Haverhill Cup W.P.R.

3-29-14

The Haverhill Cup

20 Nathan - I blame it on the short notice that he was being called up to the big leagues. Those bus rides can take their toll on you, but I don’t think Nick was expecting too much from him. Nathan’s biggest contribution was off the ice capturing footage.

19 Brendon - A promising start to the day quickly turned downhill. He was playing hard and forechecking and being a pest, but just wasn’t able to generate anything offensively which this team needed big time. And that line change…..oh that line change!

18 Jack - For 2 years in a row, Jack played good in the season and a lot less good in the playoffs. But what really hurt Jack was the fact he had no defense what so ever. And we all know what wins games in the Haverhill Cup playoffs.

17 Reggie - Frequently lost his man in coverage during the day, but I don’t think any of us will forget that incredibly skilled goal he scored in the first game of the day that gave Borges false hope.

16 Elliot - Didn’t have a set roll on his team of exclusively offensive players. He was made to play in a position he was unaccustomed to and it showed.

15 Andrew – Will have bragging rights this year as to who the better Prater was. Barely.

14 Autotrader.com - I assume that’s how he wants his name to appear on the cup? Ignats (or Ignads?) shootout winner was a highlight of the tournament and he buckled down his defense in the playoffs while simplifying his game and reducing the mistakes he made.

13 Tony – Wasn’t overly impressive in any game and during the season he was nearly a disaster. But in the finals he made 2 or 3 needed saves verse a very tired opponent as his teammates in front of him did most of the work.

12 Billy T – Played the roll of Mike Ward this year in that I don’t remember anything he did, which is good in the sense that he didn’t do anything egregious, but he didn’t do anything outstanding either.

11 Bobby – Bobby makes himself look big in the net and while not overly quick he makes sure he’s in the right position.

10 Ron – The shot just wasn’t there this year. Not as much as he would've liked it to be. When you’re main attribute is shooting and you’re trying to shoot through puddles, your effectiveness can drop severely.

9 Johnny – Johnny if you want more kids tell Jamie, don’t just draft as many as you can for Haverhill Cup. Even after Johnny realized his team had 0 defense, he still refused to get back and help out and play that defensive center roll like he did in Florida year 1.

8 Griff – Seemed to be in “Griff Mode” the whole round 1 with his most impressive play coming in the tying goal late in game 3, keeping the ball alive in the crease for Reggie to bury. But he just couldn’t put the ball in the correct ocean in the Finals. That’s 3 Final’s appearances and 0 wins. That’s gotta be getting in his head.

7 Eric – While his best stuff was not on display in the playoffs, Eric was still scoring at a good pace and was the only one on his team who didn’t stop running so they could net hang. Maybe he just ran out of Amp energy drinks.

6 Demaio – What Demaio did was impressive on a team that had no right doing what it did. I’m guessing Mike scored 80% of his team’s goals. This seems like a ridiculously high percentage until you see that his team only scored 5 goals.

5 Darrin – Did all he could to help his team reach the finals but fell just short. A lot of Darrin’s saves will go unheralded due to the fact that they couldn’t make it out of round 1 and as a team looked doomed during the season. But you can hold your head high knowing that your team did 68% of the work to give Jared’s team the Cup.

4 Borges – His team suffered from him missing the net way more than he hit it. And not subbing all day really cost him in the finals. Your no Nick Borges. The good thing is that the Haverhill Cup off-season is 364 days so get that knee fixed and ready for next year.

3 Jared – What a scummy thing to do to Bobby! “I got it”. There will be a petition for a sportsmanship rule next year for sure. It’ll be called the J-Rod rule. At the very least, it cost you a ranking. Otherwise you stepped up your game big time and stopped turning it over Jack Belan style like you were during the season.

2 Nick – Otherworldly play from Nick once the playoffs started. Now he can add, “what a goal” to his list of memorable plays along with, “what a pass”. Certainly proved he was worth the #1 pick in the first draft. Maybe Johnny was on to something after all. No other player risked his body more for a chance at the Cup.

1 Mike W – No other player risked his life more than Mike. Mike was relentless every second he was out there and proved Jared to be the mastermind that he is to acquire him. Ward can join the ranks of Billy Thomas and Scott Finlayson as Haverhill Cup MVP. Him and Jared have become like Gretzky and Messier. Dynasty anyone? Congratulations to Mike, Jared, Ron, Ignats and Tony.