Putting a Stripe Down the Back of Les A's

Final Score
Shockers 3
Les A's 2

After losing the season opener by a mere score of 2-0 against a team that went all the way to the finals during the winter season, the Shockers looked to turn things around for game 2 of the summer season.

Shockers, without the big freight train Jeff Jasmin, had to find a solution to their lack of production from game one and fill in a significant void in the backfield. However, making his season debut was Ben Ducharme as he missed the first game for person affairs.

The ball dropped to start the game and the Shockers found the scoring touch early in the game when Tom Derisseau lit the lamp with a howitzer that beat the opposing goaltender roof-daddy, over the shoulder. Soon after, Danny Ballanzano rifled one passed the A's netminder to go up 2-0, his first of the season.

Les A's battled back and popped one past Giancarlo Capaz on the powerplay to come within one, but the Shockers replied with Frank Derisseau chucking the ball past the masked mass of goalie equipment.

But Les A's, not to be outdone, clicked together and chipped another one home to bring the game back to within one.

The Shockers who were running into some penalty trouble kept playing with more fire when Carlo Varano, as the last man back, got pick-pocketed and Les A's forward went on a break away. Ballanzano, luckily, hopped on his horse and managed to short-side the forward and Capaz made the all-important save to conserve the lead.

The Shockers walked away fairly lucky with that win as they were unable to measure up to Les A's last summer, but Francois Hamelin explains what was the difference maker is this time around: "We're a new team and we have a full roster who WANT to play hockey and are not just here to look good in our new shirts. We've got new faces and the new blood in the team in a big refresher."

Speaking of blood, the Shockers got a scare at the end of the third period when a slight skirmish on the surface resulted in Gab Maltais getting high-sticked to the mug; there was no call on the matter despite Maltais bleeding from above the right eye. He is not expected to miss any games due to that injury.

Shawkers Tie it Up

Final Score
Shockers 5
Hawks 5

You couldn't have asked for a better regular season ending game. Shockers stayed out of the box and actually looked like they played as a team out on the floor.

Despite the game ending in a tie even after shootouts, the buzz in the Shockers' dressing room was more than a victory.

"Everyone was working out there and it paid off. Everyone felt pretty good about what they did out there tonight," commented Andrew Stevens

Shockers leading scorer and the league's most penalized player, Chris Diabo, was in nets filling in for Giancarlo Capaz who was taking a game off before the much anticipated playoffs. Diabo held tough throughout the game and made some huge saves to keep the team in the game. He did not receive any penalty minutes.

The Shockers enjoyed some scoring production from Steve Diabo whose cannon has been rather silent this season as he potted a deuce. Ben Ducharme chalked up a big goal and assist for his season total of 7 points while Chris Millar notched another nick in the bed post for the third game in a row.

The Shockers end their regular season mid-pack in 6th place, just being shifted last minute by La Rapace due to a big difference in the +/- department. The Shockers could have solidified 5th had they beaten the Hawks but a decent season by the Shocker squad nonetheless. The playoffs will start up Tuesday, June 28 @ 7:30pm where the Shockers will take on Les A's. Les A's beat the Shockers 5-1 last time these two teams faced but the Shockers remain optimistic about their chances.

"The team is beatable. It was us who let ourselves get beat last time. If we stay out of the penalty box and play hockey, we can beat any team, any day of the week," commented Stevens.