Guess what just washed up on shore along with the dead sea scrolls. Why it's the final chapter of the oh9/oh10 Wes Report featuring the Greece Thunder Hockey Awards Banquet recap. I realize that by now everyone has moved on to other things like golf and sticky lips, spring cleaning and swimming pools, garage cleaning and graduation parties, but I hope you all left an open page in your son's high school scrapbook for this. Enjoy!
I still twitch when I think about how Miss Kim put me on the spot with just 2 minutes notice to deliver the invocation, but thankfully we were all spared when Steven Hebberect's granny (Peg) made a grand entrance and delivered a good ole' Irish blessing to kick things off! While everyone was finishing up their meal, Kim thanked her cabinet and all the parents, grandparents, family and friends who pitched in to make it work. To keep the program moving she invoked the double-clap rule after each thank you was read.
Coach Webb took the podium next and surprised all in attendance with more than a few words. Although, he struggled at the outset to come up with a word that was at the tip of his tongue, causing a rather long pregnant pause (little did Webby know he would later learn that he was "expecting"). Vyper shouted out for him to just make up a word, but eventually it came to him, it was "compilation".
Webby thanked Kim for her great leadership and all she had done for the program during her tenure (she is truly an amazing woman and I dare say if there is ever a Thunder Hockey Hall of Fame, I will personally nominate her for induction in the first class). He went on to thank his coaches, Wader (Pat Wade), Yokin (Erik Geller), and Sof (Pat Sofia), for all of their contributions to this great program. Then he spoke of the 3 goals this year's team set out to achieve. First goal was to win their division. How did they do? Thunder finished their 10th season at 9-6-4-2, coming in second place with an 8-3-3 record in the West Division, and it is important to note that they were the only team in the division to beat the first placed Lightning. Second goal was to make ourselves tough to beat. Indeed we measured well against this goal, as 6 of the 12 games we did not win ended in a tie or OTL, while the 6 games we lost in regulation included 2@1-goal losses, 2@2-goal losses, and 2@3-goal losses. So, clearly we were not giving anything away as we made the other teams earn it and never got blown out. Third goal was to rebuild after going 27-0 the prior year and losing many key players to graduation, juniors, and greener pastures. Not an easy task, but with the positive leadership of this year's seniors and captains demonstrating a fine example of respect, the team overachieved on the ice by staying out of trouble off the ice.
Acording to Josh lacy, Thunder finished a very respectable 6th out of 75 teams who qualified for the New York State Scholar Athlete Team Awards. We were the top team in Section V with an average of 94.504%. Added Miss Kim "Not only were they good boys on and off the ice they are scholar athletes. Webby……Now we know what they were doing with all of their mischievous time….they were studying…..Who knew……???? Good parenting peops, good parenting."
As Webby announced the players, he commented on Sherry often being late to practice due to driver's ed and how "we were all happy about that". He talked about how much fun Lepore had and how Grims resorted to hugging people instead of killing them. Then came the team awards.
After a rough start to the season, Curran O'Brien (3g-2a-5pts) persevered and finished strong earning himself the Most Improved Player (MIP) Award.
Captains Award was a no-brainer as nobody exemplified a "team attitude" quite like Tyler Mattle. Even after sustaining one of the hardest blows to the head you may ever see, at center ice, he got right back up and got into the play. He was unparalleled in work ethic and was often called upon to win a face-off when needed.
Rookie of the Year went to Justin Simonelli, second in scoring for the team and averaging a point per game with 7g-14a for 21 points. He really has a knack for finding his teammates through even the heaviest of traffic with some pretty nifty passes.
Defensive player of the year went to Steven "Steady-Hebby" Hebberect. What he lacked in size, he made up for in sheer will and determination, as he battled along the wall and in front of the net against bigger players and routinely won those battles to keep the opponent off the board and his team on the attack.
Coaches Award went to Dan "the Vyper" Vyverberg for leading the team both on and off the ice. It takes a lot of courage and a little stupidity to block a puck with your neck (Harr-YYY!!!), but Vyper was always willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the team. He finished third in scoring with 3g-14a for 17pts.
And last but most certainly not least, the cheese stands alone, as your 2009-2010 Greece Thunder Hockey MVP (not to mention Greece Male Athlete of the Year). He led the team in scoring with 14g-9a for 23 points, hey, that's his number! He could part the red sea with that slapper of his, just ask the opposing netminders and D who had their towers buzzed while trying to avoid getting hit by one of his inbound missiles.
Webby closed his season 10 remarks by saying "here's to 20 more years". Who knows, if he hangs in there he just might pass Al Vyverberg up some day as the winningest hockey coach in section five. Vyverberg moved past retired Irondequoit coach Al maerz with his 304th career win in his 23rd season at the helm for the McQuaid Knights this year. Webby then turned the stage over to his captains, Cheese, Mils, and Vyper, for a new Thunder tradition a la the Paper Plate Awards. Not sure if I captured/understood all of them correctly, but here is what i could recall.
- Mattle: bobblehead award
- Hebs: most likely to become a mime award
- Keenan: conehead award (keep your stick on the ice)
- Delucia: watch out for jared award (hurt his shoulder)
- Lerch : most likely to get jumped award
- Sherry: X-Box award
- AC: AC130 is in the air award (from Modern Warfare COD)
- Soeffing: best hair ($5 haircut)
- ASim: silent assassin (in locker room)
- eHoss: who-who-who monkey award
- Simmy: cute little baby award (awe... he's so cute)
- Snake: silent slitherer award
- Keough: most likely to bring a knife to practice award
- Ian: most likely to win american idol award
- Clark: girlfriend texter award
- Ganti: kangaroo jack (subaru) award
- Jared: eh Jared? award
- LePore: ha ha, classic award (hangover reference)
- Grims: most likely to kill someone award
- Ganti, McNeil: chimp awards
Next up were the captains gag gifts for the coaches. Wader received a mega-horn, given his talks are always so quiet and meaningful. Geller's gift is classified. Webby's gift was more serious than a gag gift and was inspired by something he said to the team about goal setting way back when Vyper was an 8th grade manager. He talked about how he wanted to get a house someday so that he could have a dog and well, we all know that Webby bought a house this year. So Vyper thought it would be neat to get him a dog, but given picking out a dog is somewhat of a personal thing and a long-term commitment, instead the captains decided to canvas the team for donations to help Webby buy a dog. Initially rumor had it that webby was looking to find a bassett hound puppy and wanted to name it Elvis, but apparently Elvis left the building, so instead he has decided to go with a black lab puppy and is going to name it Otis. Otis was born about 6 weeks ago out in Victor. Webby and Otis are both doing fine and Otis is expected to come home to Windsor Road at some point over the next couple of weeks. When asked if he is potty trained, Webby thought I was referring to his other house-mate and he replied, "why yes, Wader is potty trained" with a grin. But as usual I digress.
Miss Kimberly closed the banquet by announcing that she was going back on her word and is keeping "pants one". Then as Mattle rolled his picture show, the tissues started coming out for the senior parents. Thunder, there is no other!
OUT TAKES
Former Pres Crisis
DAY-1 (Sun 21-Mar): Trey, Brandon and Gabby report " Just a heads up Miss Kimberly had an accident on the ice tonight and was sent to park ridge for what appears to be a broken ankle. Thought everyone would want to know."; Wes replies "Bummer. Will she be recovering at camp david? Did she get airlifted by Marine One or ground transport via Volvo One or Ridgeline One from the rink to the Hospital? Did you call her Geraldine Ford...and then duck?"
DAY-2 (Mon 22-Mar): Trey reports "Okay so long night at the hospital. She was avoiding another person fell and went skates first into the boards. She had a severe fracture in the same ankle when she was a kid and the bone is a little weak there. It is a spiral fracture on her lower ankle (outside). We are going in today for probable surgery. Thanks for all the great messages. She is enjoying all the well wishes."; "She just got out of surgery and it went great. She is going to be sore for a few days but she will be back to normal in a few months."
DAY-3 (Tues 23-Mar): The former president addresses her Thunder public...
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MY AWESOME PURPLE AND YELLOW FLOWERS. Arrived minutes after I got home and made my day. I’m happy to report that I now have my own permanent metal devices bound to set off detectors everywhere I go. Not only did the doctor promise to get me into my skates again but he did one better, he made the entire leg stronger, so Cathy Vyper, you have to help me get my mojo back in those skates. I will also need a power walking buddy in about 6 or 7 weeks to work off the excess blubberage I’m sure to inherit in my left bootie. See you on the LAX field for those of you watching the other stick sport……Love you all and for all of your kind encouragement. Truly familia……
If I could remember the Irish blessing I’d email it but I think it was best said by Peg the other night. Love that woman….her daughter is a chip off the ol block. Funny…funny, funny sense of humour.
We are not defined by what we achieve... We are defined by what we overcome!!!
Although, one could argue we are also defined by how well our boot is bedazzled, lol.
Still Chasing the Dream
- Former Thunder forward Matt Lane was invited to participate in the 2010 NTDP U17 evaluation camp back in March. Did he make the team? I cannot find a link to the 2010-2011 roster online. Anyone?
- His brother, Philip Lane, was drafted in the second round, 52nd overall, to the Phoenix Coyotes, on Saturday, 26-Jun. Not a bad excuse for missing one's graduation. Check out the interview!
- Mr Big Goal himself, JT Stenglein, was drafted by the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL and will report to vacation bible school this summer before attending camp.
- Thunder all time scoring leader Riley Bourbonnais will play for Berkshire Prep in the Fall of 2010.
- "Big Mike" Rotolo will return to the crease for the Regals U18 team in the fall of 2010.
- Vyper and several other Thunder players got a call-up to play with the Russell crew donning tuxedo jerseys in a heavily scouted beer league tournament at Lakeshore over the spring!
- Parker Bonis may be headed to Detroit?
Friday, July 2, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
February 17 Game Report
Has it really been only three weeks since the Greece Thunder Hockey team lost 2-1 in sudden death OT to Aquinas Little Irish at Lakeshore, cuz it seems like it was a lifetime ago? The olympics was fun to watch but something just seems like it has been missing without any Thunder games on the calendar. Had to let the final game report of the season marinate for a bit, as bowing out early in the pre-quarters was definitely not in our plans. Having tied AQ twice in regular season play, we figured the third time would be a charm, for us, not for them. It ended so abruptly, so suddenly, and it left us all verclempt. Perched in the stands to witness the last four Thunder seasons come to a close, I always sensed it was difficult for the senior parents who had just watched their son's high school hockey career come to a close, but it never really hit home for me until this year with the Vyper graduating. After 13 years, 3 minivans, and over 300k miles traveled on this hockey journey, could it all be over? Sure, the seniors will play again, be it juniors or college club, or men's league someday, and who knows, they might even walk onto a D1 or D3 team or go play in Europe. But it will be tough to recreate the atmosphere on the east rink at Lakeshore with their classmates and Thunder family cheering them on from the stands. The ups, the downs, and all the wonderful memories from their days of thunder will live on forever in their hearts and minds. Yeaaaahhhhhh Thun-Derrrrrrrrrrrr!
Who blinged the pants out, who, who-who. Who blinged pants-one out, was it the Miller girls and Ms. Gabby too? Soul Train Amanda laid down the final anthem track and it was nearly perfect, but to be honest, we could have used a little more cowbell. Thunder came out flying and dominated the play with AC and Ganti hammering away on the forecheck and Simmy chipping away at the paint on the crossbar. McNeilNuggetSkillet broke the seal by putting away the rebound from Vyper's point shot, fed by Simmy on the powerplay, just 6 minutes in, to make it 1-0 Thunder. Greece knocked on the Dohr a total of 9 times in the first frame and played solid man-on-man, stick-on-stick team defense, limiting the Irish to just 4 shots. Ian stacked-the-pads for a big save down the stretch on one of AQ's better chances.
Second period saw Thunder kill off the balance of the Irish PP that carried over from the first, as Vypes blocked a shot with his hairy neck, call it a neck-harry, don't try this at home. Cheese's wraparound bid prompted a Yeah Cheese from JR, but the Dohr was closed. Momentum shifted AQ's way forcing Mike Miller to step up and that he did, all over the ice, every shift. Then seemingly out of nowhere, with only 2.5 mins to the cut, Logan Gagnier came off the bench and directed an innocent slapper on net that one-hopped its way in from the point for the equalizer, assisted my Nick Montinarelli. Thunder only managed 7 shots in the second to AQ's 11, leaving Thunder with a 16-15 edge through two.
Back from the break, Grimmy slid into the Thunder goal with AQ's Vogl in his lap, providing a little comic relief to cut the tension at the outset of the third. Simmy went end-end walking everyone but Dohr made a nice pad save. Back in Thunder territory an attempted clear took a funny bounce off one of the stansions and ended up kicking out front, forcing Ian to square up for an emergency save. Keough kicked it into high gear and generated several scoring chances in the waning minutes of regulation but unfortunately none of them found the back of the net. Shots were 10-7 for a three period total of 26-22 in Thunder's favor. Then less than 2 minutes into the first 7.5 minute overtime, the unthinkable happened, as AQ's Jeff Hackshaw fired a shot, assisted by Logan Gagnier, that hit Cumming, bounced out and was ultimately picked out of the air and batted into the net by Nick Montinarelli for the goal that would advance the Irish to the next round while ending Thunder's season in an instant.
First star goes to Peter Dohr, the senior netminder for AQ with 25 saves for the win. Second star goes to Nick Montinarelli with a goal and assist including the winner. Third star goes to Ian Cumming with 21 saves for Thunder. Honorable mention: Logan Gagnier (AQ) with goal and assist for 2 points; Mike Miller for bringing the intensity all game long; Matt Keough for elevating his game and giving it all he had. And so, Thunder finishes their 10th season at 9-7-4-1, after a second place finish with an 8-3-3 record in the West Division. Nice work boys!
Congratulations are in order for the following Thunder players who received Section V Awards:
1st Team All League West Division Forward - Brandon Cheeseman
2nd Team All League West Division Defense - Dan Vyverberg
Top Scholar/Athlete Award - Dan Vyverberg
Congratulations are also in order for the following Thunder seniors who were chosen to represent the West in the Annual Section V Senior Select game:
Brandon Cheeseman
Dan Vyverberg
Steve Hebberecht
See everyone at the banquet. Be there or miss out on some good food and some seriously funny shtuff, lol.
Who blinged the pants out, who, who-who. Who blinged pants-one out, was it the Miller girls and Ms. Gabby too? Soul Train Amanda laid down the final anthem track and it was nearly perfect, but to be honest, we could have used a little more cowbell. Thunder came out flying and dominated the play with AC and Ganti hammering away on the forecheck and Simmy chipping away at the paint on the crossbar. McNeilNuggetSkillet broke the seal by putting away the rebound from Vyper's point shot, fed by Simmy on the powerplay, just 6 minutes in, to make it 1-0 Thunder. Greece knocked on the Dohr a total of 9 times in the first frame and played solid man-on-man, stick-on-stick team defense, limiting the Irish to just 4 shots. Ian stacked-the-pads for a big save down the stretch on one of AQ's better chances.
Second period saw Thunder kill off the balance of the Irish PP that carried over from the first, as Vypes blocked a shot with his hairy neck, call it a neck-harry, don't try this at home. Cheese's wraparound bid prompted a Yeah Cheese from JR, but the Dohr was closed. Momentum shifted AQ's way forcing Mike Miller to step up and that he did, all over the ice, every shift. Then seemingly out of nowhere, with only 2.5 mins to the cut, Logan Gagnier came off the bench and directed an innocent slapper on net that one-hopped its way in from the point for the equalizer, assisted my Nick Montinarelli. Thunder only managed 7 shots in the second to AQ's 11, leaving Thunder with a 16-15 edge through two.
