Well folks, this fella stayed up to watch that 18 inning marathon the other night and I was in the office the next day feeling more tired than a pair of dentures after a cold buffet but you know what, it was worth it. There were some even better games this past weekend, albeit men’s beer league but it’s our world series each and every weekend and no one can take that away from seasoned veterans like Mike Vanderzee and Al Angelone who are both approaching important milestones in their careers for games played by players with cement hands...

United Division:

Bruins 2 Flyers 2: League Rookie of the Year candidate Jordan Campbell scored his 2nd of the game with 6 minutes left to earn a respectable 2-2 tie with the Flyers. For the Flyers, the 3 Haslam’s each spent their share of time in the penalty box, a total of 12 minutes combined which might be a family record, we will have to get back to you on that. Captain Mike Haslam and Duane “from the far away planet of” Marzi scored for the guys in orange. Both Regulars of the Roped Receptacles (Brad Stone and Anthony Quaglia) made several 5-star saves to keep this score low. I didn’t know knees and arms could bend that way, these 2 played great in the nets. Both teams understood their assignments, so a tie was the best outcome.

Leafs 5 Blackhawks 1: Nick Grivich scored a pair including the game winner and even added a pair of assists as the Leafs folded up the Blackhawks like that corner of the napkin grandma uses to wipe away the beef gravy from the corner of her mouth. Andrew Fedoruk also scored for the winners, who holds the Muskoka Lumberjacks all-time team record for most goals in a regular season from the early 90’s. Dylan Reeves scored the lone Hawk goal as they dealt with a depleted lineup for this one. During his postgame scrum with the media, Hawk captain Ron Cybalski offered up his legendary gold necklace for anyone that can score a hat trick on his team. We will keep an eye on this wager. I say he will be back on Temu very soon looking for a new one.

Masters Division:

Senators 6 Bruins 3: This game wasn’t exactly a Medieval Times dinner and tournament. It lacked the usual edginess one can expect from a game against the Bruins. When the final buzzer sounded, it was the Sens doubling up the B’s 6-3. Brock Hotrum scored a hatty and Steve “killa” Watt added a pair for the winning side. Marc “taco” Bellhumeur chipped in with a goal as he continues to amp things up after missing a few games earlier in the season. Nine different Senators had points in this one, which only demonstrates the fact that they are passing around the scoring as a team. Scott Mlekuz stopped 22 of 25 shots for the big win, including a few point-blank saves that raised a few eyebrows from the announced crowd of 4. Bruins Richard Forester went down like a ton of bricks after injuring his ankle. We reached out to Richard and he said it’s badly sprained and is week-to-week. He asked me to tell the media to stop calling him for updates and to respect his privacy as he rehabs his ankle. How this injury happened would be like trying to guess which baked bean made him fart. Get well soon, fella.

Sharks 5 Leafs 4: First off, stick tap to timekeeper Dylan Reeves for the 1st class penmanship on this game sheet. Not being sarcastic, I mean it wholeheartedly. Wow there were 8 goals scored in the second half! Didn’t have that parlay on my Proline ticket. 5 different Sharks lit the lamp as they fended off the Leafs who staged a valiant comeback effort but fell a bit short. In the end it was Glenn “top levva” Mannella who scored the eventual game winner then set up a pair to earn star of the game honours. He took the game puck home, put it on the mantel, then gathered everyone around for a nice photo worth framing. For the Leafs, Steve Horner, who else, dropped a deuce in a losing cause. 6 penalties were called as this game came close to getting a bit salty but the refs kept things under control.

Grand Masters Division:

Kraken 5 Sharks 3: This game was a pretty close one, folks. “Detective” Brian Watson scored the eventual game winner as the Krak remained undefeated with a 5-3 win over Ronny Cooper’s Sharks. Steve Kivell chipped in with a pair of beauts while Watson ended up scoring a pair and adding a cheeseburger helpers for the winning side. For the Sharks, it was Len Potts (and pans), Dave Jarvis and Dave Cathcart who lit the lamp in a losing cause. All in all this was a well-played game by both teams. Kraken team captain and GM Terry Gudgeon continued to sit out due to injury but hopes to start riding the exercise bike soon, which is currently doubling as a clothesline for his jogging suits.

Bruins 3 Stars 0: Bruins Nick Polimeni is definitely not a meani. But when he comes to the rink ready to give it his all, the other team better look out. Nick scored a pair, including the game winner, as the Bruins blanked the Stars 3-0 on Terry Hughes “sliding into home plate” bobble head night. John Bearisto also got the monkey off his back by scoring a nice goal that just might be a candidate for goal of the week, stay tuned. Stars GM Chris Baratto spoke to the media after the game briefly and echoed his sediments from last week saying they will get over this hump and he’s happy it’s early in the season. Needless to say, the Stars aren’t ready to fade into the periphery just yet. I personally have respect for this damn club and I know they will turn things around soon.

Flyers 4 Blackhawks 1: Flyers Brad Ballman turned aside 24 shots as the guys in orange trounced the Blackhawks 4-1. Dave Walker scored the game winner and Dennis Haradyn, Rob “cheese” Nacha and Enzo Giammichele also replied for the winners. Lee Paule scored the lone Blackhawk goal courtesy of a nifty setup from Denis Whitwell. Hawks coach Bill Kircos promises their fans they will win this weekend. Bill, a tireless veteran, was apparently at the doctors last week and they told him he is suffering from feefiphobia, the fear of giants. He will recover and carry on living his usual healthy life.

Before we bid farewell until next week, just a heads up the clocks change late Saturday night…

United games are bumped from this Friday to Saturday afternoon because of Halloween so we get a bit of a treat with some Saturday afternoon action.

Premium Plus Tool Repair & Packaging Players of the Week:

UNITED: Nick Grivich

MASTERS: Brock Hotrum

GRAND MASTERS: Nick Polimeni

Have a great rest of the week, see you at the rink this weekend,

Chris Marttila

SCOHA Blogologist

A few games over the weekend started to get a bit salty. You almost needed a moose to lick the salt off. All in all, you can tell the action is ramping up as we approach the end of October. United teams are starting to gel and the games are getting faster. Flyers team rep Mike Haslam was spotted applying Rub A5/35 the other week but claimed it is his new hockey cologne, knees are fine. Hattrick by Faberge, available at Shoppers, 8 bucks. Speaking of hat trick, this new Jordan Campbell kid in United is lighting the lamp multiple times every Friday, reminds me of Sean Riley when he played for the Lethbridge Bonnets back in 81. Campbell is an early favourite for Rookie of the Year. We will try and get him on the Pucks in Deep Podcast soon…

Last week’s games were a complete 180 degree turn-around from the previous week, lemme tell ya. United’s Walt Blagdon was skating around like he had motors on his skates. I don’t know what this guy has for a pre-game meal but I bet it’s rich in essential minerals. At any rate, let’s dip into the weekend that was…

Well folks... cold season is in full swing at this fellas house. Throat feels like i swallowed a wool sweater but there's deadlines to meet. Let's dive into last weeks action.

Elbow’s up, fellas, it’s the season premiere of this silly blog. This year, we welcome the Grand Masters Kraken as a team. What’s a Kraken? No, it’s not the view you get when the plumber is bent over trying to unclog the kitchen sink.

A Kraken is a legendary sea monster of enormous size, per its etymology something akin to a cephalopod, said to appear in the Norwegian Sea off the coast of Norway. Ya… just as I thought.