The Stanley Keg is in the Building

I-league

Brewzers (2-9-1) 1
Mutineers (4-7-1) 3

We all know how hard a time Raul Gilbreath has putting pucks in the net so perhaps he should try keeping them out, makes sense, right? Wrong. The Brewzers make the first goal of the game hoping that a Steve Daniels' lead offense will balance out the lack of experience in the net. The Mutineers make adjustments for the cherry-picking and tie with a goal from John Swartzbaugh, win with Nate Hamilton's bold stroke, and top-off the season with a power play goal from Kyle Boltz. Ryan Haley is raring to get off the DL, and reclaim her position in the Mutineer net but who will push Gilbreath out of the Sniper crease?

Grave Diggers (1-6-4) 6
Silverwings (5-7-0) 8

Another odd fit in net- the Diggers debut Chilly. Stephen had a little trouble finding a rhythm in the opening minutes, Troy Ramsey finds the back of the net first and Silverwing-wingman Sergio Castillo goes next. On the power play Justin McCullough cashes in and Scott Alcon makes it four unanswered Wing goals. Billy Quinn comes to the Digger rescue with two goals but Chilly allows another to Ramsey. Quinn responds with a hat trick, McCullough cancels, and Quinn goes fourth. Castillo jumps on the teeter-totter followed by a Digger push from Tom Edwards. Bryan Brookman swings it back toward the Silverwings and the final goal is a digger tally from Tim Rivers. Close, but Chilly's slow start is too much for the Diggers to overcome in this underdog match-up. Bruce Frankel can't complain about the loss in Euless, just happy to be back where he belongs.

Snipers (6-4-1) 5
Puckers (6-5-1) 4

Another face from the past, Lee Miller, makes his presence felt with two early goals for the Snipers. The lead evaporates with goals from the Pucker elite: Rob Constantine and Jason Arias. The Snipers slip the hold with a goal from Eddie Vogel and another from Jeff "the Red Plug" Vaughan (I think the name has something to do with his hair and defensive skill). Arias makes a hat trick and ties the game late, setting-up a staring competition between the two grizzled veterans between the pipes, Michaelides for the Snipers, Donaghue for the Puckers. Donaghue blinks thirty seconds later and David Counce wins one for the Big Red Machine.

LSI (6-5-0) 8
Spiders (6-5-1) 1

The Spiders hit the ice with six skaters and a goalie, that's fourteen legs- impressive for one spider, not so much for a hockey team. Ken Lentz leads the way for the LSI, then the Spiders start their two minute shifts in the box, rest was hard to come by. Catherine Levesque has the first power play goal, Cody Woodward strikes at a nominally full strength opposition. Carina Manalo claims the lone Spider goal, and quickly retires to the sin bin. The Imports resume their onslaught with a Matt Dever goal and two power play goals from Ken Lentz, a hat trick. Danny "R" piles-on and Lentz makes his fourth I-league goal of the night.

Whalers (8-4-0) 3
Blue Devils I (8-2-2) 1

The Whalers missed their opportunity for the Keg but find no challenge in BDI, Paul Thurston takes the lead and who else but the Hamster should claim the game winner? Well, that was more or less a rhetorical question, it was Brian Hamstra. The Beady Eyes get their only goal from Mark Millard and in the third period Thurston beats Blubaugh again, sending the netminder into a emotional spiral for the night.

Warriors (6-4-2) 1
Shockers (8-3-1) 4

It was crazy! Josh Rooker and Justin Driscoll score enough goals to win the game for the Shockers in the first period, but the Phil Brown goal gives the Warriors a glimmer of hope. The third was where the universe began to collapse upon itself. Eric Yepez scores another Shocker goal early in the frame and Tillemans responds with a hook, putting the Shockers on the advantage. Thomas Mathias commits a double before that one expires and Chuck Dolbee seeing his son at the receiving end takes himself out of the game with fifteen minutes worth of penalties and plenty of expletives. The Warriors never regain their composure and a total of twelve more penalty minutes pass before the game ends. Nick McMacken grabs a goal in the midst, somehow at even strength, for the Shockers. And, once again, the Power Puff Girls save the day!

