Cobras Strike First

Last night hosted the first game of the opening series for the Shockers and Purple Cobras and the stage was set for a real farm burner. The teams face each other earlier in the season, where the Shockers won in a shootout 6-5, however, there wasn't a whole lot of animosity between the teams until the recent outbreak of comments coming from the Purple Cobras on the blog posted on May 22nd. This added a whole lot of fuel to the fire that was not burning too bright.

Regardless, the game had to go on and it was a close game at that. Both teams were getting their fair chances; the Cobras displayed their speed and the Shockers showed that they can shoot. Shockers weren't getting much love from the posts as they rang two hum-dingers within the opening period and a handful more as the game progressed.

In the first period, the ice would be broken at 5:02 by Cobras' own, Brandon Feiden, who got a little love from the glove on the side on the net to push it past goaltender, Giancarlo Capaz. Despite it originally being waved as no goal, the refs conferenced about it and in the end result called it a goal. Even some league officials who were watching the game from right behind the net said after the game that it was no goal but the offical call was made and the goal stood tall on the scoreboard, 1-0. The Shockers, getting a fair amount of chances throughout the period were unable to cash in on 3 powerplay opportunities, a part of the game where they have proven to be dangerous during the regualr season.

The second opened up with some good pressure by the Shockers and tied it up when Chris Diabo laced one past last year's elite MVP goaltender, Aaron Blauer, for a powerplay goal. The Purple's got back to work soon after and snaked ahead to re-obtain the lead when Kevin Libman would make the Shockers pay on the powerplay. A few minutes later the Shockers would cash in on a great opportunity as Andrew Stevens would find a lose ball that was cannoned off the back glass and sailed the ball into the open net. Blauer, who anticapted the original shot had no chance to rebound back and save the wide-open Stevens. With the game knotted at two-a-side, the Shockers started to get into penaly trouble.

The ref, reminescent of a miniture Sargeant Slaughter, started to hound the Shockers with any call he could find, however, I can admit most penalties were merrited.

The third period took in much more action, the Shockers still experiencing penalty trouble and both teams were unable to find the right beat to take the lead until Michael Zell, on the powerplay with just about 2:00 and some change, fired one past Capaz who didn't see it coming. This goal would prove to be the winer, winner, chicken dinner for the Purple Cobras.

The Cobras took game one of the series but not without a fight from the Shockers contingency as they kept it close throughout the whole game. Sunday, will host game two where the Shockers will need a sure win to keep their play off hopes alive. Donald Toohey, anxious to make his presence felt in the playoffs, will be re-joining the squad as he is coming back from a five-game suspension. However, Chris Di Sensi will be sitting out on a two game suspension received from last night's game-ending brawl.

The Rinque will be geared up for game two action on Sunday night at 8:30pm as the Shockers will try even out the series against the Purple Cobras.

PLAYER PROFILE: Steve Towell

Born in the rurals of Munster as Stíofán O'Towell, this Irishman didn't always have a hockey stick in his hand like most of his fellow teammates. In fact, Steve is quite skilled with several sticks, a whacking stick, a pool cue, a field hockey stick and even a sniper rifle (which isn't really a stick, but whatever!). In this edition of the Shockers' Player Profile, we'll look at the life and times of the wizard, Steve Towell.

While growing up as a young O'Towell, Steve's parents Téodóir (a.k.a Theodore) and Léá (a.k.a Leia) taught him how to live off the land. Farming was Steve's favorite past time. He grew carrots, cabbage, Ireland's famous potatoes and special herbs that his parents kept for themselves. Another favorite activity of his was watching over the sheep and goats that grazed the endless fields of his family's estate. He protected them from predators such as miniture field wolves and carnivorous mice. One day while Steve was watching over the livestock, a pack of field wolves made an attempt to ambush the herd. Steve raced and grabbed his precious whacking stick carved from ebony and brimstone and clubbed the entire pack like seals. Some say he killed 50+ wolves who were three times his size single handedly, others say that the whacking stick was actually a twiggy branch from a fig tree and that he actually ended up strangling the wolves with his bare hands instead.

