Saluting Heroes...

We have just found out over the last week or so that a couple of our hockey brothers will be shipping out to carry on the fight for freedom so that we may continue to enjoy the life that we love so much.

Derek Tillemans: Fugaweez I league (below center) - United States Army

Brandon Suits: Phantoms D-League (below)- United States Marine Corps

We all get caught up in our little squabbles over ringers, refing, ice times, ect. We forget to remember the important things in life. Whether you are for the war or not, whatever. Two awesome friends and hockey players will be missed at the rink.
Godspeed boys, come home safe, and most importantly Thank You.

BAC

(if anyone else know any of our hockey brethern or sisters currently serving...let us know)

Blue Line is Back (This time it's for real)

I've been hearing for well over a year that someone was going to buy and reopen the Blue Line rink in North Richland Hills. Those of us in upper NE Tarrant relish the possibility.

Well, it finally has happened. There could be ice time there within two months. Better yet, the Brahmas might return and play there.

Here's the story.

BC

Playoff Matchups/Preview

So after 8 weeks of glorious regular season battles, it has come down to the playoff night. This season with out question has been the most competitive season to date.

Playoff Seedings are thus:

Gold Stanley Keg Championship: (1) Mayhem vs (2) Patriots: 10pm (green)
Mayhem (7-1) 26 GF 9 GA 1.13 GAA
Patriots (7-1) 25 GF 7 GA 0.88 GAA

Some are calling this the second American revolution of the Patriots against the Redcoats (mayhem). Others are saying it’s the Cold War reborn putting the red white and blue against Red Communism. Either way you look at it, these teams are freakin stacked…

This game has been a battle everyone has been wanting since these two teams met the second week of the season where Mayhem came from behind and edged out the Pats 2-1. Both teams have had an amazing season and have very similar match up of players. Both teams can fire off goals when needed and can lock down defensively when called upon. In almost every category, these two teams are the same. Even in the glorious match up of Phantoms/Patriots a couple seasons ago, those teams weren’t as evenly matched and the result was probably the best championship to date. One can only imagine what will happen in this one.

Goalies in this one, again, are very much equal matched. Chris Duran is having his best season of his career thus far, while the same thing can be said for Jesse Gonzales. The Patriots have better backchecking, while Mayhem gets the edge slightly on the Forecheck. Defensively, the Patriots get the edge in their D core of York and Vaugahan, while Mayhem will be suffering without Ryan Smith (Wrist) and Dallas Lehr (Knee). The Patriots have the age factor in their favor with young guns Hodges, Barr and Sharma. But again, the Conner brothers will be the X factor for Mayhem. Seasoned Veterans in Mersberger and Litchy, while the pats have Hutchinson, Benefield, and Eagle.

It is nothing less than a battle of Hockey Titians. Jeff Vaughan has declared this game: Cold War II


Silver Stanley Keg Championship: (1) Snipers vs (2) Blue Devils: 8:45pm (green)

Snipers (6-1-1) 13 pts. 19 GF 14 GA 1.75 GAA

Blue Devils (5-2-1) 11pts 26 GF 16 GA 2 GAA

The Snipers enter this one as the number one seed. Many have said their allies in the Patriots assisted them too much in player subs over this season. However, others have said the Pats haven’t made the Snipers the Snipers. Either way, a low GAA mark might tilt the game in favor of the Snipers who play a very defensive game as indicated. However if it gets in a scoring match, they may have some trouble with only averaging roughly two goals a game.

The Blue Devils can generate offense, they have had several 4+ goals scoring nights, but also know how to win games close in regulation and in OT. Cameron, Deboro, and Loggins as well as others, can score when needed. We don’t know who the goalie will be for BD, but they usually get some talent in. We wonder if BC will be cheering on his old comerades in arms?

At the cross bar this past Saturday, the trash talking had begun between Ray “Frieght Train from Hell” Workman and a couple members of the Snipers. Both teams have gaurenteed victory for their squads as Todd Smith said “Our team has begun planning a huge victory parade through downtown Euless. Drinking is not optional” while the Snipers Ringer Alex Eyesermans said “We should beat goons by at least 4 goals”.

