Ok, maybe the fans are not coming out in droves but at least some are coming out to watch our games. With illnesses and minor injuries starting to circulate amongst teams, the next guy must step up. We all know what we have to do.

United Division:

Flyers 6 Blackhawks 2: Ryan Haslam continues to carry the mail for this Flyer team. Despite his pre-game meal of ground mustard seed meatloaf for extra energy, he kept belching it up on the bench all night but when you score 2 goals and add an assist for good measure, the fellas don’t seem to mind. Jack “wooden” Dowell continued to impress with a 2 assist performance as the guys in orange took care of the Hawks 6-2. Darren O’Brien turned aside 18 shots for the W, tying his with the great Mike Palmateer in career wins. For the Hawks, spare Jordan Campbell tallied a goal and an assist while Andrew Mousseau chipped in with a goal and 2 minutes for slashing.

Bruins 3 Leafs 2: This was the Cable14 Game of the Week and it didn’t disappoint. Jordan Campbell scored all 3 Bruin goals, including the game winner with about 6 minutes left as the B’s edged the Leafs 3-2. For the Leafs, John Carvalho and Bob “no panic” Tirnanic scored in a losing cause. Both “tenders of the tangled twine” made several 5-star saves for their respective teams. This score could’ve been a 9-8 final if it wasn’t for these guys.

2 pretty fast-paced United games that’s for sure. If you haven’t watched these guys play, maybe wander over on a Friday and check it out. Not your garden variety style of play we are accustomed to on a Sunday… Future Masters and Grand Masters stars in the making!

Masters Division:

Bruins 4 Leafs 1: Richard Forster’s 1st period goal ended up being the game winner as the Bruins raked up the Leafs 4-1 despite filling the penalty box 5 times. The ref must have been trying to work in a new whistle as 8 penalties were doled out in this one. Yikes. The Bruins spread out the scoring in this game with 10 different players registering points. Might be a SCOHA record, who knows… The Leafs got a snipe from Larry “ballroom” Litzgus as he keeps doing what he does. Shows up to the damn arena ready to give his all each shift. No drama, just does his job and gets back on the team bus. Stick tap to Bruins keeper Sandro Morrone who appears to be playing his best hockey since his injury-plagued season a year ago.

Sharks 5 Senators 3: Steven Clague, a talented young rookie, scored the eventual game winner as the Sharks beat the Sens 5-3. Sharks goalie Bruno Santanato made several late-game saves to preserve the victory for the now 3-0 Sharks. Alfonso Tinebra tallied twice for the winners while the Sens got goals from Dave “le legend” Langille, Dwayne Kavanaugh and Steve “killa” Watt. Don’t count out the Sens who are a bit slow out of the gate. Their size and skill will eventually work itself out, it’s a long season. Average size of the Sens is 6ft 4” and… well we won’t discuss weight….

Grand Masters:

Stars 4 Kraken 3: Mike Vanderzee scored the game winner with 3 and a half minutes left as the Stars sealed the Kraken 4-3 in quite the entertaining game. Bob Tirnanic ended the night with a goal and a hamburger helper for the winning side. Kraken’s Dave Stinson scored quite possibly the goal of the year. He wanted to take the game puck home for his mantle but apparently it wasn’t in the budget according to team rep Terry Gudgeon. Dave was presented with a knock-off sponge Nerf puck instead, everyone went home happy.

Bruins 7 Flyers 2: Spare goalie Justin Ross turned aside 17 shots as the Bruins steamrolled the Flyers 7-2. “New Years” Yves Bisson did his part with 2 goals and a helper while 18-year veteran Al Angelone tallied 2 goals and 2 assists for the winners. Angelone knows where the keys are to the weightroom, folks. He came to camp more stronger than the rest of them and guarantees a big season for a Bruin team sniffing for a championship under GM/Player Gord “chicken fried” Bryce. Flyers had goals from Pat Sergi and spare Mike Sergi. Thanks for filling in, Mike!

Sharks 4 Blackhawks 4: 1st time ever seeing “push” on a game sheet as a penalty. No idea what happened there but we will ask Jim Albanese and get back to you. At any rate, Ron Cooper lit the lamp along with D.J. Burns, Fred Doucette and Guy “dual-blade stainless steel aluminum” Shaver as the Sharks tied the Hawks 4-4. Trying to decipher the 4’s 7’s and 9’s on the game sheet but I think Kelly Rintjema had 2 goals, if not it was #4 Andre Vasilisin with a pair. Either way, congrats. Game well played by both teams. This felt like a playoff game the way both teams were going at it. Hey this Vasilisin kid is playing some good hockey in his first season. Emerging like a springtime perennial. Watch out for him, I’ve got him in the SCOHA pool.

 

PREMIUM PLUS TOOL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:

UNITED: JORDAN CAMPBELL  

MASTERS: SANDRO MORRONE  

GRAND MASTERS: AL ANGELONE  

 

Have a great rest of the week, fellas, see you at the rink!

Chris Marttila

SCOHA Blog Guy

 

 

Well folks, this week’s scribe will be a bit shorter as this fella deals with an eye infection that I didn’t see coming. Going to skip the small talk and get right to it. By the way, whoever stole my copy of Microsoft Office, you will be found. You have my Word…

Welcome back for another season, folks! We lifted the lid on the 84th season this past weekend and welcomed over 30 new players to the league! Arena corridors reeked of knee ointments all night, was good to be back.. Remember, this blog only goes by what’s on the game sheets. No emailing me saying you scored 3 instead of 2.

Well folks, here's a peeled back edition of everyone's favourite blog before we start eating more vegetables and rolled oats to shave down the 18lbs gained over the summer. For those filling my inbox asking when the draft will be, the answer is Sept.17 for United and Sept.21 for Masters and Grand Masters.

Bill "food grade aluminum" Foley has signed a lucrative deal to become the new GM and owner of Masters Sharks. Bill spent the better part of 6 seasons as a 4th line grinder for the Nipigon Elks before making the leap to Scoha. while Mike Vanderzee negotiated a deal to take over as Grand Masters Stars rep with an option for a 2nd year depending on the team's performance and if his team decides to listen to him. Mike brings a steady diet of skill and exuberance from his days as a gristed winger for the Lethbridge Bonnets of the now defunct Alberta Iron League.

Overall, we have a bunch of new Scohaiians joining the league. A revamped marketing plan and word of mouth spearheaded the mass recruitment which will more than offset some players that jumped ship to other leagues. We thank those players leaving for their time in Scoha and hope to cross paths again down the road.

Last i heard, United is full and there are only a few spots open for Masters and Grand Masters. Spread the word if you know of any players that haven't registered yet or want to join. Team reps have already started building their spreadsheets for the draft, should be another exciting year! Enjoy the last bit of summer and see you all soon.

Chris Marttila

Blog guy