|
GAME
RECAP |
|
BULLDOGS |
Centurions |
Date/Time |
Rink |
|
5 |
2 |
06/17/2006 |
JIH |
|
June
20th,
2006-
After a successful April and May, the ‘Bulldogs’ have
hit rock bottom. It had been one month since they won a
game in the JAL and about three weeks since they tasted
victory of any kind (Game 2 of the Denny Pratt
Tournament). That all changed on Saturday night, when
they handed the ‘Centurions’ a 5-2 defeat.
The
lack of practice, a shortage of players, injuries and a
lack of motivation may have contributed. Whatever the
case, the ‘Bulldogs’ went from being a 4-2-1 team to
4-5-1 in the span of several weeks, An unexpected, early
exit in the ‘Denny Pratt Tournament’ even though they
were the favorites in the tournament based on their
victory last year, seemed to compound things.
On this
night however, the ‘Bulldogs’ looked like the club of
old. They fell behind 2-0 early in the first period
before they kicked it into overdrive. They went on to
score five unanswered goals, three by Mike Montague and
one each by Joey F.V. and Sam Karim.
The
story in this game wasn’t the squad’s rally, but rather
their physical play. Perhaps it was frustration, or
finally standing up for themselves. Regardless of the
reason, it was the first time all season that the
‘Bulldogs’ matched their opponents, hit-for-hit. It may
have resulted in a few penalties, but the message was
sent and it contributed to the victory.
“It was
good to win again” said Alex Martinez. “I can’t seem to
pinpoint exactly what caused our slump, but seems as
though we can’t win without Darren [Diamond]. Maybe it’s
because we don’t bond as a team anymore, or because we
don’t go to practice. Either way, we now have practices
setup and many team outings are planned for the summer,
to get these guys to gel a bit better.”
The
‘Bulldogs’ bring their record back to .500 (5-5-1), but
they now sit in fifth place. That puts them very much in
danger of missing the playoffs. They will need to have a
successful July in order to nab the final berth, and it
won’t be easy.
The
Good:
-
Goaltending: Despite giving up two early goals, Alex
shutdown the opponents for the last 2 ½ periods, while
the ‘Bulldogs’ rallied.
-
Physical Play: For the first time this season, the
entire ‘Dogs’ squad took the fight right back to their
opponents, most notably by Joey V., Sam Karim, Brad
Lipinski & Maher Karim.
-
Shots-on-goal: The ‘Dogs’ controlled the puck in the
attacking zone for the majority of the game, taking 46
shots on net. Although many were stopped early, it was
just a matter of time before they started slipping
through.
-
Special Teams: The ‘Dogs’ killed all four of their
penalty kills and scored once on there two power
plays. Joey V. even scored the tie-breaking goal while
the team was short-handed.
The
Bad:
-
Player shortage: The ‘Dogs’ are still having problems
dressing three full lines, and the shortages on
defense are proving to be costly.
The
Ugly:
-
Eric Carr’s Stick: Less than two minutes into the
game, Eric broke his brand new stick, forcing him to
play with one that was too short. As evidenced by
his performance, the usually sure handed, puck
handler had trouble controlling the puck and even
whiffed on a couple of his shots.
-
Rough Housing: The ‘Centurions’ may be short on
talent (and good-looks), but they’re no strangers to
physical play. The tend to bring football, rugby and
WWE wrestling to the ice, just to add a little spice
to their play.
Player of the Game
:
Mike Montague
‘Monty’
nailed the hat trick, taking 31 of the ‘Bulldogs’ 46
shots-on-goal. Was he motivated by having the future
Mrs. Montague sitting in the stands?
Next
up:
‘Bulldogs’ Ghetto Golf Outing Sunday June 25, 2006 at
2:00PM.
|
Scoring |
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
F |
|
Bulldogs |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
|
Centurions |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Bulldogs
Scorers |
Points |
Goals |
Assists |
|
Mike Montague |
3 |
3 |
0 |
|
Joey F.V. |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Sam Karim |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Maher Karim |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Eric Carr |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Frank Lionello |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Penalties |
Minutes |
Notes |
|
Sam Karim |
4:00 |
Tripping |
|
Brad Lipinski |
2:00 |
Tripping |
|
Maher Karim |
2:00 |
Tripping |
