Following a week of blowouts, we saw some much better games last night. See below:
Updated standings after 8 weeks. One regular season week to go.
Automatic best of 3 series spots
1. Blue 12 (52/31)
2. Gold 10 (47/40)
3. Pink 10 (64/47)
4th place Tournament spots
4. Green 6 (45/70)
5. Black 5 (41/41)
6. Red 5 (34/38)
7. Gray 5 (42/59)
Green 6 Gray 5 (Overtime)
Team Green picked up its first win in over a month by rallying from a 5-4 deficit in the final second of regulation. Jerred Amick subbed in for Denny Stinchcomb last night. With less than 10 seconds left, Amick found Brenden Chesley open in front of the net but Chesley overshot the net leading to another faceoff in front of the net. Team Green won the faceoff and the ball somehow got to Larry K with enough time to tap it in with a second to go to tie the game at 5. The goal was Larry’s 2nd of the night which sent the game to overtime. In overtime, Brenden Chesley more than made up for his mishap at the end of regulation by getting a shot by Gray goalie Dean Risser to give Green its 2nd win in 2 tries against team Gray. The loss was Gray’s 3rd loss past regulation. Jake Kline played for Team Gray last night (Kevin’s spot). Green was missing Denny, Morgan Lyons and Peach. The win moves Green to 4th place and keeps gray in 7th place. The two teams could meet again in the 4th place tournament depending on what happens next week. Green will play black and gray will play pink.
Pink 7 Red 5
Team pink officially clinched a top 3 spot with a 7-5 win over team Red last night. It’s a little bit of a long shot, but Pink could actually move into the top spot next week if they beat Gray by a wide margin of goals, if Blue loses to team Black and if Gold beats Red. Its looking like last nights win will set them up for a matchup against Gold in a best of 3 series. Last night’s game was close throughout but Pink led the whole way. Andy Calvert scored a couple first period goals to put Pink up 2-0. For the 2nd week in a row, a player accidentally scored on their own goalie. Red got its first goal when the ball hit off a players stick on team Pink (Boyd?) and got past Tony Dodd. With pink up 3-1, Jerred Amick scored for Red to cut the lead to 3-2. Brice Miller (Team Pink) had a couple of fancy goals, including a backhander to put pink in control again. Alex Waddell scored on a nice shot to end the 2nd period to get Red within striking distance, but Austin Boyd scored a breakaway goal for team Pink to give them an all important insurance goal with around 5 minutes to go to put Pink up 7-4. Pink will play Gray next week and Red will play against Gold. Red will find itself playing in the 4th place tournament in 2 weeks to try to get into a best of 3 series against the number 1 seed starting in 3 weeks.
Blue 9 Gold 7
Team Blue all but officially clinched the top seed going into the playoffs with a 9-7 win over team Gold last night. A team Gold win would have clinched them the top seed, but the loss last night will now force them to go up against team Pink in a best of 3 series. There is a chance they could have to play team Blue again if Blue loses next week and if Pink wins by a wide margin over Gray and if Gold beats Red next week. Blue jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period. Dave Jewell got the scoring started. While Tyler Waltman is not an official player on Team Blue, he mise well be. He subbed in once again for a missing Vinnie Deloia, Phil Pompeii and Ben Rossi last night and contributed some important goals. Jerred Amick also filled in to give Blue a sub and contributed a 3rd period goal as well to keep Blue in control. Bob Anderson got the scoring started for gold in the 2nd period to draw Gold to within a couple of goals. Later in the 2nd period, Jeff Wehner scored to draw gold within a goal at 4-3 but Blue scored back to back goals to close out the 2nd period (Matchock/Fatula) to put them ahead 6-3 going into the 3rd period. Gold once again closed the gap in the 3rd period following some goals from Bob Anderson, Jeff Wehner and Zach Smith, but Blue kept answering. Jerred Amick’s tap in goal on some fancy passing all but officially put the game out of reach. Tyler Waltman also contributed an important 3rd period goal. A win or regulation tie next week will clinch the top spot for Blue. A loss could open the door for team Pink to become the top seed. Team Gold has now lost 2 games in a row following 5 consecutive wins to start the season. They will close out the regular season against Red next week.
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Jerred Amick (Sub for team Green, regular for team Red, sub for team Blue last night)
1. Triple dose of hockey tonight. How are you feeling? Two games or three games, my body hurts no matter what, might as well get my mileage in while I still can!
2. Which of those games would you say was the most enjoyable? I enjoyed playing with green with the chemistry with those guys, including getting to play with Pompeii. Most underrated player in my opinion. I enjoyed playing the last game with blue as well, as I feel like I never get to play with some of those dudes. Miss playing D with match. It’s a refreshing change.
3. Your regular team lost to pink tonight. What can you say about the overall team effort ? (Forgot to answer).
4. Pink has a good mix of players. How do you compare them to some of the other teams you have played? . Pink is a rough team. They retain a lot of their chemistry from before and as always everyone on that team knows their role and abilities. I thought we played well but just fell short. Some of the younger players are improving well
5. Your team will have to win 2 games to earn the 4th and final playoff spot. You looking forward to that challenge? It’s a difficult schedule for sure but I feel if the schedule was longer, we would start winning some more games as things are starting to come together more with chemistry. But part of these leagues is the ability to mesh and make do with what you have so it’s going to be a difficult task and we will be ready to compete.