Another week done gone – player turnout was a bit low for 3 teams but more or less full for the fourth. Everyone seems to like the full 3×20 period game structure (at least no complaints have been heard to date). Probably keep this format for a few more weeks to see if any major issues arise.

In the first game Team Joe came out flying and was essentially scoring at will. After cruising to a 6 goal lead, complacency set in (or the Juniors woke up) and Team Juniors picked away, scoring one goal after another until the margin was much tighter. Team Joe bore down again and scored a few goals to pull away, but Team Juniors kept plugging away, getting closer but never quite drawing even. Time eventually ran out with the end result Team Joe 13 – Team Juniors 9.

In the second game, a full benched Team Russ scored on the initial face off and never looked back. Team Blair was somewhat short handed and couldn’t keep up with the hard running younger lines of their opponents. Final score Team Russ 15 – Team Blair 8. After  putting together 3 wins in a row to start the season Team Blair has now been spanked 2 weeks in a row. Do trades have to be made, free agents brought in – who knows? season is still young but the risk of falling out of playoff contention looms large….oh yeah….everyone makes the playoff and the only games that matter are the last 2 weeks!

Next is Week #6 June 4, 2014

Team Juniors  vs.  Team Russ     8:00pm

Team Blair  vs. Team Joe     9:15pm

G2

Another week’s games in to the record books – player turnouts were a bit lower than usual – might be something to do with the Knights and Chicago/LA games on TV plus the JrB game going on at Nicholls. First game went a bit long with the 3×20 min periods and specific curfew procedures will have to be distributed to the refs and timekeepers to keep the early games on track. The second game was, for some reason, switched back to 3×15 min periods, possibly due to the shorter benches. Some discussion will be required to see if we want to make shortening games optional or not – we have the time to 10:30 and we are paying the officials to that time as well.

Anyway on to the  results – first game seemed to be back and forth with Team Russ getting to Justin a bit early and threatening to blow the game wide open. The visiting (ringer/import) goalie from Fergus played well with an interesting style that seemed to confuse some of the shooters but he wasn’t able to stop Team Joe from eventually pulling ahead for good and winning the game. Final score Team Joe 10 – Team Russ 7.

Second game had the unbeaten Team Blair looking to extend their lead at the top of the standings over the struggling Team Juniors. This might have been a good PROLINE underdog pick as Team Blair showed up flat, unable to pass, score or play defense while Team Juniors were relentless, picking the corners and coasting to an easy victory – Team Juniors 12 – Team Blair 4.

On the league discipline front, Mike Frith is serving a 3 game suspension for his Game Misconduct and Gross Misconduct for unsportsmanlike behavior/verbal abuse of officials from last week. Just a reminder our rules are fairly strict – there is zero tolerance for verbal abuse or unsportsmanlike conduct. You may not be warned when you get close to the line and the penalties are …severe. You have been cautioned.

Next is Week #5 May 28, 2014

Team Juniors vs Team Joe     8:00pm

Team Blair vs Team Russ     9:15pm

G2

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