RallyNorth.net

Wed, Jan 16, 2008 05:15 PM @ Peabody

Team	1	2	3	Final
Danvers	1	1	1	3
Peabody	0	1	1	2

O'Kane's 36 saves power Danvers to 3-2 upset over Peabody

Wednesday, January, 16 By Phil Stacey
Sports editor

PEABODY | Off the ice, Danvers High hockey co-captain Patrick O'Kane is shy yet friendly, quiet yet verbose, controlled yet extremely confident. As a multi-talented musician, he quite literally beats to his own drummer.

But when he straps the pads on, grabs his stick and glove and hides his face under a protective mask, O'Kane is an inferno in Falcons' blue, carrying a smoldering passion to be the best goaltender he can possibly be.

With that in mind, he may never have been better than he was last night.

Playing in memory of his maternal grandfather, George Rafeal, who passed away last weekend after a lengthy illness, O'Kane was magnificent in stopping 36 shots to backbone the Falcons to a 3-2 upset of host Peabody at the McVann-O'Keefe Rink.

Playing for the first time in 11 days, Danvers (5-2-2) was outshot by more than a 3-to-1 margin, but made the most of the shots they did put on the Tanners' net, scoring once in each period. O'Kane | who dedicated the game to his late grandfather | took care of much of the rest, thwarting Peabody's high-octane attack with every type of save you could imagine.

"I don't know how we didn't win this game," lamented Peabody head coach Mark Leonard afterwards. "Actually, I do: it was their goaltender. That kid was amazing."

The only two times the Tanners managed to get the puck past O'Kane was on the power play, both coming off the stick of junior right wing Elijah Cohen. The first came on Peabody's 19th and final shot of the second period, coming with nine seconds before the buzzer; the second came in the final period with 74 seconds remaining.

When it was over and Danvers had officially leapfrogged Peabody by taking sole possession of second place in the Northeastern Conference Large with 12 points (5-1-2), O'Kane was presented with the game puck. "That was pretty cool," he admitted.

"It seems every time people mention the top teams in the conference | Gloucester, Peabody, teams like that | we aren't mentioned in those conversations," added O'Kane. "Hopefully, this game will change that."

Jake Korthas, Dylan Carr, Brett Spencer and Tim Wilkinson, the Falcons' four primary defenders, also did a fine job clearing space in front of O'Kane to give him a clear path on most shots.

O'Kane's counterpart at the opposite end of the rink, talented Peabody freshman Mackenzie Shalin, saw just a dozen shots. But it was quality, not quantity, that worked in the Falcons' favor as three got by him.

The one that really hurt was Danvers' final goal, coming with under three minutes to play. Simply trying to relieve some Peabody pressure and get a fresh set of linemates on the ice, Falcon senior Jay Sabino got the puck, skated just over center ice and shot in an attempt to dump the puck into the hosts' zone.

Only his shot didn't go off the end boards or into the corner | it went directly on goal, much to Shalin's surprise. It caught inside the left pipe and ricocheted out quickly, giving the Falcons a stunning 3-1 lead.

"Is this our best win? Absolutely," proclaimed Danvers head coach Kevin Brown.

"We played hard and showed we have what it takes to win big games like this. We've still got a long way to go ... but this is a good start."

A big part of Danvers' success was its ability to slow Peabody's speedy forwards down with a one-man forecheck employed by the Falcons' second line of Colin Cooper, Stephen Deroche and Sabino. That cut down on their ability to go far wing wide and beat the Danvers defenders into the zone.

The Falcons also blocked upwards of a dozen or more shots, a factor that frustrated Peabody's shooters. "We had so many good scoring chances blocked," said Leonard.

Deroche fed Cooper for a pretty backhand goal 12 seconds before the end of the first period, giving Danvers a 1-0 lead. That doubled early in the second on the power play when center Troy Thibodeau rocketed a slapshot from the top of the right circle past a maze of players, beating Shalin high glove side.

"In the NEC this year, it's whatever team that shows up hungrier for the win is going to get it," said O'Kane. "We wanted this one | bad."