Hey folks, Welcome to 2026, the year of the Fire Horse according to the Chinese horoscope. A fire horse? Ai says it signifies intense energy, enthusiasm and transformative change. Well if that holds true, the 2nd half of the SCOHA season should be one for the ages. Attendance and merchandise sales are up, we are now on all the Ontario betting sites and TSN is in the last phase of discussions to acquire our broadcasting rights from cable14 for an eyebrow raising $49 for 5 years. Details to follow.

DEC.19TH UNITED DIVISION:

BRUINS 3 LEAFS 3: Jesse Dunham, a prominent rookie for the Leafs, scored a goal and added a crisp, shiny granny Smith apple with the #141 sticker still on as they tied the surging Bruins 3-3 in front of a boisterous announced crowd of 5. Andrew “it’s cold out there, you may want to throw on a nice warm” Fedoruk also scored for the guys in blue. Joe Shulist (no relation to Shoeless Joe) dropped a deuce for the Bruins who are now just 3 points back of the Flyers for the division lead. They face a revamped Blackhawks lineup Friday which will be a tough test. This game will be the Cable14 game of the Week if anyone gives a care.

FLYERS 5 BLACKHAWKS 3: Andrew Howarth (got him in the pool) scored the eventual game winner as the Flyers edged the Hawks 5-3. This game had all the earmarks of a lopsided victory for the Flyers but give the Hawks credit, they stuck to the gameplan and almost pulled off the upset in their last game of 2025. Hawks were down 5 guys but newcomer Conner “don’t you dare call me Betty” Crocker played really well, a big call-up from the River City River Cats of the Whitby Blast league where he put up Crosby-like numbers and gelled well in the community. 8 different scorers in this game which is highly uncommon. Flyers spare goalie Bruce “boxing week electronic mark-down sale on now at best” Buyniuk filled in admirably between the pipes for the win. Hawks had snipes from Captain Ron Cybalski, Connor Crocker and Lucas Palamamarchuk who isn’t a pal of mine, never met the guy, but I am pretty sure he is a pal of someone.

DEC.21ST MASTERS DIVISION:

SHARKS 5 BRUINS 2: This game was 1-0 for the Bruins after the 1st stanza but the Sharks must’ve ate a few legs and ears in the intermission as they erupted for 4 unanswered goals in the 2nd half en route to a 5-2 win over the undermanned Bruins. Bruins were missing Terry Lee, the multi-purpose forward who needs only one more goal for 250 in his illustrious career. I say he gets it before the end of the season. Heard it here first, lock it in. Sharks filled the penalty box like a bag of ice into a soft-sided cooler bag all night, tallying 4 minors but managed to still win the game. Impressive, i don't care what you say. Another strong game in net for Bruno Santanato. This guy is smart. Just assume he is an Ai goalie, he knew where you were going to shoot the puck last Wednesday and the 3rd Saturday of July you will drop your marshmallow in the damn campfire. Sharks now sit 2 points back of the Senators for 1st in the division with plenty of games left. Bruins had goals from who else but Bill “aluminum” Foley and Dwayne Kavanaugh in a losing cause. Bruins are anxiously awaiting the return of captain Richard Forster who is engulfed in aggressive rehab on his ankle and hopes to be back in the lineup sooner than later.

SENATORS 2 LEAFS 2: Brock Hotrum scored the equalizer with 4 minutes left as the Senators clawed back for a 2-2 tie against a determined Leaf team. Marc “funny guy, has a good sense of” Bellhumeur scored and added a hamburger helper for the Sens who are clinging to the division lead at the Christmas break. For the Leafs it was rookie Sean Pesce along with spirited veteran Nick Miscione with some pretty impressive dangles for goals as well an assist for both. The “residents of the roped rotundas” made several big saves to preserve the tie, stick taps go out to Sandro Morrone and Scott Mlekuz for their valiant efforts.

DEC.21ST GRAND MASTERS:

BRUINS 3 FLYERS 2: “New Years” Yves Bisson scored with 5:46 left on the clock as the Bruins got past the Flyers 3-2 in a rather spirited, end-to-end game that sent the 4 fans home pining for more high-quality men’s league hockey. Bruins also got goals from Terry “hitman” Hughes and Nick Polimeni who is far from a meany, he is in fact a pretty good guy on and off the ice. Flyers Dave Walker and Ghislain Piche scored for the guys in orange who are 1 point from getting out of the basement and 4 points from leapfrogging three teams into 3rd as the standings log jam starts to unfold. If Flyers can string a few wins together, this division will be tighter than a snare drum. Mark my word.

BLACKHAWKS 8 SHARKS 4: Guy Romeo and Serge Santinon both scored a pair as the Hawks folded up the Sharks like a fancy holiday dinner napkin 8-4. Dennis “from the magical land of” Klander kept up his torrid pace scoring a goal and adding a tuna helper for the win. Wiley veteran Al Oddie did his part to stay in the lineup, scoring one and assisting on a pair for the winning side. Hawks sit comfortably in 3rd place but are now only 6 points back of the Kraken. Hawk captain, GM, and AANG (all-around nice guy) Billy “diamond” Kircos vows to catch the Kraken sooner than later but face a free-wheeling Bruin team this week. Sharks welcomed back Paul Cleary to the lineup and he scored an acrobatic goal in his triumphant return, bringing all 5 fans to their collective feet. His video tribute during the first intermission was pretty electric that seemed to energize Paul to score the big goal. We are glad to have you back, Paul!

