The Taste of Victory

It was fifty cent beer night at "The Doug" last night. The suds were enjoyed by the rowdy sold-out crowd as they watched Blue taste victory for the second week in a row. Both coaches shortened their benches in order to give their superstars more ice time. "It was obvious that the dead weight was missing and the speed of the game was terrific", said Green's legendary coach Gary "Toe" Blake. We had a number of guys who were sleeping walking through the first few games and I decided to sit some of them in order to send a message. Blue coach John "Stuffy" Stevenson not only sat some players, but, he made them work the concession stand selling beer to the Concord fans. "If you're not going to work on the ice then you might as well work the crowd", he snapped sarcastically. The fans were treated to a contest played at a dizzying pace. Green jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, but Blue had no quit in them and they roared back to tie the score just before the period ended. Both teams traded chances and goals all night long. By the end of the second period the combined shot total was sixty six. Andy "Gump" Doherty and Kenny "Don't Ya Love Em Madly" Bradley were solid at both ends of the rink. Blue had a two goal lead when "Toe" decided to pull "Gump" and put on an extra attacker. Tom "Shemp" Champagne had other ideas and stole the puck, skated up the left side and fed a pass to Jim "The Big Cum" Commerford who banked it into the goal that was guarded by defenseman Greg "Moose" Moffet. With Blue now holding a two goal lead, the Green cage remained empty and this time Green's Mike "The Little Cum" Commerford scored his third goal of the night to pull Green within one with under a minute remaining. Tom "TC" Carroll won the draw at center ice for Blue and sealed the game. The first star of the game went to Joe "Joe" Farrelly who proved his dedication by playing through a concussion although he was obviously hurting. "You see a guy like "Joe" giving it his all after what he went through and it gives you confidence that anything is possible", said teammate Dave "Motor" Carlson. "You could tell that "Joe" wasn't feeling 100% when he came in the locker room, said Brian "Tilly" Tillotson, "but, once he stepped on the ice it was all business. You gotta admire that". The second star went to Tom "Shemp" Champagne who assisted on seven of Blue's eight goals as well a scoring a couple himself. The third star was awarded to Phil "Commish" Stuart who had spent the last few weeks playing down in the Bermuda Triangle League for the Aruba Scuba. "It's good to be back in the NAHL!" he exclaimed. "Commish" found his game and scored the hat trick in a losing effort for Green. The victory for Blue now jumps them up in the standings tied with Mauve for third place. Green fell into second place behind Yellow who beat Teal last night led by James Van Riemsdyk who had the hat trick in only his second game since joining the NAHL. Stevenson had some of his "benched" players stay and work out in the weight room after the arena emptied out. Tom "Philby" Philbrick (pictured) told reporters, " I get the message and you can bet I will be ready to play next week".