WWGRD Take a Dump on Upper Deckers

Riding high and sitting pretty at .500 for the first time since the season started, WWGRD came into action on Wednesday night looking to stretch their winning streak to 6 as they took on the Upper Deckers (2-8). They knew this was a game they should win, but have learned this year not to take any team too lightly based on their record. The boys in blue came out flying on the first shift of the game, as Marc Berthiaume was robbed on 2-on-1 following a beauty feed from D Bert. This line would strike again and open the scoring on their next shift however. As the puck rimmed around the boards in the offensive zone, Joshua Covelli pinched in and tossed the disk into the opposite corner. Fully meaning to pass to Dylan Berthiaume out front, Marc Berthiaume tossed a behind the back pass that instead hit a wide open Brandon Pancerny in the slot who continued his great play of late as he deked around the goalie and slid the puck into the open cage.

 

WWGRD kept the pressure up, even when Eric Bauer put the team shorthanded with an early penalty. With the big d-man in the box, Sean Micelli and Josh Covelli continued to carry the play in the offensive zone. After taking a feed from Covelli, Michelli looked to return the feed, but instead had the pass deflect off a defender and into the net to give the team a 2-0 lead. Covelli continued to play his recent role of an apple tree, as he later spotted the elder Micelli in the slot who made no mistake in pumping home the games third goal of the game.

 

JT stopped all but 1 shot he faced.

The Woodslee Wall came into this game in search of his 5th win of the season, knowing a solid outing would silence some members of the media who think there's a goalie controversy given the excellent play of Hunter Bushnell. Johnny left no doubt on Wednesday night that he is the team's number one tendy, as he was keeping everything out of the net. Aside from one goal where a player was able to walk out front and get a clean shot off from the slot, the younger Tracey turned away every shot he saw last night. Although he may not have faced a vast number of shots, the majority of the ones he did face were breakaways and odd man rushes off counter attacks by the Upper Deckers. He turned away breakaway after breakaway, never letting the other team get a glimpse of hope for a comeback.

 

With the score 3-1 after 1, WWGRD kept their foot on the pedal and came out flying to start the second half. After a broken play led to the puck trickling behind the night, the Upper Decker tendy inexplicably came out to make a play on the puck. This proved to be a mistake as Mark Micelli was able to beat him to the puck and slide a pass to Michael Nantau who was standing all alone in front of the open net to score his 6^th and easiest goal of the season. With the score now 4-1 WWGRD kept the onslaught coming. Mats Sundin hit the team Captain Berthiaume up the side boards to start a rush as the Upper Deckers were changing. With defenders chasing him from behind, the elder Berthiaume slid a backhand pass to his trailing younger brother who made no mistake and pumped a low shot passed the tendy to net the team's 5th goal of the night. With the game now in the bag, it was time for some WWGRD history.

 

With some forwards working hard in the offensive zone along the far side boards, fan favourite Eric Bauer trickled in from the blue line and parked himself in front of the net where he was all alone. Stefan Branov was able to jar the puck loose and feed a cross ice pass to Bauer, who made no mistake in pumping his first career WWGRD goal in his second season with the team. Overcome with joy and relief, Bauer let out the hardest celly you'll ever see for a 6-1 goal. Seeing this excitement fired up the team and only encouraged them to keep pushing. The soft-handed A-Cap Michelli carried the puck into the zone and made a few defenders look brutes before sliding a dirty feed over to No Finnish Djordjevski who went upstairs for his second goal in as many games. Even with 7 goals in the game, this wasn't the end of the scoring explosion for WWGRD. They kept up the pressure in the offensive zone as Seaner found Dylan Berthiaume alone in the slot. D Bert was looking for his second of the game but had his attempt kicked out by the opposing team’s tendy. Unfortunately for the Upper Deckers the tendy kicked the rebound right to Mats Sundin who left no doubt as he blasted his first career goal into the net to make the final an emphatic 8-1 Dub for WWGRD.

 

In the dressing room after the game members of the media spoke with Michael Nantau, who has been filling the net since returning from an early-season contract hold-out. "Well we hit our stride. But we're not looking at this as a streak. It's game by game. We go in looking forward. Not backwards. Plus we're getting better with every game." Nantau then added, "I think it's safe to say not many teams wanna play us right now." The media also talked to hard-working forward Stefan Branov, who recorded an assist in the game against the Upper Deckers. "I thought it was an important game for our team. Though the team we played was not at the top of the standings, I feel it was good for the boys to produce a complete game - play well offensively, defensively and we were passing the puck well out there." The bearded wonder then added, "Games like this are good for our team's confidence moving forward. But that game is over, on to the next obstacle. Gotta keep this win streak alive so we can keep gaining some ground in the standings." Branov was then asked about his personal play in the game, and he told them "I really enjoyed playing with (Mark) Micelli and Nantau, felt I contributed more and played one of my better games of my short season." He then added that even he had to laugh when he tripped over the red line late in the game.

 

With a schedule already released up until next Thursday, February 14th and WWGRD not on it, it would appear that the boys in blue might be off until after reading week. Although this is still up in the air, one thing is for certain: This is a team that is turning heads in the UWIHL as they are getting hot at the right time as we near the end of the season and start preparing for playoff time.

 

First Star - Sean Micelli - GWG, 2 Assists

Second Star - Mats Sundin - 1 Goal, 2 Assists

Third Star - Joshua Covelli - 3 Assists