Wednesday, August 26, 2009, St. Louis Park Ice Arena (east rink) - Champions! Say it again, Champions! Following eight tough games (and one scrimmage) against the Diablos hockey club, the Northern Horde claimed victory with a 6-1 defeat of the Diablos in the B-school championship game. After relentless pressure throughout the first period, which saw captain Jon Zimmerman shoot four easy opportunities into the chest of Diablos goalie Steve Peterson, defensemen Dan Kline opened the scoring at 5:50 of the first period with a slap shot from the point off a nice feed from Tyler LaMont. In the second period, the Horde scored again when center Mark Paska took a feed from Jon Nygren at 16:04 and beat the Diabols' goalie for a 2-0 lead. Shea Moyer scored at 15:32 to bring the Diablos within one, but at 5:24, the Horde answered with a Brian Hinderks goal set up by Dan Bolles. Bolles then led a strong shift at the end of the second period winning a face-off at 0:26 to Liam Monahan who fired a shot from the high slot past the goalie, showing his value to the Horde after a 3 week trip in California. A mere 23 seconds later, Jeff Nelson picked up the puck and drove hard to the net scoring to put the Horde up 5-1. The Horde controlled play in the third period and their effort paid off when left wing Jon Nygren forced a turnover at center ice that Jon Zimmerman picked up and slid past goalie Peterson for a 6-1 victory.
Following the game, a few bottles of $7 champagne were consumed in the parking lot, primarily by Dan Kline's friend, Martine. The Horde celebrated their 8-1 record against the Diablos. Jeff Nelson led the beginner league with 12 goals on the season and Dan Bolles led the league with 8 assists. Jeff Nelson and Jon Zimmerman led the league with 17 points. Pete Morrow led the league with a 2.78 GAA and a 7-1 record, to go with his 0.812 save percentage.
This was Liza Messinger's final game with the Horde as she leaves for Middlebury next week; she will be missed. The Horde are excited to welcome four new players to the roster for the fall season - Dana Cudo, Chris Haack, Suneel Arora and Jeff Cook. Cook and Arora fortify the strong Horde defense following an 0-20 campaign with the Abominable Snowmen in the 2008-09 AHA winter league. Cudo and Haack will strengthen the Horde's attack, with Dana coming off a summer season L5 championship with the Walking Sticks and Chris joining the league for the first time bringing his experience coaching Como mites hockey to the Horde (who skate like mites). With the new additions, the Horde are well positioned for the 2009-10 D2 winter season, where they will work to unseat the reigning champions, Chaos.
Go Horde!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Northern Horde - Champions!
