7 & 7

Week Eight opened with a clash of two teams currently wallowing in the muck and mire of cut line uncertainty. Both Captain Mark Nagy’s Red and Captain Joel Gattey’s Gold struggled significantly out of the gate, with the former opening at 1-3-0, and the latter at 0-4-0, but both had started their climb to playoff cruising altitude in the ensuing two weeks of play. Red tied Green 1-1 in Week Five, then bested Grey 3-2 in Week Six to improve to 2-3-1 coming in, while Gold rolled over Brown 4-0, then tied the tie-prone Heather Blue 2-2 to move to 1-4-1. The prevailing speculation is that it will take eight points to secure a playoff spot this season, and earning two points while taking two points away from an opponent who needs them as badly as you do raises the level of urgency and intensity in these late season meetings. The Vick Boys™ put the needier of the two teams in front at 7:26 in the first, with Papa Tim™ finishing a feed from Sonny Boy Trevor™ to give Gold the early edge. Alex Theis, who seemed inspired by his son Patrick’s successful Week Seven sub stint in his stead, was back in true Theis form, stopping all eighteen shots he faced through the first two periods of play, including the ever-rare penalty shot! Yes, the box score wizard does not allow me to record penalty shots, but Red’s Jordan Pynn (a defenseman, mind you) was awarded one after his clean (SHORT-HANDED) breakaway was deemed to have have been broken up by not-so-clean means. Theis turned Pynn aside, pumping the Gold bench all the more, and preserving his team’s tenuous lead heading into the third. That’s when The Deputy™ (Kevin Dinino) stepped up, completing a series from Will Heinl and the aforementioned Pynn to deliver the tying tally for Red with 5:53 to play. Neither Theis (25/26), nor super sub, Chris Tran (11/12), would yield from there out, leaving both teams heaving a half-hearted hoorah after a 1-1 draw. The single point keeps Red JUST above the cut line with six points, and leaves Gold still stewing in dead last with four. Red has The Blues™ left on their slate, with Atomic this Sunday, and Heather in their finale. Gold will likely need back-to-back wins over Orange, then cut line cohabitants, White, if they have any hope of saving their season.

Another pair of teams fighting to find their way back to the pack was next up on the Week Eight slate, as Captain Janet Goins’ 3-3-0 Orange squared off with Captain Geoff Downes’ 2-4-0 White. Two points in the standings, relative (if only temporary) playoff safety, a potentially valuable tie breaker, and increased playoff jeopardy for the vanquished foe…big stakes on the line, with neither team prepared to budge in their efforts to keep from going bust. A scoreless first period saw comparable shot totals and chances for both sides, but an all-accounted-for Orange took advantage of a short White bench (Sean Bathgate and Tyler Winstead out of action) to throttle the shot count heavily in their favor (13-2) in the second. One of those thirteen shots came off the hot blade of young William Teglia, who found twine behind Sean-Kelly-stand-in, Silas Perks, to give Orange the first leg up at 3:59 in the second (Steve Linke). Captain Downes snapped White back to even with a solo job at 8:11 in the third, but Chad Goins’ first of the season (on a gorgeous feed from the sweet sixteenager, Teglia) put Orange back in front with 5:56 to play. A late Orange penalty (their second of the game for too many players) led to game-tying power play paydirt for Carl Vankoughnett (Tony Thinh) at 1:51, and neither team would manage to break the 2-2 tie from there out. Chuck Bender (15/17) collected another vital point for his team, while Perks (24/26) served admirably in Kelly’s stead, helping White stay off the bare basement floor of the standings, now one point ahead of Gold. Both teams still have Gold on their schedule, with Orange facing Gattey’s gang this Sunday, and White taking them on in the October 27th finale, and both teams face a tough challenge in their other remaining game, with White going up against Lime this weekend, and Orange grappling with Grey in their finale. So…lots of possibility for shifting, scaling, and sinking in the final two weeks of play…

I suppose it should have come as no surprise that Captain Ryan Karns’ ‘Bar Stool Samples’ would have started out at the head of the standings, but gradually snaked and slid toward the rear. A three game skid kept their toilet trajectory true, and they would need to control the mess in Week Eight or find themselves that much closer to wiping out altogether. Captain Rob Gaudio’s Atomic Blue had designs on distancing themselves from Brown and the rest of the flush it down flock at the bottom of the pack, having finally climbed back above .500 with a 5-3 win over White in Week Seven. A win would give them nine points, effectively punching their playoff ticket and taking any and all pressure off going into the final two weeks of play. Chris Tran put that winning plan into action very early on, sliding home his fourth of the season solo style at 9:28. Kalen Hunter leveled the ledger with his own lone wolf effort at 6:41, leaving both teams cautiously optimistic going into the middle frame. The first period scoring pattern repeated in the second, with Captain Gaudio recapturing the lead for his team at 6:57 (Tran & Shawna Hamon), and Mark DeGraffenreid bringing Brown back to tie town at 3:43 (Hunter & Arnold Gonzales). Captain Karns’ has proven over his career to be a ‘lead by example’ skipper, and he did just that with a gritty rush and a body-be-damned diving finish to give his team their first lead of the night with 8:11 to play (Hunter, of course, with the assist). Hunter’s second of the game, an absolutely disgusting bar down museum piece, put some padding on the Brown lead, but Vance Morra’s tenth (!) of the season (Gaudio) kept the tension on with 4:37 to go (I am sure at least Vance will appreciate the Gowan reference). It was more (and more) Hunter from that point on, as our POTW completed his hat trick at 2:18 (Sadie Hellstrom & DeGraffenreid), then iced the 6-3 losing-streak-break cake with his forth on a breakaway as the clock ticked down to one. Mason Holcomb (9/12) finally found his way back into the win column, staying steady to help his team even their record at 3-3-1, and lodge themselves in the seven point pack in the heart of the playoff chase. The loss, another stunning six goal gashing for Silas Perks (10/16), finds Atomic Blue in the same bustling mid-pack boat with the same 3-3-1 record. Both teams will almost assuredly need at least one point in their remaining pair of games, with both teams facing teams with a combine 6-5-3 record (Brown has Grey and Lime, while Atomic Blue has Red and Green).

