With babies popping out here, there, and everywhere around the SDFHL realm, it’s fitting that the opening game of the Summer League 2026 season was another ‘gender reveal’ installment. Captain Lena Amelang, the only female captain in this draft, led Pink into battle against Captain Eli Schonbrun (the manliest man in the league) and Blue, with both sides hoping to conceive and grow a lead, and give birth to a happy and healthy first win of the season. It was the first season back in SDFHL action for Blue’s Adam Schindler since the ill-fated and VERY short-lived Spring 2020 cusp-of-the-pandemic season, and to say that the return was at least as ill-fated for Schindler as that two game dead end six years ago would be an understatement. Just a minute or so into the opening period, Schindler and Brennen Abel collided, causing the former to tumble straight back and smack his skull on the surface. While Adam sprung up rather quickly and seemed no worse for wear, the blood seeping from the back of his head on the bench told a different story. Captain Amelang’s daughter whisked Adam off to the ER, and I am happy to report that he is OK…negative CT, one staple…just a flesh wound. Still…a scary start to the season…be careful out there, everyone! Play resumed, and another long lost returning player, Scott Wieland, was first to hit the scoresheet on the season, slotting home a point shot to give Pink a lead at 1:52 (Steve Goncalo & Abel). Kyle Snyder touched off his POTW performance with the equalizer at 3:17 in the second (Shelby Shattuck), and after Abel restored Pink’s one goal edge at 2:47 (Andy Strathman), Snyder draw Blue level again with an unassisted effort at 1:40, then blasted a stunning long range post-and-in snipe at 0:02 to complete his hat trick and push Blue in front going into the second break. Andy Strathman made it 3-3 with his first of the season at 8:04 in the third (Abel & Eric Willard), and the stalemate remained in place for four minutes before Captain Schonbrun decided it was his time to shine. Eli’s first of the season came at 4:01 (Brendan Jew & Shawna Hamon), and his second followed at 2:32 (Shattuck & Snyder). Snyder would cash his second assist (completing a five point night) on Josh Tran’s empty-netter at 0:25, but Willard sneaked in a late response at 0:09 (Abel) to make the final score a bit less lopsided looking 6-4, Blue over Pink. There really wasn’t anything ‘lopsided’ about this game, actually…great action, clean hockey, strong goaltending from Blue’s super sub, Don Tran (17/21), and Pink’s Chuck Bender (24/29)…just a great game in every sense…except that early Schindler head crack, of course.

Key absences can lead to key losses, and key losses can ultimately lock a team on the wrong side of the playoff door…with no key. I mean, it is just Week One, and with eight playoff spots available for nine teams, it will take a lot of ‘missing keys’ to really matter at all. Both Captain William Teglia’s Purple and Captain Bryan Ossa’s Brown were missing some ‘keys’, leaving the remainder of the roster on both sides shifting and shuffling to find safe passage into the win column. The prevailing wisdom was that the absence of Owen Perks, Trevor Vick, and Tim Vick for Purple might outweigh the absence of Jon Zygelman and Mark Nagy for Brown, but with plenty of ‘keys’ left on both rings, it was just a matter of finding the right key at the right time. Chris Koziol was first to act, tucking home a rebound to give Brown the first lead of the game at 6:24 in the first (Josh Wirt & Greg Wirth). The goal was tinged with controversy, as it seemed to coincide with a whistle indicating that the ball was covered by goalie Will Heinl, but…the goal would stand, and Brown would carry a 1-0 lead into the first break. Brown would later have a goal sliced off with the other edge of that stoppage whistle sword, with the shrugged shouldered consensus being that ‘two half goals equal one goal’. It’s sweet to see two step brothers getting along well, but it was super sweet (for Purple, at least) to see one assisting on the other’s goal — Grant Goins’ first of the season and second career SDFHL goal came at 7:11 in the second, with the lone assist going to Captain William Teglia. Teglia wasted little time snatching the spotlight back from his ‘beloved’ bro, notching his first of the season with a nifty breakaway/finish to give Purple their first lead at 6:29 (Sadie Hellstrom). Captain Ossa showed that he too can lead by example, drawing his team level with a seeing-eye wrister from the point at 1:25 in the second (Mark DeGraffenreid & Kerri Sevenbergen), and that 2-2 tie would ALMOST hold through the remaining 11:25 of play. Purple’s Heinl (26/29) and Brown’s Mason Holcomb (19/21) were both very sharp in this one, but the former would suffer the loss after a desperate final rush from DeGraffenreid produced the 3-2 game winner with 0:31 to play (Wirth). Three of the five goals in this game were weird, bouncy, trickly numbers…sometimes you just have to get a ‘key’ bounce or two to prevail in a close game.

