D1 Horde Beat Muskies With Late Nelson Goal; Clinch Playoff Spot

2011-02-27 St, Paul, MN (Highland South):  The D1 Northern Horde played a fired up Muskies line-up and came from behind to win 3-2.  The Muskies came out with guns blazing in the first period and pressured the Horde defense.  After a break to fix the game clock, the Muskies got loose in front of the net on a bad line change and went ahead 1-0.  The Horde regrouped midway through the second when Jon Zimmerman put in a rebound off a Jeff Nelson shot to tie it up.  The McDonald-Zimmerman-Nelson line would continue to apply pressure after giving up that first Muskies goal.  After Nelson made a strong play in the corner to dislodge the puck from the Muskies D, Zimmerman took it behind the net and fed Darren McDonald in front of the net.  His shot rebounded to Nelson who put it in on his second attempt from the back post.  "The Muskies goalie was hot tonight, saving everything in sight, and their D was stifling," said Nelson.  The Muskies answered the call in the third period when the Horde D misplayed a puck in the air to tie it up.  At that point it was game on for the Horde.  Wave after wave of Northern Horde lines took it to the Muskies, whose goalie had a performance reminiscent of the Horde's last game against the Diablos.  "Chris Warlick and Steven Lenzen are still shocked at how the Muskies goalie stopped three breakaways from each of them on the night," said Rob Yurko an hour after game time.  Finally, with less than three minutes to go in the game, Nelson got loose on the right side and slid it near post for a 3-2 lead.  The mettle of the Horde D would be tested again when Zimmerman was whistled for interference with only one minute remaining - his first penalty in over 60 AHA games.  "Really?" was the reaction from Dana Cudo, which was very polite compared to the "Are you F*%KING kidding me" from Gary Schwartz.  Chris Warlick and Stevne Lenzen, still shocked at how the Muskies goalie stopped three breakaways from each of them on the night, weren't even aware the Horde pulled out the victory.  As the scorekeeper said to Zimmerman in the box, "They haven't gotten within 40 feet of your goalie in the third period, even man-down I don't think you have anything to worry about."  The Horde next take on the Icedogs in a D2 reunion late on Sunday night at New Hope.

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Northern Horde beat outmatched Stars 11-0

Sunday, February 13, 2011, New Hope Arena, New Hope, MN.  In his first of two controversial coaching moves of the night, Captain John Errigo asked Dana Cudo, Rob Yurko, and Dan Bolles to stay home to try to give the Stars a chance during Sunday’s game. It didn’t work, as the Stars were grossly overmatched despite the Horde’s short bench.

The Horde came out strong, and peppered the Stars goaltender with 30 shots in the first 2 periods, 11 of them finding the back of the net. Most Horde players ended up on the scoring sheet, with Steve Lenzen (4) and John Errigo (2) having multi-goal nights. When asked what the most important play of the game was, defenseman Brian Hinderks stated, “It had to be Gary Schwartz’s assist on the 8th goal. That assist single-handedly turned the tide and gave the Horde the confidence it needed to finish with a W.” 

Despite some chippy play by the frustrated Stars, the Horde managed to play a clean game. The most controversial call came late in the game, when Chris Warlick got called for a 2-minute penalty for “trying too hard with an 11 goal lead” – at least that’s what it looked like to the guys on the bench.  

Errigo’s second unorthodox coaching move came at the end of the second period. With the Horde ahead by 11 goals, and having outshot the Stars 30-5 to that point, Errigo appealed to his teammates to ease up and go easy on their rivals. When asked how this locomotive could possibly be slowed down without derailing, Errigo’s advice to the team was to “try play like you’re Jon Zimmerman”. To this, defenseman Tyler LaMont bemoaned, “You realize that we’re only ahead by 11.” Errigo stood firm, and with the Horde playing like an army of Zimmermans, they were outshot in the final period by a tally of 7-3. Despite this late Stars flurry, strong play by goaltender, Nathan Kangas, kept them off the scoring column, as he recorded his league-high 3rd shutout of the season.

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