Regardless, from that day on Steve discovered the power he had with a stick. He brought his trusty stick everywhere; the market, church, Wal-mart, asian bondage strip clubs and even school. Since his village did not have police, Steve had inadvertently became the law and kept everyone in line with a quick whack of his stick.

Unfortunately, like most police Steve became corrupted and started to hang out in shady places and took bribes from anyone who was looking for a good time. These shady places were mostly basement drunken farmer bars and seemed to always have pool tables. This is where Steve picked up another skill with a stick. He had become a feared competitor with a pool cue and actually found a new way to make a living playing high stake pool games. Some say he could sink every ball on the table just by looking at them, others say that sometimes when he breaks, he crack the cue ball in half.

However, when you start making big money in Ireland, you start attracting a new breed of people. While Steve was playing in a high stakes game of 9 ball, he was approached by the head of an underground sect of the IRA. Steve, looking for anyway to support his family embarked on the offer to join and immediately began his army training.

Army training for this sect is not comparable to what most armies would go through, in fact it was quite the opposite. While with the IRA, Steve discovered what beer was and found a new love, shooting guns. Steve became quite the marksman with a sniper rifle and played a key part in the civil war of Northern Ireland vs. Southern Ireland. Some storytellers say that he could kill 5 men with one bullet, others say he could kill a yak a mile away while chugging a Guinness. While with the IRA, Steve started to discover that all the beer drinking was taking a toll on his body and he needed to start moving around to stay in shape. While stationed in another small village during the war (no one remembered the name of the town because everyone wass usually drunk), Steve saw some kids playing a game with curled wooden sticks and a ball. They called it field hockey. Steve, immediately intrigued, asked the young ones how to play and joined in everyday he was not fighting the war.

The war had ended and Steve left the IRA. He lost interest in the organization. He lost interest in playing pool. Instead, he returned back home to work on his family's farm and thought constantly about field hockey. While on a trip into the nearest village, he stopped off at the library and looked up hockey. He found a book that said that hockey was invented in Canada. Steve became infatuated with the visions of Canada being like Disney Land of hockey and saved up all his money to move to there.

Steve landed in Montreal as that is as far as his money would get him. The Quebec government said his last name O'Towell wasn't acceptable because they were only able to say it as Ho'Tall which was too close to the word "hotel." So, he shortened his name and called himself Steve Towell.

While in Montreal, he made a friend who took him to Verdun to learn the ways of the masters. This friend was none other than Donald Toohey. Toohey showed him all the hockey hang-outs and showed him the ropes at the local rinks, arenas and gyms. Steve became a wizard with the ball and started to be a force to be reckoned with in any league he stepped into.

Steve joined the Shockers for the Winter 2009 season and was an immediate success. He shared the lead for most points for the Shockers and the Rockstar Divsion in the NABHL with Steve Diabo and he will be a bright light in the playoffs.

Come watch Steve tear up the floor tonight @ 6:30pm as him and the Shockers will take on the Purple Cobras in game one of the opening round of the playoffs.

Avoiding the Venom of the Purple Cobras

Last week, the Shockers organization had made an appeal to the NABHL about their game against FW. The same game where the Shockers saw four of their members suspended and the game get called by the referee at a deadlock tie, 5-5. The original ruling was each team was awarded one point to signify the tie but when the Shockers looked into the NABHL rulebook, each team should have been awarded zero points.

The Shockers appealed the ruling and the league did follow suit and awarded (is it awarding if you lose a point?) both teams with zero points. This does not change anything as to where the Shockers placed in the standings but it did affect FW as they tumbled their way into first place of the intermediate playoffs.

Also, along the lines of changes, the Shockers' first playoff game will be moved to Wednesday, May 27th @ 6:30pm instead of the originally slotted 10pm start tonight. The Shockers will take on the speedy Purple Cobras in the first round.

The Shockers still without big rocket, Donald Toohey, in the line-up will have to move the ball quickly and get quality shots on net in order to beat the Cobras. Toohey will make his return in game two against the Cobras, where, hopefully his team will be in a good situation to eliminate the Cobras.

