NAHL Game 6 Recap: Barn Burner

Game 7!

Despite the cold bite in the air the Doug heated up Thursday night as Blue and Green faced off in game 6 of the NAHL Eastern Conference Best of 7 Championship in which Green held a three to two lead going into the game. The teams played fast paced, solid, scoreless hockey for two periods. Blue took the lead early in the third when Dunc "Coach" Walsh lit the lamp on a twisted wrister that beat goalie Ken "Rebel without a Rebound" Dean to the glove side and found the back of the net. Green tied the game midway through the period on a slick passing play at the crease from Dave "The Younger Tilly" Tillotson to Todd "Philby" Philbrick that beat goalie Ken "Don't Ya Love Em Madly" Bradley for the tap in. Later in the period Walsh knocked the puck over the goal line in a tight scramble in front of the Green net that put Blue in front 2-1 for his second goal of the game. Both goalies were sharp throughout the game and Ken "Don't Ya Love Em Madly" Bradley was tested often as Green tried desperately to tie the game.

Game 7 will be played next Thursday at 9:30 PM at the Doug. Tickets will be on sale at the Doug Box Office beginning Monday morning. League officials feel the game will be sold out by noon!

In the NAHL Western Conference Championship Magenta tied the Best of Three series at one with a 5-4 victory over Copper. 

Bruins Make Minor Additions as CCHL Approaches Postseason

Peter Chiarelli discussing how difficult his job is.

The trade deadline has come and gone and much like the CCHL deadline the NHL deadline passed with no major blockbusters happening. The Bruins sent two second round picks to Tampa Bay for Brett Connolly, a once highly touted prospect who has had a rough start to his young career. Many in the know consider this a savvy move by Chiarelli as their long successful track record of developing young offensive talent seems to speak for itself. In the CCHL there was only one minor deal to report as BWW severed ties with their recently signed prospect Kevin "Buckets" Marceau. There was no comment from BWW's Travis "Gang Bang" Banga on why the sudden change of heart, but Cheers Captain Tim "Timinator" Walsh wasted no time in locking up the young talented swingman. "I think he's got a great future in this league ahead of him," Walsh stated. "He's grown up his whole life waiting for this opportunity and honestly we were shocked when he became available, I think they may have given up on the kid too soon."

Week 20 in the CCHL turned out to be a preview of things to come as the playoff pairings have now been set and the sure to be packed crowd should be in for quite a treat. In game number one it was Cimo's breaking away from Windmill en route to a 7-6 victory to lock up the #3 seed in the playoffs and will face #2 Windmill. Pat "Patty Boi" LaCasse paced the Cimo's offense with a pair of goals and Mick "The Prick" Mounsey's howitzer from the point late in the action proved to be the game winner. Windmill was led by Mike "Tricky Dick" Richard's pair of goals and now trails Corey "Corey" Laroche by 10 goals for the scoring title.

Game number two saw BWW pull away from Cheers for a 7-4 victory. Corey "The Other Corey" Cotnoir scored the games first and last goals and Dillon Emerson also added a pair for the victors. Cheers received goals from four different players including the Timinator and former BWW prospect and newly signed Cheers forward "Buckets" Marceau.

With one week remaining and the top four seeds in the playoffs locked up it will be interesting to see how the GM's approach the final week of the season and whether they choose to rest their star players to avoid injury or push forward and look to avoid rust.

Standings
                    W-L-T     Pts      GF    GA    GD
BWW          16-3-1      33      153    96    +57
Windmill     10-9-1      21      113   111    +2
Cimo's         7-13-0      14       94    136    -42
Cheers         5-13-2      12       89    105    -16


Scoring Leaders

Laroche        53
Richard        43
Walsh           42
Williamson   31
Cotnoir         25
Faretra          23
Arsenault     17
Pat Lacasse  17
J. Mullen      16

Rock and Roll

The Doug was rocking Thursday night as Game 5 of the NAHL Eastern Conference Championships between Blue and Green turned out to be a tight heated affair. Sticks and bodies were flying in and out of the rink. In a close tight checking game Green edged Blue 8-7 on a late goal by Jim "Taz" Heath. Heath took a pass inside the Blue end and fired a rocket that Ken "Don't Ya Love Em Madly" Bradley blocked with his pad, but lost control and the always quick Heath jumped on the rebound to knock in the game winner. Bradley made many great saves for Blue throughout the game. Green called up Sean “F350” Ford from Concord PD to keep the puck out of the net and he proved to be “Ford Tough” in gaining the win. Green got goals from  Clint "Eastwood" Cassavaugh(2), Dave "The Younger Tilly" Tillotson (2), Andy "BTO" Bachman (2) and Jeff "Hurricane" Cain (1). Blue scorers were Mike "Little Cum" Commerford (4), Tom "TC" Carroll (2) and Tom "Shemp" Champagne (1).

In Game 1 of the NAHL Western Conference Championships Copper took a 1 game lead as they defeated Magenta 6-5 in their Best of Three series.

The Siberian Express

Trans-Siberian Express

It may have been extremely frigid and windy outside the Doug on Thursday night, but the action inside was hot and heavy. Blue jumped out to a very early lead and cruised to a 8-4 victory to even the NAHL Eastern Conference Final series with Green at 2 wins apiece. Blue got timely goals from Clint "Eastwood" Cassavaugh (2), Andy "BTO" Bachman (2), Tom "TC" Carroll (2), Jim "Big Cum" Commerford (1) and Joe "Joe" Farrelly with a beauty from the slot to seal the deal. Ken "Rebel without a Rebound" Dean was steady in goal preserving Blue’s big win.

