RINK DAWGS!!!……You Knooow!!!

March 09, 2009 – Game Recap

Rink Dawgs – 6    Venom – 0

The game was in jeopardy of even being played last night, as the Venom had some difficulty fielding enough players to start the game.  Luckily for them a 6th man showed up just before the opening face-off and then a 7th & 8th player came to round up their roster.  Due to technical difficulties with the scoreboard, the teams were notified that they would be playing 3 x 20 minute running time periods instead of the usual 3 x 15 minute stop time.

The Rink Dawgs, who themselves had 3 lines and 4 defencemen, looked to jump early and often on the undermanned opposition.  To their credit, the Venom played a very patient and controlled first period.  They managed to burn lots of time off the clock by ragging the ball and passing it back and forth between defencemen, forcing the Rink Dawgs to chase.  It took nearly 15 minutes for the Dawgs to finally get on the board, when Joe Lucas converted a pass from Bill “Big Red” Stewart.  The first period was a close one, with Joe’s goal the only one for either team and the shots were 15-8 in favor of the Dawgs.

Midway through the second period, you could see that lack of players for the Venom starting to take its toll on them.  The Rink Dawgs began to figure out that they needed to pressure the player with the ball to start creating turnovers.  At the 10:56 mark David Silva who has been on a hot streak as of late (5G & 6A in the last 3 games)put one in, with assists going to Joe Lucas & Donny Lagos.  Five minutes later #99 would strike again after Antonio Geraci and Bruce Tiam-Fook were able to send David in on a 2 on 1 and making no mistake he roofs one top shelf. The fourth goal came one minute later when Donny “Kaberle” Lagos who had been told on many occasions to shoot the ball, finally rips one from the high slot sailing over the goalie off the back glass and knocking it off the goalies ass and into the net.

Now in total control of the game, the Dawgs continued to pour shots on goal.  If it wasn’t for the Venom goalie the score would have gotten out of hand.  Less than five minutes into third, Ted Kolkas scored his 4th goal of the season on a feed from Tony Rowe and Donny Lagos.  The scoring was rounded up on a goal from Bruce Tiam-Fook with the assists going to Joe and David, that line really stepped up combining for 10 points in the game.  Eddie Mirzadeh wasn’t too busy in goal, but stopped everything that came his way to earn his first career shutout as a member of the Rink Dawgs.

The game was called to an end early by the Venom, I guess they figured it was too far out of reach and their guys surely must have been exhausted at that point.  For the Rink Dawgs it was a valuable 2.5 points (1/2 point for being penalty free) in the battle for second place, as it looks the the Durham Dirty Shwas will have first place overall locked up.  The Dawgs will look to finish up strong in their 2 remaining regular season games, next Wednesday March 17th @ 8:00pm and the following Wed. March 24th @ 9:15pm.

Game Stats:

Shots: Rink Dawgs 39  -  Venom 17
Powerplay: none
Penaltykill: none

Player(s) of the Game:

David Silva  2G 2A
Bruce Tiam-Fook, Joe Lucas & Donny Lagos each with  1G 2A
Eddie Mirzadeh  17 saves for the shutout

March 03, 2010 – Game Recap

Rink Dawgs – 4    Team Sleazy – 4

The Rink Dawgs came out like gangbusters, peppering the opposing goalie with a flurry of shots.  They had a ton of good scoring chances, but it took almost 10 minutes before they got on the board.  At the 5:35 mark Antonio Geraci redirected a shot from Martin Vieira, with the other assist going to Tony Rowe. Then 2 1/2 minutes after opening the scoring, the Rink Dawgs struck again.  When Joe Lucas converted a passing play from David Silva & Tommy Kolkas.  The first period ended 2-0 in favor of the Dawgs, with the shot totals also on their side 13-5.

Maybe a little too confident that they could continue to carry the play to start the second period, the Rink Dawgs slowly allowed Team Sleazy to build some momentum of their own.  Sleazy got on the board at the 11:30 mark of the period, with a bit of a lucky goal.  When on a shot from the point,  Rink Dawg defenceman Navin Persaud had it go off his stick and passed third string goalie Gino Caputo.

