Sunday, November 13, 2011

Day 2 of Shuley Cup '11 - Game 5

Showdown between team names derived from Captain's and quantum mechanics equations. Gosh.. we are a smart but nerdy bunch. Eisenberg Uncertainty Principal versus Pauly Exclusion Principle. Now some may wonder about the "No Platypus" logo -- I can explain. Years ago when Pauly was on the ice, cheering for just plain "Paul" seemed bland so it morphed into Pauly..and it just wasn't enough.. so I thought a little alliteration would help. Somehow, Pauly Platypus had a nice ring to it, and then it was born. So for those of you wondering about it, it has been explained. Sorry it wasn't more exciting. Okay, back to the game summary.

The pace of the game was fast and furious with back and forth non-stop action. Emma came up with the first save of the game at 8:39 in the first period. At 7:58, Todd Parkin took a 'good penalty' in front of the net when he took down an EUP player. The game was heating up! At 6:00, it was Billy's turn to put up a big save when he had to shutdown powerhouse Bobby Quinn not once but several times, as Bobby chipped away at his own rebound. No goal! At 4:00, Chris Peterson got oh so close when he hit the post. Team Blue (PEP) let out a big "Oh!!!" while EUP cheered happily. It was crazy -- I certainly got caught up in the excitement! Bobby Quinn put his name on the scoresheet when he drew an elbowing penalty at 2:58. Just after EUP finished their power play scoreless, our little friend Eizy decided it was his time to sit in the box. No more triple threat for at least 90 seconds.. or could it be double trouble? At 1:04, the Double Trouble line lit up the red lamp. Tony was credited with goal, Mike with the assist. 1-0 end of the first, EUP. According to my scoresheet this was a shorthanded goal. I've simply lost track at this point in time.

Second period started with Eizy in the box for another 13 seconds. PEP was unable to capitalize and both teams hit even strength. At 6:29 we saw Jonathon Gais finally get payback for his Olympic diving tactics (sorry, had to throw that one in there!) when he was called on a penalty for tripping. I believe it was during this short-handed time that Todd Parkin managed to finagle the puck for a short-handed bid and boy was it close. I believe it was the same penalty, that Bobby on the power play had an amazing breakaway attempt. The only person in his sight was goalie Emma. From out of nowhere, Nick Mantia chased him down and accelerated and made a CLEAN sliding play to take Bobby out of the play. Can we say HIGHLIGHT REEL! Simply amazing!! The action continued until 1:56 when Triple Threat Tony Nichol took matters into his own hands and scored for EUP. On the other side, at a mere 0:37 seconds, Todd Parkin made another "good play" when he drew an interference penalty. The third period would start with PEP a man down, and the score at 2-0 for EUP.

Third period -- both teams had a lot at stake. A win for either team meant a chance at the championship game. PEP successfully killed off the Parkin penalty and the game resumed. Both teams continued to keep the pressure on at both ends, but the Triple Threat was just a little too much. At 9:11, Mike notched his first goal of the game and gave a thank you nod to Eizy for the assist. 3-0 EUP. Not looking too rosy for PEP but 3 goal leads are not insurmountable. As the clock wound down it did seem like Billy would get his first ever Shuley Cup shutout...  PEP kept the boys on EUP busy. Any time a PEP player broke through the blue line, the puck would systematically be hurled out of the zone. At 1:55, Eizy decided it was time to take a rest and he hooked a PEP player. This time, PEP was ready. A combo play from Todd to Gais to Bobby confirmed there would be no shutout, at 0:44 in the third, PEP lit the lamp. The last 44 seconds were energetic. PEP worked hard to break the puck into the zone but sadly, they would not be able to tie it up or win tonight.

Final score, EUP 3-1. The next pair of games would determine the playoff bracket.

p.s. Another tidbit, this showdown was bittersweet for both teams. Team PEP is formerly Eizy's team so I'm sure he had trouble sleeping the night before from having such mixed feelings.. NOT!

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