Ties Are For Father's Day... And WWGRD

It was another single point for WWGRD at Adie Know arena last night. They faced the Pro Bonos following their long lay-off for reading week, a team that is ahead of them in the standings. WWGRD started off hot when Brandon Pancerny hit the post about 15 seconds into the game. Not phased by the early let down, WWGRD kept the pressure up and call-up Riley Pekar gave the team an early 1-0 lead. Pekar was hit with a pass when entering the zone by Dylan Berthiaume who retrieved the chip out off the boards from Eric Bauer to start the play.

Alex "All Swedish, No Finish" Djordjevski was WWGRD's
player of the game last night, recording 1 goal.

The Pro Bonos didn't back down however and tied the game up at ones shortly after WWGRD took the lead. WWGRD bounced back strong however as Alex Djordjevski put one in the back of the net off a beautiful shot to give the boys the lead again. Djordjevski had arguably his strongest game as a WWGRD member and was all over the ice. Déjà Vu hit the boys hard however as the Pro Bonos scored a quick bounce back goal to tie the game up again. Fill in defenceman Marc Berthiaume pinched on a pass attempted at the blueline and whiffed which lead to an odd man break the other way, and when a sprawling Eric Bauer slid into the net, Jonny Tracey didn't stand a chance to stop the rebound attempt. Although it seemed that Bauer had knocked the net off before the puck crossed the goal line, the goal stood and it was all knotted up at twos going into the second half.

The boys held true to their play all season long and came out strong in the second half, hemming the Pro Bonos in their own zone shift after shift, but couldn't get the final bounce they needed for the go-ahead goal. The Bonos seized their opportunity and squeaked one passed Tracey on a rush the other way to take their first lead of the game, 3-2. WWGRD kept the pressure up after the disappointing turn of events, and finally got a bounce to go their way. The puck found its way back to Douggie Lambier at the point who let a clapper go. The puck bounce off a defender, off the goaltender and hit Brandon Pancerny in the chest before falling at his feet for him to smack into the gaping cage. WWGRD kept the pressure on strong, but weren't able to net a late go-ahead goal, and the Pro Bonos almost took advantage yet again. As the seconds ticked off the clock there was a mad scramble in front of the Blue and White goal, bodies and sticks everywhere digging for the puck but Johnny Tracey stood strong and kept the rubber out. The game ended in a 3-3 draw.

The boys deserved a better outcome by held their heads high after leaving the game with one point. The last regular season game goes down next Sunday, March 4th at 10pm. WWGRD looks to boost the playoff seeding one last time when they take on the #1 ranked Big Rigs.

Head Coach Dylan Turnbull and forward Dylan Berthiaume were made available to the media for a breif press conference following the game. The two Dylans talk about each other's contritubtions to the team, what happened last night, and what the future has in store for WWGRD. You can view the presser below.

Losing Steak Over... Kinda...

It wasn't the end to the losing streak that they were looking for, but WWGRD took 1 point from the game last night, tying the Broken Rubbers 4-4. It was a hard fought, back and forth game for the full 40 minutes, and it ended with each team earning one point. The Broken Rubbers went up early, but WWGRD was quick to respond when call up Brandon Pancerny hit Alex "Chinstrap" Djordjevski with a perfect pass on a two on one that Chinstrap had no problem burying in the back of the net. The line struck again when Pancerny found fellow call up Brian Goodchild who beat the Broken Rubbers tendy with a good hard shot off the rush.

WWGRD's player of the game was Sheldon Tracey, who's 2
goals were the game-tying and go ahead goals at the time
he buried them.

Momentum quickly turned however as the Broken Rubbers struck for two goals in about a minute, putting them back on top 3-2. The deficit gave Sheldon Tracey, who scored a beauty goal against the Broken Rubbers in the season opener, the chance to step back into the spotlight against this team. Sean Micelli scrummed a draw and got it to the wing to Marc Berthiaume, who one touched it back to Tracey. Tracey wasted no time stepping into a clapper that was too much for the tendy to handle and it found a way through to tie the game up. Not long after, WWGRD was pressuring intensely as they always do, and Pancerny got the puck back to Tracey at the point. Tracey toe-dragged around the sprawling Broken Rubbers forward, and ripped a wrister over the glove of the goaltender to put WWGRD back on top.

Unfortunately the Broken Rubbers showed the kind of resilience that WWGRD has showed all year long, and deflected home a pass out front with 2:00 minutes to go. With the score now tied, WWGRD pressed hard for the go ahead goal, but couldn't find it despite the pressure they had for the last 2 minutes. The game ended in the 4-4 draw, but it was a positive game for WWGRD who ended their losing ways, and didn't give up for the full 40 minutes.

Brandon Pancerny, who finished the game with 3 assists, talked to the media will on the bike after the game, "I thought the whole team played great, thought we outplayed them for the full 40. It's just unfortunate we couldn't come out with the W."

The boys are off for reading week now, and have almost two weeks to do some dry land training, hit the gym, juice up and come back for the stretch drive to the playoffs. They make their return on February 26th against the Pro Bonos. The Sunday Nighter begins at 10 pm. Fans can come early for fan appreciation night, free Michael Nantau bobbleheads will be given out to the first 2,500 fans through the doors and WWGRD players will be available for autographs after the game.

