Email
Print
Battle of the Short Bench
2025-02-28
A puck nearly crosses the line
The Greyhounds vs the Aurora
Ever since the Osprey unceremoniously forfeited a game to the Aurora, David Lacey's Aurora have been in control of their destiny. A win vs the Greyhounds Thursday night would keep that going as they would take first place alone while the Osprey await a make-up game next week.
Both teams were short players and the Aurora even had their top sniper, Matt Simpson, playing defence. When asked about it, Simpson said "I'm sure someone can give me directions to my own end, I only know how to find the faceoff dot". He actually looked quite comfortable there, though he would be what you would not call a defensive defenceman. He used the extra runway to gain speed and go on multiple rushes, but nothing would come of them.
Max Dewey however, he had a nice rush up the ice which resulted in a great scoring chance as he was in alone on Nick Comeau. He fired the shot low to the blocker side, but Comeau made a quick kick save. Then David Lacey would burn Matt Anderson and cut in to the goal mouth. He went around Comeau and just had to tuck it in, but he missed the net. It was his first of 6 shots that missed the net on the night.
Chris Stickings was a beast on the draws, and he won one in the Greyhounds zone, directly back to Matt Simpson. The Greyhounds let Keegan Lewis take the man with the puck. Simpson, faced with no-one to contest his possssion, as Lewis was not present at the game, walked in all alone to the slot and with a screen in front of Comeau, he picked the top of the net on the glove side.
Feeling generous after his goal, Simpson would look to setup someone else later in the same shift. He got the puck and fed it to Nick Marshall. Marshall, the opponent, went in on a clear cut breakaway with his teammate Jeff Miles following. Marshall went to the backhand instead of his patented wrister. Logan MacLean made the save and directed the puck behind the goal. Since Marshall had all day, he easily got to the puck and with Miles getting to the top of the crease, he made the pass. Jeff shanked the shot and put it wide with the empty net there as Logan had gotten out of position. The empty net would feature prominently in his nightmares following the game.
The next good chance was again off a Greyhound stick. Cameron Bissell took a shot that beat Maclean but not the post, as it clanged off one post, then slid across the goal line, hit the other post, and went right back out and under Logan with 2:11 left in the first,
In the dying seconds of the period, David Lacey pulled off an absolutely stunning feat, he hit the net with his shot. Chris was the only one prepared for that and he picked up and buried the rebound to make it 2-0 for the Aurora.
The second period would prove to be the fastest in league history. The first whistle would come with just 8:21 left in the period. Just before that whistle, Max Dewey and David Lacey had a 2 on 1, and Comeau made a huge blocker save on Dewey as he was doing everything he could to bury one. He had 7 shots of his own during the game.
Sith 5:10 to go, Derek Hale let a clap bomb go from the ringette line, but he was using new gloves, not new hands, so Comeau made the save.
The Greyhounds finally solved MacLean with less than 5 minutes to go. Top shelf. The answer is top shelf, that's where to go, at least if you shoot like Nick Marshall.
The Greyhounds found a little life after their first goal, and started getting a few more chances. Derek Hale made a great spinning/falling play to clear the puck away from Jeff Miles who would have had half a net to shoot at, though we recall how that went earlier in the game, so it was no goal guarantee. Then Dylan MacDonald pulled his goalie and the Greyhounds made more good attempts on goal, but it was Max Dewey finally getting his due as he faked a clapper, then calmly laid the puck into the empty net to make it 3-0.
Nick Comeau made 27 saves in the losing effort, while Logan MacLean boosted his GAA allowing just one goal on 25 shots. More surprising was that Matt Simpson was a +3 in his first game on D, so expect him to be playing D all playoffs.
That wraps up another week of Nomad Hockey League action, and we still do not have a single playoff matchup confirmed as on,y one team is locked into their position in the standings, so we should have a solid week of hockey ahead of us.
Both teams were short players and the Aurora even had their top sniper, Matt Simpson, playing defence. When asked about it, Simpson said "I'm sure someone can give me directions to my own end, I only know how to find the faceoff dot". He actually looked quite comfortable there, though he would be what you would not call a defensive defenceman. He used the extra runway to gain speed and go on multiple rushes, but nothing would come of them.
Max Dewey however, he had a nice rush up the ice which resulted in a great scoring chance as he was in alone on Nick Comeau. He fired the shot low to the blocker side, but Comeau made a quick kick save. Then David Lacey would burn Matt Anderson and cut in to the goal mouth. He went around Comeau and just had to tuck it in, but he missed the net. It was his first of 6 shots that missed the net on the night.
Chris Stickings was a beast on the draws, and he won one in the Greyhounds zone, directly back to Matt Simpson. The Greyhounds let Keegan Lewis take the man with the puck. Simpson, faced with no-one to contest his possssion, as Lewis was not present at the game, walked in all alone to the slot and with a screen in front of Comeau, he picked the top of the net on the glove side.
Feeling generous after his goal, Simpson would look to setup someone else later in the same shift. He got the puck and fed it to Nick Marshall. Marshall, the opponent, went in on a clear cut breakaway with his teammate Jeff Miles following. Marshall went to the backhand instead of his patented wrister. Logan MacLean made the save and directed the puck behind the goal. Since Marshall had all day, he easily got to the puck and with Miles getting to the top of the crease, he made the pass. Jeff shanked the shot and put it wide with the empty net there as Logan had gotten out of position. The empty net would feature prominently in his nightmares following the game.
The next good chance was again off a Greyhound stick. Cameron Bissell took a shot that beat Maclean but not the post, as it clanged off one post, then slid across the goal line, hit the other post, and went right back out and under Logan with 2:11 left in the first,
In the dying seconds of the period, David Lacey pulled off an absolutely stunning feat, he hit the net with his shot. Chris was the only one prepared for that and he picked up and buried the rebound to make it 2-0 for the Aurora.
The second period would prove to be the fastest in league history. The first whistle would come with just 8:21 left in the period. Just before that whistle, Max Dewey and David Lacey had a 2 on 1, and Comeau made a huge blocker save on Dewey as he was doing everything he could to bury one. He had 7 shots of his own during the game.
Sith 5:10 to go, Derek Hale let a clap bomb go from the ringette line, but he was using new gloves, not new hands, so Comeau made the save.
The Greyhounds finally solved MacLean with less than 5 minutes to go. Top shelf. The answer is top shelf, that's where to go, at least if you shoot like Nick Marshall.
The Greyhounds found a little life after their first goal, and started getting a few more chances. Derek Hale made a great spinning/falling play to clear the puck away from Jeff Miles who would have had half a net to shoot at, though we recall how that went earlier in the game, so it was no goal guarantee. Then Dylan MacDonald pulled his goalie and the Greyhounds made more good attempts on goal, but it was Max Dewey finally getting his due as he faked a clapper, then calmly laid the puck into the empty net to make it 3-0.
Nick Comeau made 27 saves in the losing effort, while Logan MacLean boosted his GAA allowing just one goal on 25 shots. More surprising was that Matt Simpson was a +3 in his first game on D, so expect him to be playing D all playoffs.
That wraps up another week of Nomad Hockey League action, and we still do not have a single playoff matchup confirmed as on,y one team is locked into their position in the standings, so we should have a solid week of hockey ahead of us.