Stanley Cup Final - Game 7

So after 6 amazing games, it all came down to the final game at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver to crown the 2011 Stanley Cup Champions. 


This was always going to be a close game, Luongo has been strong at home and Boston have been getting more and more aggressive as the series has gone on. The first goal will be crucial as throughout this series, the first team to score first has gone on to win the game. 


First Period
The first six minutes of the game showed no sign of either team giving anything up and some fantastic saves made by both net minders. At 7:27 into the game the first goal was almost scored, a breakaway for Vancouver by Burrows and a great backhand shot by Daniel Sedin but Tim Thomas found the puck at the last second and closed his legs before it trickled over the line. After this close call, Boston started to dominate leading with the line of Bergeron, Marchand and Recchi and at 14:37 the first goal of the game was scored by Bergeron following a pass from the side wall from Marchand and the puck flew just inside the far post past Luongo, causing silence to fall over the Rogers Arena. Following this Vancouver got aggressive with an elbow from Higgins to Chara at centre ice, driving him to the ice which the referees appeared to have not seen and the game continued without any penalties being called. 


So at the end of the first period, Boston were leading 1-0 and were much better in the second half of the period. Vancouver had shown some creative offensive play and weren't going to be giving up that easily, they were going to come out fighting in the second period. 


Shots on goal - VAN 8 - BOS 5 
Goals - BOS 14:37 - Bergeron, Assist - Marchand


Second Period
It was all about Vancouver at the beginning of this period and they came out fighting. Within 3 minutes they had already had 3 shots on goal. At 31:02 Vancouver had a great chance to tie the game. Chara turned the puck over in his own zone and gave it to Burrows who was unattended in front of the net, but Chara made it back to the crease just in time and kick saved Burrows shot after Tim Thomas had been left sprawled out.  Out of nowhere at 32:13 Boston scored a second goal courtesy of Marchand following some great play and after a rebound shot from Recchi, took the goal behind the net to slot in a wraparound goal past Luongo who was hampered slightly by Daniel Sedin as he crashed into him chasing the play. Vancouver had another surge following the goal which put pressure on Tim Thomas but Vancouver were still unable to get the puck past him. It did, however result in the first power play of the game as Chara made his way to the box for interference. At 37:35 a controversial third goal was scored by Boston. Bergeron chased a bouncing puck out of his zone and broke away. He was tripped by Ehrnoff in front of the net and the momentum of both players took out Luongo and the puck slid into the back of the net. The goal was reviewed to ensure that Bergeron hadn't touched the puck with his hand as it went into the back of the net and the goal was awarded. 


End of second period and it was 3-0 to Boston, things were looking bleak for Vancouver but they had to keep the faith if they wanted to win the game. Boston are very good with the lead and proved that they are able to win the game especially with the Recchi line playing well. In relation to the controversial goal, in my opinion Luongo should have been more forceful and stopped the puck from getting over the line. I think that a penalty shot would have been called anyway but Luongo may have had a chance at stopping the penalty shot and kept Vancouver in the game. 


Shots on goal - VAN 13 - BOS 8
Goals - BOS 32:13 - Marchand, Assist - Seidenburg, Recchi, BOS 37:35 - Bergeron - shorthanded, Assist - Seidenburg, Campbell 


Third Period
Boston came out for the third period and were sitting back and watching the clock run down. They were playing defensive as there was no need to attack the Vancouver goal and stopping traffic from forming in front of Tim Thomas. Vancouver started to get frustrated and Hansen checked Ference to the ice following a high stick from Ference earlier in the period which the referees didn't see and Hansen got 2 minutes for interference. Vancouver pounded the net during the power play but were still unable to get that puck past Tim Thomas who keeps making save after save. At 51:34 Lucic gets a penalty for a back check in the neutral zone and Vancouver are on the power play and a chance to start a come back. Boston killed the penalty and Vancouver get desperate, Luongo is taken off and a sixth player joins the Sedin line on the ice. At 57:16, Boston took advantage on the empty net and Marchand scores the 4th goal securing the win for Boston. 


End of third period and Boston are crowned 2011 Stanley Cup Champions following a spectacular performance from Terrific Tim Thomas and the Recchi line that dominated throughout the game. Vancouver worked hard and I would of liked the cup to go back to Canada but Boston were fantastic and once they had the lead there was no way they were going to be giving it up. Vancouver had plenty of chances but just couldn't get it past Thomas who was more consistent than Luongo throughout the series. 


Shots on goal VAN 16 - BOS 7
Goals - BOS 57:16 - Marchand, unassisted 

Phoenix signing, re-sign and update

I do love Phoenix announcement day and Tuesday was no different!

On Tuesday it was announced that Phoenix have signed Martin Cingel after 9 seasons with the Edinburgh Capitals. The 35 year old from Slovakia counts towards our quota of imports and joins fellow Slovakian, Ladislav Harabin for import signings for this season. 

The Capitals are in the EIHL and I have therefore never seen him play so I will let the statistics speak for themselves! Cingel has scored a total of 207 goals and 250 assists in his time at Edinburgh and during a difficult season still managed to amass a point a game.  

