March 21st Results:
Black 9 Gold 4
Blue 13 Green 1
Pink 14 Gray 6
Updated Standings after 7 weeks. Each team has had a bye.
Automatic best of 3 series spots
1. Gold 10 (40/31)
2. Blue 10 (43/24)
3. Pink 8 (57/42)
4th place Tournament spots
4. Black 5 (41/41)
5. Red 5 (29/31)
6. Green 4 (39/65)
7. Gray 4 (37/53)
Recaps
The nice thing about a draft league is knowing that a last place team is very capable of beating a first place team. Thats exactly what happened when team Black defeated team Gold in the first game last night. No Zach Smith for team Gold, but Team Black finally put all their potential together to upset team Gold last night. With the win, Black moved from 7th place to 4th place in the regular season standings and have scored as many goals this session as they have given up (41/41). The bad news for them is that team Pink won last night over team Gray. A Gray win over pink could have made that 3rd place spot more interesting. Its looking like Pink will hold onto the 3rd spot and force Black, Red, Green and Gray to have to win twice in the 4th place tournament to get into a best of 3 series against the top seed.
Team Black scored the first goal of the night and never looked back. Gold eventually tied it at 1 on a nice pass from Jeff Wehner to Brian Anderson, but Black scored the next two goals, the first one from Jake Kline and the next one off a really nice set up from Mitch Dorunda to Evan Novella to give them a 3-1 lead. Jeff Wehner saw Bob Anderson open in front of the net and attempted to pass to him. It turned out that the ball hit Cody Haag's stick (Team Black) and got by Clint to cut Black's lead to 3-2. Black would score the next two goals to go up 5-2 before Bob Anderson beat Clint to cut the lead to 5-3 going into the 3rd period. Team Black pulled away in the 3rd period, scoring the next 3 goals. The first goal came off a shot (Nate Galentine?) that deflected off Adam McKinley but Mckinley lost site of the ball. Jeff Wehner tried to prevent the ball from crossing the goal line but mis timed his approach. The goal put Black up by 3 goals. Corey Bassett later scored to make it 7-3. Jeff Wehner scored his 2nd goal for Gold later in the 3rd period, but it was too little, too late. It was a complete team effort for Team Black. No one really stood out in the goal scoring, but it seemed like everyone on their team contributed a goal or two. Clint once again made some good saves and their defense played really well. Team Gold will look to rebound against team Blue next week. A regulation win would clinch the top seed for them (considering they would hold a tiebreaker over Blue). Team Black will be off next week but will be playing two games the following week against Green and Blue.
Team Blue looks like the team to beat following a 13-1 mercy rule win over Team Green last night. Eric Llewellyn scored team Green's only goal to tie the game at 1, but it was all downhill from there for Team Green. Blue found themselves up 7-1 at the end of the first period. Even a power play opportunity later in the game for Team Green came back to hurt them when they gave up a short handed goal. Blue mercy ruled them with around 2 minutes to play in the 2nd period. Dan Fatula led the way offensively for team Blue. Their passing looked top notch and any chance Green had, Tim Herman prevented them from scoring. They were without Ben Rossi, Vinnie Deloia and Josh Clontz. Tyler Waltman filled in and contributed a couple goals. Green was without Larry and Steve Pompeii. They will look to rebound against Team Gray next week. They won 13-7 against them on opening night. Blue will face Gold with the winner more than likely clinching the top overall seed. At the very least, Blue has clinched a top 3 spot in the regular season standings.
Team Pink got back on track with a 14-6 win over Team Gray (Didn't see too much of this game). The win doesn't officially give them a top 3 spot in the regular season standings, but it went a long way towards getting it. A team Gray win would have made the 3rd place spot much tighter. Gray was playing without Rooster last night but they at least got Steve Kalgren back. Erika Dodd scored on her Dad in the first period to tie the game at 2, but it was all downhill from there for Team Gray. The deficit was 9-4 going into the 3rd period. Tyler Waltman scored a couple goals in the 3rd period to try to get Gray closer, but Pink quickly answered each time. Andy Calvert found Brice Miller in front of the net to start the game to give pink a 1-0 lead. Zach Foradori did some more goal scoring for team Pink. They were playing without Austin Boyd and RJ but picked up Dan Fatula. Fatula contributed a couple goals in his fill in role. Jerred Amick filled in for Team Gray (His team was on a bye last night) but Gray couldnt keep up with the speed on team Pink. Pink will play against Red next Monday night. Gray will try to bounce back against Green. A win for Team Pink will clinch that all important 3rd spot in the standings. A regulation win for team Red could potentially give Red a chance to move into 3rd place depending on what happens in the final week of the regular season. They would draw to within a point of 3rd place with a win. Gray and Pink will meet again in the regular season finale.
