Ok, pencils down, its past 3pm, olympic trade freeze is now in effect.

United had the week off this past weekend but we will recap their Jan.23rd games and give you the run-down on Sunday’s action just for fun.

United Jan.23rd:

BRUINS 3 BLACKHAWKS 1: Matt “window” Sills had quite the game, scoring a pair while Joe “shoeless joe” Shulist had 3 assists to propel the Bruins to a 3-1 win over the Hawks. Joe won the Timex watch for player of the game for his efforts. Hawks had another good game but just fell a bit short. Playoffs are a different story, keep a keen eye on these guys. Hawks rookie Connor Crocker had the lone Hawk snipe.

Leafs 3 Flyers 3: Jeff “slightly warmed up apple” Pye scored a pair and added an assist for the Flyers while John Calvalho also scored twice for the guys in blue as the Flyers and Leafs battled to a 3-3 draw. Duane Marzi also lit the lamp for the Flyers. Duane cooks with jalapenos just to make a point. His street-level strength in the slot makes him a threat out there and will only get better as this season inches closer to playoffs. Both goalies played well in this one, glad there wasn’t a loser.

Masters Division:

Leafs 4 Bruins 2: This was Richard Forsters return to the lineup, a much-anticipated one at that. His ankle held up but it’s the next morning you worry more about. Too bad his Bruins ran into a red-hot Leafs team who have one mission only, to lift the cup at centre ice. 4 different guys scored for the winners while Dwayne Kavanagh and Richard replied for the B’s in a losing cause. Final shots on goal (thanks timekeeper!) were 21-12 for the Bruins so leaf goalie Sandro Morrone earned his keep in the crease.... for now lol. The Masters standings are tighter than a pork tenderloin family pack and with the return of Forster to the Bruin lineup, things will continue to go down to the wire for playoff seedings.

Senators 6 Sharks 2: The Sens scored 6 in the first half then cruised to the win over an undermanned Shark team missing some key players. Marc Poulin, Brock Hotrum and Marc Bellehumeur all scored a pair for the winners while Paul George (on a snooker bank-shot from the corner) and Doug Moulton replied for the Sharks. Sens outshot the Sharks 23-19 when all was said and done. Stick-tap to Dave Graham for subbing in for the Sharks.

Grand Masters:

Kraken 1 Stars 1: The Kraken’s Al Angelone and Steve Kivell might just be the most powerful combination this league has ever seen. That was a direct quote from none other than Al Angelone. When the final buzzer sounded, this one ended up in a 1-1 tie. Both goalies performed admirably for their respective hockey clubs and the lone fan went home happy. Kivell scored for the Kraken and Robert DiGiovanni replied for the Stars who were missing their fearless leader Chris Baratto. In an era of soaring grocery prices, Chris leans on cheese and jam sandwiches for a pre-game meal. Call it strange but it works for him.

Sharks 3 Blackhawks 2: Len Potts scored twice, including the eventual game winner with 5:37 left as the Sharks circled the Hawks 3-2. Potts came out of the Federal League playing for the Fort Wayne Badgers back in 76 where he piled up the points before migrating to SCOHA for a more relaxed career with less media pressure. His determination and endless passion for this damn sport remains a measuring stick we all look upon. Hawks had goals from Serge Santinon and Lee Paule, his 125th career goal.

Bruins 3 Flyers 2: Terry “Hitman” Hughes scored the game winner with 6:29 left to lift the Bruins to a 3-2 win over their arch-rival Flyers in front of a robust announced crowd of 3. Folks, I was born on a Wednesday but not last Wednesday, I know what a good hockey club looks like when I see one. This Bruin club has all the puzzle pieces in place to make a bigtime run at the cup. GM Gord Bryce didn’t want me to share this but he is the first GM in SCOHA history to draft his team using Ai. He plans on spending the Super Bowl break mulling over old Boston Bruin VHS tapes to try and re-create the Bruins 1975 breakout strategy. Basically give the puck to the fast defenceman and let him go with it. Flyers had goals from Ghislain Piche and Michael Lubrick while Bruins had snipes from Hughes, Allan Roshko (P. Coltrane) and Danny Gabrielle. Bruins Tim Manning surprised fans last week by telling reporters he might test the free agent market this summer. I think this is a bluff for GM Bryce to open his damn wallet and pay his players more but who am I to say. Flyers’ Mike Vanderzee’s eyes opened up wide when he heard pickleball might become a summer Olympic sport. We will follow this story as details unravel.

