RINK DAWGS!!!……You Knooow!!!

Playoff Game# 1

March 29th, 2010 – Game Recap

Rink Dawgs – 8   Venom – 0

Heading into the single elimination game last night, the teams had split the season series 1 a piece.  The first game was a tightly contested 3-2 win for the Venom, who had to think they could carry that effort over to the second game between the teams.  That was not the case, as the Dawgs pounded them 6-0 and put 39 shots on goal.  So you really didn’t know how this game was going to end up and through the first period it was hard still hard to tell.

The Venom who had 12 men dressed for the game, a far cry from the 7 or 8 they had in their last meeting, had decided to play a defensive period.  It didn’t help that Rink Dawgs mounted continued pressure all period long, directing 15 shots on goal to only 5 from the Venom.  Every chance Venom had they would ice the ball and rely on their goaltender to come up big saves, which he did for almost the entire frame.  The Dawgs finally broke his armor with 37 seconds left to play, when Joe Lucas cashed in on a pass from Martin Vieira to make it 1-0.

The second started out pretty much the same way, with the Dawgs buzzing around the offensive zone and earning themselves a powerplay at the 12:18 mark.  They would make good on it when Tom Kolkas, parked behind the net found Joe Lucas once again alone in front to tap it home.  That goal seemed to spark the Dawgs and they could smell the blood. They would go on to score 3 more times in less than a 4 minute span, goals by Andrew Lazaridis and the Kolkas brothers Ted & Tom would give the Dawgs a commanding 5-0 lead heading into the third.

Needless to say the final period was the icing on the cake, with 3 more goals in another 4 minute span.  Andrew Lazaridis scored his 2nd of the game with a pass from Ted Kolkas.  The pair teamed up again giving Andrew the hat-trick, which showed the shortage of fans in attendance as no hats were thrown on the floor.  Mark Krupa rounded out the scoring with 4:53 to go and the game was called shortly after that.

With back to back great efforts by these Dawgs, you would have to make them the favorites in their second round playoff match-up against the 2nd placed Team Sleazy.  The game will be played at the usual location Stephen Leacock Arena on Wednesday April 7th @ 10:30pm.

Game Stats:

Shots: Rink Dawgs  31  -  Venom  12
Powerplay: 1 for 2
Penaltykill: 2 for 2

Player(s) of the Game:

Andrew Lazaridis  3G
Ted Kolkas  1G  2 A
Joe Lucas 2G
Eddie Mirzadeh  12 saves

Tom Kolkas & Jamie Farrow each with 2 points

Playoff schedule is as follows:

Game#1 – Mon, March 29 – 9:15pm
Game#2 – Wed, April 07 – 10:30pm
Game#3 – Tues, April 13 – 9:00pm
Game#4 – Tues, April 20 – 10:30pm
Game#5 – Wed, April 28 – 9:00pm

Offensive MVP for the regular season goes to David Silva who lead the team in Points (14), Assists (9), tied in Goals with Ted Kolkas (5) and second with (5) MCP.  Co-winners for the Defensive MVP go to Donny Lagos (9GP, 2G, 5A, 7PTS) and Eddie Mirzadeh (7GP, 2.14GAA, 1SO, .913 SV%, 6MCP).

March 24, 2010 – Game Recap

Rink Dawgs – 8  Durham Dirty Shwas – 1

The last game of the regular season didn’t start the way the Rink Dawgs anticipated, but it surely ended in convincing fashion. Durham opened the scoring at the 8:55 mark with a bit of a soft goal, when on a 1 on 3 the Shwa player threw a shot on goal that got by Eddie Mirzadeh.  It took nearly the rest of the period before the Dawgs eventually tied it up. With only 48 seconds to go and a face-off deep in the offensive zone, Tom Kolkas won the draw back to Bill “Big Red” Stewart who fed a one-timer to Martin Vieira who blasted it through a screen set by Carm DiLuciano to get his first of the season.  The period ended as even as it could have, the score 1-1 and the shots 8-7 for the Dawgs.

As the second period began, the Rink Dawgs started to really take the play to the first place Shwas.  They managed to score the only 3 goals of the frame all with in a 7 1/2 minute span.  The first of the goals that period was by Joe Lucas, who pounced on a rebound after a heavy shot  from the point by Antonio Geraci (who was filling in on defence for the injured Navin Persaud). Ted Kolkas made it 3-0 after knocking down a clearing attempt and stepping into one, ripping it past the screening Carm DiLuciano again and off the post high glove side. The final goal of the period was a powerplay tally by the “Ninja line”, Mark Krupa put it behind the net to Tom Kolkas, who sent it out in front to  Jamie Farrow who made no mistake.

