the Dynamo blitzed the Harbor Rats, 7-3 in a game that wasn’t even that close. First liners Glenn Anderson, Charlie Simmer and center Mike Rogers each notched a pair of goals. Anderson also added three assists for good measure to take first star honors with an astonishing 5 points. Tony Esposito (currently on pace for third team all star honors) also shined for Charlotte with 30 saves, besting an under siege Greg Millen (26 saves).
Charlotte scored 6 out of the first seven goals in this one. First period goals from Simmer and Rogers, followed by an early second period goal from Anderson on the power play, put the Dynamo ahead 3-0. Defensive legend Guy Lapointe notched his first goal of the season halfway through the game to put the Harbor Rats on the board — but unanswered goals from Simmer, Rogers and Blair Chapman put the game away. Darryl Sutter and Behn Wilson accounted for Brooklyn’s other goals with the game well out of reach. |
| Weekly Summary: | In shelling Brooklyn, Charlotte is proving it belongs with this league’s top echelon — but too many inexplicable losses early in the season is keeping this team out of playoff contention. Oh how I wish the season was just beginning. |
| Pittsburgh Spirit | |
| Weekly Preview: | 3 home games. |
| Saskatoon Cyclone | Gretzky and Co. come to Pittsburgh while we are still resting several key players… but we skate to 5-5 tie with the Great One. |
| Vermont Foresters | Pittsburgh jumps out 3-0, but almost manages to lose this one but hands on to win 4-3. |
| CapJack Rangers | Decided not to rest anyone against a team such as CapJack, and it was a wise move as we skate to a 6-3 victory over CapJack Crunch.
Chouinard (1G, 4 A) and MacLeish (2G, 3A) each manage 5 point games. |
| Weekly Summary: | 5 of 6 points. We’ll take that every week! Down the stretch, getting close to not needing to rest anyone the rest of the way. |