January 19th Results

Standings after games on January 19^th games:

1.       Colonials 4 (22/7)

2.      Eagles 4  (17/7)

3.      Invaders 2 (18/7)

4.      Yeti 2 (18/9)

5.      Venom 0 (7/28)

6.      Bear Claw 0 (5/29)

Yeti 15  Bear Claw 3

After an encouraging loss playing ironman against the Colonials last week, the Yeti had their full team present for last nights 15-3 win over the Bear Claw.  The Bear Claw simply need some more people.  One of their few regulars, Kaden Coulter, could not make it last night due to an illness.  On a good note, Josh Clontz, Adam, Braxton and John Matchock should be available to skate out in their game against the Venom next week.   Kaden got off to a great start in last week’s loss to the Invaders but all the shots eventually wore him down.  The same happened to his replacement Brian Anderson last night.    Ben Rossi scored about 5 minutes into the game to give the Yeti a 1-0 lead, but they would not score again until the later part of the 2^nd period.  Jaron Buffone tied the game at 1 late in the first period and Tyler Waltman’s goal midway through the 2^nd period gave the Bear Claw a 3-1 lead.    Zach Foradori had a couple late 2^nd period goals to get the Yeti going, including a power play goal and Ben Rossi scored on a break away in the closing seconds of the 2^nd period to give them a 4-3 lead going into the 3^rd period.   Playing ironman again on top of being a couple of their fill in players 2^nd game of the night, the Bear Claw ran out of energy by the time the 3^rd period began.  Matt Jewell was at the right place at the right time on 3 different occasions early in the 3^rd period which helped the Yeti gain a comfortable lead.  Jeff Wehner had a really nice rebound goal on a shot that was initially stopped but he batted it in to keep the momentum going.   Dave Jewell only scored once in the game but it was an impressive backhand goal off a rebound.  Ben Rossi and Zach Foradori led the way offensively overall for the Yeti.  They will look to keep their momentum going against the Eagles next week while the Bear Claw will take on the Venom.  They should have a little more help with Kaden back along with having some more skaters. 

Eagles 5  Invaders 4

In all the years of the XHL, only 2 teams have won a championship while finishing undefeated.  Last years Knights team was one of them and while having a little bit of a new look this season, they still have a good part of the core from last season.  The Eagles did not make the championship last season, but they may have given last years Knights team the biggest challenge.   The Eagles led 4-0 in one of those games against the Knights last season, only to see the lead disappear in the final period.   One season later, the Eagles returned the favor by overcoming a 4-1 3^rd period deficit to improve to 2-0 on the season.  Both goalies, Clint and Clay, were solid throughout the game for their respective teams.  Neither team scored until Laken got one by Clay in the closing seconds of the first period.    Zac Gray tied the game at 1 but the Invaders would go on to score the next 3 goals and found themselves up 4-1 in the 3^rd period.   Jason Stamler scored on a nice set up from Brandon and Zach Smith would go on to score soon after.    Behind some good goal tending from Clay and goals from Denny, the Eagles rallied in the 3^rd period.   Down 4-1, Denny scored on a face off win to close the gap to 2 and he would go on to score again soon after to close the gap to 4-3.   The most impressive goal from Denny came in the closing 2 minutes to put the Eagles up 5-4.   Not only did it turn out to be the winning goal, it turned out to be a light smashing goal.  The Invaders were not able to tie the game after the temporary delay to clean up Denny’s light damage.  The Eagles are 2-0 on the season and will look to keep their momentum going against the Yeti next week while the Invaders will try to rebound against the Colonials. 

Colonials 16  Venom 4

The Colonials improved to 2-0 on the season with a 16-4 win over the Venom last night.  The game was close for half a period, but the Colonials gained some separation late in the first period.  Troy Gaydosh scored the first of his 4 goals on the night early in the first period to close the gap to 2-1, but the colonials would go on to score the next 4 goals to go up 6-1 at the end of the first period.   Noah, Phil and Jay led the way offensively for the Colonials.  Brian filled in for a missing John Matchock behind the net and was able to save shots from everyone not named Troy in this game (might have to get used to lefties).     Brian spent most of the game watching Tony get bombarded with shots.    The colonials stretched their lead to 12-3 by the end of the 2^nd period and clinched the mercy rule win about 8 minutes into the 3^rd period.   The colonials will go up against the invaders next week while the venom will take on the bear claw.

Troy Gaydosh (Venom)

1. 16-4 loss to the colonials. What can you say about the overall team effort?  Team effort was fine. Stuck with it through 3 periods

2. You scored 4 goals in the loss. What other positives can you take out of the game? Definitely need a little more of everything, but started to get into a grove and find my stride.

3. You were a part of the fall league championship team. What was it like playing on Noah’s team this fall and then having to go up against him last night? I thought about neutralizing him as much as possible, but Noah is still creative enough to get plenty of goals and assists for his team. Fall league was fun, but it's good to switch things back up and challenge yourself instead of having a super team all the time.

4. Tony faced a lot of shots and got exposed a lot. How do you think he is transitioning from skating to goalying? Tony is starting to see the puck/ball well and be aware of certain situations, but he still needs to come out more and cut off angles. It's easy for me to say, I've been playing hockey for 30ish years, but have no experience with goalie.

5. Who will be the steelers next coach?  I don't see how this is gonna get better IMHO . I think Coach is the least important position in sports. Firing a coach is just an excuse for bad GMs to shift the blame. And yet the coaching carousel is alive and well this off-season. I'm even more surprised that the Bills fired McDermott. Gotta have star players if you wanna do anything. And the Steelers have not drafted too well the last few years.

Clay Halpin (Eagles)

1. 5-4 win over the Invaders last night. What can you say about the overall team effort in the win? Overall team effort was stellar. They all skated hard from start to finish and can’t say enough for the guys in front of me for the win last night. Credit goes to each one of them for such a big comeback win.

2. You haven’t played a lot of steady hockey for a long time. Were you happy with how you played last night? . As a goaltender, if you let any goals in, you walk off wondering where you could have done better. Thats regardless of the how or why a play or save broke down. If it isn’t a shutout, I will always look to improve. I’m glad I could make the saves I could to get that win against such a great team.

3. You were down 4-1 in the 3rd period. What do you think made the difference for you guys in the comeback? . All game we had incredible possession time. Clint really did a great job at locking that net down and made some huge saves. I think Denny had three goals last night so what an incredible show he put on. I think once we started to see the back of the net the momentum just pushed the guys forward to get ahead.

4. Invaders are known for a lot of offensive firepower. How do you think your team did defensively in trying to slow them down?   Yeah, I haven’t been around in a while but there are certainly some familiar faces on the invaders that I knew to be an offensive force. We really played well on defense. I will say, if I don’t get a Reiter slap shot on net, it’s deserves a huge kudos to the team from me. Tons of blocks, takeaways, and even a breakaway stop really made my job easy. I think the immediate pressure on anyone with the ball really helped take away those quality chances.

5. You have been away from hockey for a long time. What made you get back into it? My step brother Josh Clontz dragged me out of my house to play in the non comp league in the summer. I was perfectly content with being a hermit all summer but I’m glad he did it. I love getting out there to compete with a good group of guys and getting a bit of a workout too.