The Clusterfuck on Commodore

Game 1 of the Nomad Cup Final.  The teams that finished first and second, the matchup many were expecting to see, the matchup many were hoping for.  First to two wins.  Here we go.

 

Everyone knows that the man to watch on the Osprey is Matt Ryder, the league’s leading scorer.  1 minute into the game, Ryder got a good chance to the left of Logan MacLean and took a shot on the short side which Logan got enough of to knock it off the post and wide.  The concern was palpable for the Aurora that this could be one of those nights where it’s the Ryder show.

 

Thirty seconds later, the Aurora’s Matt Simpson looked to break into the Osprey zone. But Kevin Myketyn shut him down.  The shot totals were very low as the action continued without whistles as both teams kept pucks to the outside, and blocked what was heading toward the net.

 

Dylan Kugler stole the puck as the clock ticked past 13 minutes.  He made a move on Matt Baird but Baird made a big sliding save as he moved right to left, and Kurt Thibault cleared the rebound.  The Aurora were picking it up and spending more time in the Osprey zone.  After a big rush, Noah Joncas found himself behind the Osprey goal with the puck and Matt Simpson sitting all alone in front.  Noah made a good pass and Simpson, the Aurora’s leading scorer, had a glorious chance, but he shot the puck wide of the net, blowing a chance to give the Aurora the lead.

 

We didn’t get a whistle until 10:28 of the first period, possibly the longest time without a whistle to start a game ever.

 

It was a surprising player leading the charge for the Osprey.  With all the focus being directed toward specific big scorers, Branden Rankin found himself with a little extra ice.  He was making great plays, and he had one of the nicest dangles of the period, despite nothing coming of it in the end.

 

David Lacey took the game’s first penalty at 8:44 of the first as he got his stick into the midsection of Matt Ryder and was assessed a hooking minor.  The Osprey worked the puck around but struggled to get pucks onto the goal in any significant manner.  Ray Carrigan caught the D pinching on the right side of the ice and chipped it past them and out of the zone.  Matt Simpson spotted this on the left wing and flew the zone as Carrigan got past his man and took the puck up ice.  Simpson had to wait at the blueline for Carrigan and was very close to being offside.  The pass came over to Simpson and he was in all alone on a 2 on 0 with Carrigan.  He skated left to right and went to the backhand.  The shot squeaked through Baird and into the back of the net as the Shorthanded goal made it 1-0 for the Aurora, exactly 1 minute into the Lacey penalty, a penalty they would fully kill with one scoring chance against as Steve Power nearly put a rebound in.

 

A few minutes would pass and then Derek Hale would win a puck battle at his own blueline and the puck popped out to Matt Simpson who was on his second breakaway of the game, this time Glenn Boyce was in pursuit, but he wouldn’t get close enough.  Simpson made nearly the same move, this time faking the shot a little harder and sliding the puck around Baird on the backhand to make it 2-0 Aurora with 3 minutes left in the first.

 

Branden Rankin basically cut a path through the middle of the whole Aurora team, getting loose on his own in the slot.  Just Rankin vs MacLean, Rankin shot high blocker side.  Logan got the puck with his blocker just in time to keep his shutout intact, a day after saying shutout and then not getting one.

 

In the final seconds of the period, the Osprey went the full length of the ice and Matt Ryder dropped the puck to Nathan Bessey who had a great sight line to the net, but as he shot, Travis Hatcher got his body in the way.  Hatcher has been a shot blocking machine these playoffs, and this game was no different as he blocked multiple shots throughout the game, but non bigger than with 2 seconds left in the first.  The Osprey led in shots 11-8 but couldn’t find a thing to show for it.

 

Our second period action was quick to start up.  Simpson leaned into a clapper that Baird stopped like he was catching a child’s shot, forcing a faceoff to his left.  The Aurora won the draw and Noah Joncas let loose a clapper of his own.  It was heading for the corner and was likely going to rim around and leave the zone, if not for Simpson getting his stick on it and altering its course into the back of the net for the natural hat trick.

 

Brandon Crowell added to the lead 2 minutes later with a rebound he put in short side.  That was around the time the penalty trouble began.  Bobby Sacre and Derek Hale went into the boards behind the Osprey goal and as they got up, Hale shot away the stick of Sacre for an interference call. The Aurora buckled down and killed the penalty.  Mat McLeod and Matt Pellerin got into it a bit and we’re both given roughing penalties.  Pellerin didn’t want to serve his penalty so he said some shit to the ref and was tossed from the game instead.

 

Nick Elford and Ryan Clarke got matching slashing penalties after a false start faceoff which led to a dust up.  They chatted in the box and were on good terms moments later.

 

Nick Collins took a point shot through a screen at 5:40 of the second which was a seeing eye shot into the back of the net.  It was now 5-0 for the Aurora and the game was out of reach for the Osprey.  It was just a dozen seconds later that there was a collision between Sacre and Hale again.  Hale unfortunately led with his head as the two came together, something that’s going to get you a suspension in every league around.  Sacre then tackled Hale and absolute pandemonium ensued.  

 

After an extensive and all consuming clusterfuck of emotions, the game was called with 5:28 left in the second due to an overwhelming lack of common sense, meaning Logan MacLean earned the shutout in the 5-0 win, making 16 saves in the process.  Once the dust settled, we were looking at one metric fuck ton of penalty minutes and multiple suspensions.  This morning, everyone got up and went to work, because despite our greatest hopes, none of us are heading to the show, and we play hockey for the love of the game.

 

Game 2 goes on Tuesday night, and for the first time ever, the Aurora are just a single game away from earning the title of Nomad Cup Champions.