THIS WEEK IN SCOHA – September 27th, 2023

Well fellas, the arena hallways reeked of Rub A5/35 last week, or as some of you call it, hockey cologne.

Some bumps and bruises after the first week were predictable but some lingered into week 2. The weather isn’t quite screaming winter hockey yet but it’s coming. Let’s take a quick look at what shook down in week two before I let this go another night without writing this damn blog.

UNITED DIVISION:

BLACKHAWKS 10 BRUINS 4: This Hawk team is on a rampage this year. John “get in the” Carvalho notched a hatty and so did Marc “no diving into the” Poulin, his first 3-goal game since June of 85. Marc “my phone keeps disconnecting, I must be using” Bellhumeur also scored a pair for the winners who are off to a 2-0 start to the season. Bruins Justin Bisson fired home two in a losing cause, but they remain optimistic they will be right there competing for the cup in April.

OILERS 6 SHARKS 3: Steve Ditta dance after his 3rd goal of the game as the Oilers trounced the Sharks 6-3 in front of a boisterous crowd of 4. Oilers newcomer Todd Baranowski also dented the twine with his first of the year in his first game as an Oiler after signing a lucrative deal earlier in the week. Justin Ross turned away 24 shots for the win. Don’t worry, gang, this Sharks hockey club will have a few tough practices this week and will be ready for this weekend. I am predicting a big win for them, you heard it here first.

REDWINGS 5 FLYERS 3: This was the Cable14 Game of the Week and both teams did not disappoint. Redwings Anthony Whitwell scored a pair and added an apple while Ryan and Brent Haslam replied for the guys in orange. Both goalies went home with a bunch of bruises on their arms after this one while after the game, police were called in after someone tried to flatten the Flyers team bus tires. We will update this story as we hear any updates from local officials

MASTERS DIVISION:

SHARKS 7 FLYERS 4: Ron “kids in the” Hall and Ed Aitchinson both dropped a deuce as the Sharks ran over the Flyers 7-4. Andy Rossit got into the act too, collecting a goal and adding a pair of assists for the winning side. For the Flyers, this Vince Mercuri kid is going to be a star in this league, just you wait. He scored a goal, added two assists then loaded up the team bus just for the hell of it because he is Vince Mercuri and he needs to sign his rookie card for me.

STARS 5 BRUINS 4: This game was a see-saw affair from the second the kid finished shoveling the extra snow at the Zamboni door. In the end, it was Dino “Diceman” Guidice who scored the game winner and sent all three Stars fans home happy after a 5-4 victory. Stars veteran Steve Kivell wasn’t on vacation and scored a beauty for the winners while Walter "2-for-1 medium 3-topping" Domingos scored a doozy, Steve “around the” Horner lit the lamp twice, and Gord Bryce sat in the penalty box and felt shame. Bruins Paul “Ferrero” Leger made the game sheet with a Gretzky-like assist on the Bruins 2ndgoal of the night. It was on TSN Sportscentre, I guess you missed it.

BLACKHAWKS 4 PENGUINS 4: Can you believe I picked this tie on my proline ticket. Penguins Bob “Happy” Ballantyne scored a pair while Hawks Scott “Big” Maki scored putting his just 876 goals behind Mike Bossy on the all-time goals scoring list. This game had more ups and downs than the Pamela Anderson/Tommy Lee vhs tape. Glad everyone went home happy with the point. It’s still early in the season but both teams fought hard all night.

KINGS 2 REDWINGS 2: Ok what’s with all the ties? Let’s pause and talk about Kings power forward Rick “tik” Estok. He gets his 6 foot 6 frame around the ice pretty unassumingly, never gets caught out there too long, and does yeoman’s work in front of the opposing team’s net very damn shift. He scored a typical Rick Estok goal by crashing the crease looking for any loose change and he got rewarded. Redwings Larry Litzgus litz the lamp twice without even breaking a sweat. It’s Wednesday night and he still hasn’t needed to air out his gear yet.

Well a bit of a brief account of last week’s action is in the books. Busy work week for this guy but it’s the blog. Everybody needs it to get through the week from what I hear. Good luck this weekend and remember to thank the refs after the game. They are out there for fun just like us.

Chris Marttila

SCOHA Blogologist