Official Game Summary

Glastonbury, CT June 11, 2009. ZRink - Killingworth Guppies Summer 2009 season.

06/11/2009- The Guppies opened up their 2009 Summer Season Thursday night against the always tough Jimmy Stickhandle squad. The Guppies were hoping to get off to a winning start after last season awful results, however, the Fish have a combined 0-5 record vs Jimmy since the two teams first met in the Summer of 2008. This includes a heart breaking loss to JS in the Summer 08 Championship game. Things didn't start well for our heroes as Marc Crayton (1-1-2) was called for hooking, only .21 seconds into the game. The Guppies managed to kill off the penalty and also avoided being scored against on the opponents first three shots.....a problem that plagued them last season. That being said, Jimmy finally beat Guppie's netminder Andy Pettola midway through the half. Pettola was looking to bounce back from a tough 9-2 loss to Monster last session, his only other appearance for the Guppies in 2009. This night Pettola was back to form and saved the Guppies numerous times. The Guppies continued to look for the elusive tying goal before Jimmy Stick scored with Three minutes remaining in the half to take a 2-0 lead.

The Guppies looked for a goal to start the Second Half, as they moved Brian Kelly (1-2-3) up front with Keith Millen (0-2-2), while Rob Murphy (2-0-2) and Dan Pequita (1-0-1) worked the blue line. The combination paid off quickly as Millen found Kelly .32 seconds into the half for the Guppies first goal of the night. Jason Zito (1-1-2) kept the pressure on after he took a Millen pass and scored to tie the game at two. However, Jimmy Stick wasn't about to rollover, they would score only moments after the Guppies tied the game to open up the 3-2 lead. JS held the one goal lead for the next eight minutes of play despite several solid scoring opportunities by the fish. Then Crayton fumbled, then delayed, his way into the Stickhandle zone, eventually firing a low shot into the JS net. Unfortunately, JS was quick to respond beating Pettola less than a minute later for the 4-3 lead. It look as if the Guppies might be flushed down the toilet yet again by the resilient Jimmy team. However, unlike last season these Killingworth Guppies showed some fight and confidence that has helped the franchise capture 9 Championship titles. Leading the way? Rob Murphy!  Murph (2-0-2) tied the game at Four with just under six and a half minutes remaining. Late in the game Pequita would finally give the Guppies what they were looking for all night....A LEAD!  When he skated down the left side of the rink and fired a shot into the lower right side of Jimmy's net. Murphy would score only seconds later to seal the deal...6-4!

The Guppies face off against the defending league Champion Avalanche this Thursday night at 9pm. Tickets are available! Also, prior to the game there will a ceremonial puck drop as Steve Fink is honor for his contributions over the years. "Steve Fink Night"  is a great opportunity for the fans to meet, take photographs, and receive autographs from this Guppie's legend.

SIDE NOTES:

- Jon Stevenson and Tim Poulin were healthy scratches.

- Dan Pequita broke his right skate midway through the Second Half.....In a MacGuyver  like move Pequita was able to repair his skates with a shoelace...very impressive!

- Marc Crayton was called for a "Hooking" penalty .21 seconds into Thursday night's game. Now we're not 100% sure but, we're willing to bet a Hundred Dollars of Linskey's money, to say that was the quickest penalty called against a Guppie's player in team history. Way to work yourself into the history book Cray!

- C is the new B!?! OK, so the Guppies moved down to "C League" last summer but so, did everyone else. Therefore the Rink has made the "C League" the New "B League" and converted the few remaining "B Teams" into the newly formed "A League".....Did you get all that?

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