Tony Hand has played with Cingel before in 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 seasons at Edinburgh and obviously knows what he is capable of. I can see them playing on the same line together next season and racking up the points. Tony has said that he wanted to bring experience into the team and Cingel will bring this. I'm very excited to see what Tony and Cingel can do together and I think it has the makings of an epic scoring line!

It was also announced that the legend that is Stephen Fone is returning for another season with Phoenix. Fone has been a solid first choice net minder and had the 6th best save percentage in the league at .907 for last season. There were some standing ovations last season from the fans for some unbelievable saves, so there is no surprise that Tony Hand wanted to re-sign him. 

Fone burst onto the ice hockey scene at 18 years old and was snapped up by Coventry Blaze as their back up net minder. He first played for Phoenix on loan from Coventry Blaze in the 2007-2009 season and started 3 games for the injured Scott Fankhouser. He was signed by Phoenix as our starting net minder for the 2009-2010 season and has been with us ever since. The 23 year old from Rotherham is returning for his third term with Phoenix and Tony Hand has said that he was one of the first on his list to be re-signed and is probably the best net minder in the league at the moment. 

I'm very happy that Fone has re-signed with us, he always gives 110% and stands on his head in net for us. I have no doubt that he is going to do a great job next season and I am looking forward to seeing the "Foney roll" again! 

In other news (there is quite a bit!) Adam Summerfield has left Phoenix to pursue a career in the RAF, Summerfield has been a consistant back up net minder and always stepped up to the mark when Fone was injured. I wish him the best of luck and would like to thank him for the rare occasions when he got to play. Hopefully Tony Hand will be able to find a replacement who is just as good. 

Joe Miller has also left Phoenix and joined the Basingstoke Bison. Miller joined Phoenix late last season as a replacement for Dean Holland who left early on in the season. Miller helped fill the gap but never really seemed to shine scoring only 4 goals in 17 games. I wish him luck at Basingstoke and fingers crossed he doesn't score too many goals against us next season. 

Neil Morris has confirmed that Phoenix are looking for an enforcer who can play hockey as well as throw a few punches when needed (doesn't look good for Sharpie returning then!) This is going to be a difficult task as this position needs to be filled by someone who can contribute to the team, maybe score a few goals every now and again and be a threat to the opposition, but not to be so good that we will miss him on the ice when he has dropped his gloves and is stuck in the penalty box for 2+ minutes. I do think that we need an enforcer that is able to skate and not to be sat on the bench for most of the games but I think we will struggle to fill this spot especially with someone who is willing to fight Payette! 

Watch this space for more signing news on 21 June 2011!

Night out in Manchester

Me and the boy have been together a year now so to celebrate we decided to go into Manchester, stay over, go for a meal and have a few cocktails.


We booked an apartment at Roomzzz on Princess Street next to the Yang Sing. I had stayed there before in a Grande Studio and it was really nice so I was expecting good things. We booked a Liberty Suite (Room 404) as it was a special occasion but we weren't that impressed and I thought that the lower grade of room was much better. The bed was situated in the middle of the room and was reasonably comfy but faced the kitchen and squeaked every time anyone rolled over in the night (very annoying!) The lighting in the room was poor and was difficult to find a good spot to put my make up on to go out in the evening, there were cracks in the paint work and the skirting board behind the bed was loose. There was also a vent that was open throughout the night and in the early hours of the morning it sounded like there was a baby elephant having a party above us! There were some good points about the room, there is free internet and an imac in the room which we used to find out directions to the restaurant etc and the double shower in the bathroom was pretty impressive. We didn't complain as we had got a very good deal for the room but all in all we were disappointed as I had stayed there before and the room was gorgeous.


We went to one of our favourite restaurants in Manchester, Choaphraya on Chapel Walks. We got there a little early so we had a cocktail in the bar and was brought free prawn crackers which was a nice touch. We shared a vegetarian starter which consisted of spring rolls, mushroom skewers, sweetcorn fritters and tempura vegetables. It was gorgeous and had plenty of dips for the tempura vegetables and anything else we fancied dipping in! I had the vegetarian thai green curry with sticky rice for my main which was beautiful but very hot. The boy had sea bass with red curry sauce and sticky rice which he said was gorgeous (he ate every last bit!) The decor and atmosphere of Choaphraya is great and the food is delicious hence why we always go there. If we are being picky we had to wait a while for our order to be taken but it was definitely worth the wait and was a great choice for our anniversary meal. 


We then went to Epernay for a cocktail on Watson Street. It is a very modern cocktail bar but has a lovely relaxed feeling about it and isn't pretentious at all. In the evenings it is always candle lit and the music isn't so loud that you can't hear yourself think. The cocktails are quite expensive but there is a great selection and the bar staff are great, so if there is nothing you like they will make you pretty much anything :)


The next morning (following not much sleep!) we went for spa treatments at the Lowry Hotel as a treat to each other for putting up with the other one for so long! I had a body scrub, full body massage and a manicure and the boy had a facial and an indian head massage. The spa is lovely and relaxing and the beauticians were excellent. After we had been pampered we went to the River Cafe within the hotel for some lunch, we both ordered sandwiches and added soup for an extra couple of quid. The food was delicious but the soup was too big and would have been ok on it own! 


Overall we had a great time - don't think we will be staying at Roomzzz again but everything else was brilliant!