Game Summaries - Spring 2003

Playoffs

Bryan Leach scored and added two assists and Saxon Brack and the Knuckles' D pitched in a second straight shutout as the Moose finished off their first round series against Tuaca with a 4-0 victory Wednesday night.

The Moose would jump all over Tuaca with three goals in a 1:10 span of the first.

The fireworks began when 'The Garbageman", Pius Coles, stood strong in front of the Tuaca net and put home a pass from Leach, giving the Moose a 1-0 lead. It was Coles' first of the playoffs.

Just :59 later, Craig Deacon would finish off a Knuckles' swarm around the offensive zone as Paul Worthley's pass would find it's way to number 92, making the game 2-0 Moose. It was Deak's second of the series.

On the ensuing faceoff, Leach would win the draw to Ron Leverock, who took it down the right side and centered for Dan Radisewitz' howitzer blast, pushing the margin to 3-0. It was Radisewitz' third of the series.

Tuaca would take a timeout to stop the onslaught.

The Moose would light the siren again three minutes later as a Knuckle penalty kill turned into the Bryan Leach show when the Knuckle center took a clearing pass from Leverock and Jeff Lister and muscled through three defenders to put the puck in the back of the net. It was Leach's first of the series and the final nail in a 4-0 coffin.

In a repeat of Monday night's screenplay, the Moose would tighten up and play defensive hockey for the remaining two and a half periods as the inevitably eliminated Tuaca team began taking cheap shots up and down the ice. The game would see 40 penalty minutes, including 5 double minors.

Brack would make some big saves throughout on Tuaca defensemen Craig Buck, pinching to try to get something going. But, Brack and his cast of uncanny D-men weren't about to give up a chance at a second straight shutout.

Dan Radisewitz scored twice and added two assists while Bryan Leach put up a trio of assists, as Saxon Brack and the Knuckles D opened another title defense with a 5-0 shutout of the overmatched Tuaca Shooters.

Radisewitz would pick up his first of the evening off of a perfect pass from Craig Deacon on the powerplay. Steve Klosinski would start the play with a strong hold at the blue line.

Mit Morgan, would add a goal just :42 later as Kevin Holt would set the winger up in the high slot for a 2-0 Moose lead.

2:14 later, Josh Ahlberg would crash the net, putting home his first of the playoffs, from Radisewitz and Leach.

Deacon would pile on with a goal of his own, just 3 minutes later, taking a feed from Radisewitz and Leach, putting the game away at 4-0.

The remainder of the first and second periods would have the Knuckles dumping puck after puck deep into the Tuaca zone, while quashing any and every offensive rush for the next two periods.

Late in the third, the Moose would pick up the fifth and final goal as Radisewitz converted passes from Leach and Ahlberg, opening things up to 5-0.

The Moose defense, led by league-leading goaltender, Brack, would shut down the remainder of the game for the 5-0 Moose victory and 1-0 series lead.

Regular Season

A fierce forecheck and possession game was just what the doctor ordered as the Moose regained their winning form with a 3-2 victory over the Southsiders Monday night.

Things started off rocky for the Moose as the Southsiders and league leading scorer Jay Stewart buzzed around the Knuckle's zone for most of the first 10 minutes of the first period. The pressure culminated in a powerplay goal giving the Southsiders a 1-0 lead.

Things would quickly turn ugly. League penalty minute leader and goon, J Mathew, would cross-check Josh Ahlberg. He would then take an extra 4 minutes punching Ron Leverock in the head, giving the Moose a 4 minute powerplay. Just seconds into the powerplay, a slashing call would give the Moose a two-man advantage.

Craig Deacon answered by taking a pass from Bryan Leach and feeding the open Dan Radiewitz for a powerplay goal. It was Radiewitz' seventh of the season.

The Moose continued on the powerplay as Chris Reeves' point shot was deflected on net where a waiting Pius Coles picked up the rebound and put it home for a 2-1 Knuckles' lead. It was Coles' ninth of the season.

The Moose would go up 3-1 with a short-handed goal as Craig Deacon tied up a Southsiders' defensemen and poked the puck up to Bryan Leach, who walked in all alone, beating the goalie top shelf. It was Leach's seventh of the season.

