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Nordiques Summer Season Ends with Championship Loss
The Nordiques fought hard in the best-of-three championship round but ended the summer with a loss. The team is already looking forward the start of the winter season, again entering 3 teams in three tiers (5N/5S/6) at STR. The rosters will be reorganized with some players moving up or down a tier, but many will remain in the same tier. Play begins mid-October.
The championship round featured the second place Nordiques (6-4) and the first place Arsflies (9-1). In the end, the scoreboard showed that the Arsflies skated to two easy wins. And while the Nordiques competed, the games weren't very competitive. After an opening night loss in mid-July, Arsflies won the next 12 games straight through to the T5S summer championship.
The Nordiques played in many championship rounds in recent years and win or lose the games were always very competitive. In fact, the Nordiques never swept a best of three series to win a championship without losing a game along the way. The championship round has always been a terrific crescendo to the season past. This time it was anything but that. After being outscored 8-2 in the opener Arsflies dumped another 9-2 whipping on the Nordiques to end the season. Clearly, Arsflies did not belong in this tier of play, but no one is complaining. The Nordiques came as close as they could to winning this championship without actually winning it.
Stamford September 25, 2011 Nordiques 2 Parts Unknown 1
The Nordiques advanced to the championship round with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Parts Unknown in the STR Summer 2011 T5S elimination game. The Nordiques will face Arsflies this Thursday and Sunday in a best-of-three championship series. Arsflies took out Trashers with a 3-2 overtime win in their elimination game. The Nordiques trailed by a goal with less than 5 minutes left in the game when the Matijcio/Arora line found the net after another menacing shift, finally beating Parts' large-framed netminder to the stick side. Meanwhile, Nordiques goalie Dave Engler was spectacular all night, making big save after big save. He kept the Nordiques alive till their late 3rd period surge. With under 3 minutes left, Jim Cook slapped a hard one-timer from the blue line and Eric Farrell batted home the rebound for the winner. Parts came close to tying the game in the final seconds, but the puck floated over the crossbar as the final whistle sounded. The Nordiques have advanced to the championship round a stunning 5 straight seasons stretching back to Spring 2010. Now they have their work cut out for them versus Arsflies who have lost only one game in the summer season.
Stamford September 21, 2011 Nordiques 5 Parts Unknown 4
The Nordiques clinched second-place tonight by holding on to a 5-4 win over Parts. The victory gives the Nordiques a final summer regular season record of 6-4-1. Now the team can set their sights on the semi-final playoff round on Sunday September 25 against the same opponent, Parts Unknown. The Nordiques trailed early tonight, but goals by Masterson, Matijcio, Unger and Arora (game puck to Shaan) eventually opened up a 5-2 advantage. Late in the third, Parts' tenaciousness paid off with 2 tallies to make the final few minutes more tense than it should have been. Goalie Scotty Morrissette made several key stops to preserve the win. Enthusiasm ran high as 15 Nordiques skaters responded to the late-addition game. The semi-final round will also see first-place Arsflies matched up against Trashers (4th place finishers).
Stamford September 13, 2011 Arsflies 4, Nordiques 2
The Nordiques played a spirited game tonight and battled hard to the end, but it was a speedy, skilled and hard-shooting Arsflies team that pulled out a come from behind 4-2 victory. Tim Matijcio scored both first period Nordiques goals on skilled transition plays, and that put the fear of God into Arsflies who trailed 2-1 going into the second period. The Nordiques gave Arsflies all they could handle, but eventually the Nordiques were burned by goals on the penalty kill and another on a skate deflection. The boys said tonight's game was great fun and they enjoyed the challenge of playing a very good T4 team. No one complained about the mismatch, instead the Nordiques focused on being as competitive as possible every minute of every shift. Each Nordiques player did all they could to make the evening difficult for Arsflies (and they thanked the officials afterward for the "leeway"). After the game, the Nordiques could be heard applauding each another's effort and guts, but the biggest cheers were for Scotty Morrissette who played an incredibly strong and fearless game in net, stopping the hardest blue line blasts we've ever seen at this level of play. He earned the respect of his opponents too, and solidified his leadership role with the Nordiques. The Nordiques end the summer regular season with a 5-4-1 record and look forward to their first playoff contest next week.
Stamford September 11, 2011 Trashers 6 Nordiques 0
The Nordiques ran into a tough net minder tonight as Trashers put a 6-0 loss on our boys. Oddly enough, the Nordiques played Trashers four times this summer (in a 10-game schedule!), winning three. The loss keeps the Nordiques in a close race for second place (with Parts Unknown) with one game remaining (Tuesday Sep 13 10pm vs first place Arsflies). The Nordiques, skating 3 full offensive lines and 4 D, had some very good scoring chances but all were stopped. Trashers did a good job of putting pucks on net, and on this night without the Nordiques normal goalie in net, several of their shots found the twine. **The Nordiques family is happy to welcome a new member...we congratulate Anit and Preet Arora on the birth of a new baby boy! Only 4yrs till Tiger Sharks Hockey begins!**
Stamford September 7, 2011 Nordiques 3 Ice Paddys 2
The Nordiques showed up tonight seeking to avenge a recent 7-3 loss to Ice Paddys. The team pulled out a 3-2 victory with outstanding team play, a huge performance by goalie Scotty Morrissette and 3 goals from unexpected sources. The Nordiques will take a 5-2-1 record into Sunday's game (9/11) against front runner Parts Unknown. Trailing 2-0 at the end of 1 period of play, the Nordiques tied the game in the 2nd period when defenseman Matt Simon bullied his way coast to coast put his team on the board. Kevin McCully tied the game at 2 before the period ended. It was Andrew Vranos scoring the winner on a 3rd period rebound. The Nordiques skated 9 forwards and 5D and eventually wore out their under-manned opponents, who according to sources, still managed to outshoot the Nordiques by a 3-to-1 margin. Two games remain before the start of summer playoffs and the team is thrilled by the level of play being displayed by Morrissette in goal.