Gino was filling in for the ailing Eddie Mirzadeh and did a real good job, especially in the first 2 periods stopping 14  of 15 shots.  His steady goaltending allowed  the Dawgs to play with the lead, problem was they started to turn the ball over too much in the neutral zone.  They seemed to correct that problem with just over 4 minutes to go, when from his own zone Tony Rowe riffled a pass up the left side boards hitting David Silva in stride, and following up David was Carm DiLuciano, how took the pass and made a beautiful move to split the defence and while going down slid the pass across to Joe Lucas who made no mistake for his second goal of the game.

The final period was all Team Sleazy, who outshot the Dawgs 15-8 and managed to score 3 goals in a span just over 3 minutes.  The first was a powerplay goal, an area that the Dawgs have been struggling with allowing 5 goals on their last 7 opportunities.  Just over 2 minutes after that goal they managed to tie the game 3-3, when on some miscommunication between Gino, Tony & Carm lead to a turnover that they converted.  Sleazy took the lead only 55 seconds later, when on a delayed penalty against the Dawgs, Tommy Kolkas stopped playing for a moment as he was upset with the call, this allowed #83 of Team Sleazy to squeeze a shot top corner over Gino’s glove.

Down but not out, the Rink Dawgs were desperate to turn up the pressure.  The rest of the game the play was in Team Sleazy’s zone, with the goalie pulled the Dawgs managed to get a face-off deep in their opponent’s end.  Calling a time-out to set-up a play, the Dawgs managed to tie the game with only 1:07 left to play.  Some hard work on the boards by Ted Kolkas paid off when he  stepped towards the goal and ripped a shot low passed the goalie.

The game began to get real chippy and then #16 from Sleazy jumped in as the 3rd man on a skirmish between Rink Dawg Andrew Lazaridis and another player.  This got everyone on the floor involved, with all the Dawgs trying to get at #16.  No players dropped their gloves but anticipating the worst the Referees ended the game with 28 seconds to go, thus ending the game 4-4.

All in all the Rink Dawgs played a good disciplined game, it looked like they began to run out of gas midway through the 3rd period but managed to fight back to earn a valuable point in the standings.  With only 3 games left to play in the regular season, they need to work on their penaltykilling and cut back on turnovers in their own end and neutral zone.

Game Stats:

Shots: Rink Dawgs  28 – Team Sleazy 28
Powerplay: 1 for 1
Penaltykill: 2 for 3

Player(s) of the Game:

David Silva  3A
Joe Lucas 2G
Tommy Kolkas 2A
Gino Caputo 22 saves

March 01, 2010 – Game Recap

Dickson Sider – 7  Rink Dawgs – 5

Going into the game we knew it was going to be a tough, despite the record
of the opponent Dickson Sider who had lost 5 straight games and had scored
only 12 goals to date.  With two lines, a spare forward and only four
defensemen, we had our work cut out for us.  44 Seconds into the first, the
Rink Dawgs scored a quick goal, courtesy of Tommy Kolkas.  The lead however
was short lived, as the opposition score a lucky goal 16 seconds later of a
dump in that was pushed to the corner and then was banked in off the side
of the net and the back leg of Eddie.  At the end of the 1st period, the
score was 2-2, with the Dawgs trailing in SOG 10-7.

Going into the second period, the Dawgs were feeling pretty good, but the
game quickly got away from us, starting with a quick goal against only 52
seconds into the period.  The goal was scored while the Dawgs were killing
a double minor.  “Agent 0″ as he will be referred to going forward in this
writeup (#0 of Dickson Sider) was doing his best Sean Avery impression all
night long, even informing the Dawgs that “..I’ve been in jail, do you know
what that means?…” That comment and the continued banter in the penalty
box led the Dawgs to guess as to what and why Agent 0 was incarcerated. As
the period progressed, the fatigue was starting to set in on the Dawgs and
the score started to show it.  Giving up a total of 4 more goals in the
period on 13 shots, the Dawgs were down 6-3 until a late goal by Andrew
Lazaridis made it 6-4.  That goal put some “jump” back into the legs of the
Dawgs and would set up the game for an exciting third period.