Th Cobras are known to keep the scores low and know how to stay out of the penalty box, the complete opposite case for the Shockers who normally run the scores high and are often serving penalties.

Last time these two teams faced each other was the third game of the season where the Shockers blew a 3-0 lead after the first period but still squeezed by with the win in shootouts. Toohey led the Shockers to that victory walking away with a 4-point night (1G -3A). That means that Wednesday, a new face will have to step up to the plate and deliver for the Shockers.

Despite Toohey being out for already four games, the Shockers did keep the good times rolling as they won 3-out-of-4 games. The only loss coming by the hands of near-perfect Baton Rouge as they managed to beat the Shockers 5-4. During those games, the big pointsmen have been Steve Diabo and Ben Ducharme, however, have received good production from a laundry-list of players.

Although goal-scoring can be ranted about all day, the other main piece of the puzzle is how Giancarlo "Drunken Clam" Capaz will fair in these playoffs. Capaz who kept the Shockers competitive has, however, been on a hot-and-cold basis. Capaz lowered his GAA to 5.00 this season compared to posting a 6.31 last season. Capaz has always been solid in dealing with the pressure of the playoffs in the past so expect good outtings for him, of course, that will also depend on how his defense can cope against the speed of the Cobras.

Shockers Howl Their Way into the Playoffs

Last night was the Shockers regular season ending game against the unforgivable Huskies. A game where big gun Jordan Topor and the towering Matt Jacobson were both out with injuries suffered during the Huskies' game against the Everyday Hustlers. The Shockers still without Donald Toohey in the line-up but happy to have Chris Diabo back also enjoyed the company of Jon Sante on defense.

The game started off well for the starting trio of Diabo-Diabo-Ducharme, a.k.a, the Triple D line as Steve Diabo tallied his 18th of the season within the opening minute. The Huskies battled back rather quickly and topped up with two goals back to back, both by Gab Dadoun. But with 3:30 left in the opening frame, Marc "The Claw" Boucher ripped a slapper past goalie, Danny Selcer to knot it up at 2-a-side and then just 1:20 later, Steve "Big Baller, Shot Caller" Diabo would strike again to give the Shockers the 3-2 edge.

The second period kicked off with the Shockers on the penalty kill but they were not successful as Jon Perlis tagged and bagged his 5th goal of the season with a shot from the point. The Shockers would catch a break and go on the powerplay at about the 9:00 mark and found themselves another goal to get the lead. Steve Towell dished it to Andrew Stevens who then found a wide open Ben Ducharme for a one-timer goal. Then on the same shift Stevens would make a cut to the middle and shelf it on Selcer who was left to hang by his defense. With the game 5-3, the Huskies called a time-out to regroup and figure the situation out. With 4:37 left in the second Lorne Segall, no known relations to the kung-fu boss-man Steve Segall, lit the lamp to spark the comeback. About a minute and some change later, the very speedy Jermey Frohlich let a taint-snapper rip from about half court to tie the game up again. Unfortunately for the Huskies, the winds of change started to blow back in the direction of the Shockers as Chris Diabo would blast one by the goalie with less than a minute left in the frame.

On to the third and final period and the Huskies were looking to tie it up once again. At 11:00, Gab Dadoun finds the mesh behind GC Capaz to get the hat-trick and the extra boost for his team. All would change in just three minutes when Steve Diabo would steal the spotlight from Dadoun and get a hat-trick of his own and give the Shockers the edge. Then at 5:52 left in the game, Chris Di Sensi would put the proverbial nail in the coffin to give the Shockers a two-goal lead. As for the Huskies, they were unable to capitalize on some powerplays and key opportunites and they would soak-up the loss and leave their playoff hopes dwindling to chance.

Tonight, the Huskies will be hoping that the Blazers can pull away with a win over FW so they will be eligible for the Elite playoffs otherwise they will be dipping down as first place for the intermediate playoffs.

