The Mavericks have had an incredible season, and there have been many team and individual awards and accomplishments throughout. I am going to summarize them here and hope that I don't miss anyone . . . .

Team Accomplishments:
93 Relief Kits collected for Haiti
Morris Tournament Champions
Killarney Tournament Champions
Zone IV Top Defensive Team in the League
Zone IV Champions
Provincial Bronze Medalists

Individual Player Accomplishments:
All-Star Team Members: Dale Lehmann, Nathan Christiuk, Charles Bergstresser, Matt Mazinke, Carson Keck, Ethan Comeault
All-Star Game MVP - Matt Mazinke
Lew Mueller Zone IV Defenseman of the Year – Charles Bergstresser
Rheal Berard Memorial Heart Trophy - Dale Lehmann
Zone IV Playoffs MVP - Nathan Christiuk
Game Stars at Provincial Tournament - Ethan Comeault, Diamond Maxymowich, Carson Keck, Charles Bergstresser
Provincial Tournament All-Star Team - Nathan Christiuk, Charles Bergstresser

Coaching Accomplishments:
All-Star Team White Coaches: Mr. Barry Lewis, Mr. Marshall Cox, Mr. Ron Keck
Zone IV Coach of the Year: Mr. Barry Lewis


Special thanks to . . . . .
Colby Brandt for his musical contribution to home games
Mike Hesford for his announcing at home games
Stephanie Reimer for singing O Canada at many of our home games
Weldon Rinn for his many hours voluntering to run the clock
Vanessa Christiuk for providing many awesome photos for this website
Jeanette Bergstresser for organizing the door and 50/50 volunteers
Joanne Fillion for organizing the clock, game sheet and penalty box volunteers
Ken Maxymowich for the awesome "Fight Mavericks Fight" banner that inspired our team
Colby Zary who might possibly have been the most dedicated (non-family) member of the Mavericks fan club!!
The many people who contributed to our drive to collect Relief Kits for Haiti
. . . and all other family and friends who voluntered to help out in various capacities this year

Thanks to a great coaching and managing staff who dedicated many hours to this hockey club so that our boys can enjoy the sport they love!!

Thanks to all the fans who came out and supported this team throughout the year. I know many of these young men will cherish the memory of playing their championship game in front of a home-town crowd of 800 people and that your presence helped to spur them on that night.

Thanks to a great group of parents who made this such an enjoyable season.

And of course . . . last but not least . . . . thanks to the boys who gave us a fantastic season of entertainment. We have enjoyed the ride as much as you have!!

At the risk of bringing tears to the eyes of some fellow Maverick-moms, I am going to add a farewell to our graduating players. They are as follows:

Dominion City: #18 Chris Delaquis
St. Jean: #11 Cody Fillion, #23 Patrick Benjamin
Morris: #4 Charles Bergstresser, #7 Ethan Comeault, #21 Nathan Christiuk, #22 Dale Lehmann

The Maverick squad benefited from your talent and leadership this season and we wish you success in all of your future endeavors.

And now it is time to move on to other things . . . to bask in the glories of the season . . . and to consider where the road of hockey will take us next year.
But there is one thing you can be sure of . . . . the Mavericks will be back next season ready and energized to provide us with another great year of hockey entertainment - - - don't miss it!!

PROVINCIAL HOCKEY ACTION

Saturday, March 13th the Bronze medal game took place against the Neepawa Tigers.

The Tigers scored first at 13:10. This goal remained unanswered by the Mavericks until late in the second period, when at 3:58 Matt Mazinke, assisted by Nathan Christiuk and Tristan Keck, scored the tying goal. The first and second periods had been pretty quiet in the way of penalties. Each team took one minor in the first and the Mavs took their next minor penalty in the second. All of these penalties came to a "natural end" and didn't result in any goals.

Third period however, was a different story in the penalty department. The Mavericks collected 36 minutes in this period (which included two 10 minute misconducts) while the Tigers received 41. The go-ahead goal for the Mavericks was scored at 15:10 by Nathan Christiuk, unassisted, and four minutes later Christiuk got a sweet short-handed insurance goal with help from Richmond Delorme. This put the Mavericks solidly in the lead for the last 10 minutes of the game and they were able to play their strong defensive game and maintain that lead to the buzzer. Congrats to Charlie Bergstresser who was named the Mavericks player of the game.

And so the Mavericks finished their incredible season off with a Provincial Bronze Medal.



SEMI-FINAL GAME VS. KILLARNEY
On Friday, March 12th at 11:00 a.m. the Mavericks took on the Killarney/Wawanesa Raiders.

The Mavs were on their "best behaviour" making sure they didn't give any power-play opportunities to the Raiders. The Mavs had a couple of power-play opportunities but the Raiders did an excellent job of clearing the puck and the Mavs weren't able to capitalize on their chances. The Raiders scored the sole goal of the first period at 4:42, making the score 1 - 0 in their favour.

Second period and the Mavs are looking for a tie-up goal. There were no penalties for either team in this game, as both teams tried to make sure they didn't give their opponent an unnecessary advantage. This period would end with no change to the scoreboard, but the Mavs had tons of chances, opportunities and near-misses.

Third period begins with the Mavs trailing 1 - 0. But no one is concerned - - we've been here before. The boys have proven time and time again the past few weeks that they can come from behind for a win. Fans are waiting hopefully for an early tying goal in this period. Unfortunately that did not materialize. And at 14:46 the Mavs took their first penalty of the game, giving the Raiders an opening to widen the gap. The Mavs successfully killed off 1.2 minutes of that penalty, but then a second penalty got given to the Mavs for cross-checking in front of the net - - giving the Raiders a 5 on 3 opportunity which they made no mistake in taking advantage of - - scoring their second goal of the game just 3 seconds later off the face-off. Score is now 2 - 0 for the Raiders. Again, there is still plenty of time (it is only 13:24) for the Mavs to get two or three goals - - we've seen it done before. However, that extra little "oooomphh" that was needed just never showed up. And even a power-play opportunity at 5:21 was not enough for the Mavs to get on the scoreboard. One last ditch effort was made by pulling Carson Keck from the net for the extra offensive player,with less than a minute left on the clock, but alas, this also was not enough to tip the scales in the Mavericks' favour.

Congratulations to Diamond Maxymowich, the Mavericks game star.

The game ended with a score of 2 - 0 - - a heartbraking loss for the Maverick squad who will now be playing for the Bronze medal in tomorrow morning's game.


GAME #2 OF ROUND ROBIN:

Thursday, March 11th the Mavericks met a familiar foe in their second game of the Provincials - - the Pembina Tigers.

The Mavs took the lead early in the game, with two goals in the first period. They managed to keep the Tigers score a "goose-egg" until the third period, when the Tigers found the back of the Mavericks net with 3:17 remaining on the clock. Would the Tigers be able to achieve what they had not done all season in league play? - - - tie/defeat the Mavericks? However, the Tigers come-back was kept at bay, as the Mavericks held them down to a single marker and left the ice with the win. Congratulations to Carson Keck, the Mavericks game star.

This put the Mavericks in first place in their pool. They will play the second place team from Pool B at 11:00 Friday morning. At this time, it is believed that their opponent will be the Killarney/Wawanesa Raiders. These two teams have met one other time this year, at the Killarney tournament in December.
That meeting was for the tournament win and the Mavericks came out on top. Killarney will have a strong force of local fans out today and will be anxious to upset the Mavs after losing their tournament gold medal to them. The Mavs will have to be on their toes and the whole team will have to bring their "A-game" to the rink today.

GO MAVERICKS GO!!!!

GAME #1 OF ROUND ROBIN:
Thursday, March 11th, the Mavericks started their AA Provincial round robin games off with a match-up against the Souris Sabres at 9:00 a.m. at Killarney, Manitoba.

The Mavericks dominated the play right from the beginning, taking no penalties in the first period and ending off the first 20 minutes of play with a 3-0 lead.

The second period continued right where they left off and the Mavs scored again at 11:07 for a 4 - 0 lead. Seventy-seven seconds later the Souris Sabres had a goal given to them by stripes, when they declared a puck had crossed the line when it clearly had not. Souris frustrations are beginning to show however, because they collected three penalties this period, the last of which resulted in the Mav's second power-play goal of the game with only .9 seconds left in the period. Score is now 5 - 1.

In the third period the Mavericks got another early power-play goal at 17:27, adding yet another "nail in the coffin" for the Souris Sabres. They finished off their scoring at 14:03 with one more marker. Souris would answer back with a "too little, too late" goal at 7:53. Final score was 7 - 2 for the Mavericks. Seven goals for the Mavs - - - with seven goal scorers!! Now that is a sign of a team with a lot of depth on the bench - - good job boys!! And congratulations to Ethan Comeault for being awarded the Goals were as follows:

First Period:
14:14 - scored by Rory Lazaruk, assisted by Nathan Christiuk
5:01 - scored by Ethan Comeault, assisted by Charlie Bergstresser
2:00 - scored by Nathan Christiuk, assisted by Charlie Bergstresser and Matt Mazinke (power-play)

Second Period:
11:07 - scored by Matt Mazinke (unassisted)
00.90 - scored by Shene Damphousse, assisted by Matt Mazinke (power-play)

Third Period:
17:27 - scored by Patrick Benjamin, assisted by Chris Delaquis (power-play)
14:03 - scored by Connor Penner, assisted by Charlie Bergstresser








WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

Here is a tribute to our hard-working Mavericks this season . . . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S_gLohI4XE

Yes, the Mavericks defeated the GVC Zodiacs on Sunday, March 7th at Morris in game #3 of the final play-off series for Zone IV. But in a style they seem to have perfected throughout the play-off season . . . . they kept their fans guessing, seeming to enjoy lulling their opponents into a false sense of victory and then snatching it away in the final hour!! Such was the drama of this final game. . . .as follows:

Period one was a chance for both teams to let the nerves settle and take stock of what the other team was bringing to the table on this evening. There were no goals . . . no penalties . . . and shots on net were minimal, with 7 for the Mavericks and only 3 for GVC. And so off to the dressing room the teams went, having accomplished very little other than keeping their estimated 800 fans in attendance, in suspense!!

