Folks, please bear with me. I don't have the score sheet, nor did I get a look at it. Also, two days in a row of getting
up before the milkman left my mental sharpness a bit dull. So, I don't have the actual stats and my brain was in a haze. I
didn't even attempt the Sunday crossword puzzle as lack of sleep has a stupefying effect on me. I'm going to go with a kind
of rambling stream-of-consciousness thing this week. The following report is for entertainment purposes only may have no resemblance
to the actual game:
There have been several occasions over the years where we played against
Bay Harbor and I felt compelled to strip my ensemble of all Red Wings accessories. It had to be done. Sunday, when the Ventura
Mariners Bantam Killer Bees took on the Jr. Kings, we had several families that had to make a similar choice. I'm happy to
say the Marshall's showed up sans anything purple and sparkly. Some times you have to bleed Mariner blue and nothing else.
If
you have been following our saga, you know that the boys created a locker room CD which made it's debut last week. Also, last
week the boys played two games far below their standard. Was there a correlation? The disc in question contained an awful
lot of music that, well, sucked. It wasn't the type of stuff that gets one pumped up to play some hockey. We put it to a vote
and the CD was sacrificed to the garbage god and the team returned to the hard rockin' metal tinged tunes that had served
them so well in the past.
I guess the music thing worked, because the boys came out screaming. Wave
after wave of Mariners attack pinned the Jr. Kings in their zone. The second line was particularly energetic in the first
period. Niko Utash was hammering guys with sadistic delight. Tyler Serianne was scooping up loose pucks and making plays.
Killian Anderson fought like a maniac in front of the net. The three of them generated the team's first half-dozen good scoring
chances.
Line #3 stepped their game up substantially. Josh Donovan was all over the place stealing
the puck and making plays. I thought we were playing with 6 skaters but it was just Josh's hustle. EJ Frank had a great game
highlighted by several breakaways. He's really developing nicely and wow, does he have some wheels. We even got see the soft
hands of Shawn Wentzel as he was faking guys out on his way to the net.
The first line was also having
it's way with the Jr. Kings, causing a five-man collapse in the crease defensive system. With so many bodies in the way, it
was hard for the boys to get a puck through. Brian Zacchia had an awesomely comical sequence. He shot the puck. It was blocked.
He got it back and shot again. The goalie stopped it but the rebound came right back out. He shot again and again got the
rebound. Brian finally had enough. He took a step to the side to change the angle of attack and, BOOM, the Mariners were on
the board.
One of my biggest complaints with the kids recently has been their lack of physical play.
We really challenged the kids to step up this area of their game and boy did they respond. Recently activated from the DL
with an undisclosed lower body injury Zach Marshall set the tone when he absolutely tattooed a player in the offensive zone.
Thankfully the kid was okay, but man that was a brutal hit. AJ Zavitz, not to be outdone, laid a bone-crusher against the
boards. Shawn steamrolled guys all game long and Blake Burlew was working some of his mixed martial arts magic in the corners.
I was very pleased with the team's overall effort.
Despite the Mariner's dominance, it wasn't reflected
on the scoreboard. Conrado Gesauldi changed that in the second when he poked a puck in. That's as good as I can describe the
score. It was hard to see what was going on. Like I said before, the Kings were playing all five guys in front of the net.
Put that with three Mariners and that's a lot of bodies in the vicinity of the crease. I saw eight kids scrambling for a loose
puck, and then I saw Conrado put his hands up. I'm sure tomorrow either Brian Z. or AJ are going to tell me they scored the
goal.
In the third period, the Mariners continued to roll, but the Kings were still in striking distance.
About midway through, Tom Dobrokhot executed the most beautiful open-ice hip-check I've ever seen. It was text-book perfect
both in it's delivery and devastation. For some reason he got slapped with a knee-on-knee penalty. What? Did Tom have his
knee surgically moved to his backside? Maybe that's why they call it a hieny. Get it: High-knee? Okay, that was terrible.
Anyway, the hockey gods have a way of evening things out. On the the ensuing penalty kill, a Kings player was fumbling with
the puck and Conrado jumped on it. He came in all alone and undressed the goalie to put the Mariners up 3-0.
It
seemed like the game was in the bag. The forwards kept the pressure on and the defense clamped down. Patrick Gibson stuck
out with his responsible positioning and solid effort. He was always where he should be and always made the right play. Also,
his mom thinks he got an assist on the short-handed goal and I'm never going to argue with a mom. Plus, she sends me nice
e-mails about the game reports so her kid gets extra consideration.
We've been in this position before.
The only thing left to prove was the final score. I am assuming everyone respected the "don't say the S-word" rule because
as the final horn sounded, Brian Felt had the shutout. The whole team was so proud and happy for their net-minder. He didn't
see a ton of work, but he did what he was supposed to. He has worked so hard this season and there have been times when he
was the only reason the team won. It's great to see him get some statistical validation for the tremendous effort he's been
giving between the pipes. Since I don't have the score sheet, I'm going to go ahead and give him an even 100 saves. Prove
me wrong.
This was a great 3-0 victory. I was pleased with the toughness with which they played.
Obviously, there are still things that need to be worked on, but they addressed some of their shortcomings and played with
a purpose. I'd like to take credit for everything, but the boys did spend an hour on the ice with Marty McSorely. They don't
come much tougher than him and I'm sure some of that rubbed off on the team.
Bradley Fighting
Vehicle
As you may have noticed, defenseman Brad Kreigel was absent on Sunday. It seems the poor kid got dragged
to Michigan and was forced to go to a Spartans game. As if that's not bad enough he also has to attend the Red Wings/Thrashers
game on Wednesday. What sort of torture is this? I would have gladly taken his place because that's what a good coach would
do. Brad, if you are reading this, I know they are passing out Wings calendars at the Joe. I'm not going to say that your
ice time depends on you bringing one back for me, but... I don't know how to finish that sentence. Yes, your ice time depends
on it.