The momentum carried into the third period, very quickly I might add, with
Dave Silva ripping a deflected shot top right corner past the Dickson Sider
goalie in the first 49 seconds of the third, making it a 6-5 game and
quietly recording a Hat Trick.  With a whole period to go, the Dickson
Sider team started to play an ultra-conservative style of game, clogging up
the neutral zone with little to no fore-check.  The Dawgs had a few
brilliant chances to tie the game up, a but a few posts or key saves by the
Dickson Sider goalie (who was brilliant in the first meeting between these
two teams despite giving up 5 goals on that night) kept the score at 6-5.
Big thanks to Eddie who made a few key saves in the third, including a
clear breakaway stop, to keep it a one goal game.  In the end however, with
the goalie pulled, the Dawgs were unable to get the tying goal, succumbing
7-5 with the 7th goal coming on an empty net tally with 1 second remaining
on the clock.

Despite the loss, the Dawgs should be proud of the fact that they didn’t
give up, fought back and made a game of it right until the end.  This was
the 1st of 2 games in 3 days, with the next game slated for Wed Mar 3rd at
9:15pm against Team Sleazy, who we played 1 month ago and tied 2-2.

Game Stats:

Shots: Dickson Sider 32  -  Rink Dawgs 27
Powerplay: 0 for 3
Penaltykill: 0 for 2

Player(s) of the Game:

David Silva  3G 1A
Andrew Lazaridis  1G  2A
Bill Stewart  2A

A big thank you to Navin Persaud for the write up.

Even though you technically are suppose to celebrate your birthday in a leap year, the Dawgs would like to wish you all the best anyway.

Cheers!!

Captain Bruce Tiam-Fook, is in Europe and then Africa working on sponsorship deals for the team.  He says, “Congrats on the win boys and good luck next week!!”.

February 23, 2010 – Game Recap

Rink Dawgs – 6  Generals – 3

The Rink Dawgs came out fast and furious to start the game and showed no signs of letting up.  They opened the scoring at the 12:33 mark of the period with some pretty passing from Ted Kolkas and Antonio Geraci, who sent in Jamie Farrow on a breakaway and made no mistake.  The Generals were able to capitalize on a 4 minute powerplay, when Martin Vieira accidentally clipped one of their players in the face.  The Dawgs had managed to kill 3 1/2 minutes of the penalty, but with some tired bodies out there the Generals finally put one passed Eddie Mirzadeh.

Feeling good about their efforts on the long penalty kill, the Dawgs responded very well just 2 minutes later.  When on some aggressive forechecking by Jamie Farrow & Carm Diluciano, they were able to set up Mark Krupa for a one-timer giving Mark his first goal of the season.  Shortly after that goal, Donny “Kaberle” Lagos got into the action with a soft finish on a nice pass by Joe Lucas.  At the end of the first the shots were 9-5 in favor of the Generals, showing the Rink Dawgs shooting efficiency (3G on 5 shots) and excellent goaltending by Eddie (8 saves).

Carrying that momentum into the second period, the Dawgs came out fast again (just 21 seconds into it). Once again it was Jamie Farrow getting on the score sheet after receiving a nice pass from behind the net by Joe, Jamie got just enough composite on the ball to barely squeeze it through the goalie’s five hole.  At the 10:00 minute mark, it was Ted Kolkas’ turn to join in on the scoring.  On a good play at the point by Navin Persaud to keep the play in the offensive zone, the ball found Donny who in turn laid a perfect pass to Ted in the slot where he ripped a wrist shot high glove side. Just 31 seconds after that, new addition Todd Lindstrom scores in his first goal in his first career game as a Rink Dawg.

Needless to say with a 6-1 lead going into the final period, the Rink Dawgs felt very comfortably with their lead. After an early powerplay goal by the Generals, they could not muster up enough offense until late in the game.  Where on another powerplay (the 3rd penalty in the final 2 1/2 minutes), this one giving them a 5 on 3 advantage, the generals scored their third and final goal of the game.

