Night 1, Shuley Cup 2010: All Finnish vs Strange Brew, 4-1

I've been better -- after months of planning, I decided it was time to unleash and have a good time last night. I am paying for it now.

Game 1:
Pauly's All Finnish team was the tournament enigma -- everyone knew they had solid offense, but the lack of natural defensemen made us wonder how effective they would be. Ron's Strange Brew team has been regarded as being well-rounded and solid, especially with defense.This would be an interesting matchup.

The first period, it seemed that Strange Brew dominated with numerous shots and  a lot of time spent shutting down the All Finnish offense in the neutral zone. Billy Lanzetta played outstanding in net and made some great saves to keep Strange Brew scoreless in the first. At just under 4 minutes into the period, we saw one of our favorites, Roman Chicz, score from a pass by Julian Chu. Readers -- the stands went wild, as did the bench. Even I was shouting Ro-man Chicz! After the initial goal, Strange Brew shut down All Finnish for the rest of the first period.

In the second period, it seemed the puck dropped and boom, All Finnish put up another on the scoreboard. This time Mr. Tony Nichol showed us why he was the #1 draft pick of Shuley Cup 2010. His unassisted goal was a beauty. All Finnish owned the second period and followed up with 2 more goals. Tony scored his second with help from Mike and Roman. This was followed up by a goal from Mike with assists from Roman and Tony. Clearly, this is the scoring line. Mike, you better step up. Roman's got more points than you.

Third period the tides turned, Strange Brew returned to shutting down All Finnish's offense. So many missed opportunities from both sides! Last minute goalie sub, Mark Petro had an amazing save on a breakaway AND the rebound. Crazy! Two minutes into the period, Billy's shutout was no more as Will Lewis (an original Beer o' Clock member) scored a goal with help from Jon Gais and Scott Parkin.

The rest of the period, both goalies stepped up and shutdown the offense from both sides. Despite the 4-1 score, the game was a nail-biter and exciting to watch. Congrats to All Finnish for their first win ever in the Shuley Cup.