Captain Jeremy Copp sat at the draft table on the eve of the Wing League 2026 Final, still filled with hope that Captain Nick Meglich’s Sand would rise up and snatch the Cup from rival Black with a back to back smack. With that grand Sand plan having turned to dust like, say, half the population after a Thanos snap (to pick a completely random analogy), Captain Copp looked to forge his own fate under the summer sun with Orange. Meglich would now guard the net opposite Copp & Company, with Captain Rob Gaudio hoping that his fortunes with Red would (greatly) improve after missing the playoffs as part of Captain Brennen Abel’s White the season prior. A scoreless first saw Orange hold a slim 6-5 edge in shots, and the second period was very nearly a carbon copy in all ways. Orange outshot Red 7-5 in the middle frame, but Captain Gaudio finally made a shot count for Red at 0:47 (Darin Cerasuolo & Mostafa Azab). It is safe to say that Orange ‘flipped a switch’ in the third, and even safer to say that one player in particular switched into ‘beast mode’…Christopher Fiore. Fiore led a third period Orange charge that saw them outshoot their opponent THIRTEEN to ONE, with Fiore accounting for the unassisted equalizer at 8:51, and the game-winner at 7:18 (Justin Hepler). It was more opening night goal controversy on Fiore’s second, with some confusion as to if/when/how the ball found a home behind Meglich, but the officials deliberated and confirmed a good goal. If your reading comprehension is even adequate, you know that this would stand as the game-winner in Orange’s 2-1 win over Red. Meglich (24/26), fresh of a deflating OT loss in the Wing League Final, would be saddled with another tough L, while Matt Henderson (10/11) and Orange rode a late wave of fury and Fiore to a Week One win.

The Week One nightcap saw Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green taking on Captain Zach Siemer’s Grey. Whether by design or coincidence, Siemer managed to secure four players from Captain Kalen Hunter’s Cup champion Black…Kalen Hunter himself, Papa Kevin Hunter, John Kushneryk, and Sean ‘Not A Goalie This Season’ Kelly. Kushneryk was out of the lineup with an injury, but Kalen kept his BCE (big Cup energy) flowing, and Sean proved a perfect linemate, with the former notching his first of the season at 6:32 in the first (Kelly & Captain Siemer), and his second at 2:46 (Kelly & Steve Linke). There would be no scoring in the second, but Green’s push to close the cap had the shot total in their favor by a 12-7 margin through twenty minutes of play. Green pushed even harder in the third, holding a 9-3 edge in shots, but it was once again Kalen with a ‘shot that counts’, completing his hat trick at 8:47 (Kelly & Elyse Shattuck) to build Grey’s lead to three. Chris Tran finally solved a red hot Jon Cima (20/21), cutting the lead to two at 2:36, with the primary assist credited to newcomer, Alex Rockoff. CONGRATULATIONS on your first career SDFHL point, Alex! Jackson Tomaszewski provided the second helper on the Tran goal, and while breaking the season scoring seal does provide a unique boost, an empty-net icer from Kevin Hunter at 1:18 removed any hope of a late Green rally. Gabe Davenport (6/9) ‘got Kalened’ in the 4-1 loss, but Green can hope for/expect less heroics from the opposing goalie (great game, Jon!) and improved production with the return of Jenna Chercoe and Jordan Pynn to the lineup as they turn to host the debut of Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon in Week Two.

