This Week in SCOHA – October 31st, 2023
The Annual Spooktacular Edition
Well gang, the standings atop both divisions are tighter than a snare drum. United sees the Flyers atop the leaderboard with 10 points but the Blackhawks, Bruins and Redwings are 1,2 and 3 points back respectively. Over in the Masters circuit, first and 5th place are only separated by 2 lousy points!
Rumours were swirling that United Flyers Matt Perri passed away in a hot tub last weekend but it isn’t the same Matt Perry from tv. At any rate, let’s get right down to business and unpeel the onion from last week’s games.
United Division:
Bruins 6 Blackhawks 5: These Bruins were gifted with a spare that could line up alongside Matthews and Marner. Good thing Tristan Graham was called up because he had 4 goals and added an assist as the Bruins got past the Hawks 6-5. Another spare also helped out the B’s as Dave Prentice got the job done with a pair for the winning side. For the Hawks, Marc “come on guys, recess is over, didn’t you hear the” Bellhumeur scored a pair while Johnny Hockey Carvalho scored his 7th of the year. This game saw the return of Paul McGraw as a spare for the Hawks. Paul is a picture of consistency on the blueline and we miss him out there every week. Was nice to see him back on the ice! Watch out for the Bruins, they have points in each of their last 5 games and are ready to start turning the jets on.
Red Wings 4 Flyers 4: This game was circled on the calendar for a while as our Cable14 Game of the Week. Both teams didn’t disappoint as they both skated to a 4-4 draw. 8 different players scored in this game, which is odd considering the firepower both clubs have. Wings have tied their last 3 games so there is your Proline tip for this upcoming weekend. You’re welcome. Flyers are.. flying with points in 5 straight and they are showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. Captain, GM and all-around nice guy Mike Haslam spoke to reporters after the game and said they need to tighten things up a bit on d but they will be just fine. When asked about a contract extension, Mike said he is concentrating on the season and will deal with that in the summer. Heard it here first.
Sharks 4 Oilers 1: Duane “Gretzky” Marzi keeps lighting the lamp, folks. 16 points in only 7 games. Quick math, I believe that is 2.2857142857 points per game. Marzi scored a pair including his 10th of the season while Dave Mercer scored his first 2 of the year in the win over an Oiler team struggling to find their way. Newcomer Manny “freight train” Vicente played his first game of the season of the season while rehabbing a foot injury and scored the lone goal for Les Oil. Back to the game films and a few two-a-day skates for the guys in dark blue, or navy, whatever you want to call it.
Masters Division:
Penguins 7 Flyers 1: So get a load of this… Penguins have scored 23 goals in the last 3 games. Kidding me? Bill “webmaster” Curran and Rob DiGiovanni both registered their first 2 goals of this young season as the Pens had their way with the Flyers 7-1. Someone said this game was like putting on a wet swimsuit. Good news was the 50/50 jackpot of 6 bucks went unclaimed so it will in fact carry on to next week. Stick tap to Paul Cleary who has clearly found his game again. This guy is putting his time in the gym before and after practice and it shows. Good thing the Penguins sold their team bus so they could afford to stay under the salary cap and sign Cleary. Best move of the off-season for sure.
Blackhawks 7 Bruins 1: Bruins sniper Steve Horner was a huge absence in the Bruin lineup and it showed. The Hawks came into town and thumped the B’s 7-1 and lemme tell ya, the fans let them hear about it. Dale Scott scored his 1st of the season, Nick “never” Miscione scored a hatty and added a helper and Steve Smith did what he does every week, an honest hard-working effort. This time out, Smith had 2 goals to add to his illustrious career tally. Goaltender Ted Marszalek turned aside 23 shots for the W, a strong effort between the pipes.
Kings 6 Stars 3: The Stars ran into a streaking King team that has now won 3 straight. Tymen Edelkoort made 29 saves as his Kings doubled up the Stars 6-3. Ken “giraffe” Hutchinson had the game of his life, scoring 3 goals on the night as they were going in in bushels for this wiley veteran of 23 seasons. Someone else that caught our eye was Mike Vanderzee who seems to have gained a step out there this season after his corn chip diet over the summer. Regular, not bbq. Apparently the corn makes you skate faster. Stars had a pair of goals from Ed “the snake” Venema (best name in hockey).
Redwings 5 Sharks 2: Fresh off a 10-0 blowout last week, the Red Wings were poised to prove the nay-sayers wrong and they did just that, taking a bite out of the Sharks 5-2 in front of an announced crowd of 6. Larry “ballroom blitz” Litzgus scored a pair while Tim Manning notched his 1st of the season. Alex Greychuk got the game puck after a statement win for his hockey club. He won the room back and the guys carried him to the team bus afterwards. Al Oddie had 4 penalty minutes and remains 18 behind Dave “the hammer” Schults for 1st all-time in any rank of hockey. I say he beats it.
Well that wraps up another week of action. Let’s remember to cut the refs some slack, they are out there for just the same amount of fun as us. Have a great rest of the week, folks. Player stats are already updated, should be posted soon.
Chris Marttila
SCOHA Blogologist / Stat Guy