With a commanding lead heading into the final period, the Rink Dawgs showed no signs of letting up.  It took only 46 seconds for Martin Vieira to score his second of the game and season, with assists going to Mark Krupa & Jamie Farrow.  It then took only 1 minute and 10 seconds for Captain Bruce Tiam-Fook to get in on the action with a nifty fake pass back to the point and quick release beating the goalie low stick side, David “better late than never” Silva & Donny Lagos assisting on the goal.  Less than a minute later it was Carm DiLuciano’s turn to get on the score sheet with a shot to a familiar spot, high glove side. Mark Krupa rounded out the scoring with his 2nd of the season, giving the Rink Dawgs an impressive 8-1 victory.

With the win, the Rink Dawgs finish in 3rd place with a 4-3-3 record and a league low goals against of only 24. They will need to find consistency in their game, especially with their specialty teams where they ranked near the bottom in both categories. They will need to be at their best in the 1st round single game elimination match-up against the Venom, who split the season series with 1 win apiece.  The game will take place on Monday, March 29th @ 9:15pm

Game Stats:

Shots: Rink Dawgs  29  – Dirty Shwas 18
Powerplay: 1 for 2
Penaltykill: 2 for 2

Player(s) of the Game:

Jamie Farrow  1G 3A
Mark Krupa  1G 2 A
Martin Vieira  2G
Eddie Mirzadeh  17 saves
Ted Kolkas, Tom Kolkas & Donny Lagos each with 2 points.

A very well balanced attack with 12 players contributing at least a point.

March 17, 2010 – Game Recap

Generals – 2    Rink Dawgs -1

The game started pretty balanced, with both teams trading chances back and forth in the first 10 minutes.  Though it seemed that the Rink Dawgs had the better scoring chances, but it was the Generals who opened the scoring with 5:24 to go with a lucky goal off of a face-off, when the ball was deflected high in the air like a Federer lob shot just over Eddie Mirzadeh’s head and into the goal.

This didn’t deter the Dawgs from continuing to press the play to the Generals.  A minute and a half later the “E”-Line tied things up, when Tommy Kolkas banged in a ball from a foot in front of the goal after some great work by Antonio Geraci & Jamie Farrow.   At the end of the first the shots were 9-7 for the Dawgs, aside of the fluky goal Eddie Mirzadeh played a steady period.

The second frame was much like the first, shots were 9-8 in favor of the Generals this time.  There was no scoring that period, but there were a few powerplay opportunities for both teams. The goalies played well to keep their respective teams in it.  It seemed like every good chance the Rink Dawgs had, they end up hitting a foot in front of the net or blasting one right in the chest of the goalie.  At that point the Dawgs began to tighten their grip on their sticks, never a good sign when you are trying to score goals.

For the most part in the final period the Rink Dawgs kept the play in the Generals zone, forcing them to play a very defensive game.  Every time a Generals D-man touched the ball there was someone on him and the point men for the Dawgs did a great job knocking balls down to keep the play in the offensive zone.  Once again though it was the Generals who were able to capitalize on one of their chances with only 2:10 remaining in the game.  It was a bit of a lucky one on a wrap around attempt, as Eddie played it perfectly hugging the post and expecting a shot with something on it but it instead the Generals player fanned on it fooling Eddie to put them up 2-1.

With the goalie pulled, the Rink Dawgs were not able to tie up the game missing out on any possible points in the standings.  With only 1 game left to play, the Rink Dawgs will finish in 3rd or 4th place and a date in the single game elimination playoff round on Monday March 29th, the time still to be determined.  Overall it was a good effort by the Rink Dawgs, something to build on heading into the playoffs.  I think if you ask most teams, they would rather be playing in the first round than sitting out with a bye, a position the Dawgs find themselves in.

Game Stats:

Shots: Rink Dawgs  26  -  Generals 24
Powerplay: 0 for 2
Penaltykill: 5 for 5

Player(s) of the Game:

Tommy Kolkas  1G
Anontio Geraci & Jamie Farrow each with  1 A
Eddie Mirzadeh  22 saves

Donny Lagos, though no points to show for his efforts, he was the best player on the floor for either team.  Making great moves and feeding beautiful passes all night.

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.