Bison 2 Telford Tigers 1 (penalty shoot out)
27/9/14
A tough game
last week and a tough game this week. The Telford Tigers paid their first visit
of the season to Planet Ice. Notwithstanding that it may conjure up images of
corporal castigation and other dubious practices when described thus, it is
true to say that the Tigers had been the “whipping boys” of the EPL for a number
of seasons. But all that has changed and a financially invigorated and much
improved Tigers, led by their Canadian captain Jason Silverthorne, a point a
game man in 390 Elite League games, are now tipped by many for the EPL title.
But Bison have their title tippers as well and this encounter had all likelihood
of being a titanic struggle. So it proved.
Bison snatched a
vital lead, one which they held for the remainder of the period, on 5 minutes. And
the scorer was Tigers’ old boy Tomas “Grandmaster” Karpov. He received a pass
from Kurt “The Scissors” Reynolds and pushed the puck into the corner or maybe
Kurt himself put it there (not sure about that one). Anyway Karpov scrapped for
it with a Tigers player and took possession. He was now clear with no-one to
obstruct his path to goal. As he bore down on Tom Murdy in the Tigers’ net, his
movement was hasty, in a hurry, lively and rapid. He executed a clever deke to
bambozzle Murdy and slid the puck across the line. Honest Pete, goal judge at
the far end, saw everyone in the Bison blocks were behaving like a load of
joyous raving lunatics and his opposite number’s the goal light shining forth
like a lighthouse beacon on a stormy night. He surmised it must be a goal and
so it was. 1-0 Bison.
It was an early
setback for the Tigers, but they weren’t going to roll over and have their
tummies tickled. Far from it. They came on strong. Typical of their play
occurred when they defended a power play after Peter Szabo tripped and took a
trip to the box. They didn’t allow Bison a single shot in the 5 on 4 which
ensued. By the end of the period they had outshot Bison by 13-6, but, as yet,
had nothing to show for their efforts.
Was it going to
be more of the same from the Tigers in P2? Yes it was and their persistence was
finally rewarded in the 34th minute with a levelling score, just
when it was looking like Dean “Deano” Skinns could not be beaten after a series
of fine saves. Nobody dared mention the “S-word”, but, following one last
Sunday at Peterborough, some must have been thinking “Could he?” Well alas for
the Bison backers he couldn’t. After 99 minutes of stopping everything thrown
at him by the Manchester Phoenix, the Peterborough Phantoms and the Telford
Tigers, Deano was finally undone. Tigers’ skipper Silverthorne proved to be a
thorn in the side of Bison as he set up Nathen Salem for a back door tap in. It
was 1-1. Bison old boy Sammy Zajac was awarded the second assist.
A bizarre call
was made as the period drew to a close. Long Ciaron Long and Blahoslav Novak,
both wearing no. 89, came together in an untidy heap of 89s mid ice. Long
Ciaron was clearly held as he tried to extricate himself from the tangle. When
he finally did so, he was called for kneeing (strange one that) and Novak was
called for holding (plain as a pikestaff that one). Into their respective
institutes of penal reform went the 89s.
P2 came to a
close and the Tigers had looked by far the stronger side from where I was
sitting with my half empty glass. Nevertheless, Bison had managed to get their
shots in and the shot count had been a surprising 9-9.
Was the game to
be decided in P3? Well no, but not through lack of effort. On 47 minutes Andy “Machine
Gun” Melachrino was cynically brought to the ice by a trip from Sammy Zajac
when in on goal. The crowd became ugly. If their reaction had to be measured on
a scale it would have been at the “purple throbbing vein” end of such a scale. Had
the game been played under the disciplinary rules of the British Navy circa
1800, Zajac would have been given 50 lashes with the cat-o-nine-tails or even
keelhauled. Fortunately it wasn’t and the much more civilised punishment
imposed was 2 minutes in the box. Those amongst the Bison backers who had
called for a penalty shot were disappointed.
