Official Press Release

Glastonbury, CT September 5, 2006. ZRink - Killingworth Guppies Summer 2006 season.

09/05//2006- The Guppies came out Tuesday night looking for their 8th team championship since 1995. The team looked good as the players came out for warm ups with a little spring in their steps. Their energy paid off early when Brian Kelly (2-2-4) found Jason Zito (1-0-1) in the high slot :23 seconds into the game. Zito fired a shot into the Smasher's net to give the fish the one goal lead. The Guppies continued to pour on the pressure which lead to two early power plays. On the first Power Play the Guppies were unable to take advantage. However, on their second chance the Guppies would take a two goal lead when Keith Millen (1-2-3) tipped in a Tim Poulin (1-2-3) shot. "Millen's goal was by far the prettiest goal of the night" stated Guppies defenseman Mike Halle. The Ball Smasher's tried to get on the board but Joe Linskey delivered his best performance of the season in the first half of Tuesday's game. "When Joe is making saves like he was tonight it makes our job that much easier" forward Marc Crayton. The Guppies really opened it up when Kelly scored to make it 3-0 with just over eight minutes remaining in the half. Despite the Guppies strong play, the Smashers never quit their attack and they were about to be rewarded for their efforts. The Smashers went on the Power Play late in the half and turned the man advantage into their first goal of the night. At the Half the Guppies held the 3-1 lead.

In the Second Half the Gupps seemed to inploded! The Ball Smashers were allowed to score the next four goals of the game to take a commanding 5-3 lead on the fish. To make matters worse, Joe Linskey pulled his hamstring, while trying to stop the Smashers third goal of the game, and his movement became limited. With the current flowing against them the Guppies turned their fins and fought back. Rob Murphy (0-2-2) and Kelly converted on a 2-0 down low to cut the Smashers lead to 5-4 with just under six minutes remaining. The Gupps continued to push forward and slowly started to gain control of the play. Then with just under three minutes remaining the Guppies had an offensive zone faceoff. Millen won the draw back to Kelly who fired a shot on the smashers net. Poulin was crashing the net and was able to bang in the rebound, the game was tied at 5! With their new found life the Guppies looked to close out the Smashers. However, with just over two minutes remain Tim Poulin was called for a high sticking penalty. The Penalty was the result of Tim going to the net with the Puck and being hooked by the Smashers defenseman. Unfortunately, during the play Poulin lost his balance and hit the opposing player in the face with his stick. The result was Poulin being ejected from the game and the Guppies receiving a five minute Major penalty. The fish were able to kill of the penalty for the remainder of the second half forcing Overtime.

In OT the Ball Smashers would cash in on the Power Play and win the game. "It's a tough way to lose a game but give them credit they worked hard all night" stated Dave Armenia in a post game interview. Congrats to the Ball Smashers the Summer 2006 B league Champions!

SIDE NOTES:

-Brian Mulcahy was ineligible to play in Tuesday night's game because the league had him listed as playing only 4 games.

-(0-3) That's the Guppies record in Championship Games that go into Overtime. The Guppies also lost the Summer 2003 and the Summer 2005 championship games in Overtime. Not to mention the Guppies are 0-3 in the last three championship game appearances. The Guppies are now 7-5 in Title games

-The Guppies overall record in playoff games that go to OT is  1-4-0. The Guppies are much better in Overtime during the regular season going undefeated with a record of  (7-0-3) since 1995

- Some minor skirmishes were reported all the Killingworth's "Blue Mile" be Connecticut State Police after the Guppies game.

- The Guppies will be taking off the upcoming Fall and Winter leagues. However the fish will be back in 2007! In the meantime, be sure to check out the "Guppie Classics" on the website during the break. "Guppie Classics" bring back classic Guppie Games and stories from days gone past .......check back often!

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