Lightning Strikes Twice!

for the second time in team history, Blue Boar Hell Hockey has skated its way to World Champions of the World. It’s a prestigious honor for the team that has escaped them since the 2005 Waterville Valley championship.  This win also marks the first time the team has won the entire Can/Am Lake Placid Vancouver Division Beer League Novice Level Challenge Cup.

The weekend tourney had its normal ups and downs for the Blue and White. In the first three games, BBHH had some slow first period starts scoring only 2 goals in the three opening frames. In the gold medal game, it was a different story as Jim Kobak led the onslaught of four first period goals by the team. His goal was followed by Gallagher’s, who holds a team record 49 total goals, Jared Gorden’s, who score his first of the tourney and was the eventual game winner, and Bauer’s, who had more goals than penalties for the first time since 2003.

As the second period started, the team fell back some and the WannaBees added a goal which frustrated goalie Kirt Frulla. It looked like he was going to post his second shutout of the weekend only to get beaten on a wrist shot that snuck through the five hole. Blue Boar was unable to capitalize on several chances to extend its lead in the second and moved onto the third with the score 4-1. 

In the opening minutes of the third, BBHH quickly added two more goals. These two, scored by the brothers-from-other-mothers Mike Daley and Jim Kobak, were the daggers that killed the WannaBees. With the score 6-1, the normally reserved crowd of Lake Placid was on its feet cheering on Blue Boar.  The players too felt the moment upon them. However, their necks wouldn’t carry the gold medal without one more goal from the WannaBees. But as the seconds ticked down to zero, Blue Boar Hell Hockey held on and won the weekend tournament 6-2. “We gave 110% the whole weekend and it was a team effort” quipped Daley, “we don’t win this without the entire team playing like one strong unit.”

Stay tuned and informed for future tournament and player news by following Blue Boar Hell Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @hellhockey.

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Bloody Path to Total Destruction

Here’s a lesson in squashing dreams … Tease your opponent in the first period, score 5 goals in the second, and post a shutout for the game.  That is exactly the formula that Blue Boar Hell Hockey used to destroy the Trans Stars in the second of three games in the Lake Placid Cup Challenge.  BBHH did all of its damage in the second period to weaken the opposition into a bloody pulp.

For the second game in a row, Blue Boar got off to a slow start. During the first period, the two teams skated hard. However, no goals were posted due to strong goalies on both sides of the ice. During the first intermission, BBHH made the decision to skate harder and score some goals. The pep talk work wonders.

After 6 more minutes of no goals, Blue Boar lit the lamp.  Taptick on his goal, “I got the puck from Kobak, tipped it up off of my skate, and drove home the puck through the five hole.”  And from there the flood gates opened up. Over the course of the next 6 minutes, BBHH score four more goals – Daley, Gallagher, Elliott and Alati – and from there the massive drubbing was on.

The third period saw Blue Boar continue it dominance over Trans Star. Frulla didn’t let any shot past him while Eilliott rounded out the scoring. The final goal proved to be a major difference in the standings as Trans Star allowed one more goal in than the WannaBees did. So that sets the stage for the gold medal game between Blue Boar Hell Hockey and the WannaBees. However, BBHH has one more test this afternoon at 6:50 pm versus Puck Dynasty. Don’t forget to like Blue Boar Hell Hockey on Facebook and follow the team on Twitter @hellhockey.

Fear… Delivered!

Once again, Blue Boar Hell Hockey has struck fear into its opponent’s minds.  With several new names on the BBHH roster, the team got off to a slow, but normal start. In the first game of the 2015 Can/Am Challenge Cup, Blue Boar played against the WannaBees of West Chester, PA. This was the first meeting between these two teams. Both teams traded puck possession for the first few minutes of the 1st period as each team adjusted to the larger Olympic ice. Then with 9:09 left in the 1st, the WannaBees lit the lamp with a fluky goal that BBHH goalie, Kurt Frulla, couldn’t find through the traffic in front of him. Clearly, Frulla was shaken up by the goal and immediately threw his head back in despair and shame. “At that moment, I vowed that I’d shut down the scoring,” said Frulla. And he kept his promise not allowing another goal the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, the goal also roused the beast that lives inside every Blue Boar skater.  The team buckled down, skated hard to every puck, won battles deep in the offensive zone and eventually produced some results. With just over 2 minutes remaining in the first, while on the power play, Donny “Hockey” Stauffer slid into the high slot, took a sweet feed from Gallagher down low and scored the game tying goal. It was a great play by the two, who coincidentially were both celebrating their birthdays.  This goal so marks the 7th time that Stauffer has scored on his birthday. “It seems like everyday is my birthday,” quipped Stauffer.

And from there, the goal flood gates were open. Gallagher scored another power play goal with just seconds remaining in the clock in the first. And then repeated that feat with another goal in the second. This one was unassisted. Mike Daley scored later in the second to make the score 4-1 Blue Boar. Assisted by Jim Kobak, these “brothers from another mother” have linked up for many BBHH goals over the years.  “I felt like I needed to welcome Jim into the Daley family,” said Mike D. 

The game continued into the third and Blue Boar remained strong. Frulla was sharp while turing away every shot; though he did rely on his posts for some help. Rookie forward, Ryan Alati scored the final BBHH goal making the score 5-1.