Green got single goals from Chris "Brownie" Brown, Jim "Taz" Heath, Mike "Little Cum" Commerford and George "Dumpin" Chase.

In the NAHL Western Conference final Copper took a 1 game lead over Magenta with a 5-3 win.

Popped Groins & CCHL Plays Full Slate!

Re-enactment of Simpson's groin pop.

For the first time in four weeks the CCHL returned to the ice for a full slate of games. The New England weather finally cooperated as all four squads were able to lace them up this week although not all players were in attendance. Cimo's goaltender Ryan "Homer" Simpson re-aggravated a wonky groin playing against the Bruins alumni team in a charity event and has been shutdown for the remainder of the season. Simpson's status for next season has yet to be determined by team officials although many sources believe this could be career threatening. In his place will be late season call up Andrew Proulx who made a name for himself last season filling in for Cheers goaltender Mark Crowley and backstopping the Cheers squad all the way to the finals. Cimo's will be looking for a similar run from the young, but experienced net minder.

That being said when this weeks slate of games began it was a debut to forget for Proulx as BWW hammered Cimo's by a score of 20-5. Corey "Corey" Laroche scored a league wide season high nine goals in the win as Corey "The Other Corey" Cotnoir added four with Jack "The Ripper" Mullen netting a hat trick. Both squads seemed to be shorthanded with Cimo's having 7 skaters to BWW's 8 which proved to be the difference in the blowout. In Tuesday's tilt it was a different story with Windmill squeaking by Cheers by a score of 3-2. Mike "Tricky Dick" Richard potted a pair for the 'Mill with Phil "The Whistle" Lacasse netting one as well. Cheers received goals from Captain Tim "Timinator" Walsh and JP Edes while Mark Crowley made many highlight reel saves between the pipes.

               Standings
                    W      L      T      PTS
BWW         13       3       1      27
Windmill      10      7        1      21
Cimo's          6      11       0      12
Cheers         4       12      2       10

*BWW Vs Cimo's Make up game re-scheduled for Friday, March 6th 9:45pm

Scoring Leaders
Laroche       51
Richard       38
Walsh          37
Williamson   30
Faretra        22
Cotnoir        22
Arsenault     17
J. Mullen     15

NAHL Playoffs/Blue Gets First Win!

Sean "F-350" Ford

Blue jumped all over Green last night at the Doug to earn its first win of the 2015 Playoffs 9-5. Blue brought up goalie Sean “F350” Ford from the Concord PD club team and they were not disappointed in the young goalie’s performance. Ford played his angles well and got some big help from the goal pipes to hold off a late game Green surge. Blue was led by Tom "Philby" Philbrick with 3 goals, Tom "TC" Carroll with 2 and Dan "Too Late" Earley with 2 one timers at Ken "Rebel without a Rebound" Dean’s crease.

Green leads the series 2 games to 1. Game 4 next Thursday.

In other NAHL action Copper swept Clear and Magenta swept Mauve to win their Western Conference series. Next week Copper takes on Magenta in the best of three Western Final.

CCHL Battles the Elements While NAHL Rolls into Postseason

CCHL looking to offset costs by selling snow next season.

The CCHL has been battling the elements the past few weeks as last weeks games were both postponed and this week's Monday game was also pushed back. Tuesday's tilt between BWW and Windmill was played as scheduled although the Mill may have missed the memo as BWW stormed out to a 6-0 early in the contest. Windmill was able to close the gap, but ultimately feel to BWW by a 10-6 final. BWW Captain Travis "Gang Bang" Banga had a season high four goals to lead the way for BWW as Phil "Bench Minor" Lacasse and Gavin "You Betcha" Faretra each tallied a pair for the 'Mill. Cheers and Windmill will make up their previously postponed game tonight in prime time at the Doug.

In NAHL action the Alberta Clipper showed up at the “Doug” late Thursday afternoon and was mean enough to keep a large number of NAHL fans from leaving their warm homes to see game 1 of the playoffs between Blue and Green. The brave souls that did attend the game warmed up quickly as both teams lit the lamp early and often on the way to a Green 13-9 victory over Blue. Green Coach Tom "Painch" Painchaud moved his steady stay at home defenseman Jeff "Hurricane" Cain up to center the first line and the move paid instant dividends as Cain lit the lamp for 4 goals on the night. Jim "Big Cum" Commerford and Jim "Taz" Heath both added three 3 goals. Clint "Eastwood" Cassavaugh added 2 goals, but more importantly assisted on 8. Green was forced to bring up goaltender Zac “Gotcha” Guercia from the Manchester Monarchs to fill in for the ailing Ken "Rebel without a Rebound" Dean. Gerche didn’t disappoint as he made several key saves in preserving the Green lead. Blue scorers were led by Mike "Little Cum" Commerford with 3 goals and 30 shots on net, Todd "Philby" Philbrick with 3 and Andy "BTO" Bachman added 2.

In the NAHL Western playoffs Copper jumped on Clear 6-2 and Magenta slipped by Mauve 5-3.