Second period and the GVC squad came out strong and urgent - - ready to play some serious hockey - - this almost saw the Mavericks on their heals, but that early energy fizzled when the GVC squad was faced with a penalty kill early in the period, giving a power-play opportunity to the Mavericks at 17:32 but they were unable to crack the scoreboard. Another five minutes of solid hockey followed . . .and then it was a goal for the Zods. We are almost 1/2 way through the game by now and the Mavs are down 1 - 0. Maverick fans rejoiced when Ethan Comeault dropped in the tying goal, with help from Patrick Benjamin and Connor Penner at 7:05. Once again it is anybody's game, and the Mavericks are getting chance after chance, heating up the shots on net and hearing the "ting" of the crossbar on at least two occasions in this period. But the Maverick's sole penalty of the evening, at 1:46, gives the GVC squad an opening and they once again take the lead. This period ends 2 - 1 for GVC.

Third period and the Mavericks are trailing for the second time in this game. Can they make a come-back? Well, if there is anything this team has shown us during play-offs . . . it is that they have no problem coming from behind to get a win. And that was exactly what Maverick fans witnessed again tonight. To quote a Maverick fan . . . up until this point they had been playing so they "wouldn't lose" . . . . but now they looked like they were playing "to win". This period was all Mavs, starting with another even-up goal at 15:52, this time by Patrick Benjamin, with help from Ethan Comeault and Richmond Delorme. At 11:42 Maverick fans were ready to celebrate taking the lead . . . . but unfortunately the whistle had blown just a "nano-second" before the puck went in the net, indicating that the net was off - - goal was disallowed. Time pased, and despite the "cherry-picking" efforts of the GVC Zodiacs, the Mavs (aka "Top Defensive Team" in the league) kept them from capitalizing with this tactic. At 2:58 Ethan Comeault scored the go-ahead goal, putting the Mavs in the lead for the first time all game. This was Ethan's third point of the evening and he was assisted by Patrick Benjamin (also his third point of the night) and Shene Damphousse. Could they hold onto this lead for almost 3 minutes?? GVC called a time-out with a little more than a minute and a half left in the game . . . and proceeded to pull their goalie, gaining the extra man in the Maverick zone. The pressure is on and the Mavericks are working hard to keep the Zods at bay. Fans are on the edge of their seats - - the noise level increases to a feverish pitch. . . Would the Zodiacs tie it up - - would we be forced into overtime - - then, with 53.1 seconds left on the clock . . . Matt Mazinke, assisted by Tristan Keck and Dale Lehmann, scored on the empty net, giving the Mavs their insurance goal. . . and with very little time for GVC to do anything about it. The final buzzer sounded but it was difficult to hear over the roar of the crowd who went crazy celebrating the sweet victory. Final score 4 - 2 for the Mavericks. Final shots on net were 37 for the Mavs and 20 for GVC Zodiacs.

Thanks go out to the GVC Zodiacs for a competitive and enjoyable final series. It was a pleasure to watch a hockey game with that much intensity, that didn't explode into penalty after penalty. Instead, fans from both sides had the pleasure of watching games that were focused around the considerable skill of both teams.

Well Maverick fans . . . is that it? Are the boys now going to hang up their skates and retire until next season? Not a chance!!! Provincials are next. And the boys leave on Wednesday evening for Killarney where they start off with two games on Thursday, March 11th.

If you see them - - wish them well . . . . . and watch for updates on this website!!









STAYIN' ALIVE
Game 2 of the best of three Zone IV finals was held on Thursday, March 4th in Winkler. The Zodiacs had taken game #1 in a close battle just 48 hours before in Morris. The Mavericks needed a win tonight to stay alive in the play-offs. The Winkler arena saw their biggest High School hockey crowd of the season, as stands on both sides of the rink were filled with eager fans ready to cheer on their players, noisemakers and drums of every size and description getting "tuned up" in anticipation. The stage was set for a dramatic game and the teams didn't disappoint.

The Mavericks wasted no time, getting the first goal at 17:08, scored by Tristan Keck, assisted by Patrick Benjamin - - sending a clear message to the Zodiacs that they had come to play!! The action was fast-paced and exciting as each team struggled to dominate the play. A power-play for the Zodiacs at 11:57 proved fruitless as the Mavs successfully kept them pushed back. However, they weren't so fortunate on the next penalty, which resulted in an even-up goal for the Zodiacs at 7:38. A series of roughing penalties at 7:19 gave the Mavs a power-play opportunity but despite great control of the puck during this time, they were not able to capitalize with a goal. The teams would head to the dressing rooms tied with a goal apiece.

Second period play was dominated by the Mavericks. The Zodiacs had some scoring chances as well, but the Mav defence played solidly and Carson Keck, standing between the pipes for the Mavs this night, shut the door for this 20 minutes of play. Meanwhile, the offence went to town, putting on lots of pressure and getting plenty of turn-overs, resulting in most of the play being in the Zodiacs zone. The sole goal of this period was scored by the Mavericks at 15:55 with a bullet from the blue-line from Travis Dreger that found a home in the back of the Zods net. There was a coincidental penalty at 7:13 that should have been a power-play for the Mavs, but stripes waited too long to call the Zods player for the headlock he had Cody Fillion in, and a frustrated Filly had to wrestle his way out of the grip. At the 6:00 minute mark the Mavs scored their third goal of the night. From the vantage point of the stands, the puck clearly went over the line and was a goal. However, a Zodiac player got a "delay of game" penalty for knocking the net off, which he undoubtedly had done so that the goal wouldn't be called. This tactic obviously worked and a slightly deflated Maverick squad was lucky to have a man advantage for the next two minutes to help them keep their momentum. Score is 2 - 1 for the Mavericks at this point.

Third period continues with fast end-to-end action. Each team gained a power-play opportunity in the first five minutes of play, keeping the fans on the edges of their seat as they watched to see if their team could take advantage of their opportunity. However both were successfully killed off. At 11:35 Cody Fillion is on a break-away and a Zodiac player slashes him on his way to the net, earning Cody a prime opportunity - - a penalty shot!! Cody did a beautiful job of deking out the GVC goalie and giving the Mavs a much-needed insurance goal!!! Score is 3 - 1 for the Mavericks. But the Zodiacs would take no more penalties this night - - concentrating all their efforts on trying to catch up on the scoreboard. The Mavs took an interference penalty with some aggressive play in front of the net, designed to neutralize one of GVC's top scoring threats. The Mavs successfully killed that penalty off, with the help of some stupendous saves by Carson Keck. The Zodiacs are now in a tight position - - they are two goals down in what they had hoped to be their championship game, and they have less than half a period left to play. And then the Mavs played into their hands by taking a retaliation penalty at 8:39. The Zodiacs bench called a time-out and the result was a GVC goal just 48 seconds later. The pressure is on now and the Zodiacs have renewed enthusiasm, as they still have plenty of time left on the clock to tie things up. However, the Maverick squad continued to out-play the Zodiacs right to the end, resulting in a final score of 3 - 2 for the Mavs. Final shots on net were 28 for the Mavs and 18 for the Zodiacs.

This means that the final play-off round will now continue to game three which will be held . . . .

Sunday, March 7th

5:00 p.m.

@ Morris

Meanwhile, here is a little "flash-back" to the 70's that you might enjoy . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RBHr7SkBV0

ZODIACS SQUEAK ONE PAST THE MAVS

Tuesday, March 2nd marked the beginning of the final play-off series for the Zone IV Championship, with the GVC Zodiac visiting the Mavericks at Morris.

First period remained scoreless until almost 1/2 way through. But the Zodiacs took advantage of their first power-play of the game, (gained by a weak hooking call on the Mavs) by notching a goal at 10:55. For most of this period the Mavs played solidly but were not aggressively offensive. They seemed to be gripping their sticks a bit too tightly, afraid to take risks that would cause them to lose control of the puck. This was evident in the fact that they were outshot in the first period, and by the scoreboard, which changed to 2-0 when the Zods found the back of the net again at 1:56 left in the period.

Second period was all Mavs!! They handily outshot and outscored the GVC squad and the second period would end with a tied game after the following goals:
16:18 - scored by Ethan Comeault, assisted by Connor Penner
1:43 - scored by Tristan Keck, assisted by Ethan Comeault and Richmod Delorme

In the third period the Mavs continued to play strong, again outshooting the Zodiacs. But they just couldn't seem to get the rubber past the GVC goalie. Zodiacs took the lead at 17:17 making the score 3 - 2. Despite getting a power-play opportunity at 10:07, the Mavs just couldn't get the even-up goal. Popular opinion in the Mav part of the stands was that a coincidental penalty at 8:14 should probably have given the Mavs another man advantage, however, that was not the way stripes saw it. The Mavericks called a time-out with approximately a minute and a half left. Needing the tie-up marker, they pulled goalie Carson Keck at the one minute mark to gain the extra man advantage in the Zodiac zone. Alas, this last-ditch effort to push the game into overtime backfired, and the Zodiacs scored on an empty net at 39.3 seconds.

Final score was 4 - 2 for the Zodiacs. But shots on net were 42 for the Mavs and 30 for the Zodiacs.

Keep shooting boys - - "You miss 100% of the shots you never take!" Wayne Gretzky

Next game of the series heads to Winkler on Thursday, March 4th - 7:30 p.m.

CHECK OUT THE NEW PHOTOS!!

Many thanks to Vanessa Christiuk for taking lots of action shots of our players this year. Check out the new albums with pictures of our play-off series with Carman. Also, you will find new pictures under the "Fans" album.

MAVERICKS KICK IT UP A NOTCH

Saturday, February 27th the Mavericks hosted the Carman Cougars for game three of their semi-final play-off round. The air was charged with excitement as each of the teams were facing the possibility of the end of their season. The stands were bulging with fans and many spectators were wrapped around the outside of the glass. Anticipation was evident on everyone's faces and the noisemakers could be heard getting "warmed up" and tested out prior to the drop of the puck.

The teams entered into the first period playing much the same as any other game. It looked as though the scoreboard was going to stay blank, but then the KMC line drew "first blood" with a goal at 1:19 by Nathan Christiuk, assisted by Tristan Keck and Matt Mazinke. The Mavericks were excited to get the jump on the Carman squad, expecially since they had never been in the lead during the entire second game of this series. Was this a sign that this game was going to be different? But the Cougars found the back of the Maverick net with only :03 seconds left on the clock, sending the teams to the dressing room tied up.