Blue Boar has two games scheduled for Saturday April 18th. Catch all of the Hell Hockey action at 11:50 am and 6:50 pm on the ’32 rink. Also on the schedule at 1:00 pm is the shootout competition featuring Kurt Frulla in net.

Hellhockey Sandbagotaged at LP Tourney…

What happened?  Your favorite Mens D-Level Novice Beer League Hockey team was blitzkreiged over the weekend at the CanAm Hockey tourney in Lake Placid.

Blue Boar hung tough in spite of being out-talented in most phases of most of the games during their three-game outing.   Game one featured the return of Jeff Spear who exploded for a one-goal outburst in the Boar’s 5-1 loss to the Weekend Warriors.

BBHH fans heckling the coaching of Dan Gregson?

Game two saw Blue Boar take it to the eventual Lillehammer Division World Champion, Trans Star.  After some excellent adjustments by interim coach, Dan Gregson, the game was tied 2-2 with less than a minute to go in the second period.  All time leading scorer, Chris Gallagher had tallied, and Mikey D Daley had scored an looked like he was ready to erupt with a lava flow of goals.  The BBHH Booster club was raucous in the stands. Then, inexplicably, a late 2nd period goal and some solo heroics for four goals by the Trans Star ringers in the third led to what became a crushing 7-2 defeat.

Gallagher executes the patented BBHH “one on four” offence

Finally, with the playoffs now out of the question, Blue Boar (avg. cap rating 6.66) faced an old nemesis, the Brewins (average cap rating 6.7).  On paper, or at least by cap rating, this should have been a close game.   Coach Gregson had just purchased a shiny new cane to direct the troops.  But by the time the “russian five” set of Brewins ringers had scored their 11th goal, Blue Boar knew the game was probably out of reach.  This led defenseman/GM, Eric Bauer to question the cap rating, “I’m no math whiz, but they (Brewins) must have been using the new Common Core Math to calculate their cap rating…”

Bauer takes home the Tournament “Executive of the Tourney” Award

Anyway, it was a great tourney, and the Blue Boar squad definitely held on for strong 4th period showings during the weekend.  Rumor has it that a charity Blue Boar/Schlidaveur Challenge Cup World Championship of the Multiverse is in the works for early this Summer…. stay tuned hockey fans.

(Beer Can) Crushed Dreams

It was not meant to be for Blue Boar Hell Hockey at Waterville Valley.  Once again the status of World Champions of the World eluded the blue and white.

In a valiant second effort against the Penny Lickers, Blue Boar gave all that it could.  However, the Penny Lickers proved that champions are made by chippy plays, body-checking, and out-scoring the opponent.  The championship game opened up with the teams fairly matched.  For the fourth time in as many games, BBHH’s roster changed.  After the addition of Gallagher for the early game, BBHH recruited the Blue Footed Boobies goalie thus allowing Jim Sullivan to skate as a forward.  The Penny Lickers struck first and took an early 1-0 lead.

That did not stop BBHH though.  J. Sully quickly changed things by scoring to even the game at 1.  That goal was followed by a goal from B. Sullivan.  This was clearly a case of which brother is the better hockey player.  The brothers set the challenge in the locker room before the game.  It was clear that the intensity fire was lit inside each of their bucket pants.

Unfortunately, that was all the scoring that Blue Boar could muster.  Eventually, the Penny Lickers tied the game at 2.  And then added insult to injury by scoring a short-handed goal to make it 3-2.  With the gas running low in BBHH’s tank, it took a tremendous effort for BBHH to keep up with the fast skating of the Penny Lickers in the third period.  They added one more goal making the score 4 to 2.

The game ended with that score – once again leaving Blue Boar Hell Hockey off the top podium at the medal ceremony.  Highlights of the tournament were the 4 players that rotated through the #38 jersey, eating and drinking at Legends 1291 and also being the only team in the tournament to play 4 games.

Continue to follow Blue Boar Hell Hockey on Facebook and Twitter and check our website at: https://sites.google.com/site/blueboarhellhockey/home

See you in Lake Placid, April 11-14, 2013!

Sully-bot Shines

Blue Boar Hell Hockey secures the Silver medal with its second win over the Blue Footed Boobies. The Boobies were no match for BBHH, as Brian Sullivan scored twice during the first shift! And, by the end of the period Blue Boar had a 4-1 lead.

In the second period, the Boobies made it interesting by scoring a goal and closing the gap to 2 goals. But in between periods interim coach Gregson got BBHH to dig in and secure the game.

In the third period, the combination of Sullivan and Gallagher sealed the game. The two combined for 8 points. And solidly put Blue Boar Hell Hockey into the championship game against the Penny Lickers.

Show Us Your (Blue Footed) Boobies

2nd/3rd place game here we come! Blue Boar Hell Hockey took the ice against the Blue Footed Boobies in the 3 pm game at Waterville Valley. The stakes were high for the game as both teams were vying for the coveted 2nd place seed.

BBHH came out fired up and score their first game less than one minute into the period. And from there, they never looked back. After period 1, the score was 2-1. Then the flood gates opened up. BBHH scored 3 in the second, mostly thanks to a late addition to the roster. At the end of the second, the score was 5-2

The third period was a little more of the same. BBHH scored one more goal thus sealing their fate as the second seed team for the tournament playoffs. Final score 6-2.

Tomorrow’s first game is at 8:30 am. If you happen to read this and can play, hit us up on Facebook.