This could be a tight defensive struggle that has one or two goals winning it, or it could be an offensive barnburner. One thing is for certain, the Blue Devils will be singing the Michigan fight song before the game…or the Florida Fight song…

Gold 3rd Place: (3) Ice Holes vs (4) Borrachos: 6:30pm (gold)

The burning loss the Ice Holes took to the Borrachos this past Saturday still lingers in all of the Ice Holes’ heads. Also in the Ice Holes’ heads is Borrachos Goalie Jesse Gonzales who has shut the Ice Holes down in the last two meetings, allowing no goals in his games with the Patriots and with the Borrachos. 6 consecutive periods without allowing a goal to a particular team…mighty! Borrachos showed some girth and played defense in this last game. Haley and Stuckeman both will have to be big in this one if the Borrachos are to taste Bronze. Jeff Vaughan says Tivo the Brewzers Komets game, and watch this one.

Silver 3rd Place: (3) Brewzers vs (4) Komets: 6:15pm (green)
Low and behold the Komets have risen from the depths of lower I league and now have a shot at 3rd place. Not the most glorious banner, but commendable. Brewzers had Keg aspirations on their mind all season, but just couldn’t get it done. These two teams did meet as well this season with the Brewzers getting the win in OT. The X factor in this one will be Andy Thomas. Jamil Jabri for the Brewzers and Scott Baldree for the Komets also have the ability to shift a game in favor of their team. Jeff Vaughan has cast his lots in favor of the Komets.

Gold 5th Place: (5) Stickmen vs (6) Puckers: 7:30pm (green)
Stickmen won the only meeting this season between the two teams 3-0. Puckers have been ablaze as of late. If the stickmen can score goals, they have the ability to edge out the Lucky Puckers in a goal scoring fest. Defense will probably be forsaken in this one.
Jeff Vaughan has predicted an solid Stickmen Victory followed by a beheading at center ice.

Silver 5th Place: (5) Shockers vs (6) Fugaweez: 7:45pm (gold)
The Fourth time these teams have played this season. This has never happened before in the I league. Ever. Shockers took the First one in an Shootout, while Fugs won the 2nd draw 4-0. But the 3rd meeting was again another shootout winner for the Shockers. Its Jason Howell vs Clark Sandlin in this one.


Gold 7th Place: (7) Stingers vs (8) Spiders: 9pm (gold)
A very disappointing season for Total Eclipse and the Stingers, but a likewise disappointing season for the Spiders as well. The Stingers are trying to find some composure after their drilling at the hand of the Blue Devils. Can someone else on the spiders besides Chris Gallagher score? If so, Spiders should win this one. A downtrodden Josh Briscoe said, “I predict we'll be up 10-0, then blow it in the greatest meltdown in I league History.”


Silver 7th Place: (7) Slackers vs (8) Leftovers: 10:15pm (green)
Slackers take on the Leftovers in a battle for the epic battle for last place. Slackers have probably been one of the best “lowest” teams in the league. The greatness of the Hurst Brothers is always a threat. Leftovers are trying not get the last spot in their first season. Jen Leonard is the X factor in this one, let it be known she puts the crappy in scrappy. Amen.

Best luck to all this weekend
BAC

*(most quotations did not occur in real life)

Lots of pickup hockey in April

We've posted the April pickup calendar. (See link at top right of screen.) Clearly, a lot of the kids leagues are finished, cuz we find LOTS of ice for grown-ups.

BC

I league Week 8

(Borrachos have higher GD tiebreaker over Puckers and Lower PIM over Stickmen)
(Stickmen hold head to head tie breaker over puckers)
(Brewzers hold head to head tie breaker over komets and fewest loses over shockers)
(Komets hold fewest losses tie breaker over shockers)
(Fugaweez hold fewest loses tie breaker over Slackers)

So the regular season wrapped up this Saturday. Playoff Matches are set. Here’s how week 8 went down…

3 Stars

1. Chris Zolle: Blue Devils- 3 Goals, 1 Assist (Blue Devils 7-0 win)

2. Daniel Barr: Patriots- 2 Goals (Patriots 4-2 win)

3. Ken Halford: Stickmen- 2 Goals (Stickmen 3-0 win)

Honorable Mention: Brian Conner:Mayhem- 2 Goals (Mayhem 4-1 win)

Goalie of the Week: Jesse Gonzales: Borrachos- 31 Saves on 31 Shots. Shutout. (Borrachos 1-0 win)

Puckers 3 Spiders 1
Spiders drop another one as their dismal season continues on. Puckers are on late season fire as Rick Gregory score twice and Ken Luchenhoff adds another for the Puckers three scores. Puckers pretty much had control of this one from the start. Puckers were up 2-0 before Chris Gallagher continued his conquering of I league hockey with the lone spiders tally, but not enough. One wonders what the Puckers would be like if they played like this at the beginning of the season.