Second Period stayed tied at one apiece until 11:23. But then the Cougars scored . . . and scored again . . . and again . . . and again . . . . . four goals in 7 minutes of play!!! Understandably the mood had shifted and many people sensed that they were about to witness a huge upset, with the sixth place team unseating the first place team in this semi-final play-off game. However, Maverick fans would have to agree that the body language of their team did not show the same dejection and despair as had been evident when they were down 5 -0 in game 2. They hadn't given up. And a goal at 1:20 by Matt Mazinke, assisted by Charles Bergstresser and Richmond Delorme, helped bring a sliver of hope.

Third period and it was like a different team came out on the ice in the Maverick Jerseys. They were flying!! The extra effort and fight for the puck was evident in every play. And it paid off big time, as Nathan Christiuk scored, assisted by Charles Bergstresser at 11:50, . . . . and then they scored again with the KMC line (Tristan Keck from Nathan Christiuk and Matt Mazinke) . . . the score is now 5 - 4 and there is only 8:45 left on the clock. Can the Mavs do it? Can they accomplish the come-back of the season and tie it up? . . . there is enough time on the clock. . . can they maybe score twice for the win?? These are the questions running through everyone's minds. Meanwhile, the Carman Cougars are starting to get the same look of dejection about them that the Mavs had shown on Thursday. Their lead is slipping through their fingers and they seem powerless to do anything about it in the face of the newly energized Maverick squad. At 7:06 Dale Lehmann scores the unassisted goal to tie up the game!! The Mavs have tied - - can they win??? . . . . but regulation time finished with no more goals for either team . . . we are going into overtime!!

The clock now has 10 minutes on it and we are into sudden death overtime. Can the Mavericks keep up the pace they have set for themselves in the third period? Or will Carman persevere and finish the upset they have started? Tensions are high - - the crowd is loud - - but ten minutes of overtime came and went and neither team scored.

The boys go to the dressing room while the ice is cleaned and now 20 minutes is put on the clock. Both teams have got to be getting tired by now but you wouldn't know it from the way they were playing. The action continued with chances at both ends of the ice. Players are digging deep and playing a clean game as no one can afford a penalty or an error! Finally the Mavericks scored!! Ethan Comeault "undressed" a Cougar defenceman to score the winning goal unassisted with 14:18 left on the clock !! The Mavericks will go on to the final round of play-offs against GVC.

It is difficult for any team to see their season come to an end, especially when they "had it in the bag" only 1/2 hour before. The Carman Cougars played hard and deserve recognition for putting the number one team on the run and having them on their heels! We appreciate the challenging series they provided for us.

Comment from Cougars Coach to Charles Bergstresser during hand-shake . . . . "classiest captain in the league leading the classiest team in the league!" . . . . . . go Mavericks!!

The next round of play-offs for the Mavericks will begin on
Tuesday, March 2nd
@ Morris
7:30 p.m.

Come on out and cheer on the boys!!

SERIES TIED AT A GAME APIECE

Thursday, February 25th the Mavericks travelled to Carman to play game #2 against the Cougars in the second round of play-offs.

First period saw only one goal, scored by Carman at 9:38. Two penalties for Carman and one for Morris was all that was called in this period.

Second period Carman sunk another one. Despite lots of chances, the Mavs just couldn't find the back of the net. A combination of some lucky breaks and some nice saves were managing to keep the Mavs scoreless to this point. This period Mavericks took two penalties and Carman took one. However, it was the observation of most Maverick parents that a few more penalties could possibly have been called??!!?? So the second period ended with the Mavericks down 2 - 0 . No worries - - we had been here before just last Friday in Portage and Maverick faithfuls were confident we would do it again.

However the first half of the third period was not kind to us and before we knew it, the Cougars had scored two more goals, at 17:26, and 15:56. Coach Lewis called a time-out to see if he couldn't light a fire under the Maverick squad. But a cross-checking penalty for the Mavs put them on the penalty kill and with two Carman players completely screening Diamond Maxymowich, Carman pumped their fifth puck into the net at 11:21. The Mavs are in tough now, with only 1/2 a period left to play and down 5 - 0. However, the team dug deep and didn't give up. A goal at 8:13 by Travis Dreger, assisted by Nathan Christiuk and Tristan Keck helped to bouy their spirits a bit. But the next Maverick goal didn't come until 1:54, scored by Dale Lehmann from the point on a pass from Travis Dreger and Patrick Benjamin. Unfortunately it was "too little too late" for this night. And the final score came in at 5 - 2 for Carman Cougars who were extremely happy to "stay alive to play another day".

Shots on net were 37 for and 23 against.

NEXT GAME

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH

MORRIS ARENA

7:30 P.M.

Come on out and cheer on your Mavericks as they seek a spot in the final Zone IV play-off series

MAVERICKS TAKE GAME ONE!!

Tuesday, February 23rd the Carman Cougars met the Mavericks at the Morris Arena for the first game in their second round, best of three, play-off series.

Mavericks appeared strong and confident coming off a convincing win against the PCI Trojans last Friday night. And they also welcomed back some players to the bench who had been absent for awhile due to illness and injuries - - good to have you back boys - - just one more and we will be complete. Maverick fans enjoyed seeing a full bench again.

Mavericks sunk the puck roughly five minutes into the game, but the ref declared "no goal" - - from where I was sitting it looked as though that was due to a rather quick whistle. However, they did still manage to get the first marker on the scoreboard at 2:57 with a goal from the KMC line, scored by Nathan Christiuk, assisted by Tristan Keck and Matt Mazinke. The first period would end 1 - 0 for the Mavs.

Second period saw another disallowed goal for the Mavericks about 30 seconds into the play and yet a third around the 15 minute mark - - again appearing like a quick whistle. The crowd was frustrated, but if the players were, they hid it well, and just continued to play their game. Cougars tied it up with a goal at 12:32. The action went end to end at some points and spectators were almost feeling like they were at a tennis match during some shifts. Then the Mavericks took the lead again at 5:10 with a short-handed goal for KMC - this time scored by Matt Mazinke, assisted by Tristan Keck. The Cougars tied things up quickly though, with a goal at 2:15.

Third period started off with a bang when Tristan Keck, assisted by Matt Mazinke and Nathan Christiuk chalked up another goal for the KMC line only 39 seconds in. About two minutes later Chuck Bergstresser found the back of the Carman net, assisted by Nathan Christiuk . . . . and there was no turning back after that. The Mavericks hung onto their two goal lead with little difficulty for the remainder of the game, keeping the Cougars scoreless in the third period.

Final score was 4 - 2 for Mavericks. Final shots on net were 48 for and 28 against.

The next game will take place on Thursday, February 25th

@ Carman

7:30 p.m.

Maverick Fans are encouraged to make the trip out to cheer on the boys!!

RELIEF KITS FOR HAITI PROJECT

The Mavericks Hockey Team along with their very supportive Families and Friends have collected 90 Hygiene Relief Kits!!!!

All Relief Kits and a small cash donation were delivered to the MCC Store in Altona on Thursday and Friday.
The Kits will be leaving for Haiti some time this week.
This was a large undertaking, and the support was very touching!

Thanks to everyone who donated and volunteered their time to make this "Project" work!!

FIRST ROUND OF PLAY-OFFS COMPLETE!!

Friday, February 19th the Mavericks travelled to MacGregor to face the PCI Trojans in their second game of a best of three series. The Trojans faced the possibility of elimination on this evening and brought their "A" game.

First Period - despite the fact that the majority of the play was in the Trojan end of the barn, and that Diamond Maxymowich faced very few shots this period, it was obvious that the Trojans were there to play!! One Portage fan declared that it was probably "the best period of hockey the Trojans had played all year". Score was 0 - 0 after the first.

In the second period, Portage got the scoreboard rolling with a goal at 14:09, and added to that with another goal less than six minutes later. The Trojans celebrated like they had won the Stanley cup - - and well they should - - they had not only kept the first place team scoreless for half the game . . . they now had a two goal lead!! Momentum was on their side at that moment. But the tides turned when a PCI player got an unsportsmanlike penalty less than two minutes later (7:10) and the Mavericks took full advantage of this power play to score a goal of their own. This goal was scored by Tristan Keck, assisted by Nathan Christiuk and Matt Mazinke (the KMC line). Faithful Maverick fans who had made the two hour trek to MacGregor, celebrated loud and long, trying to spur their team on to get more goals. At the two minute mark, the KMC line struck again, this time with a shorthanded goal by Matt Mazinke, assisted by Nathan Christiuk and "Chuck" Bergstresser. The Mavericks struck one more time during this period, with only :01 seconds on the clock, with a goal from Tristan Keck, assisted by Ethan Comeault and Patrick Benjamin on another power-play. Maverick fans went wild as they celebrated this goal that finally put them in the lead . . . and they sent their players to the dressing room amidst a roar of noise! At this point of the game, despite the fact that it has been a relatively clean game, the Mavericks have only gotten two penalties, while the Portage Trojans have gotten five . . . two of which cost them goals.

In the third period the Mavericks came out flying, determined to continue right where they had left off and the KMC line struck again only 24 seconds in, with Christiuk getting the goal and assists going to Tristan Keck and Matt Mazinke. Despite continuing to play well, the Trojans are looking a little deflated by now. Especially when they fail to add to their score, even when the Mavericks give them a man advantage for four minutes. Less than a minute after their penalty kill is over (5:34) the KMC line is at it again, with Tristan Keck's third goal of the night and Nathan Christiuk's third assist! The Trojans take a couple more penalties in these last 5 1/2 minutes of play, which reduces the liklihood of getting much going offensively, and both teams seem to have an air of putting in time now until the buzzer goes. Final score was 6 - 2 for the Mavericks. Final shots on net were 63 for and 28 against.

It is interesting to imagine what a different year the PCI Trojans might have had, if only they had played all season the way they did in the first half of this game!! They went out with a full effort and deserve respect for the improvements they made over the season.

The Mavericks will take a couple of days "off" before they start the next play-off round which begins . . . .