The Wing League 2026 season featured plenty of streaks, swings, and stunners, but after top-seeded Sand dispatched a Cup coup attempt from bottom-seeded Red in the Losers’ Bracket Final, it was a ‘cream of the crop’ 1 v 2 last stop for all the glory in the Final. Captain Kalen Hunter’s Black was waiting with crossed arms for their rivals, eager to prove that, as the only unbeaten team in the league, they were still ‘the team to beat’. Captain Nick Meglich & Company salvaged a regular season tie with Black on a late goal back in Week Four, but fell 3-1 in the first playoff meeting, delaying their arrival at the final fight, but perhaps injecting a little extra motivation in their ranks. As warmups wrapped, incredulous whispers buzzed through the benches…there was no sign of Alex ‘Thanos’ Giummo! ‘Alex is in Ireland’…the words were spoken, but registered initially only as some kind of ruse…surely the deadliest scoring threat in league history was not missing the Final. Surely he was going to stroll up right as the ball dropped…perhaps emerging from a smoky tunnel wearing a golden cape and a wry smirk. Unlike much of what you see and hear these days, this unbelievable fact was, unbelievably, fact. Captain Hunter’s Crew struggled to process this huge news…trying their best to remain focused on the task at hand and control the natural amplification of optimism that this twist brought. Shockingly, Captain Meglich had known about this untimely absence for some time, and had kept it a secret…even from his own mates! So, Sand struggled with their own mental and emotional adjustments as the teams lined up to play out this final fight for the Cup. A scoreless first was as much a positive for Sand as it was a negative for Black, with the latter expecting to build at least a small early lead, given the BIG absence weighing on their opponent. Mark DeGraffenreid finally broke the scoring seal at 6:49 in the second, tipping home a brilliant back door feed from John Kushneryk on the powerplay to put Black in front first (Captain Hunter with the second assist). Black outshot their rivals 17-9 through the first two periods, but one of those nine found twine for Sand with Trevor Vick capitalizing on a turnover in Black’s end at 1:41 to knot the score at ones (Tim Vick & Andy Strathman). The longer the third period remained scoreless, the more pressure mounted for Black…surely they would find a way to overcome without this game pushing to overtime…they would not. Captain Meglich and Sean Kelly were just too sharp, and neither team could find a way to finish things through three periods of play, so it was on to sudden death. This is where the real twist of the entire season took place…2:57 to play…Black pressing and passing around Sand’s zone…desperate to end this affair in one game and go home happy…shot on goal…Meglich save…rebound off to his right…on to the stick of Kerri Sevenbergen…flicked on net…GOAL! GAME, SET, MATCH, CUP! Sevenbergen…with perhaps the lowest betting odds of any player on Black to end it…ends it with her FIRST goal of the season…one HUGE goal to win it all! Josh Tran and Kalen Hunter collected assists on the Cup-winner, and Kerri was immediately mobbed by her overjoyed teammates (one teammate in particular…I forget who it was). A VERY thrilling end to a great season for Black, and a dagger of a finish to a great Cup run for Sand. Sean Kelly (11/12) capped another stellar season with another sparkler, while Captain Meglich (23/25) was nothing short of a (tragic) hero in keeping Sand locked in all season long (and particularly in this final showdown). Huge kudos to Captain Meglich for his exceptional efforts, to Sand as a whole for a great season, and (of course) to my teammates on Black for an absolutely amazing and unforgettable season, with maybe the most amazing and unforgettable finish ever…

If you read the front page each week (if/whenever I actually get around to updating it), you know that I have repeatedly professed that Captain Josh Wirt’s Red has been a sneaky Cup contender in average team clothing all along. The first four weeks of Red’s season…3-0 loss to Gold…3-1 loss to Black…6-3 loss to Sand…5-3 loss to Green…an 0-4-0 run that had them edging into ‘must win’ mode at the midway point in the season. A 7-4 win over Pink in Week Five was the turning point, and Red bounced all the way back with a 3-0-1 run that rendered a 4-3 loss to Blue in their finale a non-issue. That bounce back was only enough to earn them the lowest seed, which meant a playoff opener against the dreaded Sand…a 5-4 loss that could easily have swung the other way, had their replacement for Joe Malki been in the lineup. Elimination wins over Purple and Teal advanced Wirt & Company to Week Four, where they hoped to repeat their Week Five regular season defeat of Pink and earn a second shot to push past the top seeds on their Cinderella path to the Final. Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s Pink were the model of hit or miss in the regular season, finishing at 4-4-1, and never having strung together more than two wins or two losses. After dispatching Purple 5-2 in their playoff opener, the four seeds became another notch in Sand’s battle belt in Week Two, then edged past Gold 1-0 to earn a rematch with Red. So, Pink the higher seed, and technically ‘favorites’ in the second meeting, but Red feeling like a ‘trap’ team based on their late season surge, their regular season romp over Pink, their impressive playoff showing against Sand, and the betting buzz around a really good looking team with something to prove. On cue, Captain Wirt would open the scoring unassisted at 9:15 in the first, and Jason Remple (on to replace Riley Mann, who was on to replace Joe Malki) made it 2-0 Red just 0:26 later (Emily Bennington). Chris Tran would answer for Pink at 1:54 in the first (Captain Cerasuolo), and a 9-5 first period shot edge for Pink made that late period goal feel all the more like a ‘stay the course…we got this’ moment for the higher seeds. The shot ledger flipped in the second, though, with Red holding a 14-5 edge, including two shots that found netting…Eli Schonbrun at 6:11 (Shawna Hamon & Chris Malki) and Remple at 0:42 (Hamon). A 4-1 edge with one period to play is by no means insurmountable, but Remple’s third of the game (unassisted at 9:39) to make it 5-1 really made the Pink pit feel bottomless (giggity). Jason Olver finally provided a Pink response at 8:11 (Captain Cerasuolo & Eric Willard), but Captain Wirt’s second of the game restored Red’s four goal edge at 5:36 (Schonbrun & Hamon). A very much too little, too late tally from Captain Cerasuolo with 0:12 to play was extremely cold comfort for Pink, who were left shaking their heads, shaking hands, and tipping their collective caps to another strong Red showing in a convincing 6-3 win. Chuck Bender (25/31) shouldered the elimination loss, while Don Tran (25/28) continued his run of strong play in the big win. Remple earned first star of the game honors for his hat trick heroics, but he and Red knew that their night had only just begun. Sand was lurking, and they would have just minutes to rest before grappling with that beast…

We’ve all heard the adage that history repeats itself, and while Sand did storm past Red 6-3 in Week Three of the regular season, and while Sand did repeat the feat 5-4 in Week Two of the playoffs, Red was really beginning to feel like a ‘team of destiny’…a bottom-seeded sleeping giant ready to rise, avenge themselves, and stomp through to the Final. Sand was a very-much-awake-and-routinely-snapping-necks giant all season, though, and no player is more feared in this league than Alex ‘Thanos’ Giummo. So, strange as our world is, this win-and-in throw down between two teams at the opposite ends of the playoff seeding spectrum actually seemed like it might play out as a tooth and nail fight to the death…and it did. First period…no score, no penalties…Sand holds just a 5-4 edge in shots. Second period…no score, one minor penalty…Sand holds an 8-5 edge in shots. Ten minutes to play…that first goal now looming large over both benches. Giummo…of course…looming large himself at 9:08 in the third (Jeremy Copp) to break the scoreless stalemate and send a shiver through the Red ranks. Captain Wirt would respond at 5:37 (Eli Schonbrun & Chris Malki), swinging the game back to level ground…only to have Thanos tip things back in Sand’s favor with his second of the game less than a minute later (4:40, from Trevor Vick). Perhaps all of the ‘Cinderella’ talk, all of the front page lauding and applauding, all of the Rudy-esque aura surrounding this Red team was all about to be washed away. Then…a hero…a moment…the fist-pumping, eye-watering twist at the end of an underdog sports movie…Shawna Hamon to tie it for Red with TWENTY seconds remaining in regulation (Wirt & Schonbrun)! Yes…Red was not dead, and this fairytale story was still on course for the happy ending that we all…NOPE. Thanos straight up said (with his skills) ‘nah’. SIX seconds into overtime…Giummo off the draw…in…hat-trick-capping-game-winning-Red-eliminating-Final-ticket-punching goal. Wow. The same spirits that were soaring just seconds prior, that crescendo of hope and elation that had just peaked in the hearts and minds of every player in Red’s ranks…dashed in six ticks on and off the slick stick of Giummo…3-2 Sand advance to the Final. Captain Nick Meglich (16/18) and his top-seeded side could exhale, knowing that the business of bouncing back from their lone playoff loss was done. Don Tran (19/22) and Red…no doubt shocked silent…having screamed with adrenaline-fueled joy through the loops and corkscrews of a rollercoaster of a game only to be thrown from the ride on the last drop. One final KUDOS from me to Red on a great run…really impressive heart and spirit! The win earns Sand a third turn to do what no team has done this season…beat Captain Kalen Hunter’s Black. Should they manage that first, they’ll need to muster a second in order to cast off their one ghost and capture the Wing League 2026 Cup.

