Brandy and Pucks, the Third

Brandy and Pucks: Matexipar, Exelsior, for the moment

By Kadmus Greningen

Atop the table in the young season, Matexipar, unbeaten and untied, now

that our City Boys have absorbed their first tie of the season.

That's four victories for the Iron Sticks, having scored 11 goals and
given up 3, and vanquished an early difficult foe in Onatten.

Matex is on the upswing, as their motto Exelsior suggests ("higher and
higher"). Heiko Moordfors may be the best goaltender in the league: 144

shots, 141 saves. This is godlike territory.

But as we know, there are no gods on earth. If Sherman Reinhardt gave
us pause to wonder during his first two games, the second two have
found him more human than divine, though still extraordinary. Holtzlund

apparently thought him worthy of 21 full-grown men, if rumors are to be

believed.

No, my point is that Moordfors is all too human, and the number of
shots that the Matexipar defense is letting through has to be somewhat
alarming to a thoughtful person.

To a fan, all that is seen is pucks swallowed up into the Moordforsian
maw.

But if the trend continues, this average of over 35 shots per game, it
will come to a point where Moordfors will tire of being peppered like a

Christmas goose. And the second line goaltender for Matexipar, Klaus
Hoppinsche, is not the most apt of minders.

When Te Staff first meets Matexipar in the ninth game of the season,
Moordfors may still be at his best. But when we meet again towards the
end, and it will be interesting to see.

I favor the balanced goaltending of first teamer Norbert Grimm and
Gimrothian Cashoth Pernoth. In the end, two may take their team
"higher" than one.

The Table

Team        W L T GF GA P
Matexipar  4  0  0  11  3    8
Te Staff     3  0  1  16  4    7