Tuesday, February 21st
7:30 p.m.
@ Morris
vs. 6th place Carman Cougars
Come on out and MAKE SOME NOISE FOR THE BOYS!!

MAVERICKS PLAY-OFFS GET STARTED ON THE RIGHT FOOT

Wednesday, February 17th the eighth place PCI Trojans travelled to Morris to take on the first place Mavericks to start the first round, best of three series.

The first 3 1/2 minutes or so were kinda ugly!! Not sure if it was nerves or what, but the Mavs definitely didn't have their act together right away. But fortunately they snapped out of it and started playing more like they can. A pass from Travis Dreger up the ice to Connor Penner, then over to Tristan Keck in the neutral zone - Tristan carried it into the Trojan zone and took a shot, making no mistake firing it past the PlaP goalie. The Mavericks were starting to "click" now and things were looking up but they still lacked the intensity and focus you would expect in a play-off game. Tristan Keck scored an unassisted goal at 5:20 when he intercepted a puck at the Trojan blue line and proceeded to dance his way past the D-man and backhanded the puck into the top shelf at close range. However, the Trojans answered back only 47 seconds later when Carson Keck made the initial save on a shot, but the second Portage player on the scene managed to pick up the rebound and sniped it in. The positive thing about this was the effect it had on the Mavericks - - it was as though someone had lit a fire under them!! They proceeded to have solid domination over the Portage Trojans for the next 2 1/2 minutes of play, forcing the PCI goalie to scramble to keep the puck out of his net. This period ended with a score of 2 - 1 for the Mavs and shots on net 15 - 5 in favour of the Mavs. PCI had only one minor penalty while Morris had three.

Second period started with the Mavs successfully killing off a penalty from late in the first period. In fact, the Trojans didn't get their first shot of the period until 2 minutes and 23 seconds in, when Carson covered the puck. The second period was full of chances for the Mavs. At 16:55 Chuck fired a shot on net and Crash almost backhanded the rebound in. Berne Damphousse made a dive in front of the PCI net, trying to grab hold of a quick pass. Then at 15:35 the Maverick squad was rewarded for their hard work when Tyler Hesford picked up a dropped puck behind Dale Lehmann and popped it into the net. Also assisted by Alex Robert. But PCI answered back quickly with a goal of their own at 14:11. The Mavs reaction to this is once again to put on a lot of pressure at the Trojan end of the ice. The PCI goalie finally covers the puck after a long shift with lots of shots. Next shift continues the same way - Travis Dreger fires the puck from the blue line and Tyler Hesford found the rebound but the shot deflected over the net. The Mavs had a five on three opportunity in this period, in which they had beautiful control of the puck and lots of shots, managing to keep control of the rebounds and keep the pressure on in the PCI end. But no goal resulted. The Mav fans thought there was going to be a hometeam goal when the PCI goalie left his net to play the puck, the puck got cleared the blue line, and there was Crash, just waiting for it but unfortunately was not quite able to get a shot off before the goalie scrambled back into position. This period ended 3 - 2 in favour of the Mavs and shots were 26 for and 12 against. Very few penalties were given out this period, with only two minors for PCI and one for Morris.

In the third period the Mavs scored early (17:47) to put a little more distance between them and the Trojans on the scoreboard. It was scored by Crash, who received a nice pass in front of the net from Nathan Christiuk and then proceeded to take a wrist shot that whizzed past the PCI goalie. This was also assisted by Chuck Bergstresser. Another close scoring opportunity came at 10:30 when Tyler Hesford passed the puck to Tristan Keck who almost managed to jamb it in through the five-hole. 8:15 and Richmond Delorme "sacrified" himself to block a shot in the Maverick zone. The Mavs managed to add one more to the scoreboard this night, on a goal by Tristan Keck (a hat-trick night for him!) assisted by Nathan Christiuk at 2:44.

It was in the third period that the Trojans started to revert to some of their behaviour that was more characteristic of their style of play earlier in the season. There were lots of little "cheap" shots and things that were never seen by the stripes . . . hooking pantlegs, spearing at face-offs, some physical shots from the bench when the opportunity presented itself. . . etc. etc. Of course, stripes did see some of it, since the Portage squad received 12 minutes of penalties in this period. A drive to the net at 1:36 by the Mavs, resulted in a rash of roughing penalties when PCI's #8 decided to put Crash into a headlock and give him a shot. Crash reciprocated . . . . Ethan Comeault tried to intervene and PCI's #14 jumped in. These penalties were a "wash" with six minors going to each side. However, with less than 2 minutes left on the clock, stripes decided to send these four to the showers early, with one of the PCI players saluting the Maverick fans as he left - - - was he looking for a standing ovation???? It is hoped that if the time comes for the Portage team to be facing elimination from play-offs, that they do so in a classy manner that shows respect for the game, their coaches and fans, and their opposition.

The game resumed and with :56 seconds Tristan Keck almost flipped the puck in, but the play turned and the Portage squad drove the puck down to the Maverick end and scored with only :43 seconds left on the clock. Both teams worked hard to the very end, with Chuck firing off a bullet from the blue-line with only 8 seconds left.

Final score was 5 - 3 for the Mavericks. Final shots on net were 48 for and 18 against.

The next game will be in MacGregor on Friday, February 19th at 7:30 p.m. All fans are encouraged to make the drive to cheer on the boys in their efforts to finish off this best of three series.

MAVERICKS STEAL MORDEN'S THUNDER

The fourth place Morden Thunder came to town on Friday, February 12th to meet up with the first place Mavericks for their last regular season game before play-off series begin.

The first period was scrambly!! The Mavericks couldn't seem to get much flow to their play. Morden outscored and outshot the Mavericks this period, which ended two to one in favour of the Thunder. Mavericks took two minor penalties this period, while the Thunder chalked up two minors and a 10 minute misconduct for a hit to the head.

Second period came around and the Mavericks stepped up the intensity a bit in the scoring department, managing to turn the tables and develop a 3 - 1 lead. This was especially a feat, considering that they had to cover four minor penalties (to Morden's one). Scoring this period was as follows:
16:18 - Rory Lazaruk took a shot on net and Nathan Christiuk picked up rebound in the scramble and popped it in. Also assisted by Tristan Keck.
10:49 - A flury of action in front of the Morden net. Connor Penner scored the goal, with assistance from Richmond Delorme and Tristan Keck.
6:42 - Patrick Benjamin passed the puck to Richmond Delorme at the point, who in turn passed it to Tristan Keck who was open along the boards half-way into the Morden Zone. Tirstan wound up and sent a slap-shot towards the net that whizzed through traffic to find itself in the top shelf of the Thunder's net.

In the third period, the Mavericks again outshot and outscored the Morden Thunder. Sole goal this period was at 13:40 and scored by Patrick Benjamin, assisted by Charles Bergstresser. However, the most noticable thing about this period was the increase in hitting and cheap shots from the Morden Thunder. Was it frustration or a blatant attempt to try to get some of our players suspended for play-offs? Possibly the worst example of this was when Diamond Maxymowich went behind his net to play the puck up along the board for his teammates. Edward Tabler, #9 of the Morden Thunder could have skated on past to play the puck, but chose to do a full-out body check on Maxymowich, slamming him into the boards. Tabler's penalty for this was a double minor (four minutes) for cross-checking and unsportsmanlike. However, many Maverick fans felt that Tabler should have been tossed from the game. He had certainly been a wild card throughout the game, with a hit to the head penalty in the first period, and holding penalty in the third, on top of his body-check on Diamond, he managed to earn 18 of the Thunder's 26 minutes in penalties. Tensions were high and the game-ending buzzer resulted in a bit of a scrum, but it broke up fairly quickly.

Shots on net were 42 for and 32 against.

And so ends the Mavericks highly successful regular season games.

Play-offs begin on Wednesday, February 17th at 7:30 p.m. in Morris arena. Opponent TBA

SECURE IN FIRST PLACE
A loss for Garden Valley at the hands of the Mountain Mustangs in an overtaime shoot-out on Friday, February 5th, coupled with the Mavericks win over Pembina Tigers last night, clinchs the first place spot as their finishing point in the regular season for the Mavericks.

This means they will have their first round of play-offs against the winner of the "survivor" series, which will probably see PCI Trojans pitted against the MCI Blues.

Maverick play-off action will begin on Wednesday, February 17th at Morris 7:30 p.m.

MAVERICKS TAME THE TIGERS AGAIN!!!

On Saturday, February 6th, the Pembina Tigers visited the Mavericks for a 5:30 p.m. game.

Once again, there was a bit of a ho-hum atmosphere to the game as the first place Mavericks seem to be just filling time until the real show begins - - - play-offs!! There never really seemed to be any doubt about the eventual outcome of this game.

1st Period
1. MAVERICKS - Patrick Benjamin (Ethan Comeault, Travis Dreger) 18:14
2. TIGERS - B. J. Avery (Brooks Keen, Chris Seymour) 17:33
3. MAVERICKS - Matt Mazinke - batted the puck into the net on a pass from Connor Penner, also assisted by Richmond Delorme. 10:55
4. MAVERICKS - Patrick Benjamin (Charles Bergstresser, Rory Lazaruk) 10:06

2nd Period
5. TIGERS - Brady Kidd (Eric Harms, Bryce Enns) 13:14
6. MAVERICKS - Tristan Keck (Matt Mazinke, Nathan Christiuk) 13:09

3rd Period
7. MAVERICKS - Dale Lehmann who was cruising through the neutral zone, ready to receive a pass from Richmond Delorme. Also assisted by Connor Penner 14:28

FINAL SCORE - MAVERICKS 5 - TIGERS 2

Goaltenders
MAVERICKS - Carson Keck 24/26
TIGERS - Dennis Crawford - 34/39

Penalties
MAVERICKS - 9 minors 1 misconduct
TIGERS - 12 minors 2 misconducts 1 game misconduct

ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE????

The Maverick Hockey Team
would like to invite everyone to get involved in their
"Haiti Relief Kit" drive.

MCC has set a goal of sending 20,000 Relief Kits to Haiti at the end of February. The Mavericks are trying to help them in their efforts.

The boys will be putting together kits and are asking that their family and fans do the same. What goes into a Relief Kit you say??? Funny you should ask. Please see the list below . . . .

