Thursday, November 8, 2007 Mubugs 1 Oilers 0

As boring as this game seemed to be, it was still a pretty good one. (I would have been in trouble if it had been more exciting; my brain was multi-tasking about 8 different school-related things that night.) Things started clicking for the team early, and the Bugs got the jump on the shot clock. But, there was another solid goalie in front of the opposition’s crease: former Mudbug goalie and UHL Komet standout Kevin St. Pierre. It must have been very weird for St. Pierre to be on the “wrong” side of the ice at the CTC. He played a great game, saving some unbelievable shots.

Jeff Christian, the scoring wiz in Y’town last year, is having a dismal season so far. And I guess he decided to take out his frustration on Ty Lucas by shoving him headfirst (with no call from ref Ian Croft) into the boards during the first. Ty skated to the bench on his own but then went to the dressing room, was put on a stretcher, and taken to the hospital. Coach told us at the post game show that Lucas “could have a broken neck”, but by the time Muscutt got back down the the dressing room, Ty was back with good news: no severe injuries.

Darryl Lloyd collided with an Oiler player while both were skating for the puck and referee Ian Croft cited Lloyd five minutes for kneeing. The CHL has since suspended him for 2 games. So we will be without number 27’s efforts until next Saturday. Unfortunate, yes, because Lloyd brings quite a bit on tenacity and hard work to the ice.

Joe Ori finally ended the double-goose egg on the score board in the third period, catching a between-the-legs, no-look pass from Karlis Zirnis. From my vantage point, I couldn’t see the pass, but a friend who did said it was unreal. The Mudbugs worked hard to keep the Oilers from scoring, and John Decaro got his shut out as Willie Nelson and Toby Keith’s voices were a overdue, very welcome sound at the end of this one.