All in all the Rink Dawgs have to be happy with their effort, they managed to score more goals than their previous 3 games combined and they continue to lead the league in giving up the least goals against (just 10 in 5 games).  They still need to find a way to stay out of the penalty box and improve on their penalty killing.

Game Stats:

Shots: Generals  24 – Rink Dawgs  16
Powerplay: 0 for 2
Penaltykill: 2 for 5

Player(s) of the Game:

Jamie Farrow  2G  2A 4PIM
Ted Kolkas  1G  2A
Donny Lagos, Joe Lucas & Carm DiLuciano each with 2 points.
Eddie Mirzadeh  21 saves

Great all around effort by the whole team, considering they were short 4 men.

February 17, 2010 – Game Recap

Rink Dawgs – 1   Dirty Shwas – 1

For the fourth consecutive game in a row, the shot total for the Rink Dawgs have been on the decline.  It didn’t help that they had to kill 4 straight penalties within a 10 minute span of that opening frame.  With some great goaltending by Eddie Mirzadeh and some desperate penaltykilling, the Dawgs were able to go perfect on the PK in the first.  Despite all that time in the box, the Rink Dawgs were able to get the first and only goal of the period.

At the 3:32 mark of that opening period and on one of only a few 5 on 5 opportunities, the Rink Dawgs capitalized.  With some good pressure in the Shwas zone, Andrew Lazaridis found David Silva at the point and with a big wind up, David managed to nail one off of Bruce Tiam-Fook’s ass which redirected into the goal.  It was a tough way to get his first of the season, but I am sure Bruce will take it.

It certainly wasn’t the first time he has been hit by a point shot, but one of the few times something good came out of it.  Sometimes you need to get ugly goals to get into or even win hockey games.  It seems like so far this season though, the Rink Dawgs are trying to hard to make the perfect pass or pretty play.  That need to get back to the basics, putting shots on goal and getting bodies in front of the net.

The 1-0 lead lasted until late in the second period, where with only 0:24 left on the clock and on yet another powerplay, the Dirty Shwas finally put one passed Eddie.  The onslaught of shots continued in the 3rd period and Eddie had to make save after save.  In the final 2 periods the shots were 29-11 in favor of the Shwas, needless to say the Dawgs were fortunate to escape with a point.

Game Stats:

Shots: Dirty Shwas  36 -  Rink Dawgs 16
Powerplay: 0 for 2
Penaltykill: 5 for 6

Player(s) of the Game:

Eddie Mirzadeh  35 saves
Bruce Tiam-Fook  1G
David Silva & Andrew Lazaridis each with an assist.

Notable mention goes to Carm DiLuciano who won most of his face-offs and linemate Ted Kolkas along with the rest of the PK unit who did a great job all night.

February 09, 2010 – Game Recap

Venom -3   Rink Dawgs – 2

Once again the Rink Dawgs came out with lots of energy and constant pressure to start the game.  It has been a trend this year so far, where the Dawgs outshoot & outchance their opponents in the first period.  Last night was no exception with the shots 11-4 in favor of the Dawgs and scoring chances at least 8-2, but once again they were only able to muster up 1 goal.  The goal came at the 10:38 mark of the period, when after some hard work from the re-united “E” line.  Antonio Geraci sent the ball up to the point where Bill “Big Red” Stewart let go a prefect shot that was tipped by Jamie Farrow for his 1st tally of the season.

Early in the second frame the “E” line was at it again, with some aggressive forchecking that earned them a face-off  deep in the offensive zone.   On the draw, Centreman Tommy Kolkas pulled it straight back to Antonio Geraci who made no mistake ripping one top shelf blocker side.  The goal gave the Rink Dawgs a 2-0 lead and what looked like a stranglehold on the game.

At the 4:48 mark of the 2nd, Ted Kolkas was called for a questionable interference penalty.  Thus giving the Venom a chance to cut into the lead and they capitalized with just 29 seconds left in the penalty.  That seemed to boost the Venom and they carried the momentum into third.

