Bullshit call

No question about it, the Stars got the shaft from Toronto Friday night.

Whatagame

Hockey is not the first thing you think of when you think of Texas, probably not even in the top fifty. So what is it that makes hockey such an important part of our lives?

It's the Stars.

Back in the late nineties when the Stars were starting to peak, I became intrigued with the sport. As a native Texan I knew precious little about it. At the time I didn't know of any transplants that could let me in on what it was about. All I could do was watch the games and scour the area resale shops for gear. Slapshot, Elzie Odom, Bedford Boy's Ranch, and of course my local inline rink at Bartlett Park. I chose the goalie position because I was infatuated with Dominic Hasek, and I thought it would be the easiest to learn (see the puck, stop the puck). By the time I had made it to the ice, the Stars had already lost the cup to the Devils.

It was still high times at the rink though, no one was phased by the declining play of our team. That lasted for a couple of years, then times got tough. Fewer teams fewer new faces. And here we are again. The Stars are surging, pushing aside the former champs in the first round, chewing up the Pacific leading Sharks. Who can say just where this will end. It's hard to believe that just last year we had so many questions about our Stars.

Fifteen teams and plenty of fresh blood. Where goest the Stars, So also goes the league. Enjoy this play-off run, every game. And to the new players, I say enjoy this boon at our rink, it could be another ten years before it's like this again. Get out there and play as much as your body will allow. If you break a bone, relish it, suck out the marrow... Yeah! We're Texans and we love hockey.

Week Two for Spring '08

Only one game missed by our scorekeeper this week. The new team finds a name. A few lopsided games. And... fun by the TRUCKLOAD!




Iceholes(2-0-0) 3, Spiders(1-1-0) 2






This was the first game of the night and the one that never made it to Pointstreak, so I apologize if the score is wrong. And you wouldn't believe just how crazy this game was... I could tell you, but by the time I deleted all the expletives it wouldn't retain any logic or syntax. What? Hey, that hurts. If you're so great let's see you do it!

Brewzers(1-1-0) 2, Warriors(0-2-0) 1






A huge win for the Brewzers in general and Mike Moore especially. Daniels starts off the scoring in the first for the Brew unassisted and with four seconds left, John Parker adds another. With two periods and a two goal lead the pressure rested squarely on Mike Moore, Brewzer netminder. The second ended with no change. The third sees the Warriors return to their last session form, and they finally generate the late game pressure. Unlike last session they cannot muster enough, the lone Warrior goal goes to Phil Brown. The Warrior's start is their worst in recent memory. Will the Brew Crew hang on to .500?

Patriots(2-0-0) 3, DFW Titans(1-1-0) 1






The Titans rushed the net in National league fashion, for about three minutes, but it does yeild one early goal. Unable to hold onto the rebounds from the suffocating offense, Ellis gives-up the goose egg to Kenneth Rawson (assists to Greco and Kawano), but the weight shifted from that point squarely onto the Titan end. Troy Elliot faces 24 shots to Ellis' 7 and allows a goal in each period: first, Roy Haenselmann; second, Rahul Sharma; third, Troy Ramsey. Harry Hamlin must be rolling in his grave after witnessing this performance, if he had died while watching it.

Stickmen(1-1-0) 4, Chiefs(0-3-0) 1






Jimmmy "Stone Cold" Welch makes his first impression on this "New Team", by putting the Chiefs on the kill at 4:15 into the first. The Sticks power it in with just ten seconds on the man advantage. After Jesse Henderson's goal, Jeff Thomas scores at even strength to put the Sticks up two to nil. The remarkable Chief goalie, Ben Stillwagon, shows his stuff holding off the Stickmen for almost 21 minutes allowing Troy Clarkson to bring the Chiefs within one. Momentum was finally seized by the Stickmen when Graham puts them on the powerplay again. Brian Listman collects the powerplay goal and Jeff Thomas puts it out of reach. Stillwagon faced 38 shots.

Silverwings(2-1-0) 4, Grave Diggers(0-2-0) 2






In what looked to be a very evenly matched game, the Silverwings take the lead early with goals from Justin McCullough and Alex Adkins. The Diggers finish the first with a goal from Billy Quinnand start the second with one from Wil "Newbey" Dobson. At the door, waiting for a whistle to stop play, was the tardy Cory Howard. When the whistle did blow he showed all on the rink just who the alpha male was netting two more Phantom... er, I mean Silverwing goals. The Grave Diggers are still without a win, amazingly Sirkis is without a penalty in this game (is this a coincidence?).

Snipers (2-0-0) 2, Chiefs (0-3-0) 1







Jeff Thomas finds the stat sheet again, this time for the Snipers. Stillwagon and the Chiefs quickly even it up when Steve Selner sends it to Ryan Brett for the goal. In the second Alex Eysermans regains the Sniper lead but the men in yellow refuse to let off the gas. Sexton in the Sniper goal sees only six shots while Ben Stillwagon does his best against 30 (making 68 for his double header). Despite being down by one for over twelve minutes the Chiefs run out of gas and hardly clear the puck from their zone for the remainder of the third. The new look Snipers are looking stout.

Privateers(2-0-0) 4, Blue Devils(1-1-0) 0






A first period filled with a whole lotta nothin' gives way to two periods of total domination by the Duncanville rejects. Joel Bush gets one for the Privateers then in the third Kevin McGlaun's goal is sandwich between two powerplay tallies from Cody "Bring Tha" Payne. Reflex netminder Ryan Haley claims the easy shut-out turning away seven attempts from the Blue Devils. Although the BD goalie, Jim DeBaro sees only 15 (is he imploding?). It looks like the Privateers have arrived in the land of milk and honey, maybe someone should introduce them properly to the Euless brand of I-league. Perhaps the Devils should go ahead and order that bedroom set.

Puckers(1-1-0) 3, Komets(0-2-0) 1






The Puckers are standing up for Patrick Donaghue. They chalk-up the first goal and the second with the play of only one man, David Opalecky. Well, maybe some credit should go to Donaghue. Guy Riggs gets some help on his goal from Rick Gregory and Lotis Butchko. Dustin Nation gets credit for the spoiler goal robbing Donaghue of the shut-out. Well, maybe some credit should go to Donaghue. Jeez, Pat, you have the fate of the world in your hands.