Official Press Release

Glastonbury, CT September 7, 2011. ZRink - Killingworth Guppies Summer 2011 season.

09/07/2011- It was a late start time, which kept the Crowd numbers down, as the Guppies faced off against the undefeated Saints for D-League Supremacy. The Saints had put together an impressive season answering the bell all ten times they took to the dek during the regular season. They earned a buy to the Finals for their efforts, meanwhile, the Guppies had to face-off against the Avs in the Semifinals just one night earlier. The Guppies came out quickly and tested the Saint's netminder early, the Guppies also continued their tight defensive system from the night before. Midway through the half both teams were looking for their first goal of the game. Tim Poulin (2-0-2) finally broke through to give the Fish the 1-0 lead. The Saint's would respond two minutes later tying to game at one. The Saint's netminder noted that it was the first "Real" goal of the game which rubbed some Guppie players the wrong way. I think that kid created his own "Roberto Luongo" moment with that comment! Eleven seconds after the Saint's tied the score, Keith Millen (4-0-4) scored his first of the night....shouts of  "That's a Real Goal" rained from the Guppies bench. The Guppies would make it 3-1 when Brian Kelly (0-2-2) and Poulin converted on a 2-on-1 opportunity. At the Half: Guppies 3 - Saints 1.

In the Second Half the Guppies kept up their pressure on the Saints net. Millen scored on a slap shot to give the Guppies a 4-1 lead. Seconds later, Mike Lagana (2-1-3) fired a shot past the Saint's sprawling netminder. The Saint's took exception with Lagana's effort and their netminder punched Lagana in the head. This led to penalty trouble for the Saints as they found themselves  penalty killing a 4-on-2. The Guppies moved the puck around till Rob Murphy (0-2-2) found Millen....6-1 Guppies! To their credit the Saints fought back and scored the next two goal to get themselves back into the game. However, the Guppies weren't about to let this game slip away. Lagana scored his Second of the night with a little dippsie do (and perhaps a little magic) in front of the Saint's net. Millen put the Stamp on this game when he came down the left side, Helmet popped, gum smacking, and nonchalantly buried a Five Hole goal the way only Mills can do!

The game got chippie towards the end as several (not all!!) Saint players couldn't handle they were about to lose. One player tried to check Pequita into the board, Danny moved out of the way which led to said player to try to slash, slue foot, and just trip him. A penalty was called, however, at that point the Saint's player offered to take on the ENTIRE Guppies bench! (He actually took off his helmet and gloves....a true Tough Guy!) The Fish laughed in his face, however, this player admitted to being an avid reader of our website.....For that we say, thank you! Better luck next year.  To the rest of the Saint players....Great game and great season!

The Blue Mile was rocking in Killingworth Wednesday night. No arrests were reported by the CT State Police. See you in 2012!

SIDE NOTES:
- Jon Stevenson, Joe Linskey, and Brian Blair were Scratches Tuesday night.

- 30 minus 14 equals 16! That's how many beers Murph claimed he brought for the post game celebration (a left over from the night prior's 30 pack). However, many Guppie player suspect the # of beers was less than 16!

- Congrats to Mike Lagana who will be getting married to his long time girlfriend next week!

- The Guppies were 4-0  with a 3.00 GAA in games Joe Linskey didn't play this season. With Joe in net, the Guppies were 5-3 with a 4.13 GAA

- The Guppies Announced prior to the game that they will be retiring Tom Mierkiewicz's #7 next season.

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