Rainy days have made for a slow start to the Winter 2023 SDFHL season, but leave us with time to take a proper look back at last season’s champions, ‘JOntario’. BACK L=>R: Justin Ker, Silas Perks, Kimberly Hernandez, Kyra Forsyth, Josh Tran, Zach Siemer MIDDLE L=>R Jon Salt, Gary Peters, Jon Champine (C), Eric Willard FRONT: John Hwang. CONGRATULATIONS on an amazing season!

It has been six weeks, so my memory is a bit hazy, but here’s (more or less) how the Final went down…

Captain Luke Wolmer and ‘Celine Neon’ came strutting into the final showdown with the nothing-to-lose swagger you’d expect from a seventh seed on a hot streak with house money. A 4-2 loss to White in their playoff opener landed them in the Losers’ Bracket, but that’s where the revenge tour began. Their 4-1 regular season loss to Red…avenged with a 4-1 script flip playoff win. Their 4-3 regular season loss to Navy…3-1 smack back when it counts most. A 1-0 loss to Black back in Week One of the regular season…a 5-2 knockout response in the second season. White beat them 3-1 in Week Nine…Neon ended White’s Cup hopes to cap the stunning sweep through the 5, 4, 3, and 2 seeds…only the 1 remained…

Green had not played since dispatching White 5-1 back on November 20th…nearly a full month prior. If Neon was playing with ‘house money’, Green was the house itself…sitting pretty, powerful, and poised in the pole position. Having lost just twice all season, Neon would need to find a way to match that total in one night. Silas Perks was running a Calder/Vezina campaign for the ages, but the legend, the GOAT, Da Kid stood in nets at the other end. Something would have to give…would Neon complete the comeback coup, and check the final box on their loss revenge list (Green beat them 4-0 in Week Six), or would Green hold serve and take what seemed destined to be theirs…

The evening started with a tough, tense, tight battle. Both goalies were as advertised or better (if possible), and the shot totals (Neon 9, Green 17) underscored just how stingy the defense was as a whole on both sides. Captain Luke Wolmer put his team out front 1-0 on the power play in the first, rapping home a feed from David Schlatter, and putting a charge into the underdog bench. The game ground on, with both teams finding chances, but also finding a wall of well-oiled goalie will. The clock finally ticked its last tock, with Wolmer’s goal standing alone in a 1-0 win for the seventh seeded stunners. The stage was now set for a true winner-take-all tilt. Neon had the momentum, had the bite, had the bark, and seemed ready, willing, and able to divert ‘destiny’. Green would just need to regroup and find the game that had gotten them to this point…

Enter, Captain Jon Champine. Having scored just one goal in nine regular season games, the skipper for the top seed would not have been the obvious choice to finally solve Sean Kelly and put Green on the board for the first time in their last game. He did just that, converting a John Hwang helper into pure joy and relief for his team. The goal came at 7:17 in the first…still plenty of time for play to open up, and for Neon to find a way to bounce back and snatch the Cup from the catbird’s claws. As it went, the twenty-six total shots in the first game were a downright bonanza compared to the SEVENTEEN total in the sequel. Unfortunately for Captain Champine, his team would muster just a sliver (FOUR) of that meager total. Unfortunately for Captain Wolmer, the only numbers that really matter are goals for, and goals against. Eric Willard’s empty-netter in the final minute of play would not further blemish Sean Kelly’s 3/4 outing, but Silas Perks’ 13/13 sutdown shutout meant a 2-0 win for Green, the final ‘revenge’, the last word, and a Cup in hand. Congratulations again to both teams for two great runs, and to Captain Champine and Green for sticking the dismount.

Here are some additional photos from the champions’ celebration gathering…

After Mother Nature won all five games of the would-be Week One schedule, the take two Week One finally found dry footing, with a Black and Blue battle cutting the ribbon on the Winter 2023 season. ‘Battle’ is maybe the wrong term, but ‘black and blue’ are appropriate colors for what would turn out to be a very lopsided affair. Remember Eric Herrmann…Crusher Of Souls, King Of The Awesomites, Breaker Of Backs, and Ruler Of The Seven Kingdoms? Well, he dropped FOUR and THREE, factoring in every Blue goal in a 7-0 poster dunk on Black. It started innocently enough, with Herrmann converting the lone goal in the first (from Greg Wirth). Herrmann and Wirth actually sat overlapping penalties later in the period, but Blue’s defense, and rookie netminder and fresh-faced sub, Patrick Theis (12/12), held the fort and the 1-0 lead through one. The second period was slow and steady, as well, with just another lonely, unassisted Herrmann strike on the board to make it 2-0. The flood gates opened in the third, with Carl Vankoughnett (from Herrmann), Herrmann (from Glenn Pinto), Herrmann (from Chad Goins), Vankoughnett (from Herrmann), and Ty Pereira (from Pinto and Herrmann) to turn a close, competitive contest into a comprehensive clobbering. Matt Henderson (16/23) was often hung out to dry, but honestly, it did not look easy trying to defend the likes of Blue’s offensive front. Both teams would be wise to embrace the ‘it’s just one game’ and ‘it’s early’ mindsets, but…a touchdown/shutout result is generally a pretty telling indictor of things to come…

Maroon and Aqua (the artists formerly known as ‘Teal’) got the parity party started in the second game on the slate, battling to a 2-2 seesaw draw. Mark Scelfo put Maroon on the board first, sneaking one past Chris Tran to conclude a strange sequence of events. Captain Leah Gonzales recorded the primary assist, and John Boddy was credited with the second. Boddy was big for Maroon throughout, and his second period blueline snipe ‘curved twice…like an S!’ on its way into the netting, according to Aqua netminder, Chris Tran (19/21). That sublime strike came exactly two minutes after an early second period tally from David Schlatter, who plucked the rebound of Mark DeGraffenreid’s shot out of the air and into the back of the net. Brian Sheptycki knotted the score for good less than a minute later (from DeGraffenreid), and a scoreless third was evidence of solid shielding from Tran and Steve Deppensmith (18/20). The latter made a waning seconds breakaway save on Schlatter to preserve the 2-2 tie, and send both teams off with bittersweet backslaps.

