Shocked in Season Opener

Final Score
Expos 5 - Shockers 1

Last night kicked off the NABHL season at Le Rinque hosting five games and showcased what should be expected from the teams this summer. The Shockers finally got to make their mark after about three months in the making and several weeks of hype and controversy; but the party was cut short as they were downed by the high flying Expos 5-1.

The Shockers seemed to be holding up nicely in the first period playing solid defense and getting some huge help from goaltender, Giancarlo Capaz. Offense for both teams was relatively quiet with only one goal scored in the period by the Expo's, David Kruger.

Second period was more of the same, the Expos put on a lot of pressure and Shockers defense were forced to hold tight. Midway through the period the Expos would score the inevitable second goal to make it 2-0. However, that party would be soured less than two minutes later; Shocker's offense showed some sign of life when Nick Sullo centered a pass to captain Alain Godard and made it a 2-1 game.

The third period, however, would be all Expos netting three unanswered goals and keeping any Shocker attack out of their zone.

"We have to be proud of ourselves, it is our first game of the season, first game as the Shockers and first real game playing altogether so of course there will be things to improve and work on," assistant captain, Andrew Stevens said after the game.

"Capaz played great, our defense played well and now we have to get our forwards fired up to put the ball in the net," added Godard.

"We have to get used to the pace of the games, we were a big sluggish out there but that will work itself out with time. We can only get better from here on," said Marc Boucher, assistant captain and defensive powerhouse.

Some notables of the game were Jeff Jasmin, who was a very huge presence for the defense, Giancarlo Capaz, who had big saves throughout the game and Nick Sullo, who seemed to not lose a step when he was out on the floor.

Shockers will look to improve their season on Wednesday when they take on the Ligers @ 10:30pm.