Well folks, Everything is back to normal in the land of Scohaville. United Division wrapped up their regular season this past weekend and now the real stuff begins this Friday night! Masters and Grand Masters were off for 2 weeks due to Super Bowl and a million feet of snow so there was a bit of rust this past Sunday on several skate blades.
United Division:
Getting back on track, here’s the recap of Feb.21st games that were delayed forever because .. well I have no idea, they were just delayed.
Flyers 1 Bruins 1: I caught this one on the Cable14 Game of the Week and it was a doozie! Bruins deserved a better fate. They were missing Mat “apple pie on the window” Sills and Angelo Fidanza for this one but gave it their all. Dave Mercer scored a beauty and for the Flyers, Kyle Relf lit the lamp. Flyers were missing their fearless leader Mike Haslam who will have to wait until next season to play in his 1,500th regular season SCOHA game. If you are in the mood to watch a defensive battle, ask for a copy of this game film. No room for anyone out there to maneuver. Flyers go into the playoffs with points in 3 of their last 4 games while the Bruins have points in 4 out of their last 5. Watch out for the Bruins, folks, not up for debate.
Blackhawks 3 Redwings 2: Kevin Scime scored the game winner, his 2nd of the game, as the Hawks held off the Redwings 3-2. Wings were down 5 guys so their call-ups weren’t familiar with Yves Bisson’s playbook but gave it their best effort. Hawks Ron Cybalski continued his point streak of late with another 3 assists. Sturdy defenceman Terry Davidson also collected a pair of assists for the winning side while Tom Butler and Johnny Hockey replied for the Wings. You know what, fellas, playoffs are a completely different style of game. This division is up in the air as far as I am concerned. Get pucks in deep, forecheck the hell out of the other team’s d and you never know.
I can’t wait to see what unfolds.
Masters Division:
Senators 5 Blackhawks 3: Watch out for the Senators, they have won 4 out of 5 as they prepare for a big playoff push. With one game left before the real games matter, they are getting strong efforts from everyone. In this one, Henry Marfisi scored a pair while Dale Brons chipped in with a goal and an assist to lead the way in the Sens 5-3 victory over the Hawks. Brad Stone and Brad Ballman split the goaltending duties after Stone couldn’t read the schedule correctly so thanks to the other Brad for filling in for half a game! Hawks got goals from Jeff Davis, Brock Hotrum and Dino Guidice in a losing cause.
Bruins 4 Devils 2: Dave Graham had a can of Jolt Cola before the game and went out there and scored a hatty as the Bruins doubled up the Devils 4-2. Wayne Sliwinski solidified his lead atop the scoring list with another goal and 2 apples for the winners while Nick Miscione and Alfonso Tinebra replied for the Devils. Devils Guy Shaver sat this one out in protest for no one donating loose change from shoveling the entire arena parking lot. Hopefully he returns this week. Bruins Ed Walton and Dwayne Kavanaugh sat out also with injuries, hope they get better soon!
Penguins 4 Sharks 4: Penguins were missing their sniper Steve Horner for this one. Rumours swirled around the rink that a Shark player put a banana peel on Horner’s step before the game so he would miss this one. We will dig into this story and get back to you. Anyways, thanks to Richard Forster for filling in for Steve, an equal rated player who played well despite playing his 2nd game of the evening. Paul Opie tallied twice for the Pens while Joad Durst also dropped a deuce. This guy is well on his way to winning rookie of the year honours in my opinion. Steve Saulnier, who won rookie of the year back in 82’ had a strong game, gathering a goal and adding 2 assists for the Sharks who have shown some bite the past 3 or 4 games and are appearing ready for the playoffs. With Joe “near and” DeFaria now between the pipes, I saw they have a chance to make a good run at the cup.
Grand Masters Division:
Sharks 2 Redwings 1: Paul Leger (got him in the pool) scored the game winner and Grant King scored his 1st of the season as the Sharks held off the pesky Redwings 2-1. Paul Buzzelli scored with 32 seconds left to make it interesting but Sharks goalie Richard Paquet shut the door to preserve the 2 points. Hard fought effort as both teams treated this as a playoff game. Redwings were missing Terry Gudgeon so that’s the reasoning behind the loss. Sharks have now won 2 straight and are back on track after going 4 without a win.
Flyers 1 Stars 0: Newcomer John Bearisto couldn’t bear the fact that there was no goals scored in this one so he took the bull by the horn and fired home the winner as the Flyers edged the Stars 1-0. Ted Marszalek turned aside 7 shots for the shutout and Brian Deanes was the reason why this one wasn’t a blowout. Stopped 24 out of 25 and did all he could except load up the team bus after the damn game. Stars are looking up in the sky for a better gameplan going into the playoffs as they search through a telescope for some more scoring. Tons of hockey left, fellas, you will be ok.
Well that wraps up another week of SCOHA action. A bit more snow coming this weekend as this guy takes a week away to prepare for the playoffs in a remote beach far, far away.
THE PREMIUM PLUS TOOL REPAIR & PACKAGING WORKHORSES OF THE WEEK:
UNITED: Ron Cybalski 
MASTERS: Dave Graham 
GRAND MASTERS: John Bearisto 
Have a great rest of the week. Good luck with all games this weekend!
Chris Marttila
SCOHA Blog Guy
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