THE NORFOLK MALLARDS NEWSLETTER #9
Issue #9-Published 1/15/24
Hello fellow Puck Ducks! Week 2 of the Union Hockey League regular season has wrapped! It’s not only awesome for the league to be starting out so hot, but also for Mallards fans because this means our bye weeks are over and we are less than a week away from our first game.
What to Expect at Opening Night
We’re planning to fill Zapustas Arena to kick off the 2024 regular season. Tickets can be purchased at the door, $10 cash only, or online using this link. After the ticket table, you’ll enter an electric atmosphere of great music and overall hype as the teams take the ice for warm ups. Throughout the game, our amazing sponsor Playa Bowls Canton will have a table set up giving out samples of their delicious smoothies, juices, and bowls. We hope that our fans who haven’t had any Playa Bowls products become fans after checking out their table!
If you can’t make it to opening night, there will be a livestream of the game on our YouTube channel hosted by Trent Wilkinson and Colby Smith. We had the pleasure of introducing these two broadcasters to Mallards Nation the other day. That video is on the same channel the livestream will be on, so be sure to subscribe!
PUCK DROP IS 8:30 PM ON JANUARY 20TH! SEE YOU THERE!
Week 2 Recap
Niagara Falls @ Pittsburgh River Monsters
The league’s biggest pre-season rivalry got a chance to face-off in the regular season this weekend. Pittsburgh bested Buffalo in the pre-season winning two out of three games and they came into this game looking to expand on that. Headed into the third period, it was only a two goal game with the River Monsters up 3-1, looking like anyone’s game. In the third, Pittsburgh picked up and ran with it, coming out on top with a final score of 6-2. Undoubtedly, the star of the game was Pittsburgh captain Kurt Schmidt who tallied two goals and an assist for the River Monsters. Kurt Schmidt is becoming a star in the Western Division as he’s earned three points in both regular season games.
North Shore Nighthawks @ Holyoke Papermen
Things started out slow and steady for the Papermen in their home opener as they headed into the first intermission down 2-1. After the second, the Papermen went to the locker room up 4-2, feeling confident in the show they were putting on for the home town crowd. But the Nighthawks were deadset on silencing the Holyoke crowd, coming back and tying things up with 13 minutes left in regulation. The Papermen ended up pulling through winning 6-4 in their home opener.
Boston Gold Kings @ Hudson Valley Vipers
Patrick Sullivan got the Vipers moving with the first goal in front of the Hudson Valley crowd late in the first period. The Vipers maintained their cool throughout an explosive eight goal second period and it was only up from there. Going into the third up 6-3, the Vipers knew they had to put the nail in the coffin, and they did just that finishing off the Gold Kings 9-3. The star of the game had to be the aforementioned Patrick Sullivan who put up the first hat-trick in Vipers history in front of a jam packed McCann Arena.
Around the Hockey World in 3 Links
The American men’s junior team made a lot of noise earlier this month by winning Gold in the World Juniors. Their women counterparts wanted to match that level of intensity headed into the U18 Women’s World Championship and did just that. Team USA grabbed another gold for the junior national program by besting Czechia 5-1 in the Gold Medal Game.
The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League had a big weekend with their top two facing off in a 2 game series. The stakes were high for this series as the two teams were only seperated by a couple points in the standings. The series was split, but in this game, the Listowel Cyclones came out on top 5-3 over the Elmira Sugar Kings.
The college hockey universe is dominated by the big schools, but that doesn’t mean you can’t catch a quality game elsewhere. The University of Alaska-Fairbanks faced off against the University of Alaska-Anchorage in a thrilling matchup that was decided in a 6 round shootout.