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October News Page October 31st Waterloo 2 London Green 6 This one started out with the Wolves flying and playing great hockey. Every player was running on all 8 cylinders at the start and it paid off with two really pretty highlight goals. The first one started in front of our bench as Nolan tipped the puck to Sean who fired a perfect cross ice pass to Luke. Our version of Guy Lafleur slid a perfect pass back across ice to Big Ben who patiently buried the puck. Then Ben and Luke teamed with Colin (I think) for another highlite reel goal. After some cycling down low, Ben found Luke who made no mistake putting the puck into the net. Heck he looked at the corner for about two seconds and then bulged the twine. While building up the 2-0 lead, the defence were as solid as a rock. Jesse might have had a handfull of shots in the first, but all easy ones, with little traffic - and then that darn bus lost its wheels again. Suffice it to say that giving up 6 consequtive goals is a letdown, but 3 or 4 were on the PP, 2 or 3 were on breakaways from one of our corners and one can see that we still have some work ahead of us before the Provincial Championships (remember this is a Major year!). Odd plays in the game included their defenceman diving on the puck in their crease. After the referees took a few minutes to discuss the situation, the senior ref came over and signalled a "T" and told the timekeeper it was a Technical. Dunno, dunno, dunno (I had my share of those in basketball, but never got one in hockey) Sure looked like a penalty shot from our side of the ice. There was also some juicy rebounds that we missed, and Rhino dumped in a long shot that ended up behind the goalie, but not enough mustard to slide into the net. Then there was the timekeeper with attitude...We won't have trouble telling which London team is the "Green" one, boy those were colourful. No pictures this weekend. October 30th Waterloo 2 Hamilton 2 We are not sure what was more surprising, the ten girls with signs to cheer on the boys or the announcement of the parents meeting after the game. Okay it was the gurls (and boys) who came to cheer on the birthday boy. The first period was a less than exciting as both teams were coughing the puck up on a regular basis and neither goalie got any action. The one player with some jump in his legs was the one with the fan club. I think Brandon finished the night with about 9 of our 18 shots (unofficial). The first period ended with both teams trading a few hits and few shots and little action - they were only warming up! The second period had two of the three highlights in the game. First was Jordan's wrist shot from inside the blueline that found its way through a maze of players and into the back of the net. Not sure who was more surprised Jordan or his Dad (yeah I still owe you $2.04 plus interest). The second highlight, and I guarantee Doc will have it on the year end video, was Steve's Blocker save. He deflected the long blooping shot high in the air, and then watched it drop before snagging it with his trapper. Patrick Roy couldn't have done it any better. The game had a few 'moments'. Jordan made a couple of visits to the sin bin, and also made a couple of friends on the Bulldoggies team. Colin nearly decapitated another on a mid ice hit and of course Jason let them know he was on the ice earlier with a couple of steamroller hits. Jason took a pretty hard shot behind the net and according to Homer had his first ever visit from a trainer. But it was in the third period when the nasties really started to appear. Before getting to that, Bennie roared down the left wing and fired a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle that caught the far corner about 6 inchs off the ice (how tall is a goalie stick blade?...!). But alas the Bulldogs snuck right back into the game and tied it up within minutes. Dom and one of the puppies from Hamilton got coincidentals and while skating to the box the visitor made a taunting gesture without punishment. Nice to see Dom ignore the antics - class act. Later during a penalty kill, Brian R. might have saved the tie when he made the perfect play at the side of the net and cleared a sure goal (Stevie you owe him...maybe some halloween candy!). The final highlight, or low light, of the whole game was at the buzzer when Jordan got filled in from behind. Clearly a hitting from behind, glad to see everyone kept their cool (okay the ones on the other side of the glass kept their cool). Calls and no-calls are part of the game, but we were disappointed they let that one ride.
October 24th Waterloo 3 Sarnia 7
It took about 20 seconds of the first period to realize we were in trouble. Sarnia had already had one breakaway and another scoring chance that was frozen for a face-off. And then as the saying goes, "the rest of the wheels fell off the bus" (and with the vibrations from the wheels on our bus, that might have been a good idea...). Sarnia scored early as a screen shot from the point went over Jesse's head (!) into the net. Quite a "feat" since he was still on his "feet" (I have been corrected by Coach, JP was on his knees when the puck went in!-ed.). It would have made a great highlight, but the Doc/videographer was off attending to Brian R. who cracked his head pretty hard on the ice while earning a penalty. At the risk of giving away the story, the only really good news from the game is that Brian R. only incurred a headache (good thing today is Saturday!!!!....lol...ya had to be in the middle of the bus for that joke).