Since the Shockers nailed down first place in the Rockstar division, they will be seeded below Baton Rouge in second place and will await the final outcome as to who they will be playing for the playoffs which start Monday, May 25 @ 10:00pm. The possible teams that the Shockers might take on are FW, Huskies or Decepticons but they will only find out this week.

Good job Shockers for nailing first place in the Rockstar division!

Shockers Claw Their Way Back Against Ligers

Final Score
Shockers 6
Ligers 5

Shockers came into last night's game against the Ligers still without point-getting clit commanders Donald Toohey, Steve Towell, Chris Diabo and Chris Di Sensi but they felt a little more confident now that they already had one win under their belts without the big line. The fact that Gary McDermott was making his return after suffering a possible career ending injury was also a big boost of morale.

"He's a big body out there, he plays smart and he's got the most experience out of any of our defense so having him back is a big help," commented Andrew Stevens.'

McDermott, with just one goal this season, has been the backbone to much of the Shockers defensive improvement over the last two seasons incorporating his experience and skill into the game.

"It was tough first game back. I had to figure it all out in one period and then make sure I play well for the last two periods," chuckled McDermott after the game.

McDermott, showing little signs of rustiness, was utilized as a Mark Streit type of role where he jumped into the attack and was even seen on forward for the power play.

"Yeah, that was different," added McDermott.

Back in the line-up was Jon "Brown Bomber" Sante and Guillaume "Le Gros" Côté who filled in the gaps for the suspended players and shined most of the game with their legs, quickness and determination to dig out the ball.

Despite the Shockers picking up the victory, they did play a rather dismal game and played catch-up most of the game until midway in the third period. Ligers let them have a lot of space to move offensively but Shockers rarely tested the goalie with shots. In the defensive zone, the Shockers looked a little unorganized and the forwards were often standing around with their pants down around their ankles watching the ball instead of helping out the defense. Giancarlo Capaz made some good saves throughout the game despite not looking to be 100% solid and 50% drunk. It was definitely not a monumental game played by the squad but were fortunate enough to score one goal more than the Ligers did.

"To be totally honest, I don't know how we pulled this one off," commented Stevens, "we looked slow and laid-back."

"We feel into their trap and started to play their game," added Jeff Jasmin.

Shockers who fell victim to another slow start quickly went down 2-0 in the first but started to make it respectable by making it 2-1 before the close of the period. In the second, the Shockers and Ligers went pretty much goal for goal and stuck at a deadlock 4-4 until the third where the Shockers woke up and took a two-goal lead. Ligers were desperate and scored a quick one to make it 6-5 late in the frame and then with over 1:30 left in the game, the Ligers put all the pressure on and pulled their goaltender. Despite over-powering the scrambling Shockers, they were not able to score and the game was over before anyone knew it.

A big difference seen by the Shockers was the amount of penalties they received. Only accumulating one penalty (thanks a lot Godard, lol), the Shockers had more opportunities to play full strength or even on the power-play.

Next game is Sunday, May 17th @ 10:30pm against the very powerful Baton Rouge. The Rouge have yet to lose a game this season and have been romping over teams that have gotten in their way. The Shockers will enjoy the likes of Steve Towell and Chris Di Sensi back in their line-up and could really use the extra man-power. Andrew Stevens has been noted to be a healthy scratch and Francois Hamelin has been announced to be day-to-day with Swine Flu-like symptoms after he messed around with under-aged Mexican massage therapists (*cough* hookers *cough*).

It's Millar Time

Final Score (OT)
Shockers 7
Kryptonite 6

With four regulars out and two new faces in the line-up, the Shockers knew that this was going to be somewhat of a challenge against the Kryptonite. Despite Kryptonite being in the cellar most of the season, they have discovered a new found power to rekindle their spirits and actually win 3 in a row, including a nail-biter against the Huskies last week where they held on to win 3-2.

"We knew that we couldn't take them lightly, especially with some of our big guns sitting out, anything could be possible," commented, Steve Diabo, "we really didn't know what to expect of them."

