Luxembourg Puckers 2007-2008: Puckers Luxembourg Regular season Rheinland-Pfalz Landesliga Tournament January 26th, 2008

 
Puckers dominate Ludwigshafen tournament (Landesliga) and take league lead - January 26, 2008
 
The second tournament towards the German Landesliga Cup was played on the Ludwigshafen outdoor rink on a sunny Saturday morning.
The host team decided to play 20 minutes unstopped time which was different from the opening tournament system in Zweibruecken where games were 10 minutes stopped time.
 
 
The following players 11 dressed for the Puckers:
 
Goal
58 G Peter Hult
 
1st line forwards
3  LW Aki Haapanen
17 C Hannu Planting
30 RW Henri Planting
 
2nd line forwards
2 LW Rischard Demange
69 C Patrick Ahlstrand
11 RW Alain Vaillancourt
 
Defensemen
33 D Marc Indergand
5 D Marc Billette
19 D Yves Barthels
44 D Peter Krause
 
Henri Planting rejoined the team after spending the first 4 months of the season in the Finnish army. Yves Barthels played defense to round up the lines.
 
Unlike in Zweibruecken, the Puckers came into the games with determination to score goals, playing much less tensely. And it worked against Trier when Hannu Planting scored the first goal on a pass by linemates Aki Haapanen and Henri Planting. Rischard Demange upped the score when he converted a pass by Patrick Ahlstrand and Alain Vaillancourt shortly after in a scramble before the goal. Ahlstrand scored the 3-0 on a pass by Demange and Henri Planting before Trier managed to get one past goaltender Peter Hult on a perfect breakaway where the Puckers defense slept and let a Trier player hover around the Puckers' blue line unattended.
 
In the second game, it was almost as if none of the Puckers players showed up. With strong physical play, the local Ludwigshafen squad stunned the Luxembourg team by converting all of their chances into a 3-0 win while allowing few to no shots on their own net. It should be the first and only loss for thes Puckers so far in the Landesliga and it was a wake-up call.
 
The game plan was very different against the weak Mainz team that came to Ludwigshafen with only 6 players and a goalie and most of all, without their leading scorer from the Zweibruecken tournament. The Puckers punished them severly by scoring six goals in the 20 minute span. Goals were: 1-0 Hannu Planting (assisted by Billette and Henri Planting), 2-0 Demange (assisted by Vaillancourt and Ahlstrand), 3-0 Ahlstrand (assisted by Demange and Henri Planting), 4-0 Barthels (assisted by Haapanen and Hannu Planting), 5-0 Vaillancourt (assisted by Henri Planting and Barthels), 6-0 Haapanen (assisted by Hannu Planting and Billette)
 
In a must-win situation against Bitburg, the Puckers did not falter and crushed the league-leading Bitburg squad 4-0, an unexpectedly high score. Haapanen scored the first goal with a sniper shot from the blue line on a pass by Barthels and Billette. Vaillancourt made the 2-0 from the slot on a pass by Demange and Ahlstrand. Demange, the team's best scorer of the tournament made his third by skating towards the net on a pass by Krause and Indergand. Hannu Planting sealed the win when taking a pass from his son Henri from behind the net who himself got it from defenseman Barthels keeping it in at the blue line.
 
With the help of the Trier team who tied the Ludwigshafen team and beat Bitburg, the Puckers were in a position to win the tournament cleanly by beating Zweibruecken. Even though the game started on a tense note with no score in the first ten minutes, Ahlstrand scored the relieving 1-0 on a pass by Demange and Vaillancourt and Haapanen converted another sniper shot from the blue line on a pass from Barthels and the Puckers take the win, the tournament win and the league lead with a solid performance in Ludwigshafen. Peter Hult started a great shutout streak, allowing no goal in the last 3 games.
 
A great team effort with every player on the team collecting at least a point. The spirits in the bus on the drive home were high as there was much to celebrate.
 
Here the game results:
 
Mainz - Ludwigshafen   0-3
Zweibruecken - Bitburg   1-2

Trier - Luxembourg   1-3
Ludwigshafen - Zweibrucken   2-1
Bitburg - Mainz   3-0
Luxembourg - Ludwigshafen   0-3
Trier - Zweibruecken   2-0
Luxembourg - Mainz   6-0
Bitburg - Ludwigshafen   1-0
Mainz - Trier   0-2
Bitburg - Luxembourg   0-4
Ludwigshafen - Trier   1-1
Zweibruecken - Mainz   3-0
Trier - Bitburg   1-0
Luxembourg - Zweibruecken   2-0
 
and the final standings of the tournament:
 
Luxembourg  4-1-0  12 pts  15-4 goals
Ludwigshafen 3-1-1  10 pts  9-3 goals
Trier 3-1-1  10 pts  6-3 goals
Bitburg  3-2-0   9 pts  5-6 goals
Zweibruecken  1-4-0  3 pts  5-8 goals
Mainz  0-5-0  0 pts  0-16 goals
 
 
The League standings are thus:
 
Luxembourg  5-1-4  19 pts  20-8 goals
Bitburg  6-3-1   19 pts  14-11 goals
Ludwigshafen 5-3-2  17 pts  16-12 goals
Trier 3-4-3  12 pts  9-12 goals
Zweibruecken  2-6-2  8 pts  11-14 goals
Mainz  2-6-2  8 pts  9-22 goals
  
Next tournaments are: February 16 in Trier, February 23 in Bitburg and April 12 in Luxembourg.

By Yves Barthels

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