Jay Stewart brought the Southsiders back within one as he zipped in and beat Brack with a wide move, making it 3-2.

The Knuckles answered by clamping down in the third with an aggressive forecheck and possession game that was sorely missed last night against Jokerit.

The end result was a 3-2 win, as the Knuckles finish the regular season at 12-1-5, first overall and ready to defend their back-to-back titles against the likes of the Tuaca Shooters, next Monday night at 8:40pm.

Jokerit's revolving door of players finally put an end to the Moose Knuckle's run of 19 straight games without a loss by taking Sunday's contest 5-3.

The third and final regular season meeting of the bitter foes was once again a physical and close quartered contest all the way to the end.

Jokerit took the lead with 4:47 remaining in the first period when a 4-on-4 mismatch gave T Silkala his first of three on the night from Veli-Peka Vesala.

The Moose answered back three minutes later as Mit Morgan threw the puck on net and beat D Carrier inside the right post, evening things at one. It was Morgan's first of the season, assisted by Steve Klosinski.

Just forty seconds later the Knuckles jumped up 2-1 as Kevin Holt snuck one in, assisted by Chris Reeves. It was Holt's eleventh of the season.

Jokerit would tie things up at two on the powerplay with 6:07 left in the second.

Four minutes later, Jokerit would strike again as Paksuniemi converted a pass from T Silkala to give the fins a 3-2 lead.

The Moose would tie things up at three with 11:52 to go in the third as an outstretched Pius Coles beat Carrier to a loose puck, knocking it free to Craig Deacon, who put the puck home. It was Deak's 14th of the season.

Things would tighten up for the next ten minutes until a Jokerit rush turned for the worse as both knuckle defenders went down on the play, leaving Saxon Brack one-on-one with T Silkala. Silkala beat Brack through the armpit, to give the fins a 4-3 lead.

The Moose pulled the net with just over a minute remaining, but could not hold the puck deep as Jokerit broke it back up ice and looked to have the clincher until Bryan Leach made the save of the game sliding across the crease to block the shot. The rebound, however, deflected off the center and into the empty net, giving Jokerit a 5-3 win.

It was the first loss of the season for the Moose and first dating back to game 2 of the first round of last year's playoffs, a game also lost to Jokerit.

Paul Worthley had two goals and Craig Deacon added a goal and an assist as the Moose tacked another beating on the last place Crease Lizards by a score of 4-1 Monday night. The Moose struggled for much of the first 10 minutes, having problems breaking the puck up ice. The Lizards, however, were unable to capitalize as the the Knuckle D kept the front of the net clear.

Deacon would put the Knuckles up 1-0 at 5:41 with a beautiful shot from the high slot, beating Garrod Tyler for his 13th goal of the season. Josh Ahlberg picked up the assist on the play.

Exactly four minutes later, Paul Worthley took a centering pass from Deacon and pinned it through Tyler for a 2-0 lead. It was Worthley's ninth of the season. Ahlberg picked up his second assist of the night by holding the point on the play.

The Moose would go up 3-0 four minutes into the second as Ron Leverock won a battle on the boards, chipping the puck to Worthley who walked in and beat Tyler for his second of the game and 10th of the season.

Three and half minutes later, Leverock and Burns came in 2-on-0. Burns took the pass and hit the post before Tyler grabbed the puck in his glove. Leverock took the puck back and was cross-checked into the goalie, taking him out of the play. Pius Coles walked in and put the puck in for his 8th of the season.

With 6:00 remaining in the second, the Lizards would pick one up. With Jim Burns off for tripping, the Lizards wasted no time as they scored a powerplay goal 16 seconds into the man advantage.

The teams would play an uneventful scoreless third period with only five shots a side.

Dan Radewitz and Ron Leverock each scored twice as a shorthanded Knuckles team whipped up on Controlled Chaos once again, this time by a margin of 7-3.

Despite missing 6 starters, the Moose put up their biggest offensive numbers of the season.

Pius Coles picked up the first of the evening off of Paul Worthley and Glenn Baker. It was Coles' 7th of the season, putting the Moose up 1-0 at 8:41 of the first.