Back from the break, Grimmy slid into the Thunder goal with AQ's Vogl in his lap, providing a little comic relief to cut the tension at the outset of the third. Simmy went end-end walking everyone but Dohr made a nice pad save. Back in Thunder territory an attempted clear took a funny bounce off one of the stansions and ended up kicking out front, forcing Ian to square up for an emergency save. Keough kicked it into high gear and generated several scoring chances in the waning minutes of regulation but unfortunately none of them found the back of the net. Shots were 10-7 for a three period total of 26-22 in Thunder's favor. Then less than 2 minutes into the first 7.5 minute overtime, the unthinkable happened, as AQ's Jeff Hackshaw fired a shot, assisted by Logan Gagnier, that hit Cumming, bounced out and was ultimately picked out of the air and batted into the net by Nick Montinarelli for the goal that would advance the Irish to the next round while ending Thunder's season in an instant.
First star goes to Peter Dohr, the senior netminder for AQ with 25 saves for the win. Second star goes to Nick Montinarelli with a goal and assist including the winner. Third star goes to Ian Cumming with 21 saves for Thunder. Honorable mention: Logan Gagnier (AQ) with goal and assist for 2 points; Mike Miller for bringing the intensity all game long; Matt Keough for elevating his game and giving it all he had. And so, Thunder finishes their 10th season at 9-7-4-1, after a second place finish with an 8-3-3 record in the West Division. Nice work boys!
Congratulations are in order for the following Thunder players who received Section V Awards:
1st Team All League West Division Forward - Brandon Cheeseman
2nd Team All League West Division Defense - Dan Vyverberg
Top Scholar/Athlete Award - Dan Vyverberg
Congratulations are also in order for the following Thunder seniors who were chosen to represent the West in the Annual Section V Senior Select game:
Brandon Cheeseman
Dan Vyverberg
Steve Hebberecht
See everyone at the banquet. Be there or miss out on some good food and some seriously funny shtuff, lol.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
February 13 Game Report
On the eve of Valentines there was a lot of love in the air at the shore as Thunder played visitor to Irondequoit on their senior nite. Jim Soufleris was at the mic to announce the IHS seniors as well as your very own Thunder seniors who showed a lot of class by remaining on the ice for the duration of the Eagles ceremony. IHS senior Rachel Zwitzer performed the anthem and then Thunder Captain Brandon Cheeseman and Eagles Assistant Jesse Haliniak participated in a ceremonial first face off with IHS Senior Captain David York, who came out to drop the puck, as he was unable to participate in his senior nite contest due to a recent injury he had sustained. Had we known about this in advance, perhaps we could have gotten Thunder Sophomore Keenan Mahoney in on the ceremony, as he too was recently sidelined by an unfortunate injury. Despite all the IHS hoopla, fans in the visitor stands were clearly in a Thunder State of Mind.
I'm from the Thunder State that's...
In Lake-shore,
Hockey jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re on Thun-der,
this team will make you feel brand new,
Big goals will inspire you,
lets hear it for Thun Der, Thun Der, Thun Der
It was a nite of fun with the Vyverbrother (Vyper/Snake) and Grimmy (Jared/Tyler) tandems taking to the ice as blueline brothers. The Simmy bro's got to play together as well, with Andrew taking the baton from Ian to backstop his brother Justin. Everyone was rallying 'round to try and get senior forwards Matt Lerch and Tyler Lepore their first goal and while they were unable to accomplish this feat, it was truly an inspiration to see the whole team cheering them on and being so supportive of one another. Thunder closed out the regular season on a high note with a 6-1 win over Irondequoit and a whole lot of unity going into the post season.
Not much doing in the opening period other than a 5 on 3 each way with no conversion. Vyper turned a harry into a shorthanded scoring chance but the the Eagles keeper held onto his bid. First frame was scoreless with shots 11-8 in Thunder's favor.
Curran O'Brien broke the seal 6 minutes into the second, when he put away the rebound from a shot right on by AC. Cheese followed it up with a goal of his own based on sheer determination, as he bulled his way through traffic and got up in the goalies grill to get the puck across the line, assisted by Tyler Grimshaw. ASim came in for Cumming with 2:09 to go in the second. Almost a minute later, Dan Vyverberg called for Matt Keough to chip the puck by his check and then Vyper lugged the mail down the left side with two Thunder forwards going to the net. Thought he might slide it over but instead he let a snapper go from outside that grazed the top of the goalies glove and into the goal to make it 3-0 Thunder. IHS came back with a whimper with 3 seconds left in the second as Nick Papas got by ASim with a deflection off a Thunder player's skate, assisted by Peter Barilla and Mike Basta.
It was 3-1 Thunder at the end of two and by this point in the game I am pretty sure everyone in the building had to have seen/heard Lady GaGa or was it GooGoo, carrying on in the stands. She was wearing a homemade Thunder T adorned with glitter and such, a pair of oversized aviators, like the ones the baby wore in the hangover, and a purple plaid hunting hat complete with the ear flaps. Nobody seemed to know who she was or where she came from. Athena parents said she must be from Odyssey and of course Odyssey parents said no, she's from Athena. While the story remains largely unconfirmed, rumor has it she is an alumni from one of the Thunder schools who was in the stands to avenge some remarks made by the IHS camp when Thunder played the Eagles last year. Methinks this could be fodder for a reality show someday.
Back from the break, IHS swapped their netminders witrh Blake Billitier coming in for Vinnie Guida between the pipes. Mike McNuggetSkillet posted a fourth marker for Thunder with 5:36 to go, assisted by Matt Lerch and Justin Simonelli. Mike Briganti notched another, two minutes later, putting away the rebound from a shot by Tyler Lepore, assisted by Cheese. Exit Billitier, enter Joe Hall in net for the Eagles. Lerch sprung Eric Hostetter who found Simmy coming down the left side and then Simmy buried the wrister to get Lerch his second point on the season. When all was said and done, Thunder had 13 different point getters, as they defeated Irondequoit 6-1 with everyone getting in on the action.
This win advances Thunder's record to 8-3-3 (9-6-4-1 overall), garnering them second place in the west division and 7th seed in the Class A sectionals. First star goes to Tyler LePore who "stole the show" while logging his first career point. Second star goes to Matt Lerch who played tough throughout and racked up a pair of assists for his first Thunder points. Third star is shared by Cheese and Simmy with a goal and assist apiece.
I'm from the Thunder State that's...
In Lake-shore,
Hockey jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re on Thun-der,
this team will make you feel brand new,
Big goals will inspire you,
lets hear it for Thun Der, Thun Der, Thun Der
It was a nite of fun with the Vyverbrother (Vyper/Snake) and Grimmy (Jared/Tyler) tandems taking to the ice as blueline brothers. The Simmy bro's got to play together as well, with Andrew taking the baton from Ian to backstop his brother Justin. Everyone was rallying 'round to try and get senior forwards Matt Lerch and Tyler Lepore their first goal and while they were unable to accomplish this feat, it was truly an inspiration to see the whole team cheering them on and being so supportive of one another. Thunder closed out the regular season on a high note with a 6-1 win over Irondequoit and a whole lot of unity going into the post season.
Not much doing in the opening period other than a 5 on 3 each way with no conversion. Vyper turned a harry into a shorthanded scoring chance but the the Eagles keeper held onto his bid. First frame was scoreless with shots 11-8 in Thunder's favor.
Curran O'Brien broke the seal 6 minutes into the second, when he put away the rebound from a shot right on by AC. Cheese followed it up with a goal of his own based on sheer determination, as he bulled his way through traffic and got up in the goalies grill to get the puck across the line, assisted by Tyler Grimshaw. ASim came in for Cumming with 2:09 to go in the second. Almost a minute later, Dan Vyverberg called for Matt Keough to chip the puck by his check and then Vyper lugged the mail down the left side with two Thunder forwards going to the net. Thought he might slide it over but instead he let a snapper go from outside that grazed the top of the goalies glove and into the goal to make it 3-0 Thunder. IHS came back with a whimper with 3 seconds left in the second as Nick Papas got by ASim with a deflection off a Thunder player's skate, assisted by Peter Barilla and Mike Basta.
It was 3-1 Thunder at the end of two and by this point in the game I am pretty sure everyone in the building had to have seen/heard Lady GaGa or was it GooGoo, carrying on in the stands. She was wearing a homemade Thunder T adorned with glitter and such, a pair of oversized aviators, like the ones the baby wore in the hangover, and a purple plaid hunting hat complete with the ear flaps. Nobody seemed to know who she was or where she came from. Athena parents said she must be from Odyssey and of course Odyssey parents said no, she's from Athena. While the story remains largely unconfirmed, rumor has it she is an alumni from one of the Thunder schools who was in the stands to avenge some remarks made by the IHS camp when Thunder played the Eagles last year. Methinks this could be fodder for a reality show someday.
Back from the break, IHS swapped their netminders witrh Blake Billitier coming in for Vinnie Guida between the pipes. Mike McNuggetSkillet posted a fourth marker for Thunder with 5:36 to go, assisted by Matt Lerch and Justin Simonelli. Mike Briganti notched another, two minutes later, putting away the rebound from a shot by Tyler Lepore, assisted by Cheese. Exit Billitier, enter Joe Hall in net for the Eagles. Lerch sprung Eric Hostetter who found Simmy coming down the left side and then Simmy buried the wrister to get Lerch his second point on the season. When all was said and done, Thunder had 13 different point getters, as they defeated Irondequoit 6-1 with everyone getting in on the action.
This win advances Thunder's record to 8-3-3 (9-6-4-1 overall), garnering them second place in the west division and 7th seed in the Class A sectionals. First star goes to Tyler LePore who "stole the show" while logging his first career point. Second star goes to Matt Lerch who played tough throughout and racked up a pair of assists for his first Thunder points. Third star is shared by Cheese and Simmy with a goal and assist apiece.
Friday, February 12, 2010
February 9 Game Report
The Greece Athena/Odyssey Thunder Hockey Team kissed their sisters of Aquinas for the second time this season with a 2-2 tie tuesday nite at the shore. It was senior nite with Grandpa Marty rolling out the purple carpet and Grandpa Joe at the mic to emcee the event, putting in a plug for his grandson Mike Miller's birthday. Cheese, Mills, Vypes, Hebs, Lerch, Keough, and Lepore met their respective families on the runway to share a photo op, giving props to those who have supported them throughout their HS Hockey Careers and offering a glimpse of their future plans as they head out into the real world. Kate-E with your pitch so bright, won't you sing our anthem tonight. Then all the seniors loved her, as she shouted out with "real glee", Kate-E the International Show Choir Sensation, you'll go down in Thunder His-to-ry, as will Pete Feola, an accomplished local official who called this game en route to his biggest assignment ever up north in Vancouver over the coming weeks!
AQ's Bernie Gauthier got loose, drawing a penalty shot after being taken down by Tyler Grimshaw on a breakaway attempt in the early going. Fear not as, unlike his dad in the stands, Ian was cool as a cucumber on the ice, poke checking Gauthier to keep AQ at bay, for the time being anyway. Thunder controlled the play for the next six minutes in the wake of Cumming's big stop. But AQ would take the reigns with six mins to go in the first frame as Nick Montinarelli put away the rebound from a Jeff Hackshaw shot that was assisted by Gauthier off a draw to the left of Cumming. Dohr looked shaky down the stretch but managed to keep Thunder scoreless on the 12 shots they took to AQ's 9 in the opening period.
Second period saw Eric Hostetter at long last rewarded with his first goal of the season five minutes in, as he sailed a sweet backhander through a crack in the Dohr, fed out front by Matt Keough, assisted by Dan Vyverberg, to even up. Five minutes later Nico Gonzalez rallied to regain the lead for AQ with a rebound off a point-shot by Joe Snook. Vypes bookended the period with a pair of long-lead breakaway passes to connect the dots with Cheese, but the puck never met the twine, not for a lack of trying and it certainly got everyone on their feet. Thunder outshot Aquinas 11-8 in the second for a two-period total of 23-17, although AQ led 2-1 on the scoreboard going to the break.
Five minutes into the third Vyper cranked a low slapper on net, assisted by Simmy, and McNugget got a piece of it for the PPG to knot the game at 2s. AQ took a timeout with 27 seconds left in regulation but there was nothing doing as Thunder shut things down to get to overtime with a 7-5 shot margin that made it 30-22 Thunder through three periods. Thunder enjoyed a 2-man advantage in the beginning of OT as did AQ when they pulled their goalie at the end. But neither team would claim the game before the extra period had expired.
With this tie Thunder remains second in the West, a point ahead of AQ, with a record of 7-3-3 (8-6-4-1 overall). Shots were 2-0 Thunder in overtime making it 32-22 overall in Thunder's favor. Cumming stopped 20 of the 22 he faced and Dohr made 30 saves on 32 shots for AQ. First star goes to Dan Vyverberg who assisted on both goals for Thunder and played with a lot of heart throughout. Second star goes to Mike McNeil with the GTG. Third star goes to Eric Hostetter whose hard work all season finally paid off with a G.
AQ's Bernie Gauthier got loose, drawing a penalty shot after being taken down by Tyler Grimshaw on a breakaway attempt in the early going. Fear not as, unlike his dad in the stands, Ian was cool as a cucumber on the ice, poke checking Gauthier to keep AQ at bay, for the time being anyway. Thunder controlled the play for the next six minutes in the wake of Cumming's big stop. But AQ would take the reigns with six mins to go in the first frame as Nick Montinarelli put away the rebound from a Jeff Hackshaw shot that was assisted by Gauthier off a draw to the left of Cumming. Dohr looked shaky down the stretch but managed to keep Thunder scoreless on the 12 shots they took to AQ's 9 in the opening period.
Second period saw Eric Hostetter at long last rewarded with his first goal of the season five minutes in, as he sailed a sweet backhander through a crack in the Dohr, fed out front by Matt Keough, assisted by Dan Vyverberg, to even up. Five minutes later Nico Gonzalez rallied to regain the lead for AQ with a rebound off a point-shot by Joe Snook. Vypes bookended the period with a pair of long-lead breakaway passes to connect the dots with Cheese, but the puck never met the twine, not for a lack of trying and it certainly got everyone on their feet. Thunder outshot Aquinas 11-8 in the second for a two-period total of 23-17, although AQ led 2-1 on the scoreboard going to the break.
Five minutes into the third Vyper cranked a low slapper on net, assisted by Simmy, and McNugget got a piece of it for the PPG to knot the game at 2s. AQ took a timeout with 27 seconds left in regulation but there was nothing doing as Thunder shut things down to get to overtime with a 7-5 shot margin that made it 30-22 Thunder through three periods. Thunder enjoyed a 2-man advantage in the beginning of OT as did AQ when they pulled their goalie at the end. But neither team would claim the game before the extra period had expired.
With this tie Thunder remains second in the West, a point ahead of AQ, with a record of 7-3-3 (8-6-4-1 overall). Shots were 2-0 Thunder in overtime making it 32-22 overall in Thunder's favor. Cumming stopped 20 of the 22 he faced and Dohr made 30 saves on 32 shots for AQ. First star goes to Dan Vyverberg who assisted on both goals for Thunder and played with a lot of heart throughout. Second star goes to Mike McNeil with the GTG. Third star goes to Eric Hostetter whose hard work all season finally paid off with a G.
Monday, February 8, 2010
February 4 Game Report
Music was good, 50/50 sales were brisk and the anthem was solid, but Thunder was not. They stunk up the joint with a rather sloppy performance and ended up taking a 4-1 non-div loss to Fairport on the chin Thursday nite at Lakeshore. Would you like some fruit or whipped cream with your turnovers? Why is it that Thunder cannot seem to get up for their non-div games (1-3-1-1 thus far)? And why were the refs not up for the game? Was it because they were pregnant that they missed a couple of periods? I know we are not supposed to get down on the refs based on my soap box speech after the B-Port game, but it seemed like an off game for the stripes taking a routine high sticking call they bungled out to center ice and then there was the hardly a roughing call on Grimmy for letting Fairport know it was not cool to snow our goalie. How about that 3 meter dive by the goalie snower which the refs chose to ignore? This of course prompted a "nice dive louganis" from the Thunder camp, compliments of Dan Miller. The game was officiated by two of the more senior and well respected refs in town, which just goes to show you, anyone can have an off nite if they mail it in or bring anything less than their A game. I am sure we have all been there at one point or another in our lives. For all I know, some of you may find this report to be case in point!