Well that’s all from this end of the ice, fellas. United action return this Friday while Sunday divisions are off for Super Bowl. Whatever you get up to for the big game, enjoy responsibly and here’s hoping Mike Vanderzee doesn’t pour the chip dip over his head again like last year.

PREMIUM PLUS TOOL WORKHORSES OF THE WEEK:

UNITED: MATT SILLS  

MASTERS: MARC POULIN  

GRAND MASTERS: LEN POTTS  

Have a great rest of the week,

Chris Marttila

SCOHA Blog Guy

Well folks, I can’t make this stuff up. After giving some bigtime props to Gord Johnson last week for his first goal of the season, doesn’t he go out there and score again this past weekend. If anyone parlayed this on their ScohaBet app, you must’ve won some serious bucks! Great job, Gord, let’s keep this damn streak going this upcoming weekend.

Well folks, That loud cheer you may have heard through the gallows of the Liuna 4pad Arena Sunday night were in fact the 5 fans of the Grand Masters Sharks as SCOHA mainstay Gord Johnson lit the lamp for his 1st goal of the season. They jumped up off their seats in unison letting out an ear-piercing scream as the puck crossed the line. Afterwards, they all went up to the canteen for some celebratory cordials as they chatted about the snipe with some Shark players. That said, let’s dive into the whole weekend of action that went down in Scohaville.

Hey folks, Welcome to 2026, the year of the Fire Horse according to the Chinese horoscope. A fire horse? Ai says it signifies intense energy, enthusiasm and transformative change. Well if that holds true, the 2nd half of the SCOHA season should be one for the ages. Attendance and merchandise sales are up, we are now on all the Ontario betting sites and TSN is in the last phase of discussions to acquire our broadcasting rights from cable14 for an eyebrow raising $49 for 5 years. Details to follow.

BREAKING NEWS: As we went to press this morning, rumours were confirmed that SCOHA alumnus Paul Cleary will be making his season debut for the Grand Masters Sharks this Sunday at 7pm vs the Blackhawks. Great news, Paul! So happy you are back! Can’t wait to see you and say hi!

Well folks, better late than never. Get ready for another cold snap this weekend, good thing the heat is on at the aren… oh nevermind. Guy Shaver held a bake sale last weekend at the end of his driveway to try and help the rink fund a new heater but I guess his version of mincemeat pies didn’t sit well, especially with the British players in the neighbourhood.

Well folks, another few weeks until the big guy tries to get down your chimney. Better late than never, here’s this week’s abbreviated recap of last week’s action:

Well gang, the United Division games this past weekend were nuts, absolute nuts… I was lucky to catch the action live and meet some of the fellas up at the watering hole. Good bunch of guys, hope they can bring in a few buddies next year so we can have 6 teams. That Jordan Campbell rookie on the Bruins, skates around like that Wayne Jetski guy. Someone stop him, good grief.

I heard over the weekend that Grand Master’s veteran Ron Cooper will be inducted into the 80+ Oldtimers Hockey Hall of Fame on March 28TH, 2026 in Kitchener! This is a remarkable accomplishment and we all congratulate him on this honour. Did you know that Ron first laced up his twirlers at the ripe age 3. He then played minor hockey in Sunderland from 1945-47, in Whitby from 1948-59, various Stelco pickup leagues from 1961-2025 and has been a mainstay in SCOHA since 1997! Details of the gala evening will be posted soon. Well done, Ron! Most of us won’t even be able to bend down to tie up our skates by the time we are 60!

Well folks, Mother Nature is about to hit shuffle on her winter playlist. Good thing we have Guy Shaver on standby with his shovel ready to clear the arena parking lot in time for this weekend’s games. A few guys still haven’t noticed their new tattoos from the big Collingwood Tournament a few weeks ago but I’m sure they will figure it out eventually. This past weekend saw the intensity ramp up in all three divisions. Let’s put aside our differences and recap the action.

Well folks, looking forward to changing the clocks back in the spring, this dark at 4:30 stuff isn’t sitting well.

Well folks, winter is here. Enough said.