New Season, New League, New Rules-Same Old Bulldogs

 

GAME RECAP BULLDOGS THUNDER Date/Time Rink 3 2 09/24/2006 @ 07:15pm IIC, Romeoville, IL

September 26th, 2006- The ‘Bulldogs’ kicked off their inaugural season in the ASHL in fine fashion Sunday night, defeating the ‘Thunder’ 3-2 in a tight game that featured almost thirty penalties. The game was played at the newly built International Ice Centre, a state of the art venue featuring many of the benefits (smooth ice, bigger locker rooms, a fully operational pro shop, just to name a few) that the other leagues just can’t match.

No one said it was going to be easy. Changing leagues and venues are nothing new to the ‘Bulldogs’, but they were not prepared for the new USA Hockey rules. Traditionally, the ‘Dogs’ have always led their league in penalty minutes to go along with the reputation for being the toughest, most physical squad around. The new rules represent the end of their identity as goons.

“This is the end of the world as we know it” said Maher Karim, a notorious rule breaker and goon. “In the end, it evens itself out. It gives our faster players a chance to be more creative without the fear of being molested, and compels enforcers like myself to become real hockey players. It’s going to make cavemen extinct.”

The ‘Dogs’ started the scoring and the penalties early. Joe Koehler rang up a shorthanded wrister after skating past several defenders, on what should have been the extra man advantage for the ‘Thunder’. Mike Montague scored several minutes later on another shorty, to close out the period with a commanding 2-0 lead.

The game looked as though it would be heading towards a blowout, However, every time the ‘Dogs’ built some sort of attack or momentum, it was quickly snuffed by the officials, who were having a grand time blowing their whistle on every type of physical contact or as one player said “anything resembling a menacing glare, or someone sneezing would get you a penalty”.

Midway, through the second period, the ‘Thunder finally put one on the board when they scored a goal in a four-on-four situation. It wasn’t the prettiest goal, but it was enough to get them back into the game. The ‘Bulldogs’ responded several minutes later to score another goal themselves. Koehler scored again, for what ended up being their only power play goal of the evening.

Although the ‘Thunder’ scored again in the third period, and the team lost Jason Darfler to an ejection (for accumulating six penalties), the ‘Dogs’ nonetheless held onto the lead. The ‘Thunder’ had the extra man advantage with less than a minute to go in the game, yet still pulled their goalie for the 6-on-4 advantage. They were unable to score as the defensive unit kept them at bay.

“What a good game from the guys” said Alex Martinez. “If not for the penalties we would have won by a lot more than one goal. A 3-2 win is not a bad way to start the new season.  I did get the indication from the commissioner’s office that they may give us tougher teams for the next couple games. All I can do is tell my guys to be ready; the better teams will have faster skaters so we have to watch the penalties. We have to make sure to keep our shifts short, especially the out of shape bastards on our team.”

The ‘Bulldogs (1-0-0) sit atop the standings in first place after the victory. Although they have 25 more games left this season, don’t expect them to rest their laurels on the first game. The league features some tough teams, several that the club has faced in the past. This will not be an easy ride to the championship.