Hockey gods had Thunder's back early when Thunder foreign exchange students Netsov and Cross-Barre teamed up to stave off what appeared to be an early pair of powerplay goals for Fairport. Soon the Red Raiders would take a turn in the sin bin but Greece killed their own powerplay by putting several nice passes right on the tape for Fairport. It was not until twelve twenty in that Thunder would finally get their act together, when John Clark made a good keep at the line for Curran O'Brien and O'Brien put the puck on net with some junk on it to beat McEvily low, assisted by Justin Simonelli, for his second score of the season. Clark logged his first varsity point on the play as well. Other than Cheese giving his check a close-up of the Thunder penalty box and Thunder's late marker, it was a sort of slack-luster first frame with only six shots a side.
Second stanza opened with a 5 on 3 for Fairport that Vypes, Hebs, and Cheese nearly killed off for Thunder, but Dylan Howatt would rally for the Red Raiders, assisted by Chris Button and Jon Kaminska, a couple of seconds shy of even strength being restored. Cheese pulled a Ganti (remember, the two legged block maneuver) during the almost kill with one too many revolutions, taking it on the back of the leg i believe but, like Mattle, Cheese eats nails for breakfast and it did not appear to phase him one bit. Vypes stepped up on a cross-ice attempt by Fairport and sat his check down as if to say NOT UP IN HERE. Fairport got the GAG me on the PP (Go Ahead Goal on the Power Play) with 2:39 to go in the second, while Grimmy was serving his hardly a rough call and Louganis was brushing the snow off his speedo on the Fairport bench. Chris Button got loose behind the Thunder D with a breakaway before the break but Cumming was equal to the task and stoned him. Thunder closed out the period killing off yet another one of their own powerplays.
Twenty four ticks into the third, William Cherry (any relation to Don?) would finish from just outside the paint, assisted by James Downs and Tim Modesti, to widen the gap to 3-1 for Fairport. We fudged up. We're not going to be number one in the state again losing battles in front of our own net like that. We gotta get this stuff together boys! Tyler Mattle showed his work ethic down the stretch generating a couple of QSCs but Thunder could not climb back into the contest. Greece took a timeout with 52 seconds to go in the game, yet Kaminska would find the empty net for Fairport to seal the deal at 4-1, assisted by James Downs.
Thunder's overall record slips to 8-6-3-1 but they remain second in the West (7-3-2) at least a point ahead of Brockport and AQ. With a win over AQ or IHS in one of their two remaining games Thunder can clinch second place in their division. What say you boys? What say you fans? Where has everybody been? Where did the season go? Only 2 games to go before sectionals. Can I get a yeah ThunDeeeerrrrrrrrr?
Hockey gods had Thunder's back early when Thunder foreign exchange students Netsov and Cross-Barre teamed up to stave off what appeared to be an early pair of powerplay goals for Fairport. Soon the Red Raiders would take a turn in the sin bin but Greece killed their own powerplay by putting several nice passes right on the tape for Fairport. It was not until twelve twenty in that Thunder would finally get their act together, when John Clark made a good keep at the line for Curran O'Brien and O'Brien put the puck on net with some junk on it to beat McEvily low, assisted by Justin Simonelli, for his second score of the season. Clark logged his first varsity point on the play as well. Other than Cheese giving his check a close-up of the Thunder penalty box and Thunder's late marker, it was a sort of slack-luster first frame with only six shots a side.
Second stanza opened with a 5 on 3 for Fairport that Vypes, Hebs, and Cheese nearly killed off for Thunder, but Dylan Howatt would rally for the Red Raiders, assisted by Chris Button and Jon Kaminska, a couple of seconds shy of even strength being restored. Cheese pulled a Ganti (remember, the two legged block maneuver) during the almost kill with one too many revolutions, taking it on the back of the leg i believe but, like Mattle, Cheese eats nails for breakfast and it did not appear to phase him one bit. Vypes stepped up on a cross-ice attempt by Fairport and sat his check down as if to say NOT UP IN HERE. Fairport got the GAG me on the PP (Go Ahead Goal on the Power Play) with 2:39 to go in the second, while Grimmy was serving his hardly a rough call and Louganis was brushing the snow off his speedo on the Fairport bench. Chris Button got loose behind the Thunder D with a breakaway before the break but Cumming was equal to the task and stoned him. Thunder closed out the period killing off yet another one of their own powerplays.
Twenty four ticks into the third, William Cherry (any relation to Don?) would finish from just outside the paint, assisted by James Downs and Tim Modesti, to widen the gap to 3-1 for Fairport. We fudged up. We're not going to be number one in the state again losing battles in front of our own net like that. We gotta get this stuff together boys! Tyler Mattle showed his work ethic down the stretch generating a couple of QSCs but Thunder could not climb back into the contest. Greece took a timeout with 52 seconds to go in the game, yet Kaminska would find the empty net for Fairport to seal the deal at 4-1, assisted by James Downs.
Thunder's overall record slips to 8-6-3-1 but they remain second in the West (7-3-2) at least a point ahead of Brockport and AQ. With a win over AQ or IHS in one of their two remaining games Thunder can clinch second place in their division. What say you boys? What say you fans? Where has everybody been? Where did the season go? Only 2 games to go before sectionals. Can I get a yeah ThunDeeeerrrrrrrrr?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
February 2 Game Report
Katie Edinger wore her Master's jacket and killed the anthem (that's a good thing) at Lakeshore Tuesday nite as Thunder got ready to rumble with the fighting Saints of Churchville (a little known suburb outside Dublin Ireland). No broken windows in the parking lot tonight, but there was a sighting of Doc the ref stitching up a hand lac for a Saints parent in the snack shop, after Greece dealt Churchville a 4-1 blow on the ice.
Austin Kuntz surprised Ian Cumming with an over the waffle zinger from just inside the blueline only 19 seconds into the contest, assisted by Shawn Easton and Ryan Fitzgerald. Saints enjoyed their one-goal lead for the balance of the period but Brandon Cheeseman would even things up for Thunder (cuz that's what he does) curling out of the left corner and sniping one short side with 39 seconds to go. Shots were 12-6 Thunder in the opening frame.
The go ahead goal for Thunder came 3.5 mins into the second and was awarded to Curran O'Brien, assisted by Anthony Crawford and Mike Miller. My neck was sore due to the sustained pressure in the Saints zone which resulted in a 17-4 shot margin in the second period.
Third period was all Thunder as well with Justin Simonelli lighting the lamp for his grandmother to see from on high, assisted by Cheese and McNeil. Then with a minute remaining, Vypes took the handle from McNeil, who was battling on the half wall on the powerplay, turned and sailed a saucer to Hebs, who would snap off a wrister to cap off the contest at 4-1. Senior manager Tyler Lepore came out for his second appearance on the night (a frightening proposition for a self-taught kid who never played organized hockey growing up) with the fans cheering and his folks grinning ear to ear as Vyper tried banking one off his shins to get him a goal but it was to no avail. At least his folks got to see him skate this time as they missed his debut in one of the earlier preseason scrimmages.
Shots were 44-17 overall in Thunder's favor (with the 17 being generous) as they advanced their record to 7-3-2 (8-5-3-1 overall) with this win and are now resting comfortably at second place in the West Division with 16pts. First star goes to Brandon Cheeseman with 2pts including the winner. Second Star goes to Ian Cumming with 16 saves for his 7th win on the season. Third Star goes to Dylan Niewiemski who almost single-handedly kept the Saints in the game, making 40 saves on 44 shots he faced. Gordita Crunch goes to Jared Tam-Grimshaw for standing up Saints senior Mike Carey at the blueline.
Austin Kuntz surprised Ian Cumming with an over the waffle zinger from just inside the blueline only 19 seconds into the contest, assisted by Shawn Easton and Ryan Fitzgerald. Saints enjoyed their one-goal lead for the balance of the period but Brandon Cheeseman would even things up for Thunder (cuz that's what he does) curling out of the left corner and sniping one short side with 39 seconds to go. Shots were 12-6 Thunder in the opening frame.
The go ahead goal for Thunder came 3.5 mins into the second and was awarded to Curran O'Brien, assisted by Anthony Crawford and Mike Miller. My neck was sore due to the sustained pressure in the Saints zone which resulted in a 17-4 shot margin in the second period.
Third period was all Thunder as well with Justin Simonelli lighting the lamp for his grandmother to see from on high, assisted by Cheese and McNeil. Then with a minute remaining, Vypes took the handle from McNeil, who was battling on the half wall on the powerplay, turned and sailed a saucer to Hebs, who would snap off a wrister to cap off the contest at 4-1. Senior manager Tyler Lepore came out for his second appearance on the night (a frightening proposition for a self-taught kid who never played organized hockey growing up) with the fans cheering and his folks grinning ear to ear as Vyper tried banking one off his shins to get him a goal but it was to no avail. At least his folks got to see him skate this time as they missed his debut in one of the earlier preseason scrimmages.
Shots were 44-17 overall in Thunder's favor (with the 17 being generous) as they advanced their record to 7-3-2 (8-5-3-1 overall) with this win and are now resting comfortably at second place in the West Division with 16pts. First star goes to Brandon Cheeseman with 2pts including the winner. Second Star goes to Ian Cumming with 16 saves for his 7th win on the season. Third Star goes to Dylan Niewiemski who almost single-handedly kept the Saints in the game, making 40 saves on 44 shots he faced. Gordita Crunch goes to Jared Tam-Grimshaw for standing up Saints senior Mike Carey at the blueline.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
January 30 Game Report
Was there a full moon on Saturday or what? Those of you who got to the game early may have witnessed the donnybrook that ensued at the tail end of Lightning's 8-1 lambasting of the Saints. While the players kept their gloves on for the Thunder vs Blue Devils rematch that followed, things got a bit chippy in the stands, so much so that I was considering sending the story along to ABC's John Stossel. A handful of Brockport fans did a fine job of embarrassing themselves grousing over every call that the refs made or didn't make. And there were comments like "you're not #1 in the state anymore" and "we'll get there before you this year" which doesn't really make any sense given Thunder is in class A and B-port is in class B, and besides, what does that have to do with the officiating anyway? Until you have laced up the skates, put on a zebra suit and officiated a game of ice hockey, you really have no clue how difficult it can be to keep track of 10 skaters, 2 goalies, 2 nets, 2 player benches, 2 penalty boxes, a scoreboard, and a rubber biscuit that is flying around at high rates of speed, while you are skating on two thin blades of steel and trying not to become a part of the play. Not to mention all the people screaming at you from the stands. Surely everyone who has been around hockey for a while has uttered their fair share of remarks about the refs, but to expect the refs to see everything exactly the way you see it while looking on with a birdseye view from the stands is simply preposterous. They are not perfect, they make mistakes just the same as the players who are playing the game and the coaches who are coaching the game. They are all human. If it makes you sleep better at night thinking you got a home job, then good for you. If you think you can do better, then i dare you to give it a try. Otherwise, give me a break.
Where was I? Oh yea, oh say can you see... Amanda Sherry, AGR anthem soloist, kicking things off as Thunder was home in white hosting the Brockport Blue Devils visiting in navy on Saturday at the shore. Andrew Simonelli got the nod in the nets for the Thunder against Blue Devil's freshman Justin Keene, who was coincidentally wearing the same #33, and away we go. Blue Devils D-man Zach Coughlin delivered an early wake up call to Thunder, sneaking in from the blueline and taking a back door feed upstairs during the first minute play, assisted by Connor Moore and Tyler Hill. Cumming made a nice save on an errant pass headed into the Thunder bench... way to look alive Ian. Blue Devils netted another with 3:15 to go in the first frame, a shortie by Hill from Dan Callahan and Kyle Wallenhorst. Vypes snapped his twig winding up a slapper from top of the key at the close of the period, cha-ching, there goes a couple of benjamins. Snake wields the same x60 but it's about 2-3" longer and then some, so Vypes had to go with his Sarazin backup, which carried him through the post season and assisted on the game winner during the final game in Utica, but apparently the stick is no good, lol. Kids these days. In my day, we cut a branch from a tree and whittled it down to make a hockey stick!
Thunder carried a 1.18 powerplay balance into the second stanza, but despite great puck movement on the man advantage they still couldn't solve Keene. Mike Briganti executed his patented 2-legged harry to block a shot at the point. From this point forward on Thunder the maneuver shall be known as a "Ganti". Speaking of patenting things, what's up with Brockport using Thunder's "balls-out" chant at he beginning of each period? Connor Sullivan widened the gap to 3-0 for Brockport with a goal midway through the period assisted by Wallenhorst. Keough broke a stick, but no data was available on the lineage of his backup at the time of this report. Greece continued moving the puck well and repeatedly bringing it to the net, but it was as if Keene had cellophane covering the plane of the goal mouth when a couple of slow rollers finally got behind him and stalled just shy of the goal line. Broken sticks and a hot goalie would not be enough to break Thunder's spirit though as they mushed on for 27.5 minutes before an unassuming lob on net from the blueline by Mike McNeil got the better of Keene and Thunder was on the board. Way to mix it up and go with the off-speed Mike. But Thunder's celebration was short-lived as Connor Moore answered back just 27 seconds later for Brockport, assisted by Zach Coughlin, to restore their 3-goal lead at 4-1. Ian Cumming came off the bench in relief to get Thunder out of the inning.
Back from the break, the outlook was kind of bleak for Thunder thought a doubting Layton as time was slipping away, "Maybe last last year's team could have scored 4 goals in one period to win it but not this year". How about 3 goals in a five minute flurry to tie it, thanks to Trey's challenge! Cheese started the rally with 5.05 to go by putting away a rebound on Vyper's shot assisted by Andrew Sherry. Then came a pretty PPG two and half minutes later as McNeil went up top to Vyper who swung it to Simmy on the wing and then Simmy swept it home to draw near at 4-3. Greece took a timeout with 37 seconds left and returned with an air of determination. In a matter of 12 seconds, it was Cheese finishing the rally he started with the GTG, assisted by Vyper and Simmy, and we were going to OT knotted at 4's. Thunder enjoyed a few chances in OT as both teams held on for the point.
Thunder's record advances to 6-3-2 (7-5-3-1 overall) leaving them alone in second place behind Lightning in the West division with 3 games to go (CC, AQ, IHS). Said Webb of Thunder's come from behind tie, "The chips were down but they pulled together and did what they had to do to come back". Thunder out shot the Blue Devils in all 4 periods, 8-6, 12-9, 12-7, 3-2, for a 3-period total of 35-24. First star of the game goes to Brandon Cheeseman with a pair of goals including the GTG. Second star of the game goes to Dan Vyverberg with 3 assists for a playmaker. Third star goes to Brockport's Justin Keene with 31 saves on 35 shots. Simonelli and Cumming combined for a total of 20 saves for Thunder.
Where was I? Oh yea, oh say can you see... Amanda Sherry, AGR anthem soloist, kicking things off as Thunder was home in white hosting the Brockport Blue Devils visiting in navy on Saturday at the shore. Andrew Simonelli got the nod in the nets for the Thunder against Blue Devil's freshman Justin Keene, who was coincidentally wearing the same #33, and away we go. Blue Devils D-man Zach Coughlin delivered an early wake up call to Thunder, sneaking in from the blueline and taking a back door feed upstairs during the first minute play, assisted by Connor Moore and Tyler Hill. Cumming made a nice save on an errant pass headed into the Thunder bench... way to look alive Ian. Blue Devils netted another with 3:15 to go in the first frame, a shortie by Hill from Dan Callahan and Kyle Wallenhorst. Vypes snapped his twig winding up a slapper from top of the key at the close of the period, cha-ching, there goes a couple of benjamins. Snake wields the same x60 but it's about 2-3" longer and then some, so Vypes had to go with his Sarazin backup, which carried him through the post season and assisted on the game winner during the final game in Utica, but apparently the stick is no good, lol. Kids these days. In my day, we cut a branch from a tree and whittled it down to make a hockey stick!