Week Three playoff action kicked off with the first of two elimination games, as Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s Pink squared off against Captain Nick Vacchio’s Gold. A 3-0 Week Eight win over Pink actually served as a major stepping stone to playoff safety for Gold, but the absence of key Pink personnel in that regular season meeting (Chris Tran, Shelby Shattuck, and Captain Cerasuolo himself) was enough of an ‘asterisk’ to dismiss any real or perceived advantage for Vacchio’s underseeds in the playoff rematch. My personal betting brain had Pink as three goal favorites in this one, but an impressive Gold effort cost me that wager (I’ll make rent somehow) and made for a very tight tussle to open the slate. A scoreless first echoed into a scoreless second, and the near-level shot counts (13-12, in Pink’s favor) further supported the sense that this game was up for grabs heading into the third. Gold outshot Pink 6-3 in that final frame, but only one shot counted for either side…Chris Tran’s first of the playoffs with 7:07 to play (Captain Cerasuolo & Tony Thinh). John Kushneryk (15/16) probably saw more ‘quality chances’ than his counterpart, Chuck Bender (18/18), but none of that nuance makes the box score, which would clearly register a 1-0 win for Pink. Vacchio & Company’s Cup run was ultimately (and unsurprisingly) undone by a lack of scoring — Gold finished second to last with just twenty tallies through the regular season (Blue last with nineteen), then performed a playoff encore of just two goals in the two games coming into their fated (rotten) goose egg ending. The win, however ‘unconvincing’, moves Pink on to the Losers’ Bracket Final this Sunday. Spoiler alert…they will hope to dispatch Red, then slip past Sand to earn a seat in the Final on May 3rd. The bad news for Pink…they are 0-4 against the other three teams still alive in the playoff race (credit to Anthony Cerasuolo for this little gem).

