ANN ARBOR– Forward John Vella has been noted as a player who prefers more ice time, complaining of “too many players showing up” when the roster reaches seven skaters, and even skating a few laps alongside the Zamboni following games. He even famously scored four goals in a game with only six skaters, staying on the ice the entire game!
Vella topped his antics Tuesday night, orchestrating a tie 2-2 tie with Mott, a scoreless overtime, and then a game-winning shoot-out goal. “The teams were out there for a total of 80 minutes,” said GM Mark Woods. “I hope he’s happy.”
Vella noted that he would have preferred the NHL rules, which calls for overtime periods until a goal is scored. He called the longest NHL game (played in 1936), which featured six overtime periods played between Detroit and Montreal, an “adequate amount of ice time.”
Justin DiCenso and Kyle Pollack scored goals in regulation, while Chris Sutton added an assist. Oberon will face Thompson’s Pizza Saturday in the C-league semi-finals.