The final period did not start well for the Dawgs as the Venom scored an odd goal just 26 seconds into it.  On what seemed to be a chance for an odd man rush, Seb Geraci from the Rink Dawgs just missed Carm DiLuciano with a pass that would have sprung a 2 on 1, but instead the Venom turned right around and streaking down the right side #22 was able to poke it by a diving Nick Turcaloro into net.

That goal took the wind out of the sails for the Dawgs and for the rest of the game it seemed like they could not create good scoring chances.  In fact for the first time this season, the Dawgs were outshot in a period 7-5.  It didn’t help that Martin Vieira took a penalty at the 7:58 mark and out of frustration Carm DiLuciano riffled the ball  into the corner and was given an unsportsmanlike penalty.  The Rink Dawgs killed the 5 on 3 powerplay, but may have exhausted their energy doing so.  With only 3:44 to go in the game #29 of the Venom Brandon Lyons was left all alone at the side of the goal and with Nick having no chance, he made no mistake giving the Venom the lead.

The Dawgs pulled the goalie with just under 2 minutes to play but really could not generate anything, thus losing their first game of the season 3-2.  It seems like when the Rink Dawgs have their foot on the throat of their opponent, they let up just a bit.  In preparation for the summer season they will need to develop that killer instinct and put teams away.

Game Stats:

Shots: Rink Dawgs  28  -  Venom  18
Powerplay: 0 for 3
Penaltykill: 3 for 4

Player(s) of the Game:

Antonio Geraci  1G  1A
Jamie Farrow  1G
Tommy Kolkas and Bill Stewart each with an assist.

Special mention to Mark Krupa & Ted Kolkas who forechecked very well all game.

Click here to check out the pics

February 04, 2010 – Game Recap

Rink Dawgs – 2   Team Sleazy – 2

Game# 2 of season, played out a little as expected.  Both teams came out a bit sluggish, their passes were not crisp, shots missed the net and not a lot of good scoring chances.  The first period ended with no scoring and the shots were only 8-5 in favor of the Rink Dawgs.

The second period was a much better frame than the first, with both goalies seeing more action.  Nick Turcaloro of the Rink Dawgs had to make the more difficult saves than his counterpart, having to deal with lots of traffic in front of his net and lots of shots in tight.  Without his stellar goaltending, Team Sleazy could have easily taken control of the game.

At the 11:00 minute mark of the second the Rink Dawgs were given a powerplay opportunity and they made good on it.  After getting ball control in their zone, Tony Rowe and Carm DiLuciano worked the right side boards perfectly. As result Ted Kolkas cashed in on a great feed from Tony to open the scoring at the 9:31 mark of the period.

The Dawgs continued to press and at 7:24 were rewarded again.  With some aggressive forechecking the line of Tom Kolkas, Bruce Tiam-Fook & Carm DiLuciano were able to pin Team Sleazy in their own zone. Tom passed it around behind the net to Bruce how in turn fed a beautiful soft pass to Carm for the Iafrate like one-timer.  Team Sleazy were able to get one before the end of the second to make it 2-1 going into the intermission.

In the final period, the teams continued to trade chances and increase their shot totals.  The Dawgs were not able to put one past the netminder, despite of the many scoring chances right from the slot area.  They were also not able to capitalize on a powerplay chance, were as Team Sleazy did.  With just over 4 minutes to play, Bill Stewart was called for a questionable tripping penalty.  The Dawgs found themselves scrambling around in their zone and not able to clear the ball with a number chances to do so, ultimately leading to the game tying powerplay goal.

All in all it was an entertaining game and probably ended was it should have, in a tie.  I am sure though if you asked each team, they would tell you they were deserving of the win.

Game Stats:

Shots: Rink Dawgs  31 – Team Sleazy 26
Powerplay: 1 for 2
Penaltykill: 1 for 2

Player(s) of the Game:

Nick Turcaloro  24 saves
Carm DiLuciano  1G 1 A
Ted Kolkas 1 PPG

Bruce Tiam-Fook, Tony Rowe and Tom Kolkas each with an assist.