At the risk of swerving back into last week’s ‘crossroads’ theme, the meeting of two 3-2-1 teams, Captain Jeremy Copp’s Grey and Captain Nick Meglich’s Green, carried payoff/pitfall potential beyond the obvious two points. A win would would mean virtual (if not actual) playoff passage, while a loss would leave the loser in late season limbo. Both teams suffered a 3-2 loss in Week Seven, adding just a splash of desperation to an otherwise relatively low stakes affair. Another fun storyline that probably missed the radar of most fans and pundits…this was (essentially) the battle of the league’s top two Fall League goalies. With The Silencer™ suffering from a rare case of Six Goal Fever, and Sean Kelly killing it, but only in VERY limited action (just two games), the Henderson v Meglich bout was really at the top of this fight card. Both goalies boasted a .925+ save percentage and a sub 1.40 GAA coming in…numbers typically good enough to secure the goalie crown in an average season. Trice Harvey’s first of the season at 3:35 in the first (Vinny Santora & Josh Wirt) accounted for the only goal in the opening period, and Rob LaVigne’s third of the season gave Green a two goal edge at 5:37 in the second (Eric Plone). Owen Perks finally solved Green’s goalie with 2:01 in the second (Leah Gonzales & Jeremy Copp), spoiling an otherwise spotless sheet for Captain Meglich (16/17), and setting up a fight to the finish in the final third. Neither Meglich, nor Matt Henderson (16/18) would concede again, but Wirt’s empty-netter with 0:15 to play (Harvey & Plone) sealed Grey’s fate and the 3-1 win for Green. Dan Soar and Jon Zygelman, who had accounted for 7/11 Grey goals coming into Week Eight, were both out of action, and Grey’s offense was (very understandably) a bit out of sorts as a result. Captain Copp will hope for a full arsenal in this Sunday’s crucial clash with Brown, while Green look to seize the opportunity to seize the top spot in the standings with a win over lossless Heather Blue.

The ‘Battle Of The Salt Boys’™…always a great opportunity to fetch your popcorn, find the least uncomfortable perch possible around the rink (not easy), and prepare for a good old fashioned smack talk showdown/throwdown. Adding some seasoning to the Salty mix this time around…both Boys™ are captains of their respective ships, and both ships are sailing the high seas of the Fall League standings, with Captain Jon’s crew at 3-0-3, and Captain Zach’s pack at 3-2-1. The crowd thrilling lived up to the billing in this one, starting with a slugfest first. Christopher Fiore gave Lime the lead at 8:54 (Dan Jurgens & Captain Zach Salt), and Jurgens doubled Lime’s edge at 7:27 (Fiore). Heather Blue would punch back late in the period, with Alexis DaCosta converting a Captain (Jon) Salt feed at 2:54, and Luke Wolmer stunning Lime with the equalizer exactly twenty seconds later (DaCosta). The second period was only slightly less score-laden, with Captain (Zach) Salt wresting the lead back for Lime at 4:16, only to have big brother even things again for Heather Blue at 3:34 (Joe Nguyen). Luke Wolmer’s second of the game at 1:33 (Julie Ott & Craig Russell) gave Heather Blue their first lead of the game, leaving just one period left for further swapping of scoring salvos. It was actually a quiet third, but Captain Zach made enough noise with a solo strike to even the score at 4-4, where this one would end…(literal) bro hugs all around. A solid, but not suitable-for-framing effort was turned in by both Blue’s Eric Kroeker (13/17) and Lime’s Jon Cima (15/19), and the stalemate result is actually pretty delicious, in that it adds that much more mystery to a potential playoff rematch. The single point is enough to officially (officially) book playoff passage for Heather Blue, while Lime are all but in now at 3-2-2. The wire late Sunday night buzzed with the news that Jurgens will miss the remainder of the season/playoffs. With an already AWOL (literally, and/or statistically) Justin Ker on the roster, Lime will hope for a solid replacement to keep their playoff hopes humming.