Contents (NEW items only)
•4 large bars bath soap (leave in wrapping)
•1 plastic bottle shampoo (380-710ml / 13-24oz; place bottle in a re-sealable plastic bag)
•4 large bars of laundry soap (Some stores carry Fels Naptha, Sunlight or Zote brands; contact your local MCC warehouse with questions)
•1 squeeze-tube toothpaste (minimum 130ml / 6oz; leave in box)
•4 adult-size toothbrushes (leave in packaging)
•4 new bath towels (medium weight, dark or bright colors)
•2 wide-tooth combs(6 to 8in / 15 to 20cm)
•1 fingernail clipper
•1 box adhesive bandages (minimum 40, assorted)
•1 package sanitary pads (18-24 thin maxi)

Place contents in a box or bag and deliver to one of the Mavericks next two home games (Feb. 6th or 12th).
OR you can drop them off at the Morris School
OR you can deliver them to any Maverick player's home.

Please have items delivered by Friday, February 19th.

The kit will be re-packed in a new 5-gallon plastic pail with lid by MCC to prepare it for shipping out on February 28th.

Please note that donations of individual items needed to make up the kits is also welcome, or monetary donations to help shop for items to complete kits. Everything helps!! Let's work together to assist the people of Haiti at this traumatic time.

Please go to http://mcc.org/kits if you need more information, or call Bonnie at 746-2573.

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HAPPY B-DAY GREETINGS TO MAVERICKS WITH FEBRUARY BIRTHDATES


Congratulations to the following Maverick players who celebrate a birthday in this month . . .

February 2 - Travis Dreger

February 8 - Matthew Mazinke

February 27 - Chis Delaquis

MAVERICKS TROUNCE COUGARS

Friday, January 29th - - a cold night for a road trip to Carman to meet up with the Cougars. Their last meeting was a bit "edgy" so fans weren't sure what to expect on this return visit.

The Mavericks were the victors this evening, winning the game 3 - 0 with all of the scoring in the first period. Goals were as follows:

13:27 - Matthew Mazinke from Travis Dreger only 22 seconds into their first power-play
7:39 - Tyler Hesford tipped in a shot from Cody Fillion, assisted by Travis Dreger
1:54 - Tristan Keck from Travis Dreger and Nathan Christiuk

Diamond Maxymowich looked like the Jamaican sunshine had done him no harm, earning a shut-out on his first game back from vacation!!

This win helps secure first place for the Mavericks as we wind down the regular season and the anticipation begins for play-offs. The Mavericks have two regular season games left, both of which will be played at home as follows . . .
Saturday, February 6th @ 5:00 p.m. vs. Pembina Tigers
Friday, February 12th @ 7:30 vs. Morden Thunder

Come on out and cheer on our boys as they make their drive towards play-off season

MAVERICKS HAVE MCI SINGING THE BLUES

Friday, January 22, 2009 the MCI Blues visit the Mavericks. This was a meeting of the top and bottom teams in the league. At times the game had a ho-hum pace, as there seemed to be an air of inevitability about the outcome. The final score was 7 to 0 for the Mavericks. Scoring was as follows:

1st Period
1. - Matt Mazinke (Tyler Hesford) 9:03
2. - Nathan Christiuk (Dale Lehmann, Matt Mazinke) 6:16
3. - Shene Damphousse (Alex Robert, Cody Fillion) 2:09

2nd Period
NO SCORING

3rd Period
4. - - power play goal for Nathan Christiuk (Charles Bergstresser, Travis Dreger) 8:55
5. - Cody Fillion (Shene Damphousse, Dale Lehmann) 8:20
6. - Nathan Christiuk (Matt Mazinke, Berne Damphousse) 2:40
7. - Patrick Benjamin (Ethan Comeault, Connor Penner) 2:01

Congrats to Nathan Christiuk on a hat trick this evening, and Matt Mazinke for racking up three points with his goal and two assits.

Goaltenders
MAVERICKS - Carson Keck 8/8
BLUES - Travis Toews 31/38

Penalties
MAVERICKS - 6 minors
BLUES - 4 minors

STILL #1 IN PROVINCIAL MHSAA STANDINGS


The Mavericks have held this spot in the provincial rankings since December 5th!!

Good work boys!!

"AA" Hockey rankings
Week of January 19

1. Morris Mavericks (1)
2. Souris/Hartney/Reston Sabres (2)
3. Killarney/Wawanesa Raiders (3)
4. Glenboro/Carberry Panthers (4)
5. Mountain Mustangs (8)
6. Hamiota Huskies (NR)
7. Neepawa Tigers (8)
8. Rivers/Elton Rams (5)

And to celebrate this - - here is a little YouTube video link called "You're Still the One" that celebrates buddies and friendships . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_hcLkeMyDY

CHECK IT OUT!!!

Lots of pictures have been added including:

new pics in the Zone IV All-Star album
a new album - January 15th game vs. Morden
new pics in the Fans album

Here are a couple of links you may want to check out . . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX6l0UAcQaQ Matt Mazinke in the Skills Competition at the All-Star Game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNif0viV3DA&feature=channel Matt Mazinke getting his award for the Skills Comp

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ONLY FOUR MORE REGULAR SEASON GAMES LEFT BEFORE PLAY-OFFS

Friday, January 22 @ Morris vs. MCI @ 7:30 p.m.
(come see the Morris Skating Club Synchronized Skating Team perform during intermission!!)

Friday, January 29 @ Carman 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 6 @ Morris vs. Pembina Tigers @ 5:00 p.m.

Friday, February 12 @ Morris vs. Morden Thunder @ 7:30 p.m.

MAVERICKS TAKE DOWN ANOTHER "KITTY CAT"

Earlier this week it was the Cougars . . . . and now it's the Tigers!!

The Mavericks made the long trek out to Pilot Mound on Wednesday, January 20th to take on the Pembina Tigers in their second-last regular season match-up.

The evening started like any other - - the boys headed to the school , ready to leave at 4:00 - - -however, there were some communication issues and lo and behold the bus didn't show up!! Several frantic phone-calls later, and the boys were on the road. Luckily???? . . . . we had a short bench tonight, so the whole team could travel in only three vehicles!!

Exams, illness, injuries and vacation - - - the quadruple threat - converged for the Mavericks on this night to result in a squad of only 12 skaters and one goalie making it out to play. The absentee list totalled 8 players. Hardest hit was the defence squad, who had only two "full-time" defenceman showing up.

However, the team did well. Manager Darren Skog said, "With all the confusion, arriving late, and somewhat of a short bench I think we showed, again, that we are a team of character."

The first period got off to a slow start in the scoring department, but certainly not in terms of penalties. The Mavs took their first penalty only 2 1/2 minutes into the game. They would end up getting four more penalties this period, none of which resulted in a goal for Pembina. The Tigers took their share this period, as well, racking up four minors in this 20 minutes of play. Scoring this period was as follows:
6:06 - Mavericks - Nathan Christiuk fed the puck to Travis Dreger who threaded a slap-shot through traffic to find the Tigers net.
5:51 - Tigers scored only 15 seconds later to tie things up.
2:25 - Mavericks - Connor Penner had a nice shot on net and Nathan Christiuk picked up the rebound during the scramble and managed to pop it in. Also assisted by Berne Damphousse.

Second Period - was dominated by the Mavericks on the scoreboard as they added three more goals. And great discipline was shown as they took no penalties this period. That's the way boys!!
17:48 - Mavericks - Tristan Keck, receiving the puck from Travis Dreger, shot the puck into the zone . . . just beside the Tigers net. Patrick Benjamin chased it in and was there to pick up the bounce off the boards, when suddenly the puck went off the netminder's skate. A bad bounce for Pembina, but a great one for us!
10:27 - Pembina wasn't giving up - - a shot on net hit the post behind Carson
9:02 - a power-play for the Mavericks with shot after shot on net
2:18 - Cody Fillion fed the puck to Travis Dreger (his third point of the evening) who was pinching in at the top of the slot. He fired it off towards the net and Alex Robert tipped it in, making the score 4 - 1.
1:05 - Connor Penner, on a pass from Nathan Christiuk (his third point of the evening), took a shot from the blue line that got past the Tigers goalie, making the score 5 - 1.

Third Period - The Tigers came out determined to do something about the lopsided score and secured an early goal. 18:25 Pembina got their second goal of the night.
17:42 - but the Mavericks were having none of that nonsense - - Patrick Benjamin stole the puck off a Pembina Tiger player and headed to the net on a mission, scoring the Mav's 6th goal of the evening.
13:13 - Mavericks have a four on three man advantage. Travis Dreger shot on the net, the puck popped up into the air on the rebound and Crash batted it in with his glove - - The Mavs were ready to celebrate just in case stripes didn't notice . . . but they did and the goal was disallowed.
8:57 - penalties for the Mavericks gave the Tigers a chance, as they had a five on three opportunity and capitalized with a goal at 8:57 on a shot from the blue line that had too much traffic in front of Carson for him to see it coming.
7:32 - Tyler Hesford would finish off the scoring for the evening with a wrist shot from the point. (a good way to celebrate a birthday Ty) Assisted by Patrick Benjamin (his third point of the evening) and Tristan Keck.

Things got a bit "messy" towards the end of the game, as the Pembina Tigers took three slashing penalties (at least one of which was a two handed tree chop!) and two game misconducts in the last 6 1/2 minutes of play. And just when you think Filly will make it through another game with no penalty - - he is awarded a tripping at 0.01 !!! Almost Cody, almost!!

Our defence squad of the evening deserves special recognition. They were Connor Penner, Tyler Hesford, Rory Lazaruk and Travis Dreger. They contributed three of the seven goals this evening and three assists. Not bad considering how many bodies we were missing back there. Filly even got a couple of shifts at the back end to cover for other players getting penalties!!

These two teams will meet one more time in regular season play on Hockey Day in Morris on Saturday, February 6th at 5:00 p.m.

MAVERICKS BAG A WIN IN CARMAN

Monday, January 18th was a foggy evening for a trip to Carman for the Mavericks.

