What has happened to defending champs Blue? The once proud franchise has now landed in the cellar of the NAHL's eastern conference. Blue ownership had seen enough and on wednesday they fired coach John "Stuffy" Stevenson and temporarily replaced him with assistant coach Tim "The Timinator" Walsh. It wasn't enough to right the Blue ship however as they fell short, losing to long time rival Green 7-6. Green has now won five straight against their crosstown rivals. Joe "Joe" Farrelly was out in LA trying to pull off a deal to bolster the roster for the boys in Blue. Rumors have circulated that he has made a deal with Chrome for defenseman Brian "Tilly" Tillotson who signed a one year deal with Chrome in the off season. Blue had a number of roster changes including inserting flamboyant rookie winger Mookie Watts into the line up. "The Mook Man" did manage to score a goal, but his excessive celebration infuriated management who sent Mookie back to the minors immediately following the game. "That was not what we needed right now", said frustrated interim coach Tim Walsh. Meanwhile everything seems to be going Green's way under first year coach Tom "Thumb" Flanders. After long term coach Gary "Toe" Blake surprised everyone when he announced his retirement, many thought Green would take a step backward. On the contrary, "Thumb" has pushed all the right buttons and Green is firing on all eight cylinders. Green too inserted a rookie in THEIR line up. Phil "The Whistle" Lacasse replaced Dunc "Coach" Walsh who was a healthy scratch. Lacasse showed poise on the blue line for Green and he earned Second Star of the game honors. "He is making a case for himself to stay up in "The Bigs", said teammate Jim "Heathy" Heath. "After getting a taste of life in the NAHL, Lacasse certainly doesn't want to have to go back down to the CCHL", said Thumb Flanders. First Star of the Game went to Kenny "Rebel Without a Rebound" Dean whose timely save of a Tom "Philby" Philbrick close range shot in the waning seconds of the game denied Blue a point and kept Green's winning streak alive. Jack "Jackhammer" Fraiser earned Third Star honors for his solid performance on the blue line for Green. "The Jackhammer" had several assists and more importantly he kept the ever dangerous "Cummy Brothers" in check all game. "We had no time or space out there" said Jim "The Big Cum" Commerford. "Jackhammer" held the Commerfords to just one point apiece and the league's former top two scorers dropped down to fourth and fifth as Green's two "TC's" moved up into the first and second spot in league scoring. Tom "TC" Carroll had a four point night to grab the league lead and Tom "The Other TC" Champagne also had four points which bumped him up to the second spot in the NAHL scoring race. Dan "Lucky" Luker is third. Luker had a beautiful tip-in goal to open the scoring last night.
What's going on with NAHL defenseman lately? The injury bug has bitten hard into the league's defensive core. Out of action this week is George "Dumpin" Chase, Brian Tillotson, Gregg "Moose" Moffet, Joe "Joe" Farrelly, Jeff "Hurricane" Cain, Dave "Motor" Carlson and John "Bigfoot" Reagan. D-men such as Jim "Heathy" Heath, Chris "Brownie" Brown, Ryan "Silky" Brandt and Jack "Jackhammer" Fraiser are being double and triple shifted. Eventually these guys are going to wear down if they don't get some help back on the blue line. Could we see the return of Vic Stanfield? Perhaps we could. Time will tell.
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