Thunder carried a 1.18 powerplay balance into the second stanza, but despite great puck movement on the man advantage they still couldn't solve Keene. Mike Briganti executed his patented 2-legged harry to block a shot at the point. From this point forward on Thunder the maneuver shall be known as a "Ganti". Speaking of patenting things, what's up with Brockport using Thunder's "balls-out" chant at he beginning of each period? Connor Sullivan widened the gap to 3-0 for Brockport with a goal midway through the period assisted by Wallenhorst. Keough broke a stick, but no data was available on the lineage of his backup at the time of this report. Greece continued moving the puck well and repeatedly bringing it to the net, but it was as if Keene had cellophane covering the plane of the goal mouth when a couple of slow rollers finally got behind him and stalled just shy of the goal line. Broken sticks and a hot goalie would not be enough to break Thunder's spirit though as they mushed on for 27.5 minutes before an unassuming lob on net from the blueline by Mike McNeil got the better of Keene and Thunder was on the board. Way to mix it up and go with the off-speed Mike. But Thunder's celebration was short-lived as Connor Moore answered back just 27 seconds later for Brockport, assisted by Zach Coughlin, to restore their 3-goal lead at 4-1. Ian Cumming came off the bench in relief to get Thunder out of the inning.
Back from the break, the outlook was kind of bleak for Thunder thought a doubting Layton as time was slipping away, "Maybe last last year's team could have scored 4 goals in one period to win it but not this year". How about 3 goals in a five minute flurry to tie it, thanks to Trey's challenge! Cheese started the rally with 5.05 to go by putting away a rebound on Vyper's shot assisted by Andrew Sherry. Then came a pretty PPG two and half minutes later as McNeil went up top to Vyper who swung it to Simmy on the wing and then Simmy swept it home to draw near at 4-3. Greece took a timeout with 37 seconds left and returned with an air of determination. In a matter of 12 seconds, it was Cheese finishing the rally he started with the GTG, assisted by Vyper and Simmy, and we were going to OT knotted at 4's. Thunder enjoyed a few chances in OT as both teams held on for the point.
Thunder's record advances to 6-3-2 (7-5-3-1 overall) leaving them alone in second place behind Lightning in the West division with 3 games to go (CC, AQ, IHS). Said Webb of Thunder's come from behind tie, "The chips were down but they pulled together and did what they had to do to come back". Thunder out shot the Blue Devils in all 4 periods, 8-6, 12-9, 12-7, 3-2, for a 3-period total of 35-24. First star of the game goes to Brandon Cheeseman with a pair of goals including the GTG. Second star of the game goes to Dan Vyverberg with 3 assists for a playmaker. Third star goes to Brockport's Justin Keene with 31 saves on 35 shots. Simonelli and Cumming combined for a total of 20 saves for Thunder.
Monday, February 1, 2010
January 28 Game Report
For those of you reality tv junkies who risked life and limb heading south on 390 to Marketplace Mall in the middle of a blizzard thursday nite, just to catch a glimpse of the Jersey Shore cast, you missed out on all the fist-pumping action down at 123 Ling Road where the Lake Shore cast of Greece Thunder snookered the Hilton Cadets 3-2 in OT to climb into second place in the West Division. Thunder is now 6-3-1 in division play, tied for second with AQ at 13pts, although Thunder has a game in hand over AQ with 4 division games remaining against lower ranked teams, e.g. BP, CC, AQ, and IHS. Thunder's overall record is 7-5-2-1.
It's always strange being a visitor in your own building, although Thunder looked snappy in their road blacks, half expecting to hear another cadet crooner singing the anthem like last year, but it turned out to be a memorex instrumental complete with the Zildjians. Hilton outshot Greece 8-5 in a fairly boring first frame, although Thunder's D played extremely well forcing Hilton to shoot from the perimeter and allowing Cumming to see everything into the vault. Thunder enjoyed a late powerplay that bridged the first and second period, but could not get by Hilton's senior netminder on their first man advantage, perhaps due to the distraction of papa Joe's face hanging from the balcony by the office... what was that all about?
The sole marker in the second frame came 3.5 minutes in for Greece, when Curran O'Brien hooked a pass to Justin Simonelli, who then froze Hurlimann with a no-look dish to AC on the baseline for the conversion. Can I get a "Yeah ThunDerrrrrrrr"? Well of course I can cuz Laura and Clark (Christine that is) obliged, although they need to work on belting it out from the diaphragm (perhaps a few lessons with JR will do the trick). AC's tally fueled an extended flurry as Thunder pinned the Cadets in their own end for a good long while. Hots lead the charge in repeatedly thwarting Hilton's attempt to break out of captivity, McSkillet made several nifty saucers to keep Thunder on the attack, and Clark fired a shot on net that came to rest atop Hurlimann's butterflied right pad. Unfortunately, there was a quick whistle and Thunder never got the opportunity to poke it in. Greece generated numerous quality scoring chances on their rally that seemingly lasted the whole period, but the score stood still at 1-zip as Hilton drew a powerplay with a buck thirty four to go. Enter Vyper with a harry and 2 solid clears to bolster the kill and get Thunder to the break with their 1 goal lead still intact. Thunder dominated the second period with a shot margin of 12-5.
John Clark opened the third by showing Hilton's Andrew Harris to his seat for the Gordita Crunch of the Game. Poor kid must have missed the NO TRESPASSING and NO TOE DRAGGING signs posted outside the blueline. Tyler Grimshaw followed up with a textbook hip-check on the far wall to slow Hilton's attack, but this would only serve to strengthen Hilton's resolve, as they were simply not willing to wither away. Cumming was flopping around like a tuna on the deck of a commercial charter, making some brilliant pad and melon saves to keep the Cadet's at bay. But Hilton kept on coming and it eventually paid off, as Brian Hurlimann blasted a shot over Cumming's shoulder from from the top of the circle, assisted by Kolin Sawdey and Joe Palumbo, to put Hilton on the board with only 3.59 remaining in regulation. Then the unthinkable happened as Hilton came back a minute thirty later, breaking through Thunder's goal line stand with a shot by Corey Sherman, assisted by Nick Castronovo, that got deflected in by Cory Gurski for the go-ahead goal with just 2.31 left on the clock. Most teams would have folded their tent after that punch in the gut, but not Thunder, there is no other, they would not be denied. And so, they grabbed their lunch pails and went to work. Low and behold, a minute later Vypes hit Simmy with a pass coming through neutral, Simmy caught it with his skate, entered the zone, worked his way down the left side and centered it for Cheese who immediately redirected it upstairs for the GTG to force OT. Hilton controlled the play for the majority of the third, with a 14-9 shot margin, but the momentum was clearly Thunder's going into the five minute overtime.
Hearts were pounding with everyone biting their nails to the quick as the extra period was waning and Hilton took a time-out with 36 seconds left on the clock, leaving little time for either team to mount a charge. But having lost to Gates with only 1 second on the clock in OT earlier in the season, Thunder knew the importance of playing until the final horn and this time the tables were turned as the puck bounced out to the stick of Thunder Captain Brandon Cheeseman and he sniped the winner top-shelf where webby hides the cookies at his new house!
Shots overall were 29-24 Thunder, with Ian Cumming turning away 22 of the 24 he faced and Dan Hurlimann making 26 saves for Hilton. First star goes to the man with the C for netting the GTG to force OT and then coming back and claiming the GWG that set Thunder free, Brandon "the big cheese" Cheeseman. Second star goes to Justin Simonelli for distributing so well throughout the game and book-ending regulation with setups on Thunder's first two tallies. Third star goes to Tyler Grimshaw for a solid effort on the backend with several nice rushes to boot, a rather inspired effort given the broken hand. Honorable mention goes to Eric Hostetter for his gritty performance. Had he not been tackled in front Hilton's net (with no-call) he just may have lit the lamp! Can you believe only 1 penalty a side in that contest? Hats off to Hilton for a great battle for 49 minutes and 51 seconds of play. Happy Birthday to Mike Briganti was echoing from the stands. Happy Housewarming goes out to Webby from all the Thunder fans!
It's always strange being a visitor in your own building, although Thunder looked snappy in their road blacks, half expecting to hear another cadet crooner singing the anthem like last year, but it turned out to be a memorex instrumental complete with the Zildjians. Hilton outshot Greece 8-5 in a fairly boring first frame, although Thunder's D played extremely well forcing Hilton to shoot from the perimeter and allowing Cumming to see everything into the vault. Thunder enjoyed a late powerplay that bridged the first and second period, but could not get by Hilton's senior netminder on their first man advantage, perhaps due to the distraction of papa Joe's face hanging from the balcony by the office... what was that all about?
The sole marker in the second frame came 3.5 minutes in for Greece, when Curran O'Brien hooked a pass to Justin Simonelli, who then froze Hurlimann with a no-look dish to AC on the baseline for the conversion. Can I get a "Yeah ThunDerrrrrrrr"? Well of course I can cuz Laura and Clark (Christine that is) obliged, although they need to work on belting it out from the diaphragm (perhaps a few lessons with JR will do the trick). AC's tally fueled an extended flurry as Thunder pinned the Cadets in their own end for a good long while. Hots lead the charge in repeatedly thwarting Hilton's attempt to break out of captivity, McSkillet made several nifty saucers to keep Thunder on the attack, and Clark fired a shot on net that came to rest atop Hurlimann's butterflied right pad. Unfortunately, there was a quick whistle and Thunder never got the opportunity to poke it in. Greece generated numerous quality scoring chances on their rally that seemingly lasted the whole period, but the score stood still at 1-zip as Hilton drew a powerplay with a buck thirty four to go. Enter Vyper with a harry and 2 solid clears to bolster the kill and get Thunder to the break with their 1 goal lead still intact. Thunder dominated the second period with a shot margin of 12-5.
John Clark opened the third by showing Hilton's Andrew Harris to his seat for the Gordita Crunch of the Game. Poor kid must have missed the NO TRESPASSING and NO TOE DRAGGING signs posted outside the blueline. Tyler Grimshaw followed up with a textbook hip-check on the far wall to slow Hilton's attack, but this would only serve to strengthen Hilton's resolve, as they were simply not willing to wither away. Cumming was flopping around like a tuna on the deck of a commercial charter, making some brilliant pad and melon saves to keep the Cadet's at bay. But Hilton kept on coming and it eventually paid off, as Brian Hurlimann blasted a shot over Cumming's shoulder from from the top of the circle, assisted by Kolin Sawdey and Joe Palumbo, to put Hilton on the board with only 3.59 remaining in regulation. Then the unthinkable happened as Hilton came back a minute thirty later, breaking through Thunder's goal line stand with a shot by Corey Sherman, assisted by Nick Castronovo, that got deflected in by Cory Gurski for the go-ahead goal with just 2.31 left on the clock. Most teams would have folded their tent after that punch in the gut, but not Thunder, there is no other, they would not be denied. And so, they grabbed their lunch pails and went to work. Low and behold, a minute later Vypes hit Simmy with a pass coming through neutral, Simmy caught it with his skate, entered the zone, worked his way down the left side and centered it for Cheese who immediately redirected it upstairs for the GTG to force OT. Hilton controlled the play for the majority of the third, with a 14-9 shot margin, but the momentum was clearly Thunder's going into the five minute overtime.
Hearts were pounding with everyone biting their nails to the quick as the extra period was waning and Hilton took a time-out with 36 seconds left on the clock, leaving little time for either team to mount a charge. But having lost to Gates with only 1 second on the clock in OT earlier in the season, Thunder knew the importance of playing until the final horn and this time the tables were turned as the puck bounced out to the stick of Thunder Captain Brandon Cheeseman and he sniped the winner top-shelf where webby hides the cookies at his new house!
Shots overall were 29-24 Thunder, with Ian Cumming turning away 22 of the 24 he faced and Dan Hurlimann making 26 saves for Hilton. First star goes to the man with the C for netting the GTG to force OT and then coming back and claiming the GWG that set Thunder free, Brandon "the big cheese" Cheeseman. Second star goes to Justin Simonelli for distributing so well throughout the game and book-ending regulation with setups on Thunder's first two tallies. Third star goes to Tyler Grimshaw for a solid effort on the backend with several nice rushes to boot, a rather inspired effort given the broken hand. Honorable mention goes to Eric Hostetter for his gritty performance. Had he not been tackled in front Hilton's net (with no-call) he just may have lit the lamp! Can you believe only 1 penalty a side in that contest? Hats off to Hilton for a great battle for 49 minutes and 51 seconds of play. Happy Birthday to Mike Briganti was echoing from the stands. Happy Housewarming goes out to Webby from all the Thunder fans!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
January 23 Game Report
Not unlike the legendary Federal League Championship meeting of the Charlestown Chiefs and the Syracuse Bulldogs from Slap Shot, there was a carnival like atmosphere with a certain air of expectancy in the building Saturday nite at Lakeshore with a capacity crowd on hand for the 10th Annual STORM game. The Greece Arcadia/Olympia Lightning played host to their rival, the Greece Athena/Odyssey Thunder and having come up short in their last ten meetings, Lightning wanted this game in the worst way. Well, they decorated the rink and they got their wish as they emerged a 2-1 winner after a hard fought battle. And so, Thunder's ten-game reign and five-year stranglehold over the coveted STORM trophy has finally come to an end with their STORM record now sitting now at 5-3-2.
Emotions ran the gamut from Lightning seniors shedding tears of joy after beating Thunder for the first time in their HS career to Thunder seniors bent down on one knee all verclempt over the ride coming to a screeching halt. Or perhaps they were disappointed about losing the game they had dedicated to a fellow student who is courageously battling Leukemia. Her name is Mel Simmons and she is a senior at Athena. Coach Webb's perspective is that the reality of saturday night was that it was a hard fought game, the kids played well but came up short. What they succeeded in doing that is far higher of a success than winning the trophy was in the fact that they brought a community together and they showed support for someone that is trying to win an even bigger game called LIFE. Whether the boys realize it or not, when they donned orange on their skates, socks, pads, helmets and sticks, they made Mel, her family and her close friends proud to be a part of it all. Many thunder fans, like Jim Cumming, sported orange in the stands also, as we raised over $200 for Mel's cause through 50/50 sales.
Seems there was more action in the stands during the first period than there was on the ice, what with all the organized cheering and flag waving. Someone from the Lightning camp would run through the stands waving their flag and then the Thunder mascots would follow suit. With only 19 seconds to go in the period, Bobby Drexler lit the lamp for the Lightning, assisted by Tyler Hickey to open the scoring.
Coming off a solid first frame, Steve Hebberect flexed his muscle along the boards early in the second, tossing his check aside to grab the handle and wind up the breakout. Grims logged a nice harry. And then just under 5 minutes in, Vyper took charge warding off the Lightning's forecheck and feathering a backhand pass out to center for Matt Keough who would deliver the mail, beating Opladen low stick side on the breakaway for the equalizer. Cumming picked up an assist on the play which is not something you see everyday! Three and a half later Robbie Cammilleri took a feed from Kenny Curtis, assisted by David Powlowski, and split the D to net the eventual winner for the Lightning.
Mills tried his hand at the harry thing in the third and then Hebs served up the Gordita Crunch of the game upending former Thunder player Sean Bihrle and sending him reeling into the stantion at the end of the glass. Thankfully Bihrle got right up but that hit will most definitely make the greatest hits highlight reel at the end of season banquet. Cheese dropped Lightning's Heintzelman who is a big boy in his right but it was a simple matter of weight ratios that sealed his fate. With 1.07 left in the game Thunder called a timeout returning with the extra attacker in hopes of righting the ship, but it was not meant to be and Thunder's record slid another notch to 6-5-2-1.
Hats off to the Lightning for proving to be a formidable foe, although the perspective from the bench was that at times it seemed like the Lightning fans got a little carried away heckling, booing, and shouting with profanity, whereas the Thunder camp took the high road and conducted themselves in a respectful manner. Kudos to our fans!
Shots were essentially even up at 21-20 to Lightning's favor. First star of the game goes to Lightning's Josh Opladen with 19 saves for the win, although he nearly dropped the STORM trophy after the ceremony in which case I would have deducted style points and gone with Ian Cumming who made 19 saves for the Thunder. Second star goes to speedy Rob Cammilleri with the winner for the Lightning. Third star goes to Steve Hebberect with a complete effort start to finish including a nice pair of hits.