The game got off to a good start for the Mavs with the first period having only two penalties which they successfully killed off. They also scored two goals in this period to get the ball rolling.
13:56 - First Maverick Goal - on a power play - Matt Mazinke from Nathan Christiuk and Travis Dreger -(was actually tipped off the top of a Cougar defenceman's glove as he reached to glove it down)
3:19 - Second Mav Goal - Tristan Keck batted in a fly-by puck with his stick, assisted by Matt Mazinke and Patrick Benjamin
Carson Keck withstood some abuse at the hands of the Carman team in this period, as they appeared to be taking some cheap shots in an attempt to unnerve or injure him. But he "stood tall" for his team and didn't let them get the best of him!!

Second Period levelled off with each team scoring a goal and each team taking four penalties. No power-play goals were scored. Maverick goal was scored by Matt Mazinkewho chipped it past the Cougar defenceman at their blue line and drove to the net, assisted by Richmond Delorme. The game was getting a little rougher at this point. And many of the Maverick fans were feeling that the refereeing was biased. Patrick Benjamin's hooking penalty could really have been called for "working too hard"?! The score at the end of this period was 3 - 1 in favour of the Mavs, with a Carman squad who was still coming on strong.

Third period and the Cougars get a goal early at 18:41, bringing them within easy reach of a tie and lots of time on the clock. The Mavs got a power-play opportunity at 12:28 but were not successful in getting that much-needed insurance goal. Then finally at 8:34 Tyler Hesford found the back of the Carman net. He had been caught up in a pile-up back in our end - - got himself untangled and came roaring down the ice just in time to slam the puck into the net, assisted by Ethan Comeault and Dale Lehmann. The Mavs followed that up with a penalty at 7:37 which they successfully killed off. Then a Carman penalty gives the Mavs a chance to bump up their lead, but the tenacious Cougars managed to score short-handed, once again bringing them up close on the scoreboard. And shortly after that "stuff" hit the fan. The Mavericks are dominating around the four minute mark with cycle cycle cycle happening in the Cougar zone. Carman's hopes of a fairytale ending were quickly dashed when Nathan Christiuk scored only 51 seconds later, once again giving us a two goal lead . . . and time was running out for Carman to do anything about it! A game that was already getting a bit rough just got rougher, as the Cougars sought to topple the #1 team in the league, and saw their chance slipping away. Carson again appeared to have a "target" on his back as he took some unnecesary abuse. Four penalties were awarded in these last 4 minutes, 3 of them to Carman who were getting frustrated. With 28 seconds on the clock Charlie got "run" and shoved into Carson, sending them both sprawling in the crease. An elbowing call was made but some observers on the Maverick side of the ice thought it was vicous enough to be "intent to injure". The game would end with Morris winning 5 - 3. Carson Keck faced 30 shots on net this evening!! The Mavericks shot on the Carman net 22 times.

These two teams will meet again in Carman on Friday, January 29th in the Carman arena.
Fans are encouraged to make the drive to cheer on their team.
The boys look forward to your support!!

CONGRATS TO MAVERICK ALL-STARS

Six Mavericks were chosen to play on Team White at the All-Star game on Sunday, January 17th in Morden

Forwards - Nathan Christiuk, Ethan Comeault, Matt Mazinke
Defence - Charles Bergstresser, Dale Lehmann
Goaltender - Carson Keck

Because our team was first overall in the league standings as of Christmas, our coaching staff also participated in the all-star game, at the helm of Team White.

Team White was the winning squad that day with a score of 7 to 6

Morris Mavericks scoring goals were:
Matt Mazinke with a hat-trick
Ethan Comeault

Carson Keck - winning team goaltender (shared with Riley Braun of Aces) stopped 14 of 17 shots. Two goals against were on breakaways and the other on a penalty shot.

Matt Mazinke got the Player of the Game award, and won the puck handling/obstacle course skill competition.

Take a look at the All-Star game pictures in the slide-show above. More pics will be getting added to that slideshow this week.

Congrats to Chuck, Dale and Nathan who also played well and did a fabulous job of representing our team.

Congratulations to all of these players and to the team who helped to get so many Mavericks nominated as All-Stars. The higher your team is in the standings, the more players you are eligible to send!!

Check out what the PCI Trojans website said about our team . . . .

. . . . . 'While making some notable plays in the third period - the coaches still question which combinations are going to get results. Essay concluded saying, " We don't think it has anything to do with lines. It has to do with the mental part of the game. We still have to create a team of guys who wants to work together and win. We don't have that. Morris is a great example for us to watch. There are no superstars in that line up but there are no duds either. Those guys are a 'team' and they play like one every time they step on the ice." . . . . .'

WINKLER WOES

The Mavericks travelled to Winkler on Saturday, January 16 hoping to continue with the tremendous winning streak they had going.

First Period:
The action was back and forth, up and down the ice, as these closely matched teams both attempted to get the jump on the scoring. Mavericks put on early pressure with a shot on net from Dale Lehmann at the blue line (one of many for him this evening) just 50 seconds into the game, followed by another for him only 17 seconds later. At 17:01 Cody Fillion turned on the after-burners and saved an icing call, keeping the puck in play in the Winkler end. At 7:32 there was lots of action around the Maverick net and Carson Keck made two fabulous saves on close-range shots. The pressure in the Mavs end continued and Carson "robbed" a Zodiac when he took a shot, the rebound popped up into the air and looked like it was going to come down behind Carson, but he managed to pull a shortstop move and glove it! The action quickly moved down to the other end of the ice where the KMC (Keck-Mazinke-Christiuk for those of you who don't remember!) line did a nice zig-zag of passing moving into the Winkler zone and got a shot on net that produced the "ting" of the post! At 4:43 there was lots of pressure on the Zodiac goalie, scrambling in front of his net and he was forced to cover the puck. At 1:34 Charlie Bergstresser received what the radio announcers described as a "brutal hit from behind" - - Chuck was understandably mad and came up swinging, received a blow to the cage from GVC's #7, who was promptly taken on by the Mav's Travis Dreger. Stripes got things under control and when the dust settled penalties were awarded with a 2 minute roughing for Travis, and a 2 minute cross-checking and a two minute roughing for GVC's #25. Somehow #7 managed to slide under the radar on that one??? . . . and #25 certainly got off lightly for the initial hit he gave to Chuck!! Unfortunately the Mavericks were unable to capitalize on their man advantage.

Second Period:
Started with a power-play for Morris. No goal was scored during the man advantage, but the momentum continued and at 17:42 Shene Damphousse found the back of the Zodiac net with the help of Tyler Hesford. A penalty kill for the Mavericks was successfully killed off, and even included a two on one opportunity while short-handed, but alas, no scoring was seen. The Mavs second penalty of the period was "fluffy" to say the least - - a holding penalty on Chuck. The Mavs held their own during this penalty and ended it off on an exciting note when Charles came off his penalty at 3:51 and received a pass right at the Zodiac blue line to drive for the net . . . . but unfortunately was unable to get it past the GVC netminder!! The crowd was noticing an issue at this point with the referee having trouble staying out of the way of the play, and in fact he got checked into the boards by Nathan Christiuk in the final moments of the game as he was making his way through the neutral zone to GVC territory. This period would end in favour of Morris with a skimpy lead of 1 - 0.

Third Period:
Disciplined play from both sides of the ice, as the teams realize they can't afford to give an advantage in a game this close - - only penalty called all period was one 2 minute minor for the Mavs which was successfully killed off. At 15:40 the Zodiacs scored to tie up the game, and only a minute and 37 seconds later they scored another to take the lead. This resulted in huge momentum for the GVC squad as the Mavericks struggled to get another goal to tie things up. The Mavs repeatedly iced the puck to get relief in the form of a line change, but it kept the play in the Mavericks end of the ice with face-off after face-off in front of Carson. At :58 seconds there was a time-out called by Coach Lewis to try to settle his squad down. At :42 seconds Carson was pulled from the net to give a 6 on 5 advantage in the Zodiac zone. But a shot from the blue line with only 24 seconds left on the clock, took a bad bounce off the shinguard of a Zodiac player and #18 from the GVC team (#2 goal scorer of the league) was quick to pounce on it for a breakaway towards the empty net for his third goal of the game.

Here is how closely matched these two teams were in this game . . . Shots on net were 33 for and 35 against. Each team had four 2 minute minors in penalties. No power play goals were scored and no short-handed goals were scored.

This was their last regular season match-up. It will be interesting to see if these two teams meet again this year!!

REDEMPTION!!

Friday, January 15th the Morris Mavericks hosted the Morden Thunder.

The last time these two teams met in the Winkler tournament on January 3rd, the game was tied in regulation time - - then they had five minutes of four on four - - and then they finished with a shoot-out that saw the Morden Thunder come out on top.

But on this night the Mavericks were determined to prove that loss was just a "blip" on the screen and not the way the team can really play.

It was a solid 6 - 0 decision tonight in favour of the Mavericks, who have now gained their 9th straight win in league play. Here are some of the highlights . . .

First Period:
17:11 - Carson Keck gave Maverick fans a moment of panic when he gloved the puck but it dropped to the ice in front of him and got lost in his feet - - however, a quick recovery and the Mavericks had control of it again.
12:32 - Tristan Keck wove around some of the Thunder, and tried to slip it past the pads on the goalie's blocker side, but couldn't get it past the Morden netminder that time.
11:14 - Mavericks have a powerplay and Charlie Bergstresser flips a wrist-shot from the blue line forcing a glove save
8:02 - Ethan Comeault received the puck from Connor Penner, then proceeded to head to the Thunder net and led the goalie to one side, then neatly backhanded it over to the other side where Patrick Benjamin was waiting to pop it into a wide open net for the opening goal of the game.
5:36 - Ethan Comeault crunched a Thunder player into the boards right in front of the Maverick bench to the delight of the home town crowd.