Stamford August 30, 2011 Nordiques 6 Trashers 1
The Nordiques completed a victorious back-to-back set with Trashers tonight. Following an 8-4 come from behind win last week, the Nordiques turned a 3rd period 2-1 lead into a 6-1 route tonight. The wins lift the Nordiques' record to 4-2-1 with 3 games remaining. All forwards played effectively offensively and defensively. Justin Matijcio led the scoring with a hat trick and brother Tim Matijcio added another. Trashers could not contain center James Delorey, who played a great game in all zones and scored 2 goals as well. A four man defense bent a little but didn't break when the score was close. Arora and Bruno excelled on D while DiMartino and Simon had solid games too. Despite the one goal against, goalie Scotty Morrissette was called on often to make saves and restore control. Scott gave few rebounds and that was key. The Nordiques took no penalties and scored 2 goals on delayed Trashers penalties. Both were big tallies at the time. Randy and Mike officiated the contest and called a good one.
Stamford August 18, 2011 Ice Paddys 7 Nordiques 3
The Nordiques were ambushed tonight by an Ice Paddys team that was short on bench but long on ringers. This could have been the most egregious example of roster abuse we've seen at STR in a long, long time. The Nordiques sucked it up and dealt with it as courageously as they could. However, the game wasn't fun or very competitive. When Nordiques weren't hauling down speedy 22yr olds from behind (in order to protect their goalie), they were ducking head shots from blue line blasts. Captain Rick Gioia, unable to avoid one particular blast, nearly lost his left arm at the bicep and will be on the injured list for 2 weeks. In between, the referees tried their best to make the worst of an already bad situation. It was unfortunate all around, and gutless too. Why gutless? Ice Paddys (generally a good group of guys) have more than one team, just as the Nordiques do. If they couldn't get enough of their T5 roster guys, then they should have brought more T6 guys up for the game. But that takes guts, and they didn't have it. If they can't get 10 out of approximately 30 T5/T6 roster guys to play, then ask for a postponement. Instead, they went outside their team and brought down T3 players (or perhaps better than T3). Those guys who came down are just as guilty, and did so because they have no personal character and no respect for the game. Enough said. The Nordiques now are 2-2-1 at the half-way point and will play again Tuesday Aug 23 at 9:30pm.
Stamford August 4, 2011 Parts Unknown 4 Nordiques 1
The Nordiques let a win-able game slip away tonight as Parts Unknown turned a 2-1 third period lead into a 4-1 victory. The loss is the first of the summer for the Nordiques (2-1) while Parts claims first place for now (3-0). The Nordiques scored just one goal in each of the last two games, and the lack of scoring has become a concern. The team's seven goals this summer were scored by three players. Next up, the Nordiques play high-powered Arsflies Tuesday Aug 9 at 7:30.
Stamford July 25, 2011 Nordiques 1 Trashers 0
It was an exciting battle of goal tenders tonight as Scott Morrissette and the Nordiques held off Trashers with a 1-0 shut out victory. The Nordiques managed one goal, a power play goal, as Breck Masterson deflected a pass from Doc Schwartz for the game winner. This is Breck's third of the summer already (accounting for half the team's total output after 2 games). That goal was all the Nordiques would need as Morrissette became "l'homme de poulpe", making over 30 saves to preserve the win. Scott "played out of his mind tonight" one onlooker said. Breck Masterson, ce soir buteur solitaire, said "goalie clinics should buy the tape of tonight's game. Scott a été merveilleuse ce soir". Trashers goalie was very, very good also. He was unknown to the Nordiques, not the same goalie who played net for Trashers in the T5S spring playoffs, a game which the Nordiques prevailed by scoring five times. With the win tonight, the Nordiques improve to 2-0 in T5S summer play. This is the third consecutive win for the Nordiques over Trashers, and the team's sixth straight T5S victory going back to the championship spring session.
Stamford July 19, 2011 Nordiques 5 Ice Paddys 2
The Nordiques kicked off the summer campaign with a 5-2 victory over T5S Ice Paddys tonight. All scoring by the first line. It was Breck Masterson with 2 goals while skating on the same line with Justin Matijcio who had 2 more goals and Tim Matijcio with another. Tim Matijcio was the leader and best skater on the ice tonight though. He was a menacing checker in the neutral and offensive zones, and he set up his line mates on each of their goals. The Nordiques skated 2 forward lines (along with Schinto/Gioia/Jachimsky/Eng) and 2 defensive lines (DiMartino/Simon, Arora/Bruno). Scott Morrissette captured his first win of the summer for the Nordiques. While the win was terrific, it came with a price. Torche recipient Anit Arora strained his back and sat out most of the 3rd period. Captain Rich Gioia stepped back to play D in Anit's place, and did so admirably. It was also discovered that post-season MVP Justin Matijcio may need some attention for an ongoing joint ailment (the team's medical staff did not release details). Also, one of Justin's skates was missing at least 3 rivets. That will need immediate attention!
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