Diabo, who appeared during the warm-up wearing a cape to signify him being Superman (but looked more like a douche-bag version of Zorro) and that he was here to defeat the Kryptonite. No one really got the joke until Diabo pointed it out but it was still a fair attempt of the Big Baller, Shot Caller to try and be funny. Steve, you know we love you, lol.

In the line-up were two new faces, Lee Ferguson and Chris Millar, making their NABHL debuts and also there to fill in the gaps was the smelly anus of Jon Sante and not to be forgotten, the man who coined the term "the Zinger," Andrew Johnson.

"I just hope I'm not going to fall as much this time," said Sante before the start of the game. Sante, notorious for his random diving, sliding and falling really tried to stay up on his feet this time around. We think he succeeded.

The game jumped to a good start when within the first minute of gameplay, Steve Diabo lit the lamp for his 16th of the season from a pass from Ben Ducharme. Kryptonite would scrape their way back into it midway through the period with a quick goal by Daniel Gurman. A good 3 minutes later, the kinky captain, Alain Godard got his wood up...*pause*... on a loose ball and chalked one in to edge the Shockers back up by one. But a minute later, Gurman replied to tie it up and then with just a spit in the barrell left in the period, Gurman struck again to give the Kryptonite the lead.

"Who the heck is that guy?" asked Millar, who was astonished that Gurman just got a hat-trick.

Exit the first period and enter the second. Shockers were scrambling for some sort of gain on investment to tie up the game. Their prayers would be answered at 12:30 when Andrew Stevens would rifle a shot on net, the goaltender, Ryan Eisenberg would bobble it and the momentum of the back-spin took it into the net. Just less than 30 seconds later, Marc "The Claw" Boucher would tee it up off the face-off and smoke it passed Eisenberg who saw nothing of that shot. The chants of "The Claw" were being roared from the Shockers bench, mostly by Jeff Jasmin.

"Osti, ils sont cavs avec ce nom là," chuckled Boucher about being referred to as "The Claw".

Kryptonite were down once again but would catch a break when Stevens went to the box for hooking and then soon after, Millar would join him for Boarding. Shockers on a 5-on-3 penalty kill, Kryptonite knotted up the game as Jesse Applebaum would chip it passed Giancarlo Capaz.

Bring on the third and the Krypt's were smelling blood and looked to be dominating the play in the Shockers' zone. The hard work paid off as Evan Gillman found twine and gave the Kryptonite the lead for the second time this game. Shockers' woke up and started to put on the sandwich press, getting some good opportunities but Eisenberg stood tall. Shockers' then found the magic forumla, Francois Hamelin fired a slapper along the floor and was redirected by Ducharme which fooled Eisenberg and ended up in the net. Shockers' still riding the lightning after that goal and then going on the powerplay, Ducharme would win the faceoff deep in the Kryptonite's zone and Steve "Big Baller, Shot Caller" Diabo teed it up magically finding its way through traffic and past Eisenberg with just 3:00 left in the game. However, Kryptonite battled back and rattled Capaz's cage when Jonas Prupas smashed the orange ball past Capaz with just 1:22 left.

On to the shootouts and I'll let the video do the talking:

Chris Millar making his Shockers' debut gives them the go-ahead in the final round of the shoot-outs and the Shockers take home the 'W' and put themselves in second place in the Rockstar division.

They will play tonight (Wednesday, May 13) against the Ligers @ 6:30pm. It has been rumored that Gary "Green Giant" McDermott will be making him comeback after suffering an injury nearly a month ago. Still out of the line-up are Donald Toohey, Steve Towell and Chris Diabo due to serving suspensions. Chris Di Sensi has been noted as a healthy scratch for tonight's game. Filling in is Jon Sante and Guillaume Côté who will join Steve Diabo to form the second line.

The Ligers are playing sub-500 hockey and are currently tied with Kryptonite for 6th in the Rockstar division. Despite their positioning, the Ligers have never been blown out by teams and keep games rather reasonable. They play a disciplined game and currently have the least amount of penalty minutes in the league, Toohey alone has more minutes than their entire team. WORD!