Emotions ran the gamut from Lightning seniors shedding tears of joy after beating Thunder for the first time in their HS career to Thunder seniors bent down on one knee all verclempt over the ride coming to a screeching halt. Or perhaps they were disappointed about losing the game they had dedicated to a fellow student who is courageously battling Leukemia. Her name is Mel Simmons and she is a senior at Athena. Coach Webb's perspective is that the reality of saturday night was that it was a hard fought game, the kids played well but came up short. What they succeeded in doing that is far higher of a success than winning the trophy was in the fact that they brought a community together and they showed support for someone that is trying to win an even bigger game called LIFE. Whether the boys realize it or not, when they donned orange on their skates, socks, pads, helmets and sticks, they made Mel, her family and her close friends proud to be a part of it all. Many thunder fans, like Jim Cumming, sported orange in the stands also, as we raised over $200 for Mel's cause through 50/50 sales.
Seems there was more action in the stands during the first period than there was on the ice, what with all the organized cheering and flag waving. Someone from the Lightning camp would run through the stands waving their flag and then the Thunder mascots would follow suit. With only 19 seconds to go in the period, Bobby Drexler lit the lamp for the Lightning, assisted by Tyler Hickey to open the scoring.
Coming off a solid first frame, Steve Hebberect flexed his muscle along the boards early in the second, tossing his check aside to grab the handle and wind up the breakout. Grims logged a nice harry. And then just under 5 minutes in, Vyper took charge warding off the Lightning's forecheck and feathering a backhand pass out to center for Matt Keough who would deliver the mail, beating Opladen low stick side on the breakaway for the equalizer. Cumming picked up an assist on the play which is not something you see everyday! Three and a half later Robbie Cammilleri took a feed from Kenny Curtis, assisted by David Powlowski, and split the D to net the eventual winner for the Lightning.
Mills tried his hand at the harry thing in the third and then Hebs served up the Gordita Crunch of the game upending former Thunder player Sean Bihrle and sending him reeling into the stantion at the end of the glass. Thankfully Bihrle got right up but that hit will most definitely make the greatest hits highlight reel at the end of season banquet. Cheese dropped Lightning's Heintzelman who is a big boy in his right but it was a simple matter of weight ratios that sealed his fate. With 1.07 left in the game Thunder called a timeout returning with the extra attacker in hopes of righting the ship, but it was not meant to be and Thunder's record slid another notch to 6-5-2-1.
Hats off to the Lightning for proving to be a formidable foe, although the perspective from the bench was that at times it seemed like the Lightning fans got a little carried away heckling, booing, and shouting with profanity, whereas the Thunder camp took the high road and conducted themselves in a respectful manner. Kudos to our fans!
Shots were essentially even up at 21-20 to Lightning's favor. First star of the game goes to Lightning's Josh Opladen with 19 saves for the win, although he nearly dropped the STORM trophy after the ceremony in which case I would have deducted style points and gone with Ian Cumming who made 19 saves for the Thunder. Second star goes to speedy Rob Cammilleri with the winner for the Lightning. Third star goes to Steve Hebberect with a complete effort start to finish including a nice pair of hits.
January 21 Game Report
Thunder dropped their first game of the new year on the road to Webster, where life is supposedly worth living, losing 4-2 to the Warriors with a rather uninspired effort at Boulter Palace. One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in. So much for building towards the weekend. Winning takes focus and it appeared as if the boys' focus was elsewhere. Other than seeing freshman John Clark have his break-out game for Thunder, it was pretty much all Shroeder as they outshot Thunder 9-7, 7-5, 7-6, for a 3-period total of 23-18.
Justin Simonelli rang the bell first, assisted by the Tonight Show with Curran O'Brien, 5 minutes in. Webster hollered back a minute later when Eric Benson redirected a John Murray point shot past ASim for the goal, assisted by Warrior captain Bradford Viola. Two minutes more saw Webster take the lead on the powerplay when freshman Nathan Schuler batted in a loose puck just outside the paint, assisted by Jeff Diluglio and Ian Jacques, 2-1 Webster. Fast forward to the end of the first frame and Thunder was going on the powerplay themselves with 22.9 on the clock. Vypes and Hebs played 4-corners (well actually two) on the perimeter to run the clock down, lulling the Warriors to sleep, before hooking it to Simmy on the wing for the shot and then Cheese banged home the rebound to knot it at 2's with 10.4 ticks left.
Keough ripped a slapper that hit Montesano "in the faaace" to open the second period, but Ian Jaques brought it back the other way for Webster heading down the right side and beating ASim for the go ahead goal unassisted a buck thirty seven in. Deluglio added the insurance goal with 3.34 to go in the game with a wrister from the blueline that went bar down, assisted by Conrad Ziemendorf and Kevin Rhodes.
First star of the game goes to Webster's Ian Jaques with a goal and assist including the winner. Second star goes to Webster's Jeff Diluglio with one and one for 2 pts. Third star goes to Justin Simonelli with 1+1=2 as well. Thunder's record slips to 6-4-2-1 with this unsightly blemish.
Justin Simonelli rang the bell first, assisted by the Tonight Show with Curran O'Brien, 5 minutes in. Webster hollered back a minute later when Eric Benson redirected a John Murray point shot past ASim for the goal, assisted by Warrior captain Bradford Viola. Two minutes more saw Webster take the lead on the powerplay when freshman Nathan Schuler batted in a loose puck just outside the paint, assisted by Jeff Diluglio and Ian Jacques, 2-1 Webster. Fast forward to the end of the first frame and Thunder was going on the powerplay themselves with 22.9 on the clock. Vypes and Hebs played 4-corners (well actually two) on the perimeter to run the clock down, lulling the Warriors to sleep, before hooking it to Simmy on the wing for the shot and then Cheese banged home the rebound to knot it at 2's with 10.4 ticks left.
Keough ripped a slapper that hit Montesano "in the faaace" to open the second period, but Ian Jaques brought it back the other way for Webster heading down the right side and beating ASim for the go ahead goal unassisted a buck thirty seven in. Deluglio added the insurance goal with 3.34 to go in the game with a wrister from the blueline that went bar down, assisted by Conrad Ziemendorf and Kevin Rhodes.
First star of the game goes to Webster's Ian Jaques with a goal and assist including the winner. Second star goes to Webster's Jeff Diluglio with one and one for 2 pts. Third star goes to Justin Simonelli with 1+1=2 as well. Thunder's record slips to 6-4-2-1 with this unsightly blemish.
January 19 Game Report
Greece beat Spencerport 2-1 Tuesday nite at Lakeshore to avenge an earlier loss and even the subway series. Amanda Sherry belted out the anthem honors as Thunder, hosting in their home whites, stared down the Rangers on the opposing blue line, visiting in their road blues. Taco Bell Gordita Crunch of the game came early on when Dan Vyverberg took Derek Schmidt to the wall and rattled the glass in front of the Thunder faithful, forcing a stoppage of play as his check's bucket came off. Shortly thereafter Vyper joined forces with Matt Keough to put the Malachi Crunch on Depetres. Mattle had a couple of quality scoring chances, AC hit a pipe, and Grims logged a harry as Thunder outshot the Rangers 5-3 in the opening frame.
Despite Cumming playing well between the pipes for Greece, Spencerport managed to eke out a PPG midway through the second, when Matt Corey put away the rebound from Mike Leone's screen shot, assisted by Donnie Daka. Two and a half later Thunder drew a 2-man advantage and would convert on both ends. Just nine seconds into Thunder's powerplay, Vyperdasniper walked it in from the point uncontested and beat former teammate Jimmy Allen clean, low glove side, to tie the game, assisted by Steve Hebberect and Justin Simonelli. They say it's important to strike while the iron is hot (or in this case while the rubber is cold) and Simmy did just that as he curled, coiled and unloaded a wrister on net for the go-ahead goal and eventual winner, assisted by Brandon Cheeseman. Thunder went to the box with a minute to go in the second but fear not as Eric Hots was on the job logging a pair of harrys to get us out of the inning. Shots were 13-9 in Ranger favor but Thunder still won the period.
Just as Thunder killed the 25 seconds that carried over from the Rangers powerplay before the break, they went back to the box again and the ensuing kill featured the short-handed stylings of Jared Tam-Grimshaw and Eric Hostetter who took turns clearing the zone. At one point Jared found himself serving in a forward area, cruising through neutral and going in 1 on 4 against the Rangers -- good looks! This sequence prompted a "Yeah-ThunDerrrrr" from Laura B. Phil Amo, Jared Tam-Grimshaw, and John Clark all made solid contributions on the back-end down the stretch. Then, as Spencerport exercised their time-out option with 1.38 to go in the game, Bruce took advantage of the break in action to advertise his fresh homemade chili and 25 cent jumbo wings over the com. Rangers got the extra attacker out but it was to no avail as Hebs pasted his check on the far boards and Thunder held on til the buzzer.
Thunder's record advances to 6-3-2-1 with this well-earned 2-1 come from behind win, where they slightly edged the Rangers 22-20 in shots. Cumming stopped 19 of the 20 he faced, while Allen made 20 saves. First star of the game goes to Justin Simonelli with the winner plus an assist for 2pts. Second star goes to Dan Vyverberg with a goal, two hits, and several harrys. Third star of the game goes to Ian Cumming with 19 saves for his 5th win of the season.
Despite Cumming playing well between the pipes for Greece, Spencerport managed to eke out a PPG midway through the second, when Matt Corey put away the rebound from Mike Leone's screen shot, assisted by Donnie Daka. Two and a half later Thunder drew a 2-man advantage and would convert on both ends. Just nine seconds into Thunder's powerplay, Vyperdasniper walked it in from the point uncontested and beat former teammate Jimmy Allen clean, low glove side, to tie the game, assisted by Steve Hebberect and Justin Simonelli. They say it's important to strike while the iron is hot (or in this case while the rubber is cold) and Simmy did just that as he curled, coiled and unloaded a wrister on net for the go-ahead goal and eventual winner, assisted by Brandon Cheeseman. Thunder went to the box with a minute to go in the second but fear not as Eric Hots was on the job logging a pair of harrys to get us out of the inning. Shots were 13-9 in Ranger favor but Thunder still won the period.
Just as Thunder killed the 25 seconds that carried over from the Rangers powerplay before the break, they went back to the box again and the ensuing kill featured the short-handed stylings of Jared Tam-Grimshaw and Eric Hostetter who took turns clearing the zone. At one point Jared found himself serving in a forward area, cruising through neutral and going in 1 on 4 against the Rangers -- good looks! This sequence prompted a "Yeah-ThunDerrrrr" from Laura B. Phil Amo, Jared Tam-Grimshaw, and John Clark all made solid contributions on the back-end down the stretch. Then, as Spencerport exercised their time-out option with 1.38 to go in the game, Bruce took advantage of the break in action to advertise his fresh homemade chili and 25 cent jumbo wings over the com. Rangers got the extra attacker out but it was to no avail as Hebs pasted his check on the far boards and Thunder held on til the buzzer.
Thunder's record advances to 6-3-2-1 with this well-earned 2-1 come from behind win, where they slightly edged the Rangers 22-20 in shots. Cumming stopped 19 of the 20 he faced, while Allen made 20 saves. First star of the game goes to Justin Simonelli with the winner plus an assist for 2pts. Second star goes to Dan Vyverberg with a goal, two hits, and several harrys. Third star of the game goes to Ian Cumming with 19 saves for his 5th win of the season.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
January 16 Game Report
Thunder came out of the tunnel saturday wearing purple (in a show of support for the Vikings) for an afternoon matinee with AQ who was hosting in white. First period was mired with penalties and lacked any possible sense of flow as it went from 5v4 to 4v4 to 4v3 to 5v3 to 4v3 to 4v4 to 4v5 to 3v5 to 4v5 before returning to even strength. Mike Briganti was assessed a minor CFB (looked like a rough at worst to me) midway through all that madness and missed the back half of the first frame where the focus seemed to be more on the officials than the game. On one of the many shorthanded situations Hebs made a nice block to thwart an attempted pass across the crease to the back door. Shots were 7-5 to the good for Thunder.
Second stanza saw more of the same PIM madness, but Thunder managed to take advantage of a 2-man advantage early when Chess-man drilled Dohr in the shoulder with a blast from the high slot, after receiving a finely threaded pass through traffic from Justin Simonelli on the grassy knoll, and as Dohr's shoulder went back and to the left, the magic biscuit found its way through for the goal. Thunder could not convert on the remaining 5 on 4. Instead, AQ would rally just after play returned to even strength when Jake Vogl went long taking a feed from Nick Montinarelli to get behind the Thunder D and ended up beating Cumming 1 on 0 to tie things up. Six minutes of give and take later, Vogl bagged his second, assisted by Bernie Gauthier and Nico Gonzalez, to convert a 4v3 AQ advantage and take the lead, despite several nice saves by Cumming during the kill. Cheese got the baton from Ganti, taking his turn in loserville for another marginal CFB. Conan O'Brien filled the void nicely while Cheese and Ganti were incarcerated. Other notable moments sprinkled throughout the period include a new maneuver that can only be described as a sliding backside block for Sherry, a pair of textbook harrys for Grims and Vypes, and several nice pinches by Hebberect to keep Thunder on the attack. Oh, and how about the diving cover-up by Ian on the back door to stymie what appeared to be the old "SIR play" where you intentionally shoot the puck off the back wall hoping it will kick out front for a tap in. Shots were 9 a side, and it was 2-1 AQ going to the cut.
Thunder kept the pressure on throughout the third but were repeatedly denied until late in the period when Matt Keough would cash in a gritty rebound, assisted by Cheese and Sherry, to force overtime. Shots were 12-8 for a 3-period total of 28-22 Thunder. Greece owned the extra frame with seven shots to nada for AQ, but the game ended quietly, a 2-2 tie. Not a bad road point to keep the Thunder undefeated in 2010 as their record advances to 5-3-2-1. First star goes to AQ's Jake Vogl with a pair of goals. Second star goes to Brandon Chess-man with a goal and assist. Third star goes to Matt Keough with his first varsity goal, the GTG that forced OT. Both goalies played well with Cumming saving 20 of 22 for Thunder and Dohr stopping 33 of 35 for AQ.
Second stanza saw more of the same PIM madness, but Thunder managed to take advantage of a 2-man advantage early when Chess-man drilled Dohr in the shoulder with a blast from the high slot, after receiving a finely threaded pass through traffic from Justin Simonelli on the grassy knoll, and as Dohr's shoulder went back and to the left, the magic biscuit found its way through for the goal. Thunder could not convert on the remaining 5 on 4. Instead, AQ would rally just after play returned to even strength when Jake Vogl went long taking a feed from Nick Montinarelli to get behind the Thunder D and ended up beating Cumming 1 on 0 to tie things up. Six minutes of give and take later, Vogl bagged his second, assisted by Bernie Gauthier and Nico Gonzalez, to convert a 4v3 AQ advantage and take the lead, despite several nice saves by Cumming during the kill. Cheese got the baton from Ganti, taking his turn in loserville for another marginal CFB. Conan O'Brien filled the void nicely while Cheese and Ganti were incarcerated. Other notable moments sprinkled throughout the period include a new maneuver that can only be described as a sliding backside block for Sherry, a pair of textbook harrys for Grims and Vypes, and several nice pinches by Hebberect to keep Thunder on the attack. Oh, and how about the diving cover-up by Ian on the back door to stymie what appeared to be the old "SIR play" where you intentionally shoot the puck off the back wall hoping it will kick out front for a tap in. Shots were 9 a side, and it was 2-1 AQ going to the cut.