Patriots 4 Brewzers 2
Both teams came into this game with their fates already sealed. The Patriots had advanced to the Keg on the Ice Holes loss earlier while the Brewzers were eliminated from the championship by the Blue Devils win earlier in the night. Needless to say both teams showed up and the Patriots dominated for the most part. Only 7 shots allowed on the night by the stingy Pats D, however Beerflyers/Brewzers star Andy Thomas had the two lone goals for the Brewzers. The Pats however got one goal from Roy Haenselman and Rahul Sharma, while Daniel “Dan-dano” Barr scored twice setting the record for the most goals for an American Born I league Player in a Career. His 502nd and 503rd goals were celebrated with great jubilation in the sold out starscenter…The stage is set for the Pats to take on Mayhem next week for Lord Stanley’s keg.

Mayhem 4 Komets 1
This wasn’t a slaughter as predicted, but it was a solid beating. Mayhem jumped out to a 3-0 lead going into the third off two goals from Brian Conner and a strike from Matt Kachelhoffer. Komets would try and make a push on a goal from Dustin Nation to make it 3-1, and make Coach Bobby Sirkis scratch his head a little, but Mayhem star John Pinnard crushed all hopes with a late 3rd period goal. Mayhem takes on the Patriots in the Gold Keg this Saturday. From Head Coach Sirkis after the game: “We were going to spot the Komets eight goals before hand, but we knew doubling the score would be rude”.

Borrachos 1 Ice Holes 0
Jesse Gonzales continues his mastering of the Ice Holes with his second shutout of the IH this season. (he recorded a 3-0 shutout last week with the patriots). Not to mention in this one, the Borrachos played a little defense, go figure. Borrachos scored mid way through the 2nd on a Doug Hamelwright goal for the game winner. Ice Holes weren’t without chances, 31 shots on net, all denied by Gonzales and a very good series of 5 on 4 and 5 on 3 penalty kills by the Borrachos. But low and behold these two teams will play for 3rd next week in the Gold Division.

Blue Devils 7 Stingers 0
We have heard through back channels that the Stingers third line had a +/- of -7. We have no documents proving this though. (we’ll change the score to 7-1 cause of the bad arse jerseys the stinger have though). BD was up 3-0 after the first on goals from Terry Newman, Chris Zolle, and Mark Cameron. The rout would only continue as Zolle would score two more times for the hat trick, while David Ogle lit the lamp twice in the third. Stingers hockey champion Josh Briscoe the next day said, “Can we just start next season now….please?” Let the record indicate that hockey brute Todd “Bertuzzi” Smith had an assist. The world celebrated.

Shockers 1 Fugaweez 0 (Shoot out)
For the 3rd time this season these teams met, and for the 2nd time, it took a shoot out to determine the winner. John Vance gets the shootout winner for the shockers. The Fugaweez carpet bombed the Shockers net with 32 shots, all denied by Matt Skupien. While the shockers only tossed 6 shots on Bobby Michaelides. We can’t imagine how frusterated the Fugs were after this one. But we’ll soon get to find out because these two teams play a record fourth time this weekend in the playoffs. We can’t help but laugh.

Stickmen 3 Leftovers 0
As predicted, the Stickmen took care of business against the leftovers. Larry Wade had the early first period goal for the stickmen while Ken Halford had two scores in the stickmen’s 3-0 win. Shot totals were near the same, 18 shots for the Stickmen while the leftovers generated 12 shots. A good outing for Stickmen netminder Steve McCallister who knocked aside all shots thrown at him.

Snipers 2 Slackers 1 (OT)
Snipers (without the help of their Patriot allies) found themselves short benched yet again, however manage to get the OT win over the scrappy Slackers. “Jeff” lit the lamp that gave the Snipers a 1-0 edge in the 2nd, however Nate Williams ties it up midway through the 3rd to force OT. Here the great Jesse Henderson hits the back of the net to get the snipers the win and home ice in the Silver Stanley Keg game. Fear Eysermans.

Coming Tomorrow: Playoff Matchups/Preview