Welcome to Hellhockey!

Despite the scoring exploits of  Chris Gallagher, and the ability to beat the teams they needed to beat, Blue Boar Hell Hockey ended the 2010 Can Am tournament out of the playoffs.  Blue Boar was trumped by the “fewest goals against tiebreaker” rule as they finished tied for second with three other teams in the Vancouver Division.  Blue Boar had the highest number of goals, and the highest goal differential, and the best pre-game can-coozie gifts, but allowed too many goals, and was left to drown their sorrows at Zig Zags.

The Tournament opened with a good first period against Penalty Box (who ultimately went undefeated and won the gold medal).  Then, the rust appeared and too many trips to the actual penalty box did the Boar in as they fell 2-6.

Later that evening, assigned to locker room 6, the Boar rallied with a nine-goal outburst and thumped Ice Aholics 9-2.  This game featured Tappy Taptick’s first career goal, an over the shoulder, behind the back, stick between the legs shot that left teammates and fans alike in awe.

That sparked the Boar on Saturday as they were to face the intimidating Court Officers for a crack at the medal round.  A tight game was played, with Gallagher coming through with two big goals.  Jim Sullivan was on fire between the pipes, making 28 saves.  Eric Bauer added a empty-netter and thrilled the crowd with his Satan-dance celebration.  Blue Boar triumphed 3-1 and began a tense evening of score-board watching to determine their playoff destiny.  At the time, the only question seemed to be, “will we be playing for gold or bronze?”

Then everything changed.

When the playoff matchups were released, Blue Boar was on the outside looking in.  Somehow, inexplicably, despite beating Court Officers earlier in the day, Blue Boar was out, and the Officers were in.  Players were stunned, fans were stunned, Hell Hockey Moms were stunned!

Anyway, Blue Boar definitely won the fourth period!

Blue Boar Waterville 09

Blue Boar Hellhockey, America’s favorite D level men’s hockey squad, entered the Waterville C level tournament and got pounded.  ”They always say you learn more by playing with guys who are better than you, well, we got like a Masters Degree at this tourney…” quipped emotional leader, Paul Clark(e).

On Friday, Blue Boar skated well with Slightly Impared, a small defensive lapse in the second period sunk the Boar as they fell 6-2.  On Saturday, the morning game vs. Double D’s was close, before another second period collapse put the Boar deep in a hole.  Newly acquired goalie, Jim “Smitty” Smith made tremendous saves, including the best ever Blue Boar save at the blue line.  Despite the heroics, Blue Boar lost 7-2.  In the nightcap, old nemisis Goat Bar was determined to destroy Blue Boar. The crowd tried to rally the hellhockey team with their “2005!” chants, but Goat Bar, who had been building this team with this game in mind for four years, was just too strong.  Even Clark(e)’s Spartan Gladiator sandals were not enough to thwart the Goat Bar assault.  Blue Boar suffered its first shutout in three years, losing 9-0.

Relive the action by watching the official tourney highlight video below… featuring “Clark(e)’s Corner!

oomph

The Blue Boar Hellhockey Legions will descend upon Waterville Valley once again for the summer Hockey Academy tourney.  Action starts Friday night with a test against slightly impared.  Then on Saturday, Blue Boar takes on Double D’s before a run-in with Waterville arch-nemesis Goat Bar.  Check this site on Sunday for a complete Tourney recap.

BRONZE MEDALISTS!!!

Blue Boar Hellhockey were a Bronze-medal-tested team, and that experience paid off as they narrowly defeated the NJ Roadrunners 3-2.  The Roadrunners were obviously nervous, experiencing the pressure of Bronze medal hockey for the first time, and Blue Boar took advantage.  A little line shuffling freed all-time leading scorer, Chris Gallagher, and allowed him to control the game.   Gallagher led the team with 11 points in the tournament, and was at his best in the final game.  He made his wingers look better as they constantly chipped him the puck, springing rush after rush.  Blue Boar got ahead in the first, and managed to hold off a late Roadrunners surge.  Once again, Jim Sullivan came up huge in net and solidified his place as Blue Boar’s finest goalie.

Blue Boar 3

NJ Roadrunners 2

Tourney Co-MVP, Jim Sullivan

As the dust settled on this Tourney, Co-MVP honors were bestowed to Jim Sullivan (G) and Chris Gallagher (F).  Eric Bauer was selected as being one of the top two tournament organizers of all time.  And, coach Anna Studebaker was missed, although the bench was much more pleasantly quiet…  Blue Boar has vowed to dominate the Waterville Valley August Tourney… Stay tuned!

Final Tourney Scoring:

Goaltending:

tussling with the Irish

The Hellhockey squad looked flat against old rival, Fightin’ Irish. Blue Boar gave up three quick goals in the first period and struggled most of the game to get back on track. Mike Daley scored and impressive unassisted goal off of the face-off (assisted by Brian Sullivan and Jim Kobak) to cut the lead to two goals. This sparked the team, which carried the play for much of the second period. Then, with less than a minute to go, and after being pinned in their own end, the Irish broke out and scored a back-breaking goal to end the second period. The third period was a back-and-forth affair, but Blue Boar put very few pucks on net. The Irish got a few lucky bounces, and Eric Bauer scored his first goal of the tourney… on his own net. The Irish were really amped for this game, they had not forgotten the crushing defeat to Blue Boar suffered in last year’s bronze medal game.  The 6-1 Loss put the Boar in a must win position going into the nightcap against Penalty Box.

Fightin’ Irish 6

Blue Boar 1

sully slams the door

The late game saw Blue Boar have destiny in their own hands.  A little bit of line juggling by the coaching staff moved Bauer up to forward, and Mike D back to play D.  The moves worked.  The high flying scoring line of Chris Gallagher, Brian Sullivan and Chris Robert scored all three goals in the important win over the Scranton Penalty Box.  Jim Sullivan returned to his strong play in net and was impressive in a 3-1 win.  The win lifted Blue Boar into the medal round where they will play for the bronze medal once again.  This time against an unknown foe, the NJ Roadrunners.

Blue Boar 3

Penalty Box 1

a picture of the official picture...

Blue Boar Hellhockey was confronted by a new team on opening night of the 09 Can/Am season.  The Cobourg Chaos from Canada were beaten with Blue Boar’s ugly stick and suffered a two-touchdown loss at the hands of the Boar.  Goalie, Jim Sullivan only saw 7 shots as Blue Boar’s defensive juggernaught sealed up the neutral zone.  Blue Boar was able to cycle in the offensive zone at will and spread the scoring evenly throughout the squad.  Donny Hockey took the game’s only penalty as an, “…homage to Zim… but I felt bad hitting a girl and all”  The team was playing without coach, Anna Studebaker, who was unavailable due to a family emergency, and really tightened things up to make their coach proud. We wish Anna and her family the best… hopefully at least a bronze medal will come out of this effort.

Blue Boar 14

Chaos 0

The Can/Am season continues on Saturday with two games.  The Boar will face another new team, the Penalty Box from Scranton, PA.  And then they will face an old rival, Fightin’ Irish from Oakville, Ontario.  Blue Boar has faced the Irish twice before, coming up with victories each time.  This included a convincing 6-2 win in last season’s Can/Am bronze medal match.