Shockers Romp the Chiefs in Season Opener

Final Score
Shockers 9
Chiefs 3

Well there wasn't a doubt in any veteran of the Shockers mind that this season would be different from the previous two. Adding some big guns up front definitely paved a new yellow brick road for the team to prance their merry way to what everyone has their eyes on...no, not the wizard of Oz but the NABHL championship. It is still substantially early to even mention the word "cup" unless it is inserted into the sentence "dude, where's my nut cup?" but watching the redefined Shockers out on the Rinque, it is some inspiring stuff.

The season opener on Monday night was against the Chiefs, who last season were somewhat of a no contest in the playoffs just like the Shockers, so let's just say, put all newly revamped line-up sheets aside, this game was Even-Steven from the get-go. But as soon as the game got rolling, the Shockers took it to the Chiefs. Newcomers, Donald Toohey (#2 in your Shockers programme) and Steve Towell lit the lamp and combined for some serious pointage (still waiting on the NABHL to post the stats to confirm the exact number). The Diabo brothers, Chris and Steve, also has their guns locked and loaded and combined for a series of points as well. Assistant captain, Andrew Stevens, netted one himself and I'm sure there is someone else but like I said, still waiting for NABHL to post the stats.

We can chew the fat all day about how grand the boys in the front did, making beauty passes, settling down the play, controlling the zone and getting the job done, but let's not forget about the boys in the back. With the forwards doing a good job at keeping the Chiefs low in their zone, we got to see a little more action from the point including big shots from Marc "The Claw" Boucher and Francois "Hamburger Helper" Hamelin. We also saw, new kid on the block (not to mistaken for that pathetic boy band of crotch smokers), Chris DiSensi jump into the play a couple of times and had a handful of opportunities. DiSensi, who is known for his in-your-face type of gameplay also was hammered with penalties during the game, taking 16 minutes home with him. He commented after the game about his NABHL debut:

"It is going to take some getting used to. Now I know I can't do anything or say anything to the ref or else I'm sitting down in the box for some extra minutes."

Of course, stealing the spotlight away from everyone was Giancarlo "Hollywood Pepe" Capaz making saves that made highway robbery look like stealing candy from a baby with a pair of steel-toe boots and a rambo knife. Most notably, was the flip-flopping back and forth in the second period to stop not two but three empty net chances back-to-back-to-back. If we only had a camera, now no one is going to believe him that he made those saves.

All in all, a super start for the Shockers as they walk away with a 9-3 victory. Shockers will take a pause for a week before the resume action against last season's playoff finalists the District 5 Knights. D5 Knights lost their season opener 9-1 against the Huskies and have reportedly lost a couple of key players over the off-season but that should not be a reason for the Shockers to take them lightly as they already been surprised by them last season losing to them in the first round of the playoffs.

The game kicks off March 2, 2009 @ 9:30pm sharp.