This Week in SCOHA – Nov. 20th, 2018

What a week of action! Thanks to the team reps who did their part in crossing off players scratched from the lineup. Besides a few phantom jersey numbers getting points, things went as smooth as a double crown and coke on a Friday evening. Let’s check out some highlights (and low lights) ....

 

JUNIOR DIVISION:

BRUINS 3 REDWINGS 2: Justin “Eastgate” Mol scored the eventual game winner with only 51 ticks left on the clock as the Bruins snuck by the Redwings 3-2. Fans got their money’s worth as both teams went up and down like a fiddler’s elbow all night. Captain Greg Lintott also added a goal and a hamburger helper for the winners. Wayne Sliwinski stayed out of the box long enough to score for the Redwings who’s elevator brought them to the bottom floor of the standings with the loss.

 

BLACKHAWKS 5 OILERS 2: Is this a typo? No it’s not because I am typing it. The Oilers actually lost. Ron Cybalski, whose heroics this year doesn’t grow on trees, sawed his way through the Oilers, scoring 3 and adding an assist. Nick Troback and Kyle Oswald can treat themselves to a Denny’s grand slam breakfast after scoring their 1st goals of the season for the winners. On the other side of the ice, Oilers’ Ted MacKenzie and Mark Powell both registered their first penalties of the season. They sat in the box, felt shame, and then they were free. Powell pulled up his pants and tallied a goal and an assist but it was too late.

 

FLYERS 6 PENGUINS 3: Walter Blagdon continued his dominance, scoring a pair and adding an apple as the Flyers uncapped the Pens and chewed up a 6-3 victory. I get nervous when I see Blagdon shoot a beef meatball toward a defenceman’s shinpad, this guy has a canon of a shot. Tom Mitchell lit the lamp twice for the Flyers while John Mogford  (minus the Sons) scored a beauty of a goal in the opening period.  Both teams are now tied in the standing with 11 points each.

 

INTERMEDIATE DIVISION:

CANADIENS 3 BRUINS 3:  Pregame media scrum turned sour when Canadiens’ Rob Baker was asked what his teams game plan was going in. Baker snarled, looked the camera right in the eye and said, “No one’s talking...  now get lost!” 9:26 later, he found the back of the net to give Les Habitants the lead. Bruins Jon Williamson and John Cvijajovich (say that fast 3 times) both scored their 1st goal of the season while Bruins’ welcomed Randy Roubos into the fold, signing him to a lucrative deal full of performance incentives. Roubos tallied an  assist in his Bruins debut. I would venture to say the Bruins won’t be in the league basement for long. Captain Wayne Sliwinski runs a tight ship and we all know his squad will be ready for playoffs when games mean a lot more...

 

PENGUINS 6 BLACKHAWKS 4: Penguins Paul Allain is a sniper. I bet when he goes down east, lobsters holding cilantro and lemons jump right out of the damn water onto his plate and say “help yourself, buddy”.  A hat trick by Allain helped the Pens get past the Hawks in an entertaining 6-4 win. Walter Blagdon, speaking of snipers, notched a goal and an assist for the Hawks who give up 1st place in the division to the Penguins. Arena staff are still cleaning up the popcorn, there were so many people watching.

 

LEAFS 4 FLYERS 3: Leafs goaltender Bill Templeman fought through a battle zone for the last few minutes of this one. Flyers were pressing harder than double grill cheese in a Panini press but Templeman had the Berlin wall set up.

Bob Tenison has his foot floored on the gas yet again, racking up another 3 points while Brock Hotrum snuck 2 past the Leaf goalie before exiting the game with a grade double zed groin pull. He is day-to-day but is looking forward to massage therapy this week, until he realizes it will cost 20 bucks a song. Flyers were also missing Ryan “Lakeshore West Go Train” Maybrey, who will be back in the lineup this weekend. Leafs are now sniffing the division leaders and are poised to take over as contenders. Guy Romeo was unavailable for comment post game.....

 

MASTERS DIVISION:

FLYERS 2 REDWINGS 1: Robert Jacobs was in the market for a game winning goal and he did just that as the Flyers snuck by the Redwings 2-1 in front of a boisterous crowd. Joe “The Show” Venditti scored a Savardian Spinorama goal for the Flyers while Bill “The Webmaster” Curran replied for the Redwings. After the final horn, both teams complimented each other’s game. Wings Terry Gudgeon made himself available to the media postgame, “Well, the thing is... they have active sticks breaking up our rush and they are quick to move the puck out of their own end..”  Flyers stalward defenceman Gregg Hutchinson played a solid game on the blue line, swatting away any Wings player that came near him, causing nightmares for the opposition.

 

FLAMES 8 SHARKS 3: Good grief, the scorekeeper went through 3 pens before this was all said and done. Stick tap to Flames’ Dave Jarvis who scored his 1st 2 goals of the season. The Flames passed the puck around like Cheech and Chong passing a giggler around at a campfire. For the Sharks, who are now 5-5 on the season, Mike Archer spearheaded his team with 2 goals while Jimmy Albanese tore up the ice like Brian Boitano after a espresso, scoring a goal in a losing cause.

 

BLACKHAWKS 4 BRUINS 1: With head coach Bob Schweyer behind the Hawks bench wearing his signature SCOHA fedora, he watched his team trounce the Bruins 4-1. Ed “Shaky” Walton had the moves like Jagr and smiled all the way back to centre ice like he just won Lottario for the 2nd time. Sad news is that Walton will miss a considerabl amount of time with knee rehab. Maybe he can meet up with Intermediate Flyers’ Brock Hotrum at the massage therapist.  Hawks Frank Bortolin fired home his 1st and Len “Downtown” Brown notched his 1st assist of the season for the winners.

Bruins’ Terry Hughes must’ve had Red Bull in his water bottle as he was flying out there like a tsunami was behind him. Meanwhile, Bruins’ Gord Bryce who I am told was called “Sunwing” after the game by his teammates. 2 penalties in the game, both for “trips”.

 

STARS 2 KINGS 2: Kings’ Ken “Not my Fault” Nault scored his 1st of the season and Stars’ Kelly Rintjema hit the sheets for 2 goals as the Kings and Stars finished up tied 2-2. Stars’ Chris Baratto spoke to reporters after the game, “Both goalies played great but our goalie was gooder. Bill Nye the Science guy has nothing on our keeper.” We were all hoping Kings’ Munish Baranowski would’ve scored a game winner in this game, headline would’ve read MUNISH LIGHTS UP THE STARS, oh well maybe next time.....

 

That’s all from this end of the ice. Special shout out to some past SCOHA hockey heroes who stopped by the bar on Sunday night for some good laughs. Dave Wichman and yours truly had about 8 guests sit down with us and share some old stories from the league and tournaments. Hope they come back to see everyone again soon!

 

Chris Marttila