This Week in SCOHA – November 29th, 2022

Welcome to another fresh out of the oven edition of the SCOHA blog. The holiday season is in full swing and I still fall asleep before the 3rd line of Away In A Manger. This past week saw goals scored from every angle except from in between the urinals up at the bar. Thanks for the spare players and goalies for stepping in to fill roster sports of those stuck having to do whatever they had going on.  Stick tap to Bob Tenison who stopped by Friday night to take in some SCOHA action then hang out afterwards.

UNITED DIVISION:

FRI.NOV.25TH

BLACKHAWKS 4 FLYERS 1: This is not a typo, folks. This hawk team rolled up in their team bus ready to win their first of the season and they weren’t leaving until they did. Marc “Taco” Bellehumeur wasn’t up for any “humeur” on this night, it was all business. He scored a hat trick as his team thumped the Flyers 4-1 in front of a mostly partisan Flyer crowd. Big win for the guys in white as they begin their climb up the standings. Nick “Dundurn” Catelli chipped in with a pair of assists for the winners while Brent Haslam scored the lone goal for the guys in orange.

OILERS 5 BRUINS 5: The Bruins scored a pair with about 5 minutes left to secure a 5-5 draw against the Oilers. Chris Conroy scored a pair for the B’s while Justin Whitwell also drained a pair for the Oil. Highlights of this game were shown on the big screen during the Portugal / Uruguay World Cup soccer match the following day. Fans initial reaction was why the hell are they showing men’s hockey highlights at a soccer game but then realized how great of a game this was then clapped loud.

SUN.NOV.27TH

BRUINS 7 BLACKHAWKS 5: Another high scoring game that reminded me of an old 1985 Edmonton Oilers game against the Kings. This Chris Conroy kid keeps filling the net like those smelly guys from that show Deadliest Catch. I assume they all smell because they are handling crabs all day. At any rate, Conroy had 3 goals and Christmas Yves Bisson scored a highlight reel goal for the winners, his first of the season. Yves went to take the game puck home but left it on the roof of his car while he was putting his bag in and forgot about it. It’s still rolling around on Mountain Boulevard. If anyone sees it, please return it to it’s rightful owner. (Yves). Five different hawks scored which impressed player/ coach/ gm/ all around nice guy Paul McGraw, who was seen talking to reporters happy with the effort but felt like they could’ve won. Hawks Cory Herbert was buzzing around all game. Forecheck. Backcheck. Paycheck for this guy. Cory scored his first 2 goals of the season which deserved a Big Mac on the way home from the rink.

OILERS 6 SHARKS 4: This game saw more back and forth’s than a ping pong game, or a table tennis game, same damn thing as far as I am concerned. In the end, the Oilers grabbed the 2 points and ran with it. 6 different players scored for the winners including Jim “Anderson” DaSilva (ufc reference) for those not in the know. At the other end of the rink, Sharks’ Fudge Cromwell lit the lamp twice in a losing cause. His backhand saucer passes are flat out preposterous, folks. Oilers hadn’t won in 4 games so these 2 points were the equivalent to a free dry-cleaning coupon. Justin Whitwell set up 3 of the Oilers goals and is quickly becoming a prominent force for this young hockey club.

CANADIENS 5 FLYERS 3: No one listened to me when I said the Habs are ready to start rolling.  Marco Berube scored a pair of beauts as they took care of the Flyers 5-3. Max Cote added a few helpers as the Canadiens are now in the thick of things as far as the standings go and have no intention of taking their foot off the gas. Flyers Mike Rostecki did everything but sing the damn anthem, scoring a pair in a losing cause. Mike played a pretty intense game, also got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty so he was raring to go from the opening puck drop.

MASTERS DIVISION:

FRI.NOV.25TH

BRUINS 6 FLAMES 6: Bruins cagey veteran Al “Capone” Angelone and Flames promising young upstart Keith Gear both scored their first goals of the season as the Bruins tied the first place Flames 6-6 in what you would call a barn burner, no pun intended. Bruins whirling dervish Steve Horner, what can you say about his effort each week? His style of ply didn’t make me fan, it made me an air conditioner. 3 more goals for Horner when the final buzzer sounded in this great back-and-forth game.

SUN.NOV.27TH

STARS 8 SHARKS 6: A couple Shark players mentioned to reporters after the game that they might change their name to the Scoha Sunfish. Not sure if that will happen due to merchandise commitments to the Shark name but at least they tried. In the end it was a Stars victory, 8-6 over the toothless Sharks. Stars Robert DiGiovanni’s got jam, folks. We are talking 5-fruit marmalade jam or even a garage band kind of jam, you decide. Robert scored 2 goals and added 3 apples for the winners and Jason Anderson added a pair of snipes. At the other end of the ice surface, league newcomer Ed Aitcheson (HSN for short) scored 2 sweet goals for the Sharks. So did John Elter, who is ready to take this whole league by storm, you heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen.

REDWINGS 4 FLYERS 3: Redwings future Hall of Famer Grant Voisin, played a fantastic game. Some fans in the crowd, all three of them, thought he had the damn puck glued to his stick. Grant scored 2 goals and added a hamburger helper as his team squeeked by the Flyers 4-3. I had over 8 on my Proline ticket so this game screwed me. This Redwings team is dripping with pedigree, it’s only a matter of time until they are eyeing first place. Steve “Killa” Watt scored the eventual game winner as the Wings grabbed a key two points. Flyers Guy Shaver scored his 687th career goal, passing Norm Ullman for all time points in this league.

BRUINS 4 PENGUINS 3: How ironic it was Bob Tirnanic bobble-head Night at the arena then he goes out there and scores a hat trick to pace the Bruins to a huge 4-3 triumph over the Penguinos. Speaking of Triumph, Bob was a Rock & Roll machine out there, he layed it on the line, fought the good fight. Hopefully it’s not Just One Night. Let’s pause for a sec and talk about Gord “Basamati” Bryce who set up two goals for the winners. SCOHA needs another shipment of pucks with all these guys taking them home for their mantles, lemme tell ya. Great game, Gord! If our league ever gets our names on the jerseys, I vote for Gord Bryce to just put his first name on his, just like the Brazil soccer team. Penguins Mike Archer tried spearheading his team with a razzle dazzle of a goal in the first period but it wasn’t enough.

BLACKHAWKS 2 FLAMES 2: Too bad most of us were eating dinner during this 6:45 game because you missed a defensive battle for the ages. Flames Marc Verrier blocked a SCOHA record 13 shots in this game while Hawks Bill Kircos did everything but throw a basketball at a baby as both teams settled for a 2-2 draw. That’s 2 goals in 2 games for Verrier who has very much found his game this season. I’ve played Thursday shinny a few times with Flames Darren Corneau and this guy can pass the puck better than most of us. I want him to take a puck into the stands and try and hit the net in the far end just to prove his accuracy. Stay tuned. Oh ya….  Muppet newsflash: Larry Litzgus scored again.

Well that puts a bow on this past weekend’s action. Hope everyone has a great rest of the week, see you at the rink this weekend.

Just a heads up, a bunch of SCOHA players are meeting up Sat.Dec.17th at Copps Coliseum (First Ontario Place) for the Toronto Rock lacrosse game vs Buffalo Bandits. Meeting in Copps lobby at 5:30 then getting seats together for a fun night out. If interested just meet us there! I will post what section we are in just in case some show up late and want to hang out but you should be able to hear us…

Chris Marttila

SCOHA Blog/ Stat Guy