Second Period:
17:58 - Rory Lazaruk with a couple of shots from the blue line - - the first almost got deflected in, and the next was stopped by the goalie
16:44 - and the Mavericks are on a power play - - Charlie Bergstresser fired a shot that Matt Mazinke got a piece of and nearly deflected behind the goalie.
13:48 - The KMC line scored a goal - - the Morden goalie went prone in front of the net and Tristan Keck took advantage of it shooting it up high, assisted by Nathan Christiuk and Matt Mazinke.
12:31 - Tristan Keck gets another quality chance when he drives the puck into the Morden zone, takes a shot, gets the rebound and shoots again, but this time the goalie holds on.
11:56 - Dale Lehmann with a nice shot from the point
11:42 - Tyler Hesford - - a quality shot on net - - great pressure in this shift!!
7:06 - Matt Mazinke - - by the boards midway up the Morden zone and just whipped the puck towards the net, visibly catching the goalie off guard and nearly getting the Mav's third goal.
The last 6 minutes of this period continued with a ton of pressure at the Thunder end of the ice as the Mavericks sought to increase their lead for going into the third.
5:32 - Ethan Comeault - - the crowd groaned as he took a shot that was oh so close to going in!
5:20 - Connor Penner - stole the puck right off a Morden player's stick int he netural zone and took the puck back into the Morden zone.
4:30 - Ethan Comeault with a shot that just skinned past the side of the post
Fans were appreciating the humor of the "quick horn" being operated by Mike Hesford at this point of the game, as shot after shot of the Mavericks looked like it was going to go in.
3:00 - Matt Mazinke working hard around the Morden net, keeping them tied up.
2:40 - Richmond Delorme with one of his signature hip-checks - sent a Morden player flying
1:40 - Morden netminder being bombarded!!
1:13 - Ethan Comeault - working hard - deking around players and getting lots of chances - goalie makes glove save!

Third Period:
Only a minute into this period and the Mavericks were forced to kill off a penalty.
18:10 - Dale Lehmann with a nice hipcheck on a Thunder player
18:00 - Matt Mazinke with a great shot on net, even though we are short-handed
14:20 - Richmond Delorme with a nice wrist shot from the blue line
13:29 - Tristan Keck came from behind the net and backhanded it - - but play continued as the goalie defelected it and Morden Defence picked it up
Then followed another time frame where the Mavericks completely dominated the play . .
13:05 - Matt Mazinke sandwiched between two Thunder players as he drove to their net
12:54 - Charles Bergstresser with a nice shot from the blue line
12:14 - Richmond Delorme - makes a shot - goalie gets the glove save
11:02 - Nathan Christiuk - nice shot on net
10:57 - Travis Dreger - -nice rocket from the blue line
10:07 - Richmond Delorme - another shot on net forcing another glove save.
6:23 - Matt Mazinke tries to jam the puck in from the side and Nathan Christiuk picks up the rebound and shoots, but Morden goalie hangs on.
6:00 - Nathan Christiuk with a wraparound attempt
The Morden goalie is keeping them in the game!! But the Morden offence is being totally ineffectual in this game
4:40 - Cody Fillion gets the puck from Charlie Bergstresser, drove it in along the boards - took a shot on net - loose puck rebounded - Tyler Hesford pops it in for the third goal of the night.

Despite the fact that the Morden coach calls a time-out at this point, now the floodgates open on the Mavericks scoring. The Morden goalie finally begins to succumb to the odds he is up against with all the shots he is facing.

3:19 - Morden frustration evident in a hit from behind game misconduct for one of their players
2:57 - Tristan Keck got a goal with assists from Charles Bergstresser and Ethan Comeault
2:11 - puck slid across the crease between the goalie and the net!!!
2:07 - Alex Robert backhands the puck into the net, assisted by Cody Fillion and Travis Dreger
and just to finish things off - - - - a shot from the blue-line by Rory Lazaruk found the back of the net just as the buzzer was going - - assisted by Matt Mazinke and Nathan Christiuk.

The scoreboard said it all with the following final information . . .
Final score 6 - 0 for the Mavericks (congrats Carson Keck on his second shut-out in a row)
Shots on net were 61 for and 14 against.

The Mavericks left no doubt who was the stronger team this night!!

MAVERICKS STAMPEDE OVER THE TROJANS

, January 13th was a beautiful night for a drive to Portage. The Mavericks were ready and eager to play a league game, as they have only had one in the past 3 1/2 weeks.

The game started off with each of the teams "measuring each other up" in the first period, which ended with a blank for both teams. Only one penalty was awarded this period and it went to the Trojans for a slash.

In the second period each team took one minor penalty, but again, no goals resulted for either side on the power-play opportunity. But almost exactly at the 1/2 way point of the game, the Mavericks opened up the scoring. The Mavericks took a couple of markers this period as follows:
9:22 - Tristan Keck as he came in from the right hand side of the goalie and found a corner - from Matt Mazinke and Connor Penner
1:07 - Tristan Keck - this time from the goalie's left side and whizzed it past the netminder's ear to find the top right corner - from Nathan Christiuk and Matt Mazinke

Third period arrived and the Mavericks opened up the floodgates on the scoring.
15:47 - Ethan Comeault from Patrick Benjamin and Travis Dreger (power-play)
11:51 - Tristan Keck - unassisted (power-play)
2:41 - Shene Damphousse from Dale Lehmann and Tyler Hesford
0:57 - Patrick Benjamin from Nathan Christiuk and Travis Dreger

One of the awesome things about this game was how many members of the team participated in the scoring. All 16 skaters contributed to the win, but it is impressive that 11 of them found their way onto the game sheet with a goal or an assist - - a definite sign of a strong team!! Special recognition to Tristan Keck for getting a hattrick and to Ethan Comeault who scored himself a birthday goal!!

The third period was not only dominated by scoring, but also by penalties. To this point only three penalties had been dished out by the stripes, but in the third period, the Mavericks received 4 minor penalties while the Trojans took 6 minors and a game misconduct for a hit from behind. Definitely a reflection of their frustration with the way the score was going!

Carson Keck earned himself a shut-out on his "return from Mexico" game, turning away 24 shots. The Mavericks more than doubled that by peppering the PCI goalie with 51 shots this evening.

And the best of all . . . . . the Mavericks have extended their winning streak to 8 for league games. Great work boys!! Keep it up!!





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WINKLER TOURNAMENT

Friday, January 8th - - 8:00 a.m.- - first game of the Winkler tournament finds the Mavericks matched up against Souris (a AA school team currently ranked fourth in the province in MHSAA standings). The Mavs were victorious with a score of 6 - 4.

Their second round robin game played at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 8th at the Winkler arena vs. Stonewall (a AAAA ranked school who is currently not listed in the top 10 in the province) resulted in a 6 - 2 loss for the Mavericks.

The Mavericks finished third in their pool and played on Saturday, Janury 9th in Plum Coullee at 9:00 a.m. vs. the Morden Thunder. It was a tremendously exciting game - - very close - - going into five minutes of four on four overtime - - -followed by a three on three shoot-out. The Morden Thunder came out victorious with a score of 4 - 3.

These two teams will meet again at the Morris arena this Friday, January 15th in the Mavs first home game action of 2010. You can be sure it will be an exciting game as the Mavs gear up to win when it counts . . . in league play!!

The Survey - - note the tab at the left of your screen - - only four people voted - - and yes, the goalies for the current season are from Morris (Carson Keck and Dominion City (Diamond Maxymowich). Please check for a new survey.

MAVERICKS RUN OVER MOUNTAIN

The Mavericks continued their winning ways into the new year. On Wednesday, January 6th they travelled to Notre Dame to take on the Mountain Mustangs in their last regular season match-up of the season. Despite a short bench (three players on holidays and two on the injured list) the Mavericks stood up well to Mountains tough physical style of game.

Period one:
Mavericks broke the ice with a goal at 7:54 by Rory Lazaruk. He was fed the puck by Nathan Christiuk from Matt Mazinke, and then neatly flipped it through traffic to find the net! The hitting was already heating up in this period with the Mavs giving as good as they got! One minor hooking penalty was awarded to each team, but no goals were scored on power-plays in this period. Shots on net were 10 for and 8 against.

Period two:
Richmond Delorme toppled a Mountain at 19:45 to set the tone for the period, with one of his low hip checks near their blue line. Mavs did all the scoring this period as they notched a couple more markers. One at 12:15 when Patrick Benjamin, who was by the boards, took a broad sweep at the puck to send it towards the net where Ethan Comeault was waiting to pop it in. Diamond Maxymowich made one of many great plays this evening when he poke-checked the puck away from the front of his net around the 10 minute mark. At 8:48 a Mountain player was rushing the Maverick end of the ice - - Richmond Delorme caught up to him . . . turned . . . and delivered a hip check which prevented a potential scoring opportunity for Mountain. Around the 7 minute mark there was a lot of pressure around the Maverick net, including the "ting" of the goal post, as the Mavs killed off their sole penalty of this period. Then only 28 seconds after getting full strength, Nathan Christiuk scored a goal on a backhand from a pass from behind the net from Matt Mazinke. Also assisted by Patrick Benjamin. Shots this period were 14 for and 19 against. But the score is 3 - 0 for the Mavericks going into the third period.

Period three:
The Mustangs gain their first goal of the game at 11:43. Maxymowich had made the save but the puck popped into the air and when it landed there was a scramble, resulting in the puck finding the back of the Mavericks net. At 9:49 the Mavericks gained another goal as a puck from Patrick Benjamin danced across the line - assisted by Ethan Comeault and Chris Delaquis. The ref actually didn't see it as he was screened, but in consultation with the linesman, declared it a goal. And that is how the game would end. Shots on net were 20 for and 28 against. Final score 4 - 1 for the Mavericks.

Check out the article below entitled "Another One Bites the Dust" to see the scoring highlights from the big win over the Miller Aces on December 18th !!!



NEW PHOTO ALBUMS HAVE BEEN CREATED - - MAKE SURE YOU TAKE A LOOK!!

Here are some You Tube links to see some of the action from the pre-Christmas Killarney tournament . . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqtn7RB23WA&NR=1 - Cody's Goal (2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNOEcmu4_s4 - another Filly goal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsVL2E2jigM - Cody's Goal - Tournament Winner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M76Zcf7vQw - Connor's Goal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPl8if6HdeM - Patrick's goal in gold game - assist by Ethan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RM7cF5xHqI - Ethan's goal, assisted by Patrick

EVELETH, MINNESOTA UPDATES

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Maverick fans!!

Your Mavericks took to the road this holiday season in an effort to skate off some "turkey legs". They were in a three day high school hockey tournament in Eveleth, Minnesota, skating out an arena called the Hippodrome!