Thunder kept the pressure on throughout the third but were repeatedly denied until late in the period when Matt Keough would cash in a gritty rebound, assisted by Cheese and Sherry, to force overtime. Shots were 12-8 for a 3-period total of 28-22 Thunder. Greece owned the extra frame with seven shots to nada for AQ, but the game ended quietly, a 2-2 tie. Not a bad road point to keep the Thunder undefeated in 2010 as their record advances to 5-3-2-1. First star goes to AQ's Jake Vogl with a pair of goals. Second star goes to Brandon Chess-man with a goal and assist. Third star goes to Matt Keough with his first varsity goal, the GTG that forced OT. Both goalies played well with Cumming saving 20 of 22 for Thunder and Dohr stopping 33 of 35 for AQ.
January 12 Game Report
Amanda Sherry was back at the mic to delight on tuesday nite with an anthem that left me wondering how she might sound in a duet with Barry White, but I digress. Thunder delivered a 4-1 rain dance to the IHS team formerly known as the Indians to advance the defending state champ's record to 5-3-1-1. First frame was scoreless with shots even at 5 apiece as Ganti and Cheese took turns blocking shots out to neutral and going on a rush. AC went upstairs, with his soon to be patented short side roofer, to break the seal 3 minutes into the second period. It was recorded as unassisted but I gotta give props to Tyler Mattle who bodied the Eagles puck carrier, riding him like seabiscuit around the back of the net to force the turnover for AC. Jared Tam-Grimshaw flanked Vyper for a big shift with some gritty work along the wall. Then came the Timex "takes a lickin but keeps on tickin" of the game midway through the period when Tyler Mattle got rocked @ center ice with a shot to the head from Eagles captain David York. Before I could get my cell out and dial 911, Mattle was back on his feet and back in the play putting a rebound on net and finishing his shift without missing a beat. This kid eats nails and shards of glass for breakfast. Then with 5 and a half to go in the second, Andrew Cordes netted the equalizer for IHS, assisted by Nick Papas and David York. Mills had a nice block and Grims stepped up to clear the zone but got called for head contact. Speaking of stepping up and head contact, Vypes logged a couple of Harry's on a kill before the break, taking one to the cage (in the faaaaace!) which bent the iron. Shots were 18-12 in IHS favor thru two periods as we went to the break knotted at 1's and one could only imagine what what the speech was going to be like in locker room eight.
Perhaps someone stood up and said "Are you ready to let the dogs out? You know, whoo, whoo-whoo, whoo-whoo. Who let the dogs out?" Well, of course, Thunder was ready, as they emerged from the break and notched 3 unanswered goals. Third line got the start and drew the foul less than a minute in (something they have been doing all season long). Hebberect beat Guida glove side for his first tally of the season, a minute into the man advantage, assisted by Cheese and Simmy. With the go-ahead goal in the bank everyone was laying it on the line to keep it that way. Grimmy blocked a pair and then stepped up on the half wall to keep the Eagles from landing. Hostetter and Briganti were buzzing around pestering IHS with a relentless forecheck. Eagles called a time-out with 2 to go and returned with the extra attacker. Ganti and Hots teamed up to clear the zone, springing McNeil for the empty netter and deal-sealer that made it 3-1 Thunder. Warm up the bus but don't leave just yet, as there would be one more clap of Thunder to salt the wound. Thunder's fourth and final tally was a buzzer-beater by Cheese, assisted by Sherry and Keough, and made possible by Miller, who stepped up at the Eagles blue line to keep the zone with the Gordita Crunch of the game.
First star goes to Steve Hebberect with the winner plus a solid effort in all 3 zones. Second star goes to Brandon Chess-man with a goal and assist for 2pts. Third star goes to Andrew Simonelli who logged 21 saves for his first varsity win between the pipes. All tolled there were 9 different point getters and beaucoup defensive plays to bolster that distribution. Coach Webb commented on the superb display of sacrifice with several players starting to follow in Vyper's footsteps blocking shots. Said Webb, "when players learn from one other, it makes coaching a lot easier". For the past few years Vyper has been a 1-man "Harry" wolf pack blocking shots with everything but the kitchen sink, and then earlier this year his blood-brother Snake starting blocking shots and Vyper's wolf pack grew by 1. At first it was Vyper alone in the wolf pack and then with Snake there were two. Then along came Ganti and Grimmy blocking their share of slovakia and Vyper knew they would also join his harry wolf pack. The 4 of them roaming the rinks in Rochester looking for shots to block with a few screws loose. Who else will say "not up in here" to point blank shooters and join the pack before the season is out? Will it be Cheese or Sherry or Hebs or Mills or someone else?
Perhaps someone stood up and said "Are you ready to let the dogs out? You know, whoo, whoo-whoo, whoo-whoo. Who let the dogs out?" Well, of course, Thunder was ready, as they emerged from the break and notched 3 unanswered goals. Third line got the start and drew the foul less than a minute in (something they have been doing all season long). Hebberect beat Guida glove side for his first tally of the season, a minute into the man advantage, assisted by Cheese and Simmy. With the go-ahead goal in the bank everyone was laying it on the line to keep it that way. Grimmy blocked a pair and then stepped up on the half wall to keep the Eagles from landing. Hostetter and Briganti were buzzing around pestering IHS with a relentless forecheck. Eagles called a time-out with 2 to go and returned with the extra attacker. Ganti and Hots teamed up to clear the zone, springing McNeil for the empty netter and deal-sealer that made it 3-1 Thunder. Warm up the bus but don't leave just yet, as there would be one more clap of Thunder to salt the wound. Thunder's fourth and final tally was a buzzer-beater by Cheese, assisted by Sherry and Keough, and made possible by Miller, who stepped up at the Eagles blue line to keep the zone with the Gordita Crunch of the game.
First star goes to Steve Hebberect with the winner plus a solid effort in all 3 zones. Second star goes to Brandon Chess-man with a goal and assist for 2pts. Third star goes to Andrew Simonelli who logged 21 saves for his first varsity win between the pipes. All tolled there were 9 different point getters and beaucoup defensive plays to bolster that distribution. Coach Webb commented on the superb display of sacrifice with several players starting to follow in Vyper's footsteps blocking shots. Said Webb, "when players learn from one other, it makes coaching a lot easier". For the past few years Vyper has been a 1-man "Harry" wolf pack blocking shots with everything but the kitchen sink, and then earlier this year his blood-brother Snake starting blocking shots and Vyper's wolf pack grew by 1. At first it was Vyper alone in the wolf pack and then with Snake there were two. Then along came Ganti and Grimmy blocking their share of slovakia and Vyper knew they would also join his harry wolf pack. The 4 of them roaming the rinks in Rochester looking for shots to block with a few screws loose. Who else will say "not up in here" to point blank shooters and join the pack before the season is out? Will it be Cheese or Sherry or Hebs or Mills or someone else?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
January 9 Game Report
Saturday, Jan 9th Game Report
Most hockey people consider the Scottsville Ice Area to be the coldest rink in town, but having ref'd a few games this weekend on Rink 2 @ ESL, I beg to differ. Besides, at Scottsville they roll out the red carpet for the fans with their "take a blanket / leave a blanket" box at the end of the bleachers. The Churchville Chili Saints followed suit rolling out the red carpet for the Thunder on the ice as they kicked a Brandon Cheeseman centering pass into their own net 3 minutes into the game, en route to a 4-1 loss. Three and half later Phil Amo cranked a shot on net from the blueline that settled in the paint behind Niewiemski and Justin Simonelli was on the scene for the tap in and eventual winner. Steve Hebberect logged the secondhand assist. Fast forward to the end of the first frame and Thunder would net their third marker, on the PP, as Amo hooked it to Simmy who worked it down low for McNeil and McNeil tucked it in short side, with just 14.9 seconds to go. Not much resistance by the Saints as shots were 14-4 in Thunders favor.
Second period was sort of uninteresting as Thunder started playing to their opponents pace. Nonetheless, Thunder went to the break with another powerplay conversion that featured some great puck movement from Simmy to McNeil over to AC on the back door for the finish, 4-0 Thunder. Shots were even up at 6-7.
Churchville emerged from the break somewhat inspired as they broke the schneid with ten minutes to go in the game on a goal by Clar from Bertolani. Saints kept the pressure on for a spell as they enjoyed a 2-man advantage, but Vypes-Hebs-Hots kept them at bay with Ganti coming in for relief on the 5 v 3 kill. Dylan Soeffing made his second appearance of the season driving the #8 car. Shots were 10-7 in the third for a 3-period total of 30-18, as Thunder advanced their record to 4-3-1-1 with a 4-1 win over the Saints.
First star goes to Justin Simonelli with a goal and 2 assists for 3-points. Second star goes to Phil Amo with a pair of assists. Third star goes to Ian Cumming who played well in the nets turning away 17 of the 18 he faced for his 4th win on the year. Gordita Crunch goes to AC for nearly snapping his twig on the gate while attempting to exit the ice after the game. Getting to Scottsville in time for third period, after flying north from FLA (yes his arms are tired again) en route to the Sabres/Avs game in Buffalo, Coach Weilert played The Cooler, shutting down Thunder's two period hot streak. He then pressed on to HSBC with Geller and reportedly had his Avs rally cap on during the 11 round shootout to jinx the Sabres. And guess who was on hand for our 3 losses over the holiday. What does all this mean? Well, let's just say if you are ever on an 80k heater at the Bellagio, you might want to walk away from the table when Weilert walks in.
Most hockey people consider the Scottsville Ice Area to be the coldest rink in town, but having ref'd a few games this weekend on Rink 2 @ ESL, I beg to differ. Besides, at Scottsville they roll out the red carpet for the fans with their "take a blanket / leave a blanket" box at the end of the bleachers. The Churchville Chili Saints followed suit rolling out the red carpet for the Thunder on the ice as they kicked a Brandon Cheeseman centering pass into their own net 3 minutes into the game, en route to a 4-1 loss. Three and half later Phil Amo cranked a shot on net from the blueline that settled in the paint behind Niewiemski and Justin Simonelli was on the scene for the tap in and eventual winner. Steve Hebberect logged the secondhand assist. Fast forward to the end of the first frame and Thunder would net their third marker, on the PP, as Amo hooked it to Simmy who worked it down low for McNeil and McNeil tucked it in short side, with just 14.9 seconds to go. Not much resistance by the Saints as shots were 14-4 in Thunders favor.
Second period was sort of uninteresting as Thunder started playing to their opponents pace. Nonetheless, Thunder went to the break with another powerplay conversion that featured some great puck movement from Simmy to McNeil over to AC on the back door for the finish, 4-0 Thunder. Shots were even up at 6-7.
Churchville emerged from the break somewhat inspired as they broke the schneid with ten minutes to go in the game on a goal by Clar from Bertolani. Saints kept the pressure on for a spell as they enjoyed a 2-man advantage, but Vypes-Hebs-Hots kept them at bay with Ganti coming in for relief on the 5 v 3 kill. Dylan Soeffing made his second appearance of the season driving the #8 car. Shots were 10-7 in the third for a 3-period total of 30-18, as Thunder advanced their record to 4-3-1-1 with a 4-1 win over the Saints.
First star goes to Justin Simonelli with a goal and 2 assists for 3-points. Second star goes to Phil Amo with a pair of assists. Third star goes to Ian Cumming who played well in the nets turning away 17 of the 18 he faced for his 4th win on the year. Gordita Crunch goes to AC for nearly snapping his twig on the gate while attempting to exit the ice after the game. Getting to Scottsville in time for third period, after flying north from FLA (yes his arms are tired again) en route to the Sabres/Avs game in Buffalo, Coach Weilert played The Cooler, shutting down Thunder's two period hot streak. He then pressed on to HSBC with Geller and reportedly had his Avs rally cap on during the 11 round shootout to jinx the Sabres. And guess who was on hand for our 3 losses over the holiday. What does all this mean? Well, let's just say if you are ever on an 80k heater at the Bellagio, you might want to walk away from the table when Weilert walks in.
Friday, January 8, 2010
January 5 Game Report
Mini-Mahoney made his mascotorial debut and Katie Edinger nailed the anthem like a split hog as the Greece Thunder Hockey Team opened a can of whoop axe, sending the Hilton Cadets marching home, straight to the 14468, tuesday nite late, with a 6-2 decision. First up to bat was Andrew Sherry, converting on a solid forecheck assisted by Matt Keough and Brandon Cheeseman, four and a half minutes in. Mills got the crowd going with a hard hit along the boards below the Thunder goal line. Then along came the Country Sweet Pass of the Game as Justin Simonelli threaded the needle with a long-lead pass to AC at the far blue line and AC wasted no time winding up a slapper from just inside the blueline that salied past Hurlimann for his first varsity goal. Phil Amo picked up the secondhand assist for his first varsity point. Half a minute later Sherry was back for more, deflecting a blast from the point by Mike Miller into the back of the net for his second goal on the night. Cheese picked up his second helper to boot. Mike Briganti added another notch to his shot blocking belt that would clear the zone and set him off on a tear, but the play eventually came back Thunder's way and Hilton managed to get on the board with a shot that was deflected by Cumming with 52 seconds to go. Goal was credited to Joe Palumbo, assisted by Cory Gurski and Joe DiSano. Shots were 11-6 in Thunders favor as they enjoyed a 3-1 lead going into the second.
Two minutes into the second Cheese got his as he tipped a turnaround Keough shot from the high slot in for Thunder's fourth marker. With snake on the DL nursing a broken digit after blocking an AC blast in practice, Phil Amo stepped in and executed well putting some rubber on net. Alone stands the Cheese with yet another TBGC as he effortlessly launched a cadet into the boards on the half wall. Said John O'Brien, "that guy didn't know what hit him". Curran O'Brien posted up at neutral tapping his stick and calling for the puck and Hilton fell for it as they put the puck right on his tape with their breakout, so Curran took it in and put it on net. As the period waned, Thunder found themselves stuck in their own end with back to back penalties. Vypes and Ganti logged a few harry's on the first kill, but Hilton would capitalize on the second one as Joe DiSano scored assisted by Corey Sherman with a buck thirty til the break. Shots were 15-9 in Thunders favor as they enjoyed a 4-2 lead going into the third.
This side of intermission Thunder had a minute fourteen advantage that carried over from a late Hilton penalty before the break, but Thunder could not capitalize. No worries, as Sherry would get the hat at even strength just under 3 minutes in, assisted by his linemates, Cheese and Keough, to make it 5-2 Thunder. AC book ended the period with four eleven to go for his second goal of the evening by finishing off a Tyler Mattle rebound that kicked out after a sick move by J-Sim driving down the left side, letting the puck slide, ducking around the D to regain the handle and finally putting it on net. Fourth line finished the game and shut it down.
Wish I had stars to give out across the board because everyone played great. Charlie Webb said it was their best game of the season. I would agree. Defensively Thunder played well from the net out, with Ian Cumming making 20 saves for his third win on the season. But the marquee message is that the offensive floodgates were finally open with 33 shots, 6 goals, 11 assists, and 8 different point getters. First star goes to Andrew Sherry with his first ever hat-trick and the game winner. Second star goes out to Brandon Cheeseman with a goal and 3 assists for 4-points. Third star goes to Matt Keough with 3 assists for the playmaker. Honorable mention to both Anthony Crawford (2G) and Justin Simonelli (2A) who hooked up nice twice. Thunder rolls to 3-3-1-1 with a convincing 6-2 win over the Cadets.
Next on tap is a roadie to Scottsville for Thunder's first meeting with the Saints set for 3pm on Saturday, January 9th. Be there or beware the ides of January.
Two minutes into the second Cheese got his as he tipped a turnaround Keough shot from the high slot in for Thunder's fourth marker. With snake on the DL nursing a broken digit after blocking an AC blast in practice, Phil Amo stepped in and executed well putting some rubber on net. Alone stands the Cheese with yet another TBGC as he effortlessly launched a cadet into the boards on the half wall. Said John O'Brien, "that guy didn't know what hit him". Curran O'Brien posted up at neutral tapping his stick and calling for the puck and Hilton fell for it as they put the puck right on his tape with their breakout, so Curran took it in and put it on net. As the period waned, Thunder found themselves stuck in their own end with back to back penalties. Vypes and Ganti logged a few harry's on the first kill, but Hilton would capitalize on the second one as Joe DiSano scored assisted by Corey Sherman with a buck thirty til the break. Shots were 15-9 in Thunders favor as they enjoyed a 4-2 lead going into the third.
