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Sopath · 02-17-2021, 12:30 AM

Newfoundland Berserkers Game Reactions for Day 4

Pregame Coverage: In an odd scheduling occurrence The Berserkers have found themselves making relatively long reservations for their hotel rooms in Anaheim because all three of their next three games are against the Anaheim Outlaws in Anaheim. A truly bizarre occurrence but on that the Zerks are looking forward to dealing with. It will be a refreshing change of pace from the cold Newfoundland conditions that have long been present in the province by mid October. One of the few times the Zerks will have the opportunity to pack bathing suites in their baggage. Anaheim comes into this series 3-4-1 with only a -2 goal differential. Anaheim has surprised many pundits so far on the young season as many expected them to struggle handedly but they’ve subverted those expectations so far.

The players have been enjoying some time away from the cold Newfoundland weather. Bas O’Bigbers spent some time hanging out withJohnny Tsunami, who loves surfing, at the New England prospect training camp this past summer. Tsunami showed Bas the basics of surfing on one off day. Bas decided to ring up Tsunami and ask if he knew anyone in So Cal who could help show Bas a thing or two and thankfully Tsunami’s mentor was in town.

Captain Vaseline Podcalzone hit the beach with his teammate's for a good team day out, they got a chance to try out some surfing and play a bunch of beach volleyball. I heard that they even played a team of USC frat boys and narrowly won. Slavakov Vladimirashenko heard tales while in Russia of a place called “Disneyland”. While not playing he definitely wants to see what places like Space Mountain and The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad have in store. Unfortunately for Vladimirashenko that’s when he had to learn that the obnoxious lines one had to spend waiting in were often left out of the fables of Disneyland. Oh well at least he could continue to spread the fable to his Russians back home as they get envious of his experiences!

Game 9: Newfoundland Berserkers

at Anaheim Outlaws

The first of a three game series in Anaheim was an absolute blood bath. A game in which Newfoundland outshot Anaheim 44-21 but still gave up 4 goals to the Outlaws. While that’s bad it is understandable since Evegeni Petrov, the back up, was in and he’s only at the start of his career. He will get better. It’s a good thing though that the Zerks absolutely wrecked The Outlaws by dropping 8 goals on him including a Bas O’Bigbers hat trick!

Let’s talk about some incredible Zerk performances. Matty Sandeen the Newfoundland assistant captain had a very strong game from the blue line and racked up 3 assists! Now that’s a lot of apples. Next we cannot understate how great Shion Okamoto has been to start this season and today was another fine example of that. Okamoto played excellent defense and notched another 2 goals for himself. ARE YOU WATCHING SHL GMS? Then we have Jesse Trudeau who had an incredibly strong game and kicked off the goal scoring for Newfoundland today. Trudeau scored 2 goals and notched an apple for himself and frustrated the Outlaws all night.

Our Zerk of the Game honors will come as no surprise as it is Bas O’Bigbers who scored a hat trick!! Bas had an off night defensively but when Bas is allowed space like he was tonight he’s going to snipe teams to death all night. Bas totaled 3 goals in a rout of Anaheim that his teammates will not forget any time soon. His teammates have called it a Bas trick!

We caught up with Bas after the game to get his thoughts. “Scoring me first hat trick of the season just means so much. I’d been struggling shooting for this season so far but I hadn’t been letting it bother me. I knew a night like tonight would come and I’m very proud of myself for how I played out there. Wins like this give us something to build upon and remind ourselves about how good we can be.” When I asked Bas about what he thought this team could do in the playoffs Bas responded, “aye it’ll be tricky. After how Qubec City destroyed Maine tonight I’m not sure anyone can beat the Cits in a 7 game series but if any team could I think it could be us. We’re scrappy underdogs and people doubt us. If QCC makes that mistake against us they will be the absolute laughing stock of the league when we shock everyone. But we gotta focus on what’s right in front of us, not what’s months down the line.”

Game 10: Newfoundland Berserkers

at Anaheim Outlaws

Game two was a dramatically different game than game 1 despite what the final score might say. The last game was a shootout but for the majority of this 3 period hockey game the score was either 0-0 or 1-1. A low scoring affair despite the face that Newfoundland was nearly at 40 shots when the score was still 1-1. But then Ric Clutchworth scored yet another game winning goal in the final few moments of the game that gave Newfoundland the lead. From there the Zerks ran with it and scored two more goals before the end of the game. An absolute beauty of a game!

Some great Zerk performances included Hugo Gronroos. The Newfoundland Goalie had a terrific game stopping 23 shots on 24 attempts. His efforts helped to keep the Zerks in that nail biter all the way through! Nike Kickz Jr also had a fantastic performance notching a goal and significant time on the PK. Ric Charlesworth for the game winning goal that was already mentioned. That’s starting to become a trend! Bas O’Bigbers notched another goal on his campaign which makes it 5 in the last 3 games! Vaseline Podcalzone continues to play elite hockey on both sides of the puck. Seattle must be so proud for how valiantly Podcalzone leads the Zerks!

Zerk of the Game goes to: Hugo Gronroos for his brilliant performance in net that kept the Zerks in it the whole time! Congratulations!

I caught up with Gronroos after the game to see how he was feeling after being named Zerk of the Game. “Means a lot, really. I know that, y'know we've kind of taken a step back since I moved between the pipes so it's a big sign of marked improvement on my part. I'm getting better and better and I just want to be a rock the boys can depend on so I think this goes a long way to show I can be exactly that.” Lastly with such a powerful defensive group this season I asked Gronroos what it meant to him to have such a squad D men playing in front of him. “Peace of mind. Confidence is a big thing for goalies, feeling like you could stand on your head every night goes a long way to creating success, but knowing you have to stand on your head every night can be mentally and physically taxing. It's a team effort, so feeling like you've got some boys out there to pick up your slack on an off night or relieve some pressure so games don't just become a string of herculean tasks is a welcome boon. It's just nice to know you're not a fish in a barrel. It can feel like that some times but when you've got a unit like this one, helps you stay focused on stopping the shots you need to.”

Postgame Coverage: With the Zerks picking up another two wins they’ve quickly been showing SMJHL that they are team to be dealt with. It remains to be seen just how far this team can go. With that I’d like to end this on an examination of one particular Zerk. Slavakov Vladimirashenko. I wanted to know what his best moments had been as a rookie so far and what has been the biggest struggle as a rookie so far. “I feel like it’s been good! The entire team is a blast to be around and we’re getting a lot of wins. 4 points in 10 games for a 4th line rookie is hard for me to complain about. My favorite moment would either be our first win against the defending champion Armada, or my first assist in our game against Anaheim. One great team moment and one great personal moment. But I think overall it’s been great and I love being a Berserker!... I think the big thing for me is getting that first goal. Coach has me playing more physically and defensively which I have no problem with, but everyone wants to get that first career goal. I know it’ll come so I’ll keep working hard until it does!” That’s all we have for today. Thank you so much!

Word Count: 1493

ZotG Leaderboard (Volsungr Award)

1 1 Billy Brooks 2
T 1 Ric Charlesworth 2
T 1 Shion Okamoto 2

Thanks to @Minnesotafine @bdu754 @Jedi for providing interviews!

Nhamlet · 02-17-2021, 12:40 AM

*lmao* · 02-17-2021, 12:40 AM

another strong couple of games! bas trick was ???

edit: apparently fire emojis aren't allowed here. but the bas trick was FIRE

***yosh*** · 02-17-2021, 12:44 AM

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