However, before
the Bison backers adopt a “holier than thou” stance, the same occurred, but in
reverse, on 56 minutes. Scott McKenzie, sporting a beard so bushy that he is
beginning to look like a cave man (or indeed Long Ciaron Long), was in on goal.
Before he could get his shot away, he was brought down by the considerably less
hirsute Rabbit’s Foot Joe Baird. A roar of protest erupted from the away fans. It
would not be accurate to describe their mood as one of mild vexation. Far from
it. They flew into a spleen venting spasm of convulsive proportions. Many of
them must have been close to rupturing a blood vessel. “Penalty shot” they
cried, but none was awarded. Had Joe been the infamous pirate Blackbeard, he
may have been told by the referee, “You’ll hang from the highest yardarm for
that.” Fortunately he wasn’t and the offence attracted merely a punishment of 2
minutes in the box.
The period ended
in controversy. With seconds remaining the Tigers prosecuted a final attack,
hoping to snatch victory. The clock ticked down. 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1
second. The buzzer blared forth to mark the end of regular time. As suddenly as
if some granny had driven her knitting needle into his left nostril, goal judge Honest
Pete, who had had nothing to do in the game, both goals being
scored at the other end, awoke with a start at the sound of the buzzer. As soon as he did, he saw the puck
crossing the line. The Tigers players thought they had snatched it, but Honest
Pete, when asked by Referee Cloutman, confirmed that the puck had crossed the
line after the buzzer, and it was no score. Who would dare doubt Honest Pete’s
integrity? None of us and not Clouts for sure.
At 1-1 at the
end of regulation, we passed into overtime without the issue being decided. And
so to the lottery of a penalty shoot out.
The Tigers were
to shoot first and no.1 shooter was the cave man McKenzie. His clever deked
failed to bamboozle Skinns and, once again Honest Pete’s goal light remained
unilluminated. For Bison Lumberjack Joe Rand was to be their first shooter. He
came in fast and ripped a snipe, a method which has borne him fruit in the
past. On this occasion there were to be no apples or pears for Joe as Murdy
saved. Peter Szabo was next for the Tigers. His shot thudded against Deano’s
pad. He cheekily put in the rebound but, of course, it was no goal. Long Ciaron
Long took Bison’s second. He bore down on goal drew Murdy to his right with a
feint to take a forehand shot and then pushed the puck backwards, overskated it
and reached behind with one hand on his stick to nudge it backhanded over the
line. I think that’s what happened – Bison TV may prove me wrong. Suffice it to
say it was an audacious effort. The goal light
was on, but it wasn’t Honest Pete’s. He remained unemployed at the other end.
So, after 2
shots apiece and Bison leading 1-0, the Tigers final shooter had to score to
keep them alive. That shooter was to be none other than former Bison favourite,
Shoeless Joe Miller. The last time Joe took a penalty shot at Planet Ice was
last season in his last game for Bison against the Dogs and it was a winner.
Could he repeat the feat? Alas for Joe, Deano saved his effort and Honest Pete’s
goal light remained unilluminated still. Bison had won it. Had there been
present a happy horde of heartily hollering huntsmen from Huntingdon they would
have blown their hunting horns, drained their stirrup cups and shouted “TALLY
HO!” in celebration. But there wasn’t. Neither in attendance was there a number
of nonsensical naysaying nincompoop non-entities named Nigel from Nantucket.
Heaven knows what they would have done. But there was a bunch of boisterous
Bison backers blissfully bellowing until blue in the face. It had been a hard
fought victory against a top side.
Top Banana for
the Tigers was netminder Murdy and the Bison award went to Tomas “Grandmaster”
Karpov. Many thought that Dean “Deano” Skinns would have been a more worthy
recipient of the box of beers. With a save percentage of 97% in the game and 3
penalty saves in the shootout, he, with a little help from Tom Murdy, ensured
that Honest Pete remained sadly unemployed.
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