The only non-elimination game of the evening was up next, with Captain Nick Meglich’s #1 Sand facing off against Captain Kalen’s #2 Black. A meeting of the top two seeds in the Winners’ Bracket Final is, of course, expected most seasons, but seemed particularly fated this time around. The teams tied 1-1 back in Week Four, and while Sand captured the higher seed by virtue of the ‘number of wins’ tie breaker, Black remained the only team to boast a completely clean L column, coming in. So…two heavyweights…back in the ring…no option to tie…winner earns a Week Four bye and advances to the Final…loser must earn one more win to earn a chance at redemption/revenge. Sand leveraged their seeding advantage to ensure that Alex Giummo would be able to play, hoping to prevent a complete mismatch with Tim and Trevor Vick already scheduled to miss. Captain Kalen was a casualty of this scheduling circumstance, and with Austin Szymanski also unexpectedly out for Black, the sense was that at least some semblance of balance was restored for this encore encounter. Josh Tran kept his piping hot playoff play sizzling, wristing the game’s first goal home from range to put Black on top first at 8:01 in the first (John Kushneryk). With neither of The Vick Boys™ to account for, Black kept their focus firmly fixed on stopping Giummo, but as everyone who has tried to stop him knows, this is perhaps the most obvious case of ‘easier said than done’ in the history of history. Giummo registered more evidence to that adage, swooping into the attacking zone, shedding a defender, then chopping broccoli in the slot and making Sean Kelly look like a dizzy bear on roller skates to even the score at ones with just 0:14 to go to the first break. A scoreless second saw Black survive any further Giummo gymnastics, and the playoff rematch marched on about as expected, 1-1 through two. Enter Pat Gladstone…our newly-crowned POTW, tucking a rebound past Meglich to recapture the lead for Black at 8:41 (Mark DeGraffenreid and Tran), then collecting the primary on DeGraffenreid’s wrap around insurance strike at 5:09 (Kushneryk with the secondary). The wave of relief that washed over Black’s bench was nearly palpable, but the tide quickly ebbed, replaced by the fear that Giummo would be dialed up all the more for the final five minutes of play. Incredibly enough, Sand mustered just two shots through the entire third period, and by ‘incredibly enough’, I mean ‘owing to some very intense and effective defensive play from the likes of Kushneryk, Arnold Gonzales, and Kevin Hunter’. Kelly (13/14) & Company would wrap the 3-1 win, vaulting themselves into the Final, and securing an important bye week this Sunday (Captain Kalen would have missed that game, as well). Sand remain very much alive (and now all the more determined, no doubt) as they gear up to face the winner of Red v Pink this Sunday. A win against the tired team that comes out of that first game will set up an epic finale, but no one should be counting out an upset that would see a new challenger enter the ring in the final week of playoff play.

Elimination (avoidance, thereof) was the motivation once again in the late game, with Captain William Teglia’s #4 Teal taking on Captain Josh Wirt’s #8 Red. The Week Seven regular season meeting ended in a 1-1 tie, but this was the infamous ‘Tucson Tournament’ Sunday, which saw meant no Eli Schonbrun for Red, and no Kyle Snyder and Chris Fiore for Teal. With all players present and accounted for on both sides, one might assume that Teal would be favored in the playoff rematch, but Red’s late season playoff push, and strong showing in their opening playoff loss to Sand (5-4, without Joe Malki/Jason Remple) had Vegas posting this line as ‘even’. Whether or not Red were ‘underdogs’ or not, they were on top early in this one, with Steve Goncalo’s second of the playoffs coming at 7:47 (Emily Bennington & Bryan Ossa). Shawna Hamon doubled Red’s edge at 1:47 in the first (Jason Remple), making both of Red’s two shots in the period count! Yes, Teal outshot Red 6-2 in the first, then 9-1 in the second (!), but Don Tran was a man with a plan, and that plan (apparently) did not include allowing any goals in this game. The shout count evened at four a side in the third, but once again, only Red shots found a nest in the nets. Captain Wirt provided some extra breathing room with his third of the playoffs at 5:24 (Schonbrun), then added an unassisted empty-netter at 0:31 to pound the final nail in Teal’s playoff coffin and seal the 4-0 win for Red. Tran’s novel ‘no goal’ plan was executed to 19/19 perfection, earning him first star of the game honors, and further fueling the surge of swagger and confidence that the Cinderella bottom seeds have been enjoying over the past month or so. The 3/6 line looks rough for Teal’s Jon Cima, but you can’t win a playoff hockey game 0-0, so this result should be more about a cap tip to Tran’s play and Red’s resolve as a team than anything else. Teal become the fourth playoff victim, joining Gold, Blue, and Purple, while Red move on to face Pink this Sunday. The winner of this ‘Valentines In April’ matchup will have just a few minutes to catch their breath and wipe their brows before jumping back on the court to face Sand.

