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.