This side of intermission Thunder had a minute fourteen advantage that carried over from a late Hilton penalty before the break, but Thunder could not capitalize. No worries, as Sherry would get the hat at even strength just under 3 minutes in, assisted by his linemates, Cheese and Keough, to make it 5-2 Thunder. AC book ended the period with four eleven to go for his second goal of the evening by finishing off a Tyler Mattle rebound that kicked out after a sick move by J-Sim driving down the left side, letting the puck slide, ducking around the D to regain the handle and finally putting it on net. Fourth line finished the game and shut it down.
Wish I had stars to give out across the board because everyone played great. Charlie Webb said it was their best game of the season. I would agree. Defensively Thunder played well from the net out, with Ian Cumming making 20 saves for his third win on the season. But the marquee message is that the offensive floodgates were finally open with 33 shots, 6 goals, 11 assists, and 8 different point getters. First star goes to Andrew Sherry with his first ever hat-trick and the game winner. Second star goes out to Brandon Cheeseman with a goal and 3 assists for 4-points. Third star goes to Matt Keough with 3 assists for the playmaker. Honorable mention to both Anthony Crawford (2G) and Justin Simonelli (2A) who hooked up nice twice. Thunder rolls to 3-3-1-1 with a convincing 6-2 win over the Cadets.
Next on tap is a roadie to Scottsville for Thunder's first meeting with the Saints set for 3pm on Saturday, January 9th. Be there or beware the ides of January.
December 30 Game Report
For those of us who braved the weather and made the pilgrimage to Lakeshore Hockey Arena on a wintry wednesday, the 30th of December, I'm sure you would all agree it was worth your while as we took a step back in time to reflect on the outstanding achievements of the 2008-2009 Greece Athena/Odyssey Thunder Hockey Team and put a final bow (barring any pending book deals or made for TV movies) on an amazing season by raising the state championship banner to the rafters in the rink we call home. For those of you who could not be in the house, the film compilation that aired at the banner raising ceremony, brought to you by Dr. Trey productions (with photo/video credits to Tom Mattle, Jay Shelofsky, and SE Video) is now available on You Tube. Go check it out, it will take you back to titanic and you'll have chills running up and down your spine, guaranteed.
Please join me in giving a big shout out to the following Thunder peops who made the banner ceremony possible:
Scott Soeffing (banner production)
Charlene McNeil (design and direction)
Dan Miller (screen launching and emcee duties)
Trey Layton (mission coordination and leadership on all things to do with Audio visual and movie production)
And a special thanks Paula & Mark at Lakeshore, for allowing us to hoist the screen and for assisting with the lift.
And a big welcome home to the following State Championship Team Alumni: Eric Gunderson, Pat Sofia, Greg Ryan, Ben McCubbin, Jordan Grills, Parker Bonis, Scotty Tam-Grimshaw, Riley Bourbonnais, Jeffrey Stenglein (Matt Lane and Mike Rotolo in absentia)
And last but not least, let's hear it for the new mascot who stole the show, Mike Briganti's little cousin Emily (sorry Stevie and Trevor) !!!
* * *
Oh yea, and after all the hoopla and ice cut, Katie Edinger took a turn at the mic with an efficient anthem to get the show on the ice. With the league leading Gates Chili Spartans in the house, we knew we were in for a game and perhaps extra innings! Three and a half minutes in Pat Egan rallied for the Spartans on the powerplay and then a couple of minutes later Steve Castner tallied at even strength with both goals assisted by Ryan Fitzgerald. Despite giving up 2 goals, Greece was still in the game as they outshot Gates 14-9 in the first frame.
But only 28 tics into the second period, Brandon Morgan would score to widen the Spartans lead to 3-zip, leaving Thunder fans a bit dejected. Fear not my fair weather fans as we fast forward four minutes to the tail end of a Thunder kill which saw Mike McNeil busting down the right side saying enough is enough, megging a nameless/faceless spartans' defenseman and deking Matt Ryan to put Thunder on the board with a shorty and restore hope in Thunderville. Just three minutes later Brandon Cheeseman followed suit, beating Ryan glove side and raising the roof with a shorty of his own to draw within near at 3-2. Mike Briganti logged the lone assist on Cheese's roofer and then came back a minute later to bury the equalizer on the backdoor as he gathered a centering pass by McNeil that hopped over Hostetter's stick. In the wake of all this excitement, freshman Jonathan Clark found himself in a precarious position, as Vyper blew out a tire at center ice, and Gates' leading scorer was bearing down on him 1 on 1. Clark passed the test with flying colors as he stood Egan up and forced the play wide buying time for his partner's recovery.
Back from the break it was game on with several nice defensive plays on display from Cumming with the melon save to Sherry with a nice block at the point to Vyper shutting down a 3 on 1 jail break and then later coming out of nowhere with a diving superman harry from behind the net. Solid team defense down the stretch meant we were goooooooooooooing to OT. With 2 minutes to go in the extra period, Gates took a time-out as Thunder went to the box on a marginal cross-checking call (for OT anyway). Thunder gutted it out and emerged from the kill unscathed with 34 seconds remaining, but as they say, it's not over until it's over, and with only 2 seconds left in the 5 minute sudden death overtime period, Pat Egan won the game for Gates as he slipped into the slot uncontested, caught a pass from the corner and hooked it around Cumming's right pad for the winner. Ouch, that hurt.
Thunder continues their slide with this heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss, although interestingly on pointstreak they listed Thunder's record as 2-3-0-1. Seems you get a point in the standings for an OTL.... a little something for the effort, which is Niiiiiiice!
Shots were 35-32 in Gates' favor with Ian Cumming making 31 saves for Greece and Matt Ryan stopping 29 for Gates. No gordita crunch to give out as it was not a very physical contest, but we do have a few stars. First one goes to Pat Egan for 2G/1A with the winner in OT for Gates. Second star goes to Ryan Fitzgerald who assisted on 3 of the 4 Gates goals earning himself a playmaker. Third star goes to Mike Briganti with a goal and assist including the tying goal that forced OT plus a nice sliding stack the shins block in the first period.
BTW, compliments of Chris Lerch, we now have a Wes Report blogspot and I'm not really sure what the h.e. double hockey sticks that is, but apparently you can read archived "Wes Reports" all the way back to beginning of last season and post comments. Time for this author to duck and cover, I guess.
Monday, January 4, 2010
1/2 Game Report
Saturday, Jan 2nd Game Report
Thunder skated to a 1-1 tie with Williamsville East before a sparse crowd at Lakeshore on Saturday afternoon. SThunder forward Keenan Mahoney saw his first varsity shift nine minutes in, but unfortunately he got 9 minutes in the box for a check from behind. Save a clock failure and a few brilliant saves by A-Sim, the first frame was relatively uneventful, as Greece spotted Willie a 10-7 shot margin.
Thunder drew first blood early in the second stanza, when Andrew Sherry crashed the net and banged home the rebound that kicked out from a shot by Matt Keough, assisted by Dan Vyverberg. Phil Amo, Jonathan Clark and Jared Tam-Grimshaw each got a taste on the blueline while sophomore forward Curran O'Brien laid on the heavy forecheck to generate a couple of quality scoring chances. Tyler Grimshaw went deep on a shorthanded rush, sliding one across the paint and nearly connecting with Cheese as well. These setups were among many that came close to fruition throughout the balance of the second period.
Going into the third, Thunder showed some desperation with Mike Briganti stacking the shins to block a shot at the point and Mike McNeil adding a block of his own. Nice to see some new pledges rushing the Harry Shaw Society. Stripes missed a goal on each end so no harm no foul there, but Willie got the equalizer 3 minutes into the third with a screen shot from the high slot. Cheese responded with the TB Gordita Crunch of the game when he steamrolled his check along the far boards. Despite going on the powerplay for the final buck ten of regulation and carrying a 20 second advantage into the extra period, Thunder could not manage to git-R-Dun. They did, however, hold on for the tie to snap a 3-game slide, and remain undefeated in the new year, as their record advances to 2-4-1.
First star of the game goes to Andrew Simonelli with 26 saves and a strong stick, second star goes to Willie's Tyler Mikulee with 25 saves, third star goes to stalwart senior defenseman Steve Hebberect, who had an outstanding game, playing physical on the backend, stepping up in the neutral zone, and getting involved offensively as well... says Geller, "Hebs is back in State Championship form!"
Thunder will host Hilton for a nitecap, 7:30pm @ Lakeshore on Tuesday 5-Jan. Be there as things heat up or be left out in the cold wondering what's up!
Thunder skated to a 1-1 tie with Williamsville East before a sparse crowd at Lakeshore on Saturday afternoon. SThunder forward Keenan Mahoney saw his first varsity shift nine minutes in, but unfortunately he got 9 minutes in the box for a check from behind. Save a clock failure and a few brilliant saves by A-Sim, the first frame was relatively uneventful, as Greece spotted Willie a 10-7 shot margin.
Thunder drew first blood early in the second stanza, when Andrew Sherry crashed the net and banged home the rebound that kicked out from a shot by Matt Keough, assisted by Dan Vyverberg. Phil Amo, Jonathan Clark and Jared Tam-Grimshaw each got a taste on the blueline while sophomore forward Curran O'Brien laid on the heavy forecheck to generate a couple of quality scoring chances. Tyler Grimshaw went deep on a shorthanded rush, sliding one across the paint and nearly connecting with Cheese as well. These setups were among many that came close to fruition throughout the balance of the second period.
Going into the third, Thunder showed some desperation with Mike Briganti stacking the shins to block a shot at the point and Mike McNeil adding a block of his own. Nice to see some new pledges rushing the Harry Shaw Society. Stripes missed a goal on each end so no harm no foul there, but Willie got the equalizer 3 minutes into the third with a screen shot from the high slot. Cheese responded with the TB Gordita Crunch of the game when he steamrolled his check along the far boards. Despite going on the powerplay for the final buck ten of regulation and carrying a 20 second advantage into the extra period, Thunder could not manage to git-R-Dun. They did, however, hold on for the tie to snap a 3-game slide, and remain undefeated in the new year, as their record advances to 2-4-1.
First star of the game goes to Andrew Simonelli with 26 saves and a strong stick, second star goes to Willie's Tyler Mikulee with 25 saves, third star goes to stalwart senior defenseman Steve Hebberect, who had an outstanding game, playing physical on the backend, stepping up in the neutral zone, and getting involved offensively as well... says Geller, "Hebs is back in State Championship form!"
Thunder will host Hilton for a nitecap, 7:30pm @ Lakeshore on Tuesday 5-Jan. Be there as things heat up or be left out in the cold wondering what's up!
12/22 Game Report
Tuesday, Dec 22nd Game Report
Back on the bus, it was Brockport or bust. Turns out it was a bust, as Thunder dropped their second road game in a row, losing 5-2 to the Blue Devils at Tuttle Ice Arena Tuesday nite. Greece came in sporting a new look with Pat Sofia making his debut on the bench, Mike Miller back on D, Matt Keough up front, and the lines shook up a bit. Rob Weilert flew north for the holiday (and yes, his arms are tired) and was in the hizzie as well, but not all was well, as Baby Bedford sent Thunder to the box four times in the first frame. B-Port would capitalize, banking 2 goals from their 2-man advantage and subsequent 5-on-4 to win the period with a 13-7 shot margin in their favor. Play was sloppy and choppy with very few passes completed and maybe 1-hit.
Greece gained some momentum in the second, with 10 shots on goal to B-Port's 5, as the Blue Devils took their turn in the box. But Thunder could not solve Keene. Blue Devil's forward Nathan Judd logged his second goal of the nite to make it 3-0 B-Port going into the cut. A minute into the final period Brockport's Dylan Garlock converted on a turnover to widen their lead to 4-0. Then the tide turned, as Mike Briganti notched Thunder's first goal, on the PP, with a low and hard wrister through a screen, assisted by Vyper and Sherry. Back on the powerplay 5 minutes later, Vyper took the handle from Hebberect, tore down the left wing, and hit Mike McNeil in the high slot for the money shot to cut the Blue Devil's lead in half, 4-2 with two and a half to go. Thunder made a valiant effort down the stretch with the extra attacker out only to give up the empty netter to Nathan Judd with 37 seconds left on the clock.
Thunder slips to 2-3 with the loss and many lessons learned. First star goes to B-Port's Nathan Judd with the hat, second star goes to B-Port's Justin Keene with 29 saves, third star goes to B-Port's Dylan Garlock with a goal and 2 assists. Let's hope Santa gave Thunder their mojo back in their stockings!
Back on the bus, it was Brockport or bust. Turns out it was a bust, as Thunder dropped their second road game in a row, losing 5-2 to the Blue Devils at Tuttle Ice Arena Tuesday nite. Greece came in sporting a new look with Pat Sofia making his debut on the bench, Mike Miller back on D, Matt Keough up front, and the lines shook up a bit. Rob Weilert flew north for the holiday (and yes, his arms are tired) and was in the hizzie as well, but not all was well, as Baby Bedford sent Thunder to the box four times in the first frame. B-Port would capitalize, banking 2 goals from their 2-man advantage and subsequent 5-on-4 to win the period with a 13-7 shot margin in their favor. Play was sloppy and choppy with very few passes completed and maybe 1-hit.
Greece gained some momentum in the second, with 10 shots on goal to B-Port's 5, as the Blue Devils took their turn in the box. But Thunder could not solve Keene. Blue Devil's forward Nathan Judd logged his second goal of the nite to make it 3-0 B-Port going into the cut. A minute into the final period Brockport's Dylan Garlock converted on a turnover to widen their lead to 4-0. Then the tide turned, as Mike Briganti notched Thunder's first goal, on the PP, with a low and hard wrister through a screen, assisted by Vyper and Sherry. Back on the powerplay 5 minutes later, Vyper took the handle from Hebberect, tore down the left wing, and hit Mike McNeil in the high slot for the money shot to cut the Blue Devil's lead in half, 4-2 with two and a half to go. Thunder made a valiant effort down the stretch with the extra attacker out only to give up the empty netter to Nathan Judd with 37 seconds left on the clock.
Thunder slips to 2-3 with the loss and many lessons learned. First star goes to B-Port's Nathan Judd with the hat, second star goes to B-Port's Justin Keene with 29 saves, third star goes to B-Port's Dylan Garlock with a goal and 2 assists. Let's hope Santa gave Thunder their mojo back in their stockings!
12/19 Game Report
Saturday, Dec 19th Game Report
Thunder's first roadie of the season was a downer as they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Spencerport Rangers @ ESL Sports Centre on Saturday afternoon. Spencerport's Matt Corey won the battle in front of Greece's net three and a half into the second to crack the seal. Thunder got the equalizer on the PP early in the third when Brandon Cheeseman put away the rebound on Mike McNeil's attempt. You would think this shot in the arm might spark a few more goals for Greece, but it was the Rangers who would forge ahead instead with two unanswered tallies for the win.
Thunder's record slides to 2-2 with a lackluster effort that was about as viable as the venue. First star goes to Matt Corey with a pair of goals for Spencerport, second star goes to Jimmy Allen with 20 saves for Spencerport, and third star goes to Brandon Cheeseman with the lone goal for Thunder. Andrew Simonelli made 17 saves in his first varsity start. Honorable mention goes out to Mike Miller who put forth a solid effort for Thunder as well.
Thunder's first roadie of the season was a downer as they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Spencerport Rangers @ ESL Sports Centre on Saturday afternoon. Spencerport's Matt Corey won the battle in front of Greece's net three and a half into the second to crack the seal. Thunder got the equalizer on the PP early in the third when Brandon Cheeseman put away the rebound on Mike McNeil's attempt. You would think this shot in the arm might spark a few more goals for Greece, but it was the Rangers who would forge ahead instead with two unanswered tallies for the win.
Thunder's record slides to 2-2 with a lackluster effort that was about as viable as the venue. First star goes to Matt Corey with a pair of goals for Spencerport, second star goes to Jimmy Allen with 20 saves for Spencerport, and third star goes to Brandon Cheeseman with the lone goal for Thunder. Andrew Simonelli made 17 saves in his first varsity start. Honorable mention goes out to Mike Miller who put forth a solid effort for Thunder as well.
