Maulers Sweep

Biscuits and Breezers

"Game Request"

    Recently, it was requested that I write about the Maulers games I attended this weekend by none other than beast goaltender and Canadian superstar Cody Janzen! Well what can I say to perfectly describe this weekend? Bring out your brooms ladies and gentleman because the Seattle Totems have been swept! I absolutely loved the atmosphere of the rink and all of the energy that went along with it! The fans were incredible and the players were even better. When the boys came out of the locker room and down the stairs I got goose bumps no joke. They were in the zone and were prepared for battle. I saw a lot of sick plays as well as players stepping up and taking charge. The rookies on this team definitely stood up and explained why they needed to be on the team. On Friday, this was the season opener for Zoo Town. It was action packed and full of bone-rattling hits! Rookie goalie Michael McDaniel was in between the pipes and he was unstoppable! He stopped and blocked a total of 17 out of 17 shots produced by Seattle. Edward Pollon drew blood first with a shorthander only 6:39 into the home opener. His assists came from Billy Bigham and Austin "Auzzie" Azzinnaro. Then 25 seconds later Erich Jaeger found the back of the net for the Maulers assisted by Swede Henrik Ekestahl.. Although the second period was a scoreless one, the Maulers out shot the Totems 14-3, giving them a total of 40-17 shots in the entire game. In the third period, Corey Schafer heated things up for the team when his biscuit shot past the tendy on a power play just 1:08 in. His assist came from Tyler Zandhuisen. 2 minutes and 40 seconds later home grown captain Anders Nord recorded a point of his own. The two apples were racked up by none other than Erich Jaeger and Billy Bigham. To end Friday night the Maulers had their first shut out of their inaugural WSHL season. You can't forget about the game ejection either. One of the players from Seattle was ejected early in the third I believe. I was so impressed of what I saw that I came back the next night and I am glad I did. On Friday there were a few minor fights but nothing compared to what Joseph Porco pulled out of his bag of tricks, we will get to this soon enough. I thought the players were chippy on Friday and indeed they were but it all came out on the ice Saturday night. Chirps were being thrown out across the ice and you could feel the tension. Huge checks were produced by both teams and that made the aggression rise even higher. Sebastian Gronborg was in net last night and that is basically all you have to say. This guy is amazing!! The final score of the game was 4-1. The Maulers first got onto the board when Anders scored a geno with feeds from Austin Azzinnaro and Erich Jaeger 13:09 minutes into the first. Tanner Todd racked up his first point when he lit the lamp 3:06 in the second period with assists from Matt "Big Red" Chamberlain and Edward Pollon. Nord's second goal was on a power play at 8:51 with assists from the younger Chamberlain brother Joshua and Billy Bigham. Seattle scored late in the second at 19:12. The goal was from Frank Flight with assists from Trent Lloyd and Nikolay Mamadzhanov. Right into the third, Ukrainian rookie Nikita Sheptytskyy scored on Fink with apples from Corey Schafer and Max Rebholz with 7:07 on the clock. Now we have come to Joseph Porco. Man this guy is a freaking animal in a fight!!! In fact I believe he fought twice and was ejected after the second time. Fight #1 was a classic hockey fight. Gloves were thrown off and some really sick punches were thrown. The crowd was going wild and it was punch after punch! I think that if they wouldn't have gotten broke up by the zebras, some one was going to be seriously injured. The second fight was the most impressive though. You could clearly see him chirping the Totem next to him in the face off and before you know it the gloves were flung off and he was at it again! There was bit of trouble trying to get the cage off but once he did Porco unleashed the fury. Fists were flying and each one more painful than the last. Now I wouldn't call him a goon but he sure fights like one! He would have to claim the title for best fighter so far. If there are better fights to come, this season is going to be sweet! Saturday's game consisted of 7 unsportsmanlike conducts and 5 penalties for fighting. Including Porco being ejected. Gronborg stopped 12 out of 13 shots last night and did it all with great finesse. I am a huge fan of tendys and blue liners and these boys have it on lock! The roster is tough and gritty but also has great play makers. I also have to shout out the Chamberlain brothers. It is always great to see brothers out on the ice but these two compliment each other so well. Matt works the boards very well and crushes his opponents. Joshua on the other hand has a wicked shot and can just fire it into the back of the net. These roles might reverse throughout the season but for right now they are one of the team's best bets on winning games. I still would like to see Janzen in the net though because he has a great reputation for keeping pucks from going top shelf. Also I would like to see Niko on the blue line because he is one of the best defenseman out there! I can't wait to see more action at the GIR and the bone crushing plays these guys lay out! Make sure to keep watching for more Meet your Maulers and blogs about Zoo Town's one and only junior A hockey beautys!

(Credit to Missoula Maulers)