Soul Patch (7-3-1) 2
Stickmen (9-2-1) 3

The KEG!

After a lengthy introduction, the teams finally take the ice for an epic battle of I-league powers. Clint Tippet is the only one to penetrate in the first period and it comes in the final minute, surely defining the tone of the second period. But the Soul Patch bucks the trend scoring the equalizer early in the period with a shot from Kenneth Watkins. The Sticks reclaim the lead with a Kyle Rybak goal tenaciously holding the one point lead until Jesse Henderson figures-out his role and supplies the security of a two goal lead with only five seconds left in the second. The Patches struggle to hold-off the Sticks and come up with a goal in the middle of the final period from Brian Lochkos but fail to tie the game. The Stick offense was too much for the Patches, they spend too much of their time in their own end getting outshot 30 to 18. The Sticks hold on for the third Keg win, but the Soul Patch could be back next year, like the Penguins and the Oilers before them, a dynasty can begin with a heartbreaking loss. . .

SND the bastard league, will it make it another session?

Canadiens (4-7-2) 6
Blue Devils (7-5-1) 10

The original six match-up for third? The Ringer ho-down rolled back and forth, end to end with neither team taking any real advantage with scores from the likes of Chase Hannah, J.T. Macha, James Barber, Casey Jenkins, Ken Lentz, Chris Gallagher, Charlie Heine, and Scottie Haman. The third period is where the Devils finally took the upperhand ending the period with a 4 to 2 differential. Both teams were complaining about rosters afterward, a wash?

Patriots (2-10-1) 2
Ice Bats (5-6-2) 9

The once great Patriots knew they were unlikely to make an impact, they were right. The Bats lined-up on the midway trying to win giant stuffed animals for their girlfriends, Joel Blixt is the first to knock over the milk bottles, but can only do it on the power play. Corby Antropik dusts off his stick, after a couple years on the shelf, Chuck Dolbee was next. John Newell breaks things up with a Patriot goal, but Frank Casperson returns things to normal with two goals for his Bats. Andy Latham rings the bell at the top of the pole, Danny Grimes beats Ellis to the angle, and Kendall Bernard adds one more Patriot tally! Chuck gets his second and just misses on the sweet feed for the hat trick. Stanley Kim finally puts one behind the Patriots net minder to end the night. The score never seemed to affect the emotion of the game much which for the most part was positive and fun. In a zealous play on the puck behind the net, Joey Otsuka catches his own defenseman, Casperson, just below the eyebrow with his stick on the follow through. Last I knew he was headed to the hospital, hoping to hear good news about this situation.

Komets (9-3-1) 5
Privateers (12-0-1) 6

The Championship game looked to have nothing on paper, the undefeated in regulation 'Teers versus a strong, but fallible Komets squad, but what the Komets lacked in talent they made up for in charisma. The 'Teers started things up on the scoreboard as expected with a goal from Tony Finazzo, and another from Brian Zientek. The Komets end the first with a power play tally from Graham Dunlap. The Komets can't carry the momentum into the second suffering another Privateer assault from first Matt Taylor, then when the Komets take the man advantage they watch as first Zientek claims a shorty, then Joel Bush- a five to one Privateer advantage. The Komets make more late period heroics finally capitalizing on the power play with a Billy Ashman goal. The Komets review their strategies in the second intermission deciding their hopes rested on the shoulders of one man- Graham Dunlap starts the third with two goals completing his hat trick. The Privateers answer with Zientek's hat trick, so Dunlap one-ups him- unfortunately it's in the final second of the game, meaning the Komets fall short by one goal of forcing overtime. What would that really mean against a team like the Privateers? Who knows, that's why we play the game. Congratulations to the Privateers on a hard fought victory.