Chaos would knot things at one with 1:00 remaining on a beautiful powerplay goal.

Kevin Holt would strike with 9:30 remaining in the second by taking a turnover off the left wing and marching in unmolested to put the Knuckles up 2-1. It was Holt's 10th and was unassisted.

Radewitz and Leverock would walk in 2-on-2 five minutes later, with Radewitz springing Leverock in alone for the 3rd Moose goal. It was Leverock's second of the season.

Chaos would cut the deficit to one just a minute later as Bailey burst in alone, beating Saxon Brack to make it a 3-2 game.

Radewitz would quickly open it up to a two goal lead again as he blasted one through, with assists from Chris Reeves and Coles.

Radewitz would add another, just 2:06 into the third, this time unassisted. It was his 6th of the season.

Three minutes later, the Moose struck yet again, this time on the powerplay, as Jeff Lister blasted a shot from the right point. Paul Worthley was right there in front to deflect the shot over the shoulder of a shell-shocked Chaos goaltender, lifting the Knuckles to a 6-2 lead. It was Worthley's eighth of the season.

Sixteen seconds later, Leverock would pick off a cross-ice pass and race in all alone to increase the lead to 7-2. It was Leverock's second of the game and third of the season, unassisted.

The Moose would surrender one final goal with 1.6 seconds left, pissing off Saxon Brack to no end. Brack was caught on video tape after the game by an unidentified source, burning a Moose Knuckle doll and talking of his teammates as "selfish, spineless bastards who care about nobody but themselves". Brack could not be reached for further comment or verification of the report, although his used tampon was found in Knuckles' defensemen Jim Burns' equipment bag.

Don Pinter notched his first two goals of the season and Kevin Holt and Craig Deacon each chipped in three assists as the Moose escaped with a 5-1 win Monday night against the Canadiens.

The Moose came out rather flat on the heels of last Monday's big win over Jokerit. Playing with only 10 skaters, they lacked energy, attack and grit for close to 40 minutes of the 45 minute game.

Kevin Holt put the Knuckles up early with his 9th of the season from Deacon. The Moose would not score again for nearly 35 minutes as the Canadiens outworked, outhustled and outplayed the Knuckles for most of that stretch.

The only saving forces were another strong effort from the defensemen, several lucky bounces, a couple of posts and a few big saves by Saxon Brack. Otherwise, the Moose would have been on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

The Canadiens tied things up four minutes into the second as Brack came out to play a puck on the powerplay. He coughed it up for a quick Canadiens goal evening things at one.

In the third, the Moose finally made a charge about midway through. With 5:28 remaining, Don Pinter scored his first goal of the season, assisted by Deacon and Holt.

The Canadiens tried to even things up, but were caught pinching as a knuckles 3-on-1 triggered by Jimmy Burns ended up with a goal by Leach from Holt and Burns, taking the remaining life out of the Habs.

The Moose would tack on two meaningless goals in the final 40 seconds, Don Pinter from Holt and Ron Leverock and Pius Coles from Deacon.

Brack turned 17 of 18 aside for his 9th win of the season, lowering his league leading GAA to 1.71

Paul Worthley had a goal and two assists and the Knuckles' defensive front shut down the high flying Jokerit offense in a 4-1 win Monday night.

Jokerit came out on the attack, putting the Knuckles on the defensive. Saxon Brack made key saves to stave off the initial outburst.

Paul Worthley got things going with a pass to Ron Leverock midway through the first. Leverock ripped a wrister past the Jokerit netminder for a 1-0 lead. It was Leverock's first goal of the season.

The Knuckles awakened from that point forward, applying a stifling forecheck and defensive attack that frustrated Jokerit for the remaining 2 1/2 periods.

The Knuckles struck again in the second as Worthley once again worked the puck deep. Worthley's centering pass was knocked down by Leverock to a waiting Pius Coles, who slammed the puck home for a 2-0 lead. It was Coles' fifth of the season.

