First games using the new extended format – hard to believe that 15min extra requires that much more work. Sounds like most of the runners were happy with the extra floor time and a slightly longer game seems to be better for goalies as well. Double, back to back games for (older) goalies might be a bit…strenuous.

First game was back and forth with Team Russ heading into the final minutes with a 1 goal lead. A last minute penalty didn’t bode well but a stingy defense was able to turn the ball over a number of times (and then give it right back to the other team – remember the concept of ball control and time management – no, I guess you don’t). Anyway Team Juniors were unable to score, much less get any shots in the final seconds with the end result Team Russ 10 – Team Juniors 9.

Second game was less competitive, Team Blair kept pressing the attack and Team Joe wasn’t able to get Justin rattled enough to score consistently early in the game. Team Joe started to wake up and make the game interesting but would have needed another period or two to catch up. End Result Team Blair 14 – Team Joe 8.

Anyway next is Week #4 May 21, 2014

Team Joe vs. Team Russ     8:00pm

Team Blair vs. Teams Juniors     9:15pm

It is going to be hard to keep up this pace. Both games last night seemed quicker and better than the week before. How long can we keep raising the quality level? In the early game the lead changed hands a number of times before finally ending in a tie – Team Juniors 7 – Team Joe 7. Both teams were missing their newly acquired (star/free agent/ringer) players – they could make the difference next week….or not! In the late game both benches were packed and the pace was extremely fast.  The addition of a few young recruits to TEAM RUSS were not enough to overcome the debut of the wily veteran/ringer Ian Gordon – end result Team Blair 6 – Team Russ 4. Surprisingly low scoring game based on the back and forth observed – must be the high quality goaltending involved. 🙂 Standings and goalie results are now posted and will (hopefully) be kept up to date.

With the size of the rosters (16-18) per team and the excellent turnout (so far), it was decided to add 1/2 hr to our floor time so everyone can get a bit more floor time each week. The plan is to have a good 10 min warmup and then 3 full 20 minute periods. First game will still start at 8:00 but the second game will now start at 9:15 and go to 10:30.

So far we have 68 runners of which 8-10 are probably  part time or unreliable. Numbers are on the high side for 4 teams, borderline for 5 teams and probably marginally low for 6 teams. Floor time is available till 11:00 if requested and referees are also likely available. Goalies on the other hand are limited (so far) to 3. It has been suggested to go to 5 teams  with one team playing a double header each week (3 games every Wednesday) or alternately having 1 team not play 1 week in 5 (2 games per night as currently set up). Goaltending for 3 games is….difficult and having 1 team get a bye every week is thought to be undesirable BUT having really full benches is also not the best. Comments, suggestions or feedback would be appreciated.

Note that there has been another slight schedule change – June 25 games were flipped to accommodate a couple of minor coaches.

WEEK #3 (Wednesday May 14) schedule

Team Juniors vs Team Russ     8:00pm

Team Blair vs Team Joe              9:15pm

See you then.

G2

Proposed schedule for 2014 has been posted and is available from the side menu. Still working at making it look a bit better/more readable. Note that some times have been allocated to allow some of the players to coach in minor or to play from out of town. I have tried to keep the time allocations between early and late as even as possible. Due to the number of players on each team’s roster we have had some discussion about extending the time by 1/2 hour to allow for more floor time. We will monitor attendance over the next couple of weeks and adjust time slots as needed.

See you all tomorrow for Week 2 games.

G2