Week One of the Wing League 2026 went completely ‘by the numbers’, with all of the higher seeds prevailing, and the lower seeds sent packing to the Losers’ Bracket. While both top-seeded Sand and second-seeded Black actually came closest of the four favorites to suffering a first round upset, both stayed on course for what most pundits presume to be a fated date on the doorstep of destiny. Week Two opened with two of those last leg lower seeds hoping to stave off a their own ill fate, and push on in designing their own destiny, as Captain Will Heinl’s Purple faced off against Captain Josh Wirt’s Red. The numbers were lean in warmups for both teams, with Purple missing Ty Pereira, Weston Nawrocki, Sadie Hellstrom, and Captain Heinl himself, while Red found themselves without Chris Malki, Steve Goncalo, and Emily Bennington. Of course, Joe Malki was also out for Red, but had FINALLY been (reliably) replaced by Jason ‘Calves For Days’ Remple. Jenna Chercoe was on to fill Hellstrom’s spot for Purple, and Leah Gonzales tagged in for Bennington, while Mason Holcomb donned the pads early to backfill Captain Heinl’s position in nets. So, a lot of moving/swapped-in parts in this game before the first ball even dropped, but ultimately…not a lot of movement on the scoresheet. Almost no movement, in fact, as a scoreless first bled into a scoreless second, with both teams producing a healthy (albeit, futile) serving of shots (18-18), but neither having anything to show for their efforts. Tom Darlington (of all players) finally broke the scoreless streak with his first of the playoffs with 7:22 to play (Justin Hepler & Jenna Chercoe), and as the clock wound down under a minute to play, it looked as though Wirt’s Red would be one (goal against) and done on this night, and two and out in the playoffs. Enter our intrepid POTW, Eli Schonbrun…0:34 to go…game-tying-season-saving strike (Captain Wirt & Eric Caligiuri)…an absolutely ice cold stunner! The shock and awe from that turn had hardly begun to fade as the first overtime period of this playoffs got underway. Red pressed their house money mojo advantage in the fourth frame, outshooting Purple 6-2, but Holcomb would hold the fort and force the first shootout of this playoff season. Normally, I would give you a shot by shot recap of the shootout, building tension with the results of each round, but this shootout was, frankly, a bit anticlimactic. Enter once again our intrepid POTW, Eli Schonbrun. After Justin Hepler failed to convert on Purple’s first run, Schonbrun shucked, jived, and slid the only goal of the shootout past a sprawling Holcomb to win it for Red. The 2-1 SO win for Red was certainly sublime (and, well, sickening, for Purple), and the thriller set the tone for a night of four close, hard-fought hockey games to come. Don Tran (25/26) was in his finest form in the win, stopping all five Purple shooters in addition to a beastly regulation/OT effort, while Mason Holcomb (27/28) was no less heroic, but much less rewarded for his sparkling sub stint. Purple became the first team to exit the playoff picture, while Red march on to Week Three to face Captain William Teglia’s #3 Teal.

Captain Nick Vacchio’s Gold and Captain Owen Perks’ Blue met in the second elimination match of the night, and with the two teams having finished with the same number of points, and having tied 1-1 in their Week Six meeting, the sense was that the capacity crowd at ‘The Ranch’ would be treated to another tight tussle. The absence of Dan Jurgens would certainly damper the confidence that Perks & Company carried with them after nearly upending Black in their playoff opener, while Gold would hope to find themselves on better footing in their second go after being outshot 33-8, and outscored 4-0 by Teal the week prior. The first period saw no scoring, but another lopsided shot count against Gold (9-3), and while the shot gap closed a bit in the second (6-4, in Blue’s favor), it was Gold who would strike gold first. Luke Wolmer lit the lamp at 2:59, depositing the rebound off a shot from…brace yourselves…Andrew Wong! It was just Wong’s seventh career shot on goal (I kid…his career total is likely much lower), and it proved the secret sauce to solving Mason Holcomb and staking Gold to a 1-0 lead. Vinny Santora supplied the second assist on the Wolmer goal, and no further scoring would come from either side until late in the third, when Steve Linke would loop a LONG range wrister into Blue’s empty net at 1:17 to ice the 2-0 Gold victory (Steve Pugliese). John Kushneryk (20/20) was as stout as he was in Gold’s opening loss…a game that saw JK stop 29/33 in vain, and Holcomb (7/8) could only draw consolation in knowing that even a perfect three periods from him would only have meant overtime (and possibly shootout). So…Blue join Purple on the playoff scrapheap, while Gold hope to survive a Week Three elimination encounter with Pink. Gold did defeat Pink 3-0 in Week Eight, but that result came with a massive attendance asterisk for Captain Cerasuolo’s Crew…the overseed remain heavy betting favorites in the playoff rematch.