The Knuckles' D continued to set the tone of the game into the third when Paul Worthley blocked a pass and raced in unmolested, blasting a shot off the crossbar and in for a commanding 3-0 Moose lead. It was Worthley's seventh of the season and a clear back-breaker for the Jokerit squad.

Later in the third, a strong effort by Bryan Leach and Steve Klosinski set the table for Craig Deacon. Deke slammed the rebound home for his team leading twelfth goal of the season. It gave the Knuckles the finisher in the form of a 4-0 lead.

Jokerit managed to break Saxon Brack's shutout streak at 9 periods as an unrostered player finished off a nice centering pass by Veli-Peka Vesala to close the score at 4-1.

The Moose put their best effort forth once again as playoff intensity was in the air.

Paul Worthley and Dan Radisewitz each scored twice in a 5-0 drubbing of the hapless Crease Lizards.

The Crease Lizards' fall into last place continued as the Moose took control of the game from the opening faceoff. The overmatched Crease Lizards could do little to compete and instead spent most of the game on the defensive.

Worthley picked up his first of the evening off of a turnover by the Lizards' goalie. The goal was unassisted and was Worthley's fifth of the season.

Radisewitz followed up with back-to-back tallies, one from Leach and the other from Worthley and Klosinski to make it 3-0 Moose, halfway through the second stanza.

The Knuckles continued to dominate into the third as Worthley picked up his second of the game, making it 4-0, once again unassisted.

Kevin Holt closed the scoring out with his sixth of the season from Leach.

Saxon Brack, despite being a short motherfucker, stood tall in stopping 11 of 11 shots to earn his league leading fourth shutout of the season.

Brack is now one shutout short of Tom Brown's team record of five shutouts in a season.

Josh Ahlberg scored twice and Saxon Brack tossed his third shutout of the season, as the Knuckles thrashed Controlled Chaos 5-0.

The first period was harder fought than the scoreboard would indicate as the Moose took a 3-0 lead in a span of 3:40 in as Ahlberg, Dan Radisewitz and Chris Reeves each tallied goals.

Ahlberg's goal came just 20 seconds in on a blast from the point after a feed by Craig Deacon. It was Ahlberg's first of the season.

1:45 later, Radisewitz picked up a Deacon rebound and put it home for a 2-0 lead. It was Radisewitz' second of the season.

And 1:34 later, Reeves picked up his second of the season with a little help from Pius Coles.

The shots were 10-8 Knuckles at the end of the first.

Things would quickly worsen for Chaos as the Moose went on a 34-4 shooting spree over the remaining two periods.

At 6:39 of the second, Ahlberg picked up his second of the game, this time from Radisewitz, upping the score to 4-0.

Shortly after, Ahlberg appeared to have a hattrick, but the whistle was blown due to a downed player in front of the Chaos net.

Bryan Leach would close the scoring out by taking a picture perfect pass from Jim Burns on a 3-on-1 at 3:05 of the third. It was Leach's fifth goal of the season.

Brack would stop all 12 shots he faced to pick up his third shutout of the season.

Craig Deacon and Brad Schneider each scored a goal as the Moose were forced to settle with another tie against the Southsiders Monday night.

The Moose had their hands full with league leading scorer Jay Stewart. Stewart tallied a goal early in the first to give the Southsiders a 1-0 advantage after he beat Saxon Brack high on the glove side.

The Moose answered in the second when Deacon took a pass from Kevin Holt and blasted it past a defenseless Southsiders' goaltender. It was Deacon's team leading 11th of the season.

The Moose would take the lead later on in the second when Brad Schneider cashed in on a pass from Pius Coles to give the Moose a 2-1 advantage.

The Moose would loose the lead late in the third when J Jobin pulled a puck out of the air and placed it on his stick to beat Brack. It was Jobin's 7th of the season and came on the powerplay with 1:40 remaining in the game.

Jim Burns made things interesting just 20 seconds later as he was boarded and retaliated with a couple of punches. Saxon Brack skated over to the melee and was tossed from the match, leaving the Knuckles without a goalie and on a penalty kill for the remaining 1:20.

Don Pinter took the glove and blocker and made one save as the Knuckles penalty killers were able to hold the Southsiders without a legitimate shot on net.