KRAKEN 1 STARS 0: What a game this was! Kraken had 5 penalties in the game but still managed to win 1-0. Joe DeFaria turned aside 31 shots for the 12-grain lightly toasted bagel as the Kraken played an air-tight defensive game, something captain Terry Gudgeon has demanded from his young club of late. When the final horn sounded it was Jim Swick that had the lone goal. Stars netminder Barry Walker deserved a better fate but both teams praised his effort in the crease despite the loss. Stars newcomer Jaime Belanger has come into the league by way of the Flin Flon tier 3 satellite hub league where he piled up at least 20 goals in the past 7 seasons. His battle along the dasher boards is a welcome sight for Stars coach and GM Chris Baratto who was keeping a keen eye on the waiver wire since November for a more rugged power forward. I think he has found his guy.

Well that puts a bow on 2025 as we shake hands and welcome 2026 into the locker room. Hope it’s a better year than the last for everyone!

PREMIUM PLUS WORKHORSES OF THE WEEK:

UNITED: ANDREW HOWARTH

MASTERS: DWAYNE KAVANAGH

GRAND MASTERS: AL ODDIE

See you all at the arena this weekend, looking forward to it!

Chris Marttila

SCOHA Chief Reporter

BREAKING NEWS: As we went to press this morning, rumours were confirmed that SCOHA alumnus Paul Cleary will be making his season debut for the Grand Masters Sharks this Sunday at 7pm vs the Blackhawks. Great news, Paul! So happy you are back! Can’t wait to see you and say hi!

Well folks, better late than never. Get ready for another cold snap this weekend, good thing the heat is on at the aren… oh nevermind. Guy Shaver held a bake sale last weekend at the end of his driveway to try and help the rink fund a new heater but I guess his version of mincemeat pies didn’t sit well, especially with the British players in the neighbourhood.

Well folks, another few weeks until the big guy tries to get down your chimney. Better late than never, here’s this week’s abbreviated recap of last week’s action:

Well gang, the United Division games this past weekend were nuts, absolute nuts… I was lucky to catch the action live and meet some of the fellas up at the watering hole. Good bunch of guys, hope they can bring in a few buddies next year so we can have 6 teams. That Jordan Campbell rookie on the Bruins, skates around like that Wayne Jetski guy. Someone stop him, good grief.

I heard over the weekend that Grand Master’s veteran Ron Cooper will be inducted into the 80+ Oldtimers Hockey Hall of Fame on March 28TH, 2026 in Kitchener! This is a remarkable accomplishment and we all congratulate him on this honour. Did you know that Ron first laced up his twirlers at the ripe age 3. He then played minor hockey in Sunderland from 1945-47, in Whitby from 1948-59, various Stelco pickup leagues from 1961-2025 and has been a mainstay in SCOHA since 1997! Details of the gala evening will be posted soon. Well done, Ron! Most of us won’t even be able to bend down to tie up our skates by the time we are 60!

Well folks, Mother Nature is about to hit shuffle on her winter playlist. Good thing we have Guy Shaver on standby with his shovel ready to clear the arena parking lot in time for this weekend’s games. A few guys still haven’t noticed their new tattoos from the big Collingwood Tournament a few weeks ago but I’m sure they will figure it out eventually. This past weekend saw the intensity ramp up in all three divisions. Let’s put aside our differences and recap the action.

Well folks, looking forward to changing the clocks back in the spring, this dark at 4:30 stuff isn’t sitting well.

Well folks, winter is here. Enough said.

Well folks, here’s a fresh new SCOHA blog out of the oven. We will recap this past weekend’s action and give props to some of our SCOHA hockey heroes whether they deserve it or not.

Well folks, this fella stayed up to watch that 18 inning marathon the other night and I was in the office the next day feeling more tired than a pair of dentures after a cold buffet but you know what, it was worth it. There were some even better games this past weekend, albeit men’s beer league but it’s our world series each and every weekend and no one can take that away from seasoned veterans like Mike Vanderzee and Al Angelone who are both approaching important milestones in their careers for games played by players with cement hands...

A few games over the weekend started to get a bit salty. You almost needed a moose to lick the salt off. All in all, you can tell the action is ramping up as we approach the end of October. United teams are starting to gel and the games are getting faster. Flyers team rep Mike Haslam was spotted applying Rub A5/35 the other week but claimed it is his new hockey cologne, knees are fine. Hattrick by Faberge, available at Shoppers, 8 bucks. Speaking of hat trick, this new Jordan Campbell kid in United is lighting the lamp multiple times every Friday, reminds me of Sean Riley when he played for the Lethbridge Bonnets back in 81. Campbell is an early favourite for Rookie of the Year. We will try and get him on the Pucks in Deep Podcast soon…