One-on-One with D-Bert

I recently was able to catch up with Dylan Berthiaume, forward of WWGRD for a little interview. Dylan and I talk about the season so far, his future, Dylan Turnbull, any many more exciting WWGRD topics! Click the link below to listen to the whole interview!

http://www.box.com/s/zyxyc1zjc62puq563hcf

Burnt by the Fire Chiefs

WWGRD's losing streak kept on rolling Friday afternoon at Adie Knox Arena. Thrown for a loop with this game, WWGRD was short some players for the 1:00pm game since they found out about the contest only the day before. Unwilling to make excuses, the players showed up ready to play. With their usual stud between the pipes, Jon Tracey, unavailable for the game, call-up Keith Columba made his WWGRD debut. Columba wasn't tested early on, but remained sturdy when called upon. The boys were pinned in by the Fire Chiefs for some of the early going, but did a good job of keeping the puck to the outside and not allowing any shots on net.

The Fire Chiefs opened the scoring when short-handed, they carried the puck up the ice on a one-on-one, used the defender as a screen and ripped a shot through his legs and through the five hole of the new WWGRD tendy. WWGRD responded however, as call-up Trevor Crevatin danced around what seemed to be all five members of the Fire Chiefs before sliding the puck passed a sprawling Fire Chiefs goalie.

WWGRD's player of the game was Dan DiCarlo, who
earned the honour with his hard work during the game Friday.

WWGRD was pressing hard for the go ahead goal, hemming the Fire Chiefs in their own zone shift after shift, but couldn't get the all-important next goal passed the Fire Chiefs goalie that was standing on his head. After all this pressure, the bounces continued to go against our beloved boys in blue, as a pass out front on a 2 on 1 ramped up the stick of goaltender Columba, bounced off his back and into the net.


Not deterred by the fluke goal, the boys showed true Gary-Roberts-like grit and continued to grind for the allusive second goal. With their goalie pulled, the pressure ramped up even more, leading up to a scrum in front of the net as time expired that ended with the goalie on his back, the net off its moorings, the puck in the dislodged net, and 6 WWGRD skaters celebrating. After very limited discussion, the ref ruled that it was no goal and the final score of 2-1 stood.

WWGRD forward Sean Micelli was disappointed but optimistic when speaking with reporters after the game, “We battled hard out there, but things just didn’t go our way. I’d be worried if the work ethic wasn’t there, but that’s not the case. We’re just not getting the bounces right now, we just gotta keep workin’ and move foward." The streak will hopefully come to an end tonight, as WWGRD faces the Broken Rubbers for the first time since defeating them 3-2 in an exciting season opener. Puck drop is at 11pm.

Older Brothers of WWGRD

Name: Marc Berthiaume
Number: 61
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 225
Favourite Player: Rick Nash, Dean Portman
Favourite Food: Those holiday themed shortbread cookies with the different frostings and decoartions on them
Words to Live By: It's not worth winning if you can't win big

Name: Sheldon Tracey
Number: 7
Height: 6'1"
Weight:190
Favourite Player: Cassie Campbell
Favourite Food: Beer n Burgers
Words to Live By: Ducks fly together!

Name: Mark Micelli
Number: 11
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 170
Favourite Player: The one and only Gary Roberts
Favourite Food: Your mom's cheesecake
Words to Live By: Get traffic in front

Tracey Touched Up and Ready to Go

The loss was easy enough to swallow, but what the fans and teammates were more worried about was their fallen hero, Sheldon Tracey. Tracey left the game Monday night after taking a stick to the face, and spent time after the game getting his face pieced back together at Hotel-Dieu Grace hospital in Windsor, Ontario. Six stitches later, the kid looks as good as ever, if not better.

Tracey, after the game, with 6 stitches under his nose.

The incident occurred when Tracey went down to block a shot and was clipped by the stick on the follow through of the shot. He left the game and despite his desire to get back out there for the boys, he did not return. He was escorted to the hospital by Jon Tracey.

Tracey met with the media today and was asked what happened when he got sliced up. "Initially I thought it was just a stinger, probably nothing serious. Looked up and saw the puck was out of the zone, got up and skated towards the bench," in true Gary fashion he made sure the play was made on the puck for the boys before attending to his face. "Then I noticed it was bleeding pretty good so I checked to see if I lost any teeth, saw they were all good. Tossed a towel on 'er and moved on from there."

He was then asked what the night had in store with him after the game, "Well ya know, kinda pissed off I couldn't have sewn it up on the bench. I really wanted to trump the Jacks that night so in the hospital I just wanted to get a quick fix so I can start thinking about the next game." A true sign of Tracey's toughness and grit, the doctor found pieces of wood from the blade of the culprits stick still in the cut. "Took the blade down with me! Hopin' the scar turns out good, felt like Gary was there in spirit with me."

The pressing issue on everyone's mind was when would the all-star defenceman be back in the blue n white of WWGRD, and he addressed those concerns with a clear cut answer, along with a subtle chirp for the team that knocked him out, "Congrats to the Anglewood Jack-nobs on the glorified sliver they gave me. I'm ready to play today and I'll be even more ready on the 16th."

The Younger Brothers of WWGRD

Name: Dylan Berthiaume
Number: 94
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 180
Favourite Player: Paul Kariya, Alex Djordjevski
Favourite Food: Mac n Cheese
Words to Live By: Give the hardest job to the laziest man and he'll find the easiest way to do it

Name: Jonathan Tracey
Number: 73
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 178
Favourite Player: Carey Price
Favourite Food: Ribs
Words to Live By: Want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe

Name: Sean Micelli
Number: 19
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 185
Favourite Player: Sandra Bauer
Favourite Food: Wings
Words to Live By: G.R.I.N.D.