Shockers Rattled by Referee's

Final Score
Shockers 5
FW 5

We all could have put money down on the table and said that this game would be a heated battle of the titans but what would have been the biggest payoff would have been who would have gambled on this game being the first ever tie game in NABHL history?

Well the fact the game ended in a deadlock is not so much the big deal but it is rather how the game ended that way.

"Fighting," said captain, Alain Godard, in a single word.

The game started off in a favorable start for the FW squad but avoiding any goals to be allowed in that wake up period, Giancarlo Capaz stood tall and kept things together for the Shockers. About midway through the opening frame, the Shockers powerplay unit hit the floor and went to work constantly chipping away at the old block until the right dose of brown rocket was added in the mix and Jeff Jasmin opened up the scoring with a blast from the past. This was Jasmin's first of the season, Donald Toohey and Chris Di Sensi picking up the helpers.

However, penalty trouble would rig the charge for FW's attack and they would reply within two minutes after Jasmin's goal to knot the game at 1.

Second period, hosted a series of events. First off, three back to back goals by the Shockers. Steve Towell with two and Ben Ducharme following up with one of his own. But just 30 seconds after Ducharme's goal, FW plotted the revenge and scored two quick ones.

Late in the second, while FW performed a line change, FW's, Steve Clement speared Toohey and then ran and hid behind his bench which sparked a full-blown tussle. Toohey was ejected from the game and received a five game suspension (1 for slashing to injure, 1 for fighting, 1 for repeated offense, and 2 for trash talking and threats). However, the officals "did not see anything" that Clement did and did not feel that he meritted anymore than a 2 minute penalty.

While short-handed Chris Diabo still managed to score to put it in the faces of FW.

The third period started up with FW still on the powerplay and notched a quick two goals to knot it all up at 5-a-side. Suddenly, during a race for the ball, an FW defensemen crossed paths with Chris Diabo and in turn received a very questionable bump from behind. The defensemen, unable to run properly was semi-crouched and hit his head into the boards. He was okay and shook it off but Diabo was tossed from the game and was given 3 games suspension (2 for hitting from behind and 1 for second offence). The Shockers became frustrated with the officiating and showed in their game play as they were clearly not happy with FW being remotely around their net. A scuffle built up in front of the Shockers net midway through the period where, again, Clement instigated a brawl by cross-checking Steve Diabo in the face and then running away. Nothing was seen by the referees again and in result the game was called due to too much fighting and more suspensions were given out. Steve Towell got two games and Chris Di Sensi got one game on the Shockers side and Steve Clement got a very sad two games along with Brad Cohen would got a single game suspension.

After the game, even though FW's goaltender, Jonathan Epstein, was practically was under the desk of the league officials to have the entire Shockers' club tossed from the league, unfortunately for him the team will stay in the NABHL but he did get his wishes to have several players from the Shockers suspended with minimal damage to his line-up. Good Job Epstein! According to the NABHL, they met on the issues and decided on the final outcomes yet no one could confirm whether they did or not. To make matters worse is the conflict of interest that is occurring throughout the league. The league commissioner, who happened to be the referee that night is also a player on the Huskies, a team that is in competition against the Shockers.

NABHL has not conformed to most league's standards in acquiring certified referees but there are two referees who do not play for other teams and the games have always been referee'd equal. However, they were not present for this game in question.

In the end, the Shockers will have to make due with the following:

Donald Toohey will miss the games against Kryptonite, Ligers, Baton Rouge, Huskies, plus game one of the playoffs.

Chris Diabo will miss the games against Kryptonite, Ligers, and Baton Rouge.

Steve Towell will miss the games against Kryptonite and Ligers.

Chris Di Sensi will miss the game against Kryptonite.

"We're not in bad shape. Yeah, we're missing some big guns out there but we'll manage until our full line-up is back," commented Andrew Stevens.

Next game is on Monday, May 11 @ 9:30pm against Kryptonite.

Game Against Huskies - MOVED!

Please note that instead of the Shockers playing the Huskies on May 20th it will be moved up to May 19th.

Please update your schedules!