12/15 Game Report
Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the game is so delightful
Your Thunder's back on a roll
Score-a-goal, score-a-goal, score-a-goal!
Mascots skating at the beginning
And Amanda's at the mic a singing
Your Thunder's back on a roll
Score-a-goal, score-a-goal, score-a-goal!
When the horn finally ends the game
How i'll hate going out in the storm
But, if we win just the same
All the way home i'll be warm!
The time is slowly ticking
And, your cheese, was called for high-sticking
But that was a cheese-y call
Score-a-goal, score-a-goal, score-a-goal!
Thunder did indeed score-a-goal, score-a-goal, score-a-goal , but Lightning would only strike once in this, their first meeting of the 09-10 season, where Greece Athena/Odyssey defeated Greece Arcadia/Olympia 3-1, before a packed house on hand in the stands at the 'shore. Despite a scoreless first frame and shots fairly even at 6-5 in Lightnings favor, there was plenty of eye-candy, what with all the banging after a week of angle hitting in practice. Leading the way for Thunder was Andrew Sherry, who table topped his check with an open ice hit at the Lightning's blue line that would easily garner the Taco Bell Gordita Crunch of the game. Joining the hit-parade and rattling the boards for Thunder were the likes of Grimmy, Mills, Ganti, and Cheese, not to mention the rest of the D.
Coming off a strong kill backed by the Venom brothers, to bridge the first and second frame, Thunder had Lightning pinned in their own end for quite a spell. But the pendulum would eventually swing the other way, forcing Thunder to scramble to dig out from under themselves. Finally, midway thru the second, Mike McNeil said enough is enough, as he came barrelling down the right side and blasted one by Opladen to light the lamp that would guide Thunder's sleigh, with Hebs and Hots picking up the helpers along the way. Mike Briganti kept pounding away and forcing the play as Thunder took their 1-goal lead into the intermission.
Lightning came back fired up and hitting early in the 3rd, but Vyper let some air out of their tires when he snapped off a twisted-wrister from the blue line that found its way thru traffic, post and in, to make it 2-0 Thunder. A couple of minnows later, Lightning thought they had their first, when the puck went in, after a scrum ensued just outside the paint, to the left of Cumming. But the goal was waived off, given a Lightning helmet came off during the play, before the puck went in. Thunder poured some salt in the wound with a sweet play for their third marker with only 3 minutes remaining. The goal originated with a neutral zone regroup from McNeil back to Vyper, over to Hebs, up to Mills, off the board to Hots, then Hots lugged the mail up the left wing and centered it to McNeil who was crashing the net for the 2 on 1 tally. Lightning came back with a whimper, scoring a PPG with just under 2 minutes to go, but that's all she wrote.
First star of the game goes to Mike McNeil with a pair of goals, second star goes to Ian Cumming with 24 saves, and third star goes to Dan Vyverberg with the winner. Although Thunder was outshot 25-19, they still came out on top with a 3-1 win to advance their record to 2-1. Says Webb "our goalie just played better". Added Wader, "we corrected mistakes in practice and came with a better attitude".
But the game is so delightful
Your Thunder's back on a roll
Score-a-goal, score-a-goal, score-a-goal!
Mascots skating at the beginning
And Amanda's at the mic a singing
Your Thunder's back on a roll
Score-a-goal, score-a-goal, score-a-goal!
When the horn finally ends the game
How i'll hate going out in the storm
But, if we win just the same
All the way home i'll be warm!
The time is slowly ticking
And, your cheese, was called for high-sticking
But that was a cheese-y call
Score-a-goal, score-a-goal, score-a-goal!
Thunder did indeed score-a-goal, score-a-goal, score-a-goal , but Lightning would only strike once in this, their first meeting of the 09-10 season, where Greece Athena/Odyssey defeated Greece Arcadia/Olympia 3-1, before a packed house on hand in the stands at the 'shore. Despite a scoreless first frame and shots fairly even at 6-5 in Lightnings favor, there was plenty of eye-candy, what with all the banging after a week of angle hitting in practice. Leading the way for Thunder was Andrew Sherry, who table topped his check with an open ice hit at the Lightning's blue line that would easily garner the Taco Bell Gordita Crunch of the game. Joining the hit-parade and rattling the boards for Thunder were the likes of Grimmy, Mills, Ganti, and Cheese, not to mention the rest of the D.
Coming off a strong kill backed by the Venom brothers, to bridge the first and second frame, Thunder had Lightning pinned in their own end for quite a spell. But the pendulum would eventually swing the other way, forcing Thunder to scramble to dig out from under themselves. Finally, midway thru the second, Mike McNeil said enough is enough, as he came barrelling down the right side and blasted one by Opladen to light the lamp that would guide Thunder's sleigh, with Hebs and Hots picking up the helpers along the way. Mike Briganti kept pounding away and forcing the play as Thunder took their 1-goal lead into the intermission.
Lightning came back fired up and hitting early in the 3rd, but Vyper let some air out of their tires when he snapped off a twisted-wrister from the blue line that found its way thru traffic, post and in, to make it 2-0 Thunder. A couple of minnows later, Lightning thought they had their first, when the puck went in, after a scrum ensued just outside the paint, to the left of Cumming. But the goal was waived off, given a Lightning helmet came off during the play, before the puck went in. Thunder poured some salt in the wound with a sweet play for their third marker with only 3 minutes remaining. The goal originated with a neutral zone regroup from McNeil back to Vyper, over to Hebs, up to Mills, off the board to Hots, then Hots lugged the mail up the left wing and centered it to McNeil who was crashing the net for the 2 on 1 tally. Lightning came back with a whimper, scoring a PPG with just under 2 minutes to go, but that's all she wrote.
First star of the game goes to Mike McNeil with a pair of goals, second star goes to Ian Cumming with 24 saves, and third star goes to Dan Vyverberg with the winner. Although Thunder was outshot 25-19, they still came out on top with a 3-1 win to advance their record to 2-1. Says Webb "our goalie just played better". Added Wader, "we corrected mistakes in practice and came with a better attitude".
A Banner Year
If you are like me you are probably sensing an air of expectancy whipping in the winds and are longing for a carnival like atmosphere this holiday season. Well, you need look no further than the Lakeshore Hockey Arena, for on Wednesday, the 30th day of December, in the year 2009, you are in for a special treat. The much awaited and anticipated unveiling of the 2008-2009 New York State Division I High School Hockey State Championship banner will finally occur, prior to Thunder's 6pm game with Gates Chili, some nine months after the Boys of Thunder became only the second team in NYS history to run the tables and win it all with a perfect 27-0 record.
You don't want to miss this, so be sure to get there early to get a spot in the lot and a perch in the stands. It's going to be off the hook, an event to remember for years to come. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh Thunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (that's one exclamation point for each win)
Here is a look back at what the 2008-2009 Greece Athena/Odyssey Thunder Hockey Team accomplished:
Thunder Team Stats
Goals For Regular Season: 98 (69 even strength, 22 powerplay, 7 shorthanded)
Goals For Post Season: 20 (11 even strength, 7 powerplay, 2 shorthanded)
Goals For Overall: 118 (80 even strength, 29 powerplay, 9 shorthanded)
Goals Against Regular Season: 22 (13 even strength, 9 powerplay, 0 shorthanded)
Goals Against Post Season: 5 (2 even strength, 3 powerplay, 0 shorthanded)
Goals Against Overall: 27 (15 even strength, 12 powerplay, 0 shorthanded)
Powerplay Regular Season: 24.2% (22 goals scored on 91 attempts)
Powerplay Post Season: 20.6% (7 goals scored on 34 attempts)
Powerplay Overall: 23.2% (29 goals scored on 125 attempts)
Penalty Kill Regular Season: 92.3% (9 goals surrendered on 117 attempts)
Penalty Kill Post Season: 92.5% (3 goals surrendered on 40 attempts)
Penalty Kill Overall: 92.4% (12 goals surrendered on 157 attempts)
Shutouts Regular Season: 7
Shutouts Post Season: 3
Shutouts Overall: 10
Shots For Regular Season: 690
Shots For Post Season: 151
Shots For Overall: 841
Shots Against Regular Season: 427
Shots Against Post Season: 118
Shots Against Overall: 545
Goals Against Average Regular Season: 1.05 (22 goals surrendered in 21 games)
Goals Against Average Post Season: 0.83 (5 goals surrendered in 6 games)
Goals Against Average Overall: 1.00 (27 goals surrendered in 27 games)
Saves Regular Season: 405
Saves Post Season: 113
Saves Overall: 518
Save Percentage Regular Season: 94.8 (405 saves on 427 shots)
Save Percentage Post Season: 95.8 (113 saves on 118 shots)
Save Percentage Overall: 95.0 (518 saves on 545 shots)
Thunder Team Facts
Thunder was outshot only 2 times all season, e.g. AQ and W. Genny
Thunder trailed by a goal only 6 times all season, e.g. Brockport, Hilton, Spencerport, Suffern, W. Genny and Mamaroneck
Thunder trailed by 2 goals only 2 times all season, e.g. Suffern and Mamaroneck
The most goals Thunder allowed in a single game was 3 (3 times), followed by 2 goals (4 times), 1 goal (10 times), and 0 goals (10 times)
So, basically in roughly 3 out of every 4 games played, Thunder gave up a goal or less, not too shabby!
Thunder record was 27-0 and they were the second team in the state to ever win a State Championship with an undefeated season!
Thunder AWR (All-Wes-Report) Awards
1st Team JD Power & Associates Powerplay: Pat, Greg, Gundo, Riley, JT
2nd Team JD Power & Associates Powerplay: Matt, Cheese, Jordan, Vyper, Scotty
Honorable Mention JD Power & Associates Powerplay: Miller
1st Team Natural Born Penalty Killers: Riley, JT, Vyper, Hebs
2nd Team Natural Born Penalty Killers: Pat, Greg, Gundo, Scotty
Honorable Mention Natural Born Penalty Killers: Matt, Cheese
Alexander & Catalano Heavy Hitters: JT, Greg, Gundo, Cheese, Scotty, Briganti
Harry Shaw Society: Vyper
Power Trip Club: Matt, Cheese, Rotolo
Steady Eddy Club: Hebs, Rotolo
Zero Club: Parker, Mike, Ian, Andrew
Section V West Division Awards
Player of the Year: Eric Gunderson
1st Team Forward: Greg Ryan
2nd Team Forward: Riley Bourbonnais
2nd Team Forward: Pat Sofia
Coach of the Year: Dan Webb
Top Scholar/Athlete Award: Matt Lane
Section V AGR Awards
Player of the Year: Eric Gunderson
Goalie: Parker Bonis
Forward: Riley Bourbonnais
Forward: JT Stenglein
Coach of the Year: Dan Webb
Honorable Mention Forward: Pat Sofia
NYSHSHCA State Championship All Tournament Team Awards
Forward: Greg Ryan
Forward: Riley Bourbonnais
Defense: Eric Gunderson
Goalie: Parker Bonis
MVP: JT Stenglein
NYSHSHCA Division I All-State Awards
1st Team Defense: Eric Gunderson
1st Team Forward: Riley Bourbonnais
2nd Team Forward: JT Stenglein
Honorable Mention Forward: Greg Ryan
Coach of the Year: Dan Webb
You don't want to miss this, so be sure to get there early to get a spot in the lot and a perch in the stands. It's going to be off the hook, an event to remember for years to come. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh Thunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (that's one exclamation point for each win)
Here is a look back at what the 2008-2009 Greece Athena/Odyssey Thunder Hockey Team accomplished:
Thunder Team Stats
Goals For Regular Season: 98 (69 even strength, 22 powerplay, 7 shorthanded)
Goals For Post Season: 20 (11 even strength, 7 powerplay, 2 shorthanded)
Goals For Overall: 118 (80 even strength, 29 powerplay, 9 shorthanded)
Goals Against Regular Season: 22 (13 even strength, 9 powerplay, 0 shorthanded)
Goals Against Post Season: 5 (2 even strength, 3 powerplay, 0 shorthanded)
Goals Against Overall: 27 (15 even strength, 12 powerplay, 0 shorthanded)
Powerplay Regular Season: 24.2% (22 goals scored on 91 attempts)
Powerplay Post Season: 20.6% (7 goals scored on 34 attempts)
Powerplay Overall: 23.2% (29 goals scored on 125 attempts)
Penalty Kill Regular Season: 92.3% (9 goals surrendered on 117 attempts)
Penalty Kill Post Season: 92.5% (3 goals surrendered on 40 attempts)
Penalty Kill Overall: 92.4% (12 goals surrendered on 157 attempts)
Shutouts Regular Season: 7
Shutouts Post Season: 3
Shutouts Overall: 10
Shots For Regular Season: 690
Shots For Post Season: 151
Shots For Overall: 841
Shots Against Regular Season: 427
Shots Against Post Season: 118
Shots Against Overall: 545
Goals Against Average Regular Season: 1.05 (22 goals surrendered in 21 games)
Goals Against Average Post Season: 0.83 (5 goals surrendered in 6 games)
Goals Against Average Overall: 1.00 (27 goals surrendered in 27 games)
Saves Regular Season: 405
Saves Post Season: 113
Saves Overall: 518
Save Percentage Regular Season: 94.8 (405 saves on 427 shots)
Save Percentage Post Season: 95.8 (113 saves on 118 shots)
Save Percentage Overall: 95.0 (518 saves on 545 shots)
Thunder Team Facts
Thunder was outshot only 2 times all season, e.g. AQ and W. Genny
Thunder trailed by a goal only 6 times all season, e.g. Brockport, Hilton, Spencerport, Suffern, W. Genny and Mamaroneck
Thunder trailed by 2 goals only 2 times all season, e.g. Suffern and Mamaroneck
The most goals Thunder allowed in a single game was 3 (3 times), followed by 2 goals (4 times), 1 goal (10 times), and 0 goals (10 times)
So, basically in roughly 3 out of every 4 games played, Thunder gave up a goal or less, not too shabby!
Thunder record was 27-0 and they were the second team in the state to ever win a State Championship with an undefeated season!
Thunder AWR (All-Wes-Report) Awards
1st Team JD Power & Associates Powerplay: Pat, Greg, Gundo, Riley, JT
2nd Team JD Power & Associates Powerplay: Matt, Cheese, Jordan, Vyper, Scotty
Honorable Mention JD Power & Associates Powerplay: Miller
1st Team Natural Born Penalty Killers: Riley, JT, Vyper, Hebs
2nd Team Natural Born Penalty Killers: Pat, Greg, Gundo, Scotty
Honorable Mention Natural Born Penalty Killers: Matt, Cheese
Alexander & Catalano Heavy Hitters: JT, Greg, Gundo, Cheese, Scotty, Briganti
Harry Shaw Society: Vyper
Power Trip Club: Matt, Cheese, Rotolo
Steady Eddy Club: Hebs, Rotolo
Zero Club: Parker, Mike, Ian, Andrew
Section V West Division Awards
Player of the Year: Eric Gunderson
1st Team Forward: Greg Ryan
2nd Team Forward: Riley Bourbonnais
2nd Team Forward: Pat Sofia
Coach of the Year: Dan Webb
Top Scholar/Athlete Award: Matt Lane
Section V AGR Awards
Player of the Year: Eric Gunderson
Goalie: Parker Bonis
Forward: Riley Bourbonnais
Forward: JT Stenglein
Coach of the Year: Dan Webb
Honorable Mention Forward: Pat Sofia
NYSHSHCA State Championship All Tournament Team Awards
Forward: Greg Ryan
Forward: Riley Bourbonnais
Defense: Eric Gunderson
Goalie: Parker Bonis
MVP: JT Stenglein
NYSHSHCA Division I All-State Awards
1st Team Defense: Eric Gunderson
1st Team Forward: Riley Bourbonnais
2nd Team Forward: JT Stenglein
Honorable Mention Forward: Greg Ryan
Coach of the Year: Dan Webb
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