Once the visitors spotted the Sting to a 4-0 lead, they began to crawl back into the game. Colin was having a field day winning draws and setup John for the first goal and then we scored again to make it 4-2 and an interesting game again. One could say that our team defensive play matched the aroma at the back of the bus (snicker, snicker, snicker). With some pretty good play we went on the attack only to find ourselves back down by three and all fire seemed to disappear around that goal.
Game highlights that you may have missed included a very vocal cheerleading squad (poor Sue gave it everything she had and admitted after two periods she gave up) ... Jessica played her usual no quit-full throttle game shift after shift... the other Jesse got on the scoresheet for the first time in five years with a punch (think he's ready to take on Hextall but not Potvin!) ... Colin was winning face-offs so easily their whole defense rushed the shooter...I would bet we had more PPs then they did, but they had more scoring chances on our PPs than we did ... Big thanks to Doc for going to the aid of BrianR, nice to have a team doctor...the catering firm of Shulzy-Rosie & Hendie dug up a great little Sports Bar for pizza and we ate a feast of Za!
October 23rd Waterloo 0 London Gold 4What could be better than a Saturday night hockey game, especially with the NHL on strike? My guess is Terry's son's wedding was! With the 4Dees on the bench (Darren, Dan, Don & Dom) the team had a pretty good first period. The lineup had a couple of quirks in it - we had Hendie up front, filling in for both Mac (unhealthy scratch), and Dom who was cheerleading for a game, which resulted in us being a man short at both dee and forward. And then there was this #31 flying around the ice - we're not use to seeing that number outside of the crease, nor residing in the penalty box for extended periods of time (lol). I think the result was disappointing because we might have made five mistakes the whole game and they resulted in all four goals. We did a good job of clearing the puck, breaking out and at times the Wolves put on an awesome passing displays in the offensive zone (couple of 2 on 1s that just missed too!). Again Jason (not Homer...sorry Jason about the last write up, we fixed the mistake) led the hit parade. But for big time hits, Jordan and Rhino put a couple of good ones on the video highlight reel. Unfortunately both were right in front of the parents and a bad photo op for Doc (but we all heard them!). Offensively our problem was simple, no shots. Well actually we had 6 hit the net (and Sean had a rocket in the first from a bad angle miss...keep firing!). If you figure the NHL scores 1 in 10 shots, and we are usually in the 1 in 8 range, we need more shots. One of my favorite lines from a coach was, "When in doubt, shoot!"
October 20th Waterloo 2 Cambridge 2Not really sure how to categorize last night's game since it was entertaining, long, some great plays and individual efforts but it still seemed like we got cheated out of a good game by the refs. Despite the experts in the stands beliefs (Lee's " he's working in a new whistle" - she wanted me to quote her! -or, "he's getting paid by the penalty"), I still believe its the Cambridge water. And at the risk of patting my own back - I did warn you this would happen in the Sarnia article below! For those that missed the game, here it is in a nutshell. We scored, they scored, they scored, we scored, we had 14 penalities, 1 expulsion of a player, 1 explulsion of a coach- er trainer, and they had 10 penalites. John, aka "Phil Esposito" (or "Andreychuk" for the youngin's) played his best game of the season (Doc you are in for a great video!) - and benefited from Jessica putting on a show for her globetrotting Dad. Our defense corps were also stellar (and that includes when Sean played defence because all but 1 "D" were in the box). The game missed flow due to the whistles, but there were some outstanding performances. I thought the Digravio line was really playing well. Their last shift was awesome. John parked himself out front and had three good chances. As mentioned the defence played well, notably on the penalty kills, Jason throwing his weight around and scaring their forwards, Nolan on that 1 on 1 late in the third (see the pic!), and I think Brian R. made several new friends on the Cambridge team around the front of the net, wonder what he was saying to them ...lol. And JP decided to warn the Hawks they were in for a tonselectomy if they ran his net one more time.
As you can see, despite the concerns from WMHA about the website, it is still up and running. Jesse was in ICU at KW last night and was transferred to Cambridge because he half swallowed his guitar pick (see Rock 'n Roll is dangerous!). This morning's 45 minute operation (!) was a success and we got the pick back (thats the Scottish blood showing!). Doubt he will be at the Zone tonight.