Mitch Dorunda (Black)
1. 9-4 win over previously unbeaten (Gold) team last night. What can you say about the overall team effort in the win? The effort was definitely there last night, everyone played really well and gave it there all out there.
2. Your team appears to be playing better now than at the beginning of the season. What adjustments have you guys made as the season has gone on? Our team has come out strong in every game this season but we seem to slack off in the second and third. Last night we played hard all 3 periods and it showed.
3. You guys had a good balance of scoring last night. What does a win like this do for overall confidence going into the rest of the season? Beating the no 1 team shows that we can play with any team in the league, and if we take this effort and momentum into playoffs we could do some damage.
4. Your team had more speed than the gold team. Do you think that’s what made the difference last night? I think we were getting sick and tired of losing so we just put in the extra effort into back checking and breaking out of the zone. Speed kills.
5. What kind of progress do you think some of the newer guys on this team are making? verybody seems to be getting better as the season goes on. Seems like the scoring comes from different areas of the lineup every week. Brian Anderson (Gold)
1. Your team suffered its first loss of the season last night. A 5-3 score after two periods turned into a 9-4 loss. What went wrong; particularly in the third period? You gotta give team Black a lot of credit. That’s the best I have seen them play since this league session started. It seemed like their 6th goal (the one Jeff mistimed in trying to prevent from crossing the goal line) deflated us a bit. Their speed got to us as the game went on and I think we just wore down as the game went on.
2. Team Black came into the game in last place in the standings. They didn't play like a last place team though. Do you see them as a difficult match-up come playoff time? Very much so. Anytime you have a top notch goalie, you always have a chance to win no matter who you play. Combine that with speed, skill and grit, you always have a chance to compete. After playing them last night, I hope we don’t have to see them again anytime soon.
3. How does your game plan change when you have someone like Zach Smith out of the lineup? It changes a lot. Having him takes pressure off everyone else. One guy cant replace him. All of us have to step up and play better than usual to make up for his loss. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that last night. A lot of credit to team Black though. Even with Zach, I think we would have had to play much better if we wanted a chance to win. We have been a little sloppy so hopefully it’s a good wake up call for us going forward.
4. Team Blue is next on the docket. That game may determine the first seed in the playoffs. Do you think that 1st seed is a big deal and what kind of scouting report do you have on them? It is in a way but I am happy if we can get a top 3 spot. At least we are guaranteed a best of 3 series if we get that. A top seed would be nice because you play against a lower seeded team but after playing black last night, it goes to show that anyone in this league can beat anyone. Blue looks good. They got a perfect combination of offense and defense. They passed the ball around really well last night and Herman is a good goalie. We wont be going in too confident after last night but hopefully it’s a good wake up call for us. We will have to play a complete game to win next week.
5. This one is off the rails a bit. Who do you see winning the NHL Stanley Cup this year and why? How far will the Penguins make it? Its hard to bet against the Tampa Bay lightning considering they have won 2 in a row, but winning 3 in a row is almost impossible. I am going to go outside the box and say Carolina. They have been knocking on the door the past couple of seasons. They have one of the leagues best goalies and they play tough defensively. They are loaded up front. They got what it takes to win playoff hockey. I think they will beat Colorado in the finals. 2nd round maybe for the penguins. Jarry has played really well in the regular season this year but the playoffs are completely different. They have had some injuries all season and I just don’t think there is enough depth to get to the next level. I am hoping I am wrong though. Maybe they will read this interview. Good bulletin board material for coach Sullivan.
John Matchock (Blue)
1. 13-1 win last night. What can you say about the overall team effort in the win? I think we played pretty well. We were missing some guys but the guys we had, played well together.
2. Were you surprised to mercy rule them? Yeah. They were missing some guys too so I thought we would be on the same page. Any team with Llew on it is going to be challenging. But I think we were just clicking with one another. I
3. Your team appears to have a good mix of offense and defense. How do you think overall team chemistry looks right now? I think it’s the perfect set up. We have a few of us that play the defensive game and the offensive guys that backcheck and help out. I like the combinations we have.
4. As a guy who has played goalie, what kind of advice can you give new goalies starting out in this league? We had a goalie give up 13 goals last night and another give up 14. It’s a process. You learn from each game. Listen to the advice others give you, especially fellow goalies like Adam and Clint. Can’t get down when you give up a goal. You gotta stop the next one. The Next save is the biggest.
5. The win ties you guys for first and you have a game against Gold coming up. What kind of game are you expecting? A good game. They beat us last time so we have some revenge to enact.