The initial goal for any team in any league is to make the playoffs. You know you will likely experience some ups and downs in the regular season, so your first fight is to survive, earn that clean slate, and move into the playoffs with a team that is now (hopefully) ‘gelled’, healthy, and ready to pursue the big prize. Captain Chad Goins’ ‘Chadinals’ experienced more than their share of ‘downs’ out of the gate, with their only win in their first three outings coming against auto-win Green, and one of the two losses in that span coming against Black…the only team other than Green to go on to miss the playoffs. At 1-2-0 with what in hindsight was a softball early season schedule, there was really nowhere to go but up, but…they went down still further, bottoming out with a Week Five loss to Flint Blue that left them below the cut line at 1-3-0. Another goal for any team in any league is to build as the season progresses, and peak at the right time, and Red definitely understood that assignment, soaring through their next five games at a 4-0-1 clip, with the one non-win in the span coming against the Captain Copp’s juggernaut Orange…the ONLY point they would surrender all season! So, with playoff ticket already in hand at 4-3-1, Goins & Company looked to keep building towards a playoff peak in a regular season closer against Captain Joel Gattey’s Lime. Every season seems to have that one team that just racks up the ties, and at 2-2-4 coming in, Gattey’s Lime was a party to all but ONE of the tie games for all ten teams in the previous eight weeks! Lime had hit, missed, and tied their way to a cobbled-together eight points that had them playoff safe coming into this final match, but a win would mean improved playoff seeding, a winning record, and some much needed momentum heading into April. It was all Red early…specifically all Brennen Abel early, with the Young Canuck™ tallying at 9:42 (Steph Palomo Schmidt & Jackson Tomaszewski) and again at 5:23 (Gordon Schmidt & Captain Chad Goins) to give Red a two goal edge through one. Jerry Gonzales finally broke the scoring silence for Lime with just 0:15 remaining in the second (TK Mason & Chris Malki), leaving the door open for a comeback win (or yet another tie) for Lime, or a door-slamming sixth straight point producer for Red. It was Abel again early in the third (9:27, from Tomaszewski & Palomo Schmidt) to cap his hat trick and restore the two goal lead. Chris Malki kept the tension on, cutting the difference back down to one with his second of the season at 2:03 (Jordan Pynn & Vance Morra), but Jon Cima (17/19) and the clock would not allow a fifth Lime tie, as Red held on for a 3-2 win that boosted them into a tie with White for the three seed at 5-3-1. Matt Henderson (14/17) was solid as ever, but Lime were squeezed again, dropping to 2-3-4, their eight points good enough for playoff passage, but their low win total dooming them to one of the lowest seeds (pending results from later games).
Captain Rob Gaudio’s ‘Blue Jay’s made the front page back on February 3rd, after getting out of the nest at 3-0-0, and looking ready to roost in the upper reaches of the standings for weeks to come. There was a caveat in that February 3rd headline, and the Sundays between then and their regular season finale against Pink are just dripping with eerie foreshadowing – “…their flawless flight plan will be put to the test with the looming departure of top-worm-earner, Kyle Snyder. Snyder’s swan song (so to speak) will come in a Week Five showdown with winless Brown, and replacing such a big bird will be no small task…”. That Week Five showdown with (at the time) winless Brown would go down as Blue’s first loss, and that first loss would not be their last. FIVE straight losses found Gaudio’s Gang on the brink of elimination coming into the final week of play, now 3-5-0 and in need of at least a point to stay clear of cut line cousins, Black. Captain Bryan Ossa’s ‘FlamingOssas’ had already managed their own late season course correction, but were hoping to extending their win streak to three, improve their playoff position, and play the part of spoiler, giving Captain Joshi’s Black a chance to win and get in. Jason Remple got the Jays off on the front wing early, converting at 9:07 in the first (Captain Gaudio), and Gaudio would double the damage with a solo effort at 7:04. It was more Blue in the second, with Trevor Vick’s third of the season making it 3-0 (Gaudio & Tony Thinh), and Remple’s second of the game pushing the lead to four (Gaudio). Pink continued to press, and finally found at least some answer in the form of Mark DeGraffenreid’s fifth at 0:43 (Mark Daquipa & Josh Wirt), but any hopes at a momentum swing would be crushed by another pair of unanswered Blue goals in the third. Those goals came courtesy of earlier suspects, Remple at 1:16 (Gaudio & Thinh) and Trevor Vick at 0:34 (Jason Lee), as Don Tran (12/13) and Blue cruised on to a crucial 6-1 win to punch their playoff pass and officially eliminate Black. Chuck Bender (12/18), now adopted as Pink’s goalie from here out, did all he could to keep things close for his new foster team, but Pink did not have their winning game on this day, and Blue FINALLY found theirs. The win, combined with other results, vaulted Blue from below the cut line to the fifth seed (!), while the loss left Pink with a losing record on the season, but enough points to salvaged the six spot.
The final week of the regular season is always good for at least one ‘what are the odds’ matchup…some serendipitous pairing that for one reason or another (or many) is just THE matchup one or both teams need, or otherwise just a fitting end for one or both teams. Count the Black v Green match in that latter category…a fitting end for the only two teams already on the playoff scrap heap. Captain Alan Razoky was the captain in name only for the latter part of a disastrous season, having exited the rink (prematurely) back in Week Six, and having never looked back, much less come back. His teammates (well, some of them) carried on, but found nothing but loss after loss as they labored into the final Sunday of regular season play at 0-8-0. Captain Hima Joshi’s Black remained a team throughout, but struggled to find a consistent winning formula. Having just watched Blue prevail over Pink, Joshi & Company knew that this would be their last ride together…no stakes…nothing to prove….just a ‘go out and have fun’ final fling. I mean, there was likely a murmur or two of ‘we can’t be the ONLY team to lose to Green’, but that is purely speculation on my part. The two down and out teams battled hard in the first, with Black finding a slim edge in shots (10-7), but Green finding the edge where it counts…Andrew Jacobsen’s second (!) of the season from the point on the power play at 3:10 (Chris Tran) to give Green a rare lead. Geoff Downes found the equalizer at 6:59 in the second (Jon Salt), setting up a winner take all (feelings of some small consolation) third period. Salt snapped home a go-ahead goal for Black with 8:35 to play, then added an insurance marker at 6:22 (Downes & Eric Willard), making it 3-1 in Black’s favor…where it would stay. Will Heinl (12/13) wrapped his rookie season in nets with a win, while Chuck Bender (28/31) was valiant as can be hoped for in vain…an entire season in vain for the wire-to-wire winless Green. All good things must come to an end, but so must all bad things. The beauty of this league is that everyone will get a fresh start with a fresh team in May, and (speaking from experience) it’s not always the worst thing to have a string of five free Sundays here and there…
The remaining pair of recaps are coming…