October 16th Waterloo 2 Sarnia 2October 17th Waterloo 2 Woodstock 1 Sunday afternoon's trip to Woodstock was a delight for many reasons, but none made it sweeter than watching Stevie turn in a near perfect game while the homeside used the big ice to their advantage. The Navy Vets controlled the game for the first several shifts before the Wolves snuck out of their zone. Then at the halfway mark Lucky Luke and Big Ben setup Brian R (gotta get some nicknames for the two Brians - and no not the "my brother Darryl and my other brother Darryl" routine either!) from the point. His perfectly aimed shot slid inside the post for the first goal of the game. This didn't really slow down the Vets who continued to press and had numerous scoring chances. The second period started much like the first, the Wolves were a bit slow off the mark letting Steve shine. The vets took a couple of runs at our goalie but it didn't phase him one bit. Then Dom took off and had a great rush with Mac finishing it with the eventual winning goal. A few minutes later the Wolves got caught on their heels backing in and the shutout was ruined by a well placed shot in the top corner. The second period ended with the home team down by one. The third period had some excitement but we will have to change this to www.palenik.com if we continue singing his praises. Maybe the TSN Turning point of the game - first period, Brandon caught one of the Vets cycling at center with his head down and lowered the boom - BIG TIME! Puts him at the top of the list for best hits of the year (so far!) and its on video too!!!! Saturday vs. Sarnia I missed Saturday's tilt but the highlights that I did get were; we scored early on ourselves, another member of the defensive corps scored (Mr. Smith!), we took a ton of penalties during the game and then Woodstock took 2 late and the Wolves came back to tie it 2-2 in the dying seconds (12.3 to be exact) with the net empty on a powerplay. Yeah and some kid named Jesse played well in net. And to the over zealous, loud, uneducated fan from Woodstock who thought the refs were Homers...read the scoresheet buddy! The penalties column shows who had more pp's - the typical stat for deciding if the refs are homers. If anything, Waterloo refs are tougher on the homeside (remember when #66 became Darryl Sittler?). Now when we go to Cambridge, one never knows what is going to happen in their three ring circus of a town (fyi - we're from Hespler, so I can pick on the hillbillies and deal with my cousins later!). Weekend tidbits ...Jason picked up a lower abdominal injury (we don't give out secrets!) in the Saturday game and missed several shifts on Sunday... we only earned one penalty in the entire game on Sunday (!) ... Luke took a very bad check from behind that everyone but the refs saw (scared most of us in the stands after last year's injury)...What happened to Tim Hortons! ... coach Fred is now tied for most wins in the season with his Pavarotti imitating son...and, Sean is not allowed to eat Chinese noodles for a pregame meal anymore (lol)... See who (!) won WOTW Whitby Tournament Game 1: Waterloo 4 Burlington 4"YUCK!" In what should have been an easy win, and one that was in the bag early, but it turned into a very ugly tie. Colin scored our 4th goal five minutes into the second period and then it started to go downhill. One can only describe it as an act of the hockey gods as they stopped smiling on the Wolves. Their benevolent gaze left during the TSN turning point - when one of the Bulldogs started flailing on Colin who was lying face down on the ice. For some reason it really picked up their team and ours went south faster than Nolan eating a burrito (same result too - a piece of crap!). The end result of the fracas was our 3 minors to their 2 (with a double minor). The real quirk was it was still 5 on 5. Everyone makes mistakes (just check my grammar and spelling).
Game 2: Waterloo 2 Trenton 4Deja vu...all over again We did it again. The offense came out flying with the infamous Gold line leading the way with two early goals on some nice puck control. It was a bit surprising since the game before ours was full of stupid hockey and our game was delayed a long time. I was impressed with all the body contact, especially by Nolan & Jessica - not that they were big hits, simply finishing her checks. And what got into Seannie this weekend? He loaded up for more hits this weekend than he did on two continents last year. Best shift was when Nolan got knocked down, got up and pancaked the next two players that looked like they might touch the puck...good timing, great execution and a real lift for the team. Our lead disappeared at the midpoint of the second when they had a 2 on 1 from the corner. Unfortunately the dee went for the puck and he passed. JP was hung out to dry and the net was left open for an easy one. Then five minutes later, JP made the mistake of pushing a puck out of the scrum and then watched it get chipped up over his pads (note to JP - grab that sucker!). Then the Hockey Gods again turned their favour to our opponents as a bad angle shot deflected off of a shoulder over Jesse's shoulder in the final minute of the second for their eventual game winning goal -arrrrrrrrrggggggg!
Game 3: Waterloo 3 Orillia 4 Home for Turkey Its real simple. We never play another thanksgiving tourney - the boyz all wanna be at home for Oktoberfest! Any other theories can be submitted, cause I sure don't know what to say. This time we built up a 3-0 lead (did you see Sean's laser beam shot to the top corner short handed?), only to watch it evaporate. With 7 minutes to go in the second we were cruising with a 3-1 lead and by the 55 second mark we were down 4-3.