With the ‘do or die’ portion of the evening over, it was time for a pair of high seed showdowns. First up…Captain William Teglia’s #3 Teal taking on Captain Kalen Hunter’s #2 Black. Black prevailed 2-0 in the Week Three regular season matchup, and while Black had that fact and their (still) undefeated record to feed their confidence, they were certainly not looking past a very tough, hard-charging opponent. Teal’s ‘team’ scoring structure was not much of a departure from that of Sand, with twenty-two of their twenty-eight goals coming off the tape of just two players…Kyle Snyder (12) and Captain Teglia (10). No other player on Teal scored more than once over the course of the regular season, and one of one-goal scorers, Gordon Schmidt, was first to score in this one. Schmidt snapped home a point shot at 5:07 in the first (Snyder & Teglia), and with Teal controlling playing and dominating the shot count (13-5, at period’s end), Black was now REALLY not looking past a very tough, hard-charging opponent. Captain Kalen Hunter posted a response for Black at 2:49 (John Kushneryk), and that 1-1 score would hold through the remaining minutes of the first, and the entirety of the second. Teal fashioned chance after glorious chance in that span, including a breakaway look for both Snyder and Teglia, but Sean Kelly was in full living legend mode in keeping his team on even footing. Josh Tran would convert early in the third period to give Black their first lead of the game (9:08, from Mark DeGraffenreid & Arnold Gonzales), and Black’s team defense found a way to ease the strain on Kelly in the final frame (just a 6-5 shot edge for Teal in the third). Captain Hunter’s empty-netter at 0:56 (Pat Gladstone) allowed for a loud exhale on the Black bench, and a second goalie-less goal by Tran at 0:46 (Captain Hunter & Kelly) removed any further mystery and tension from this one…Black 4-1 over Teal. Kelly’s 29/30 (plus an assist, for good measure) performance was proof positive that his puffy paycheck is well worth the prolific production. Jon Cima (14/16) was certainly solid, but ultimately undone by an all world effort from his counterpart. Black move on to face rival Sand in the Winners’ Bracket Final, while Teal will look to bounce back and claim their first playoff KO against Captain Wirt’s bottom-seeded Red.

The Week Two nightcap was a matchup of the league’s top two regular season scoring factions, with Captain Nick Meglich’s Sand (42 regular season goals) looking to continue their Cup ascent against Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s Pink (33 regular season goals). No other team in the league was able to reach the 30 mark, much less the 40 mark, and oh, by the way, Sand’s Alex Giummo finished the regular season with 30 goals of his own! So, with both goalies padded (and having prayed to their respective deity of choice), the Battle Of The Big Guns™ got underway. A series of three minor penalties, all called against Sand in the span of twenty-two seconds, meant plenty of time and space for Pink’s offense to operate, and Eric Willard finally made Sand pay with his second of the playoffs on the 5 on 3 powerplay at 2:02 in the first (Captain Cerasuolo & Chris Tran). The penalty box stayed empty for both teams in the second, and Giummo filled Sand’s side of the scoresheet with his first of the game unassisted at 9:17, and his second of the game at 6:05 (Tim Vick) to flip the favorites back into their familiar on top position (giggity). Pink pressed hard for the equalizer, and ultimately outshot the one seeds 24-15, but Captain Meglich (23/24) would allow nothing further, and a Tim Vick empty-netter with nine ticks to go capped the 3-1 win for Sand. Chuck Bender (12/14) can thank his mates for keeping the clamps on Sand as well as they did, but…it’s Thanos, people…not much you can do. Pink have plenty of pluck and poise left in them as they turn to face Gold in the Losers’ Bracket this Sunday, while Sand salivate over their chance to humble a Kalen-free Black and book passage to the Final.