Game one for the Mavericks was Monday, December 28th, unfortunately the boys did not get a "W" under their belt to get things rolling. They had a 3 - 1 loss in their tournament opener to Henry Sibley. And the line-up is changing a bit as we go, as two players were unable to make the trip with the team and two defencemen are out with injuries. The Mavericks lone goal was scored by Tristan Keck, assisted by Nathan Christiuk and Charlie Bergstresser.

Game two, played on Tuesday, December 29th saw the Mavericks take a 5-4 loss to Minneapolis West. Scoring was as follows: First Period - Shene Damphousse with an unassisted power-play goal. Second Period - Corey Mazinke with an unassisted goal, followed by Tristan Keck's power-play goal that was assisted by Nathan Christiuk. Third Period - Matthew Mazinke with a power-play goal assisted by Dale Lehmann and Nathan Christiuk.

Game Three, and the final game of the tournament for the Mavericks, was played on Wednesday, December 30th against Minneapolis East. Minneapolis took a two goal lead but the Mavericks (or should I say Nathan) persevered and answered back with three consecutive goals to take the lead. A third goal by Minneapolis tied it up but Nathan Christiuk again stepped up and scored the game-winning goal. Here was the Mavericks scoring for this game:
First Goal - Nathan Christiuk - short-handed and unassisted
Second Goal - Nathan Christiuk on a power-play, assisted by Tristan Keck and Dale Lehmann
Third Goal - Nathan Christiuk from Matt Mazinke and Tristan Keck
Fourth Goal - Nathan Christiuk from Tristan Keck and Matt Mazinke
Thanks for showing up to play Nathan!!
The boys hit the road to come home after a couple of close games and finished it off on a high note with that win.




HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREETINGS GO OUT TO OUR JANUARY-BORN PLAYERS

January 11th - Rory Lazruk
January 12 - Nathan Christiuk
January 13 - Ethan Comeault
January 20 - Tyler Hesford


ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

The Mavericks delivered an early Christmas present to their fans on Friday, December 18th at the Sunflower Gardens in Altona when they defeated the W.C. Miller Aces. Today's game in Altona was a solid 7 - 2 win for the Mavericks. Scoring for the Mavericks was as follows:

Period 1
1st Goal - Charlie Bergstresser - assisted by Jamie van der Linde
2nd Goal- Tyler Hesford - assisted by Patrick Benjamin
3rd Goal - Tristan Keck - assisted by Nathan Christiuk and Matt Mazinke
Period 2
4th Goal - Tristan Keck - assisted by Matt Mazinke and Nathan Christiuk
5th Goal - Matt Mazinke - assisted by Jamie van der Linde
Period 3
6th Goal - Matt Mazinke - assisted by Tristan Keck
7th Goal - Patrick Benjamin - assisted by Tristan Keck and Connor Penner


In the last 48 hours the Mavericks have defeated both of the teams who stood in front of them in the league standings, which means that Maverick fans should be able to look forward to seeing their team have sole possession of first spot in the league when the standings get updated next week.

Good work boys!!



YOU CAN'T KEEP A GOOD TEAM DOWN!!!!


While the Mavericks were off in Killarney kicking some butt - - league play continued last weekend in Zone IV, which resulted in the Mavs dropping from a tie for first, to a second place standing in the league over the weekend.

However, Wednesday, December 16th saw some impressive hockey action in the Morris barn, where the Mavericks once again proved they are a contender for first spot in this league, by defeating the GVC Zodiacs 2 - 1. Here is a summary of the action:

1st Period: No Scoring

2nd Period
1. ZODIACS - Dale Harder (Carson Wiebe, Cole Smith) 19:33

3rd Period
2. MAVERICKS - Shene Damphousse (unassisted) 14:10
3. MAVERICKS - Connor Penner (Patrick Benjamin, Ethan Comeault) 12:17 PP

Goaltenders
MAVERICKS - Diamond Maxymowich 26/27
ZODIACS - Blaine Unger 28/30

Penalties
MAVERICKS - 1 minor
ZODIACS - 3 minors



MAVERICKS TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS IN KILLARNEY


The Mavericks continued their winning ways this past weekend, as they headed to Killarney for a tournament.

First Game - 10:55 a.m. Saturday December 12 vs. Hamiota Hounds
The Mavericks won this game handily with a score of 6 - 1.

Second Game - 4:40 p.m. Saturday December 12 vs Minnedosa
Despite being down 2 - 0 at the end of the first period, the Mavericks had a spectacular comback in the second period with four goals scored, and adding another marker in the third giving a final decisive score of 5 - 2

Third Game - 4:00 p.m. Sunday December 13 vs. Killarney/Wawanesa
This was a closely matched game. First period was scoreless despite the fact that it looked like several Maverick pucks might have gone in??? Second period ended in a one all tie. Third period saw the Mavericks getting the go-ahead goal and hanging on as the Killarney squad worked hard to try to match it. However, the Mavericks persevered and came out victorious, earning the gold medal!!

"WELL, WE'RE MOVIN' ON UP . . . ."

Mavericks defeated the first place Miller Aces last night (Wednesday, December 9th) to move them up in the standings for a tie for first with the Altona squad.

Check out the video link below to see how the Maverick players and fans felt after last night's game!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcggr_23WJU

Morris arena was the place to be on Wednesday night if you follow local hockey action. It was a battle of the big guns, since between the two teams, there were 7 out of the top 11 points leaders in the league on the ice that night!!

It has been a back and forth battle between these two teams this season. Here is a bit of the history to date . . .

Games 1 & 2 were a split - Pre-season tournament in Morris - - Mavericks lost to Aces in round robin play but ended up defeating them when it counted, for the gold medal on Sunday that same weekend.

Game 3 - league play - November 18 @ Morris - Aces scraped a win by the Mavericks with a score of 6 - 5 - this was a key game that allowed the Aces to stand alone in first spot of the league for quite awhile, and forced the Mavericks into a "bridesmaid" spot in the standings

Game 4 - league play - December 9 @ Morris - Mavericks reversed the score, this time taking the win 6 - 5 which secured them a spot tied for first with the Miller Aces in the standings. Here is what the action looked like (thanks to Ray Christiuk for his note-taking!)

First Period:
Despite some confusion only five seconds after dropping the puck (the power went out and immersed the arena in darkness momentarily) - the Mavs got the game off to a great start. Good passing and organized, aggressive play allowed them to put on some pressure and get results. Ethan Comeault had a point blank shot on the Aces goalie at 15:59 but the netminder held tight. Then at 14:11 the KMC line (Alex Robert filling in for Tristan Keck) rushed the net to gain the first goal of the night when Nathan Christiuk sunk the rebound created by Matt Mazinke. The Mavs continue the momentum at 13:40 - off a deep face-off, a shot goes wide of the aces net and bounces off the boards into the wheelhouse for Chris Delaquis who was ready, willing and able to bury it. But alas . . . a penalty at 12:57 created a chance for the Aces to reply and despite a huge blocker save by Carson Keck at 12:22, the Altona squad manages to score on a rebound left in front of the net at 11:51. The Mavericks response to that is another goal at 8:01 when some strong forechecking by Mazinke, Robert and Christiuk gains a goal for Mazinke. But the Aces managed to gain another marker in the dying seconds of the period, with a two on two rush on a defensive breakdown. So this period, dominated by strong Maverick play and some of Coach Lewis' 2-one-2 forechecking working its magic, would end 3 - 2 for the Mavericks. Shots on net were 18 for and 14 against.

Second Period:
Chris Delaquis gained his second goal of the night on a power-play (the first power-play goal for the Mavericks in 4 games! - this was a great night to get that going again!!) making it 4 - 2 for the Mavs. At 9:50 Carson Keck receives a "delay of game" penalty that no one I have talked to seems to understand??? This was all the opportunity the Aces needed, and indeed they took advantage of the situation and crept up the scoreboard with another goal - - score 4 - 3. Second period not going as well for the Mavericks as the first at this point, with too many tape to tape passes finding the opposition!! Altona gained energy and momentum with their last goal and ends up scoring another at 7:30 to tie things up. Altona pressure continues and they ring one off the crossbar at 4:15. Referees seem to be not calling everything as some things are "so obvious" from the stands!?! Aces only had one power-play to defend against, but the Mavericks took a total of four 2-minute minors this period, including a 5 on 3 for over a minute, in the last two minutes of play. Mavericks manage to do a great job of killing those off, while the home town crowd collectively held their breath hoping the Aces wouldn't capitalize and take the lead!! However, that was never to be the case in this game, and the period ended 4 - 4 with shots on net being 16 for and 10 against.

Third Period:
The Mavericks get a power-play opportunity early on in the period at 15:26, but before it is over, we have received a penalty of our own, taking away the man advantage. Score remains 4 - 4 and the third period is shaping up to be a tight checking affair so far . . . then at 7:03 the arena expolodes with noise as "Crash" Benjamin nets a goal, assisted by Chris Delaquis (third point of the night) and Ethan Comeault. The Mavericks are riding high now, showing signs of the team who came out to play in the first period. Matt Mazinke completely embarasses an Altona defenceman, beats the goalie, and backhands it to the net - - - and everyone thinks this will be the insurance goal until . . . . "ting" - - - hits the post! Then the unthinkable happens - - Altona scores at 3:15 and we are back to a tie game - creating the last few nerve-wracking minutes of the game as follows . . .
2:21 - Aces take a penalty giving Mavs a power-play opportunity
1:54 - Aces call a time-out
:54 - Mavericks score their second power-play goal in four games!! (I repeat -- great timing!!) pulling ahead to make the score 5 - 4. Goal scored by Matt Mazinke on a "Chuck" Bergstresser shot from the point that he deflected.
:54 - Mavericks call a time-out
Aces penalty is over and they have pulled their goalie - - dying seconds of the game is solid pressure of 6 on 5 in the Mavericks end with a very determined Aces squad pouring it on . . .
:27 - big save by Carson Keck
:09 - another big save by Carson Keck!!
The buzzer goes and the Mavs celebrate as they have "moved on up" in the standings to share the number one spot in the league with the Aces.
Final score 6 - 5 - - final shots on net were 40 for and 37 against

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Updated by Bonnie Dreger, Sat Mar 13, 2010 @ 9:27 PM 0 Comments

Sat Sep 4, 2010 No events are scheduled.

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