...3 full 15 minute periods with the built in 5 minute rain delay between 2nd & 3rd ... overall I thought the refs were really good ...Jessica arriving with 5 minutes left in the second, had her signed-in with 2 minutes to go or we would have had to default the game because everyone had to be signed in before the start of the third... and then the boys loved when one of the Dogs took a run at Jess only to end up on the ice (she's tougher than she looks!)...did ya see the stitches on the Burlington coach's face - from his player skating in the door with his stick in tomahawk position back in Waterloo (ouch) ...game 2 ...Jesse hugging #22 after Nolan skated down the breakaway he gave up....Jesse again bringing a dropped stick to the Trenton bench at the end of the first...Dom's head plant into the ice ...much better puck clearing off the windows by the defence ...game 3...Don got more icetime going out to help Brian R who took a pretty dirty trip/hook/slash behind the play...still have yet to have a full team for a full game this year...their tying goal was the result of a <1> a "D" trying to get some payback and <2>their line change behind the other "D" - gotta watch behind and when to payback...Doris let one of our new parents in on a secret - yelling at the refs is not a good thing, should have warned everyone about my Mennonite wife... Saturday Night Its a good thing Roger got to Don Cherry's early and ordered before the rush, otherwise he may not have gotten anything to eat. Oooops! He never did get his meal. And its a good thing we got there before the rush so we could sit with everyone. Oooops! Jackie wouldn't let us. She decided that the Beans & Palmers and Barry should not sit in the booth and kicked us out. Hmmmm, piss off the webmaster and you pay. Lis is now out of the target and Mrs.Shulz is front and centre! Duanne is still nursing his sore shoulder from imitating some dance moves he saw last year... Roger is still looking for his dinner (rumour has it Jackie took it....lol) Did I mention that Jackie kicked us out of seats at Don Cherry's? For the new people, you may not know who she is so we will have to post a picture of the diminutive diva. Waterloo 4 Burlington 1 With Brandon back in the lineup and Coach Terry back from his son's bachelor party, we were missing Coach Fred AWOL and Jessica in Vaughan trying out for the Canadian Women's under 21 team (or something like that) the Wolves took to the ice in what was predicted to be a laugher. The twenty minute delay with the stupid clock (inanimate objects can be stupid!) didn't seem to hurt the home side as they mimicked the London game and scored very early. (We don't make a point of recording scorers but Jordan doesn't get that many so we will comment on how he wisely noticed the bad line change and walked in from centre ice to fire a hard low wrist shot to start the scoring)
Waterloo 1 London 5 While Brandon served his suspension the rest of the team did battle with a very strong and physical London squad. It took less than 30 seconds for the home side to end our shutout string. While they caught the first line napping, the next several shifts were much better and the game seemed to be fairly even. There was even a shift with Hendie up front that almost paid off as he wired a face-off win off the crossbar! Waterloo tied the score on a really nice offensive shift by Bennie, Luke, Colin and Nolan. The four of them controlled the puck down low, then back up high and finally threw it into the back of the net for a really pretty goal. The game is so easy when the puck moves around like that! I am not sure of the exact number, but London had more power plays than we did and scored regularly on the PP. Throw in the penalty shot in the last two minutes(which resulted in a score) and one can only wonder what the score would have been if we played a smarter game. On the plus side our little guys played a heck of a game (read:feisty) and were ready to play. One of my favorite plays was Colin ducking under a check at the blue line and submarining the opponent who then threw a punch at Colin (bully) and ended up in the sin bin. Then there was Jessica taking a hit and sending her goon to the ice much to the delight of the bench. And on defence I thought Ryan played a heck of a game, playing smart and cleaning house in front of the net. Waterloo 4 Kitchener 3Our first game as a team was a perfect example why you need exhibition games. After surviving a few bad shifts the team managed to take the puck down to the other end of the ice and Bennie banked in the first goal of the year to give the Wolves an early lead. The only real black mark in the first period was a hitting from behind penalty that the refs decided to hand out a major misconduct rather than a game (thanks guys!). Second period was a bit more even although Kitchener poured in 3 goals and it looked like they were about to get the monkey off their back. But the fat lady had not yet begun to warm up when our lady fired her first of two goals. From where we sat it looked like she stood in the slot evaluating each of the five holes before deciding she liked the top left one the best. Jessica's second was compliments of Mack (? I think it was him) carrying the puck down the wing and their defence pushing her into the crease where she easily whacked in the loose puck. Which set the table for the final play of the game - Bennie on a breakaway (nice pass forgot who made it ...). With a few long strides, #66 made no mistake and finished a nice comeback. And while there was no singing, the rink rat's buzzer was nice to hear. Now for London...
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