Saxon Brack turned 11 shots aside and the Moose defense stopped Tuaca dead in their tracks in a 3-0 win Sunday afternoon.

How the Moose would respond to the events of the teams' prior meeting, in which the Knuckles blew a 5-1 third period lead, was the question looming over Sunday night's matchup.

The Knuckles had no intention of another relapse, as they came out strong from buzzer to buzzer.

Paul Worthley scored twice and Craig Deacon and Jim Burns each added two assists as the Moose salvaged a tie against the Southsiders Monday night.

The Moose came out flat and found themselves down 1-0 early.

Steve Klosinski tied things up with 6:27 to go in the first on a point shot through traffic and past the Southsiders' goalie. It was Klosinski's first of the season from Worthley and Chris Reeves.

The Southsiders would score the next three goals, as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead early in the second period.

Down 4-1, Worthley scored his first of the night off a beautiful feed by Deacon in the low slot. Jim Burns started the play with a nice hold at the point.

Worthley struck again less than two minutes later on a 2-on-1 with Chris Reeves. Ron Leverock triggered the break.

The Knuckles completed the comeback early in the third as Bryan Leach picked up his first of the season on the back-end of a passing play with Kevin Holt and Deacon.

Holt would add a goal of his own with 8:41 remaining to give the Knuckles the lead. Burns' second assist of the night helped generate the tally.

The Moose, however, failed to hold the lead and ended up settling for a tie as the Southsiders netted the equalizer with 4:52 remaining.

Saxon Brack faced 32 shots in the tie.

The line of Craig Deacon, Kevin Holt and Bryan Leach erupted for five goals as the Knuckles improved to 2-0 after a 5-2 win over the Tuaca Shooters.

The Moose found themselves down early after two quick Tuaca goals put the Knuckles behind the eight ball.

After the first, Knuckles captain Ron Leverock juggled the lines, putting a combination of Deacon, Leach and Holt out to start the second. The lethal trio quickly made the change pay off as Deacon scored his first of the night at 1:14 of the period. Kevin Holt blasted a wide angle shot at the net to start the play. Jim Burns added an assist.

Three minutes later the same three struck again as Deacon put a powerplay goal through to make it 2-2. Holt and Burns once again picked up the assists.

Four minutes later, Deacon completed the natural hat trick with a one-timer from Leach and Ahlberg.

Tuaca would take a time out to stop the bleeding, but the ensuing attempt to match the Knuckles power line wouldn't work as the Knuckles changed line order to keep the top line mismatch.

The game would tighten up for the next 15 minutes as Tuaca mounted a last effort to get back in the game.

Matt Mellott, however, killed Tuaca's chances by taking slashing and cross-checking penalties on Leverock in a two minute span late in the third.

The result, Deacon's fourth of the night and Holt's first, both on the powerplay. Bryan Leach and Ahlberg assisted on the first and Deacon on the second, as the Moose earned their first 2-0 start since the team formed three seasons ago.

Craig Deacon scored two goals in his Knuckles debut and Saxon Brack stopped 30 of 32 shots as the Moose defeated the Crease Lizards 3-2 in the season opener.

Despite starting with a short bench, the Knuckles grabbed a 1-0 lead on Deacon's first goal of the night, off a feed from Brad Schneider at 12:19 of the first.

The Lizards evened things out less than two minutes later.

Brack made several stellar saves to keep the Knuckles in the game early.

In the second, the Knuckles once again jumped ahead as Paul Worthley scored off a rebound from Kevin Holt's point shot. It was Worthley's first, also assisted Penis Coles.

The Moose quickly struck again at :18 of the third as Deacon tallied his second of the night, this time off Bryan Leach's rebound. Kevin Holt also assisted on the play.

20 seconds later, the Lizards cut the lead to one as Scott Baker took a centering pass and placed a shot over Brack's shoulder.

Things got ugly late in the third as Lizards' goon Ken Norman viciously cross-checked Jim Burns in the throat. Norman received a match penalty and will serve a lengthy suspension.

Fall 2002

Spring 2002

New Moose Knuckles Jerseys
Check out the new look of the official Moose Knuckles home and away jerseys.