The dial turned back to ‘Sirius Blowout Radio’ in the middle game of the slate, as Charcoal had their way in a BIG way against Purple. Patrick Theis, who enjoyed a shoutout W worthy of papa Alex’s legacy in a fill-in role for Blue earlier in the evening, was ‘welcomed’ to the league by what looks to be a very poised and potent offense. Six different Charcoal scorers joined the punishment parade, with Ryan Loughran opening the scoring (from Kalen Hunter), then assisting on Payam Sazegar’s first career SDFHL goal (CONGRATULATIONS!). Hunter made it 3-0 going into the first break, but Purple hoped that they had stopped the bleeding when Eric Willard (from Jon Salt) cut the lead to two at 4:19 in the second. Alas, Charcoal fired another three scoring rounds past Theis to build the lead to new heights, with Nadia Connolley making her return triumphant, Mark Ennsmann joining the party, and Owen Perks notching his first of two on the night to make it 6-1 through two. Perks second of the game was assisted by Chris Tran, who matched Loughran and Hunter with two helpers in what became a 7-1 thrashing of an all-players-present Purple side. Willard’s solitary salvo was the only measurable response for Purple, and the only blemish on the sheet for Don Tran (17/18) who collected the one-sided win with his customary brand of steady play. As the scheduling gods would have it, the two ‘touchdown’ teams (Charcoal and Royal Blue) face each other right away in Week Two…something has to give.

Captain Audrey Stratton got her first taste of attendance angst right out of the gate, as half of her team did not make it to the rink to face Captain Kyra Forsyth’s Tropical Blue crew. The gang was all there for Forsyth, and with (literally) twice the players, and Sean Kelly in nets, I was writing this recap in my head before I even left the rink on Sunday. Something like ‘super short bench sends Silver to the slaughter’ was the thought, but he reality was a shockingly different story. Tropical Blue threw a dozen shots at second year stalwart, Silas Perks, in the first period, but had no goals to show for the effort. Silver managed just four shots in that frame, by comparison, and a 3:1 shot ratio, no subs, and the GOAT in goal at the other end is still a recipe for loss in any league. Dan Jurgens finally broke through, with assists to Nick Vacchio and Jon Champine, sending waves of relief through Tropical’s (full) bench, and a matching wave of ‘what are you going to do?’ through Silver’s tired hearts. Still…it was just a one goal game with one period to play, and while the shot total was now 23-8, Silver was still in it for the gold. Zach Salt greatly enhanced that winning chance in the first minute of the third, converting an assist from Captain Stratton herself to level the ledger at 1-1. Then….*cue the dramatic sports movie climax music*…Sadie Hellstrom gave Silver the lead less than two minutes later! Salt and Joel Gattey assisted on the goal, and Silver had to be feeling like they were not just playing with house money, but that they had actually broken the house. If there is a defining moment to this point in Silas Perks young career, winning the Cup in his first season may have just been eclipsed by ‘outdueling Sean Kelly, in spite of his team having zero subs, and in spite of being outshout 29-13’. Yes, Perks (28/29) and Silver managed the miraculous, and walked off with a 2-1 win over Kelly (11/13) and a shell-shocked Tropical Blue. So…I will just reword my preformulated headline to ‘WOW!’…that should cover it.

The nightcap was an intriguing blend of returning faces for Olive, and a mix of expected and unot-so-expected heroics for White. Phil Nguyen provided the latter brand of boost, opening the scoring for White less than a minute into the first, and just over a minute into the second to pace his team to a 2-1 lead. Erin Dowrey was one of the returning faces who made an impact for Olive, scoring in his first game back from a year and a half absence from league play to (very briefly) tie the score late in the first. London Peters was the second echo from the past to sound in the present for Olive, tying the score at two apiece early in the second in his first game back from knee injury/surgery. The ‘expected’ hero took over from there for White, as Brennan Abel pumped the game winner past Nick Vacchio (29/33) with just six ticks left in the second, then added insurance in the third with his second of the game (from Phil Nguyen and Pat Gladstone). Gladstone earned third star honors, having assisted on the first and final goals in White 4-2 win. The victory had to come as a MASSIVE relief to Chuck Bender (15/17) who suffered alongside yours truly and others through the two miserable, winless seasons prior. There were not enough stars to go around, but both Bender and Vance Morra (two assists) certainly earn honorable mention with their efforts. There is no question though that the top honor in this one goes to Phil…a great dude who had a great game to kick off the season right for White.

Captain Ian Crooks’ Black brigade had picked up quite a head of steam coming into Week Four of playoff action. After dropping a nail-biting, heart-breaking Week One affair with Navy, they smashed a hapless Purple, 4-1, then blasted a VERY short-benched Grey, 7-0. Captain Luke Wolmer and Neon also lost their playoff opener (4-2 to second-seeded White), but then recovered to knock off the three seeds, Red, and the four seeds, Navy (by counts of 4-1 and 3-2, respectively). It really felt like anything could happen in this one…maybe Black’s high-powered offense finds enough cracks in Sean Kelly’s armor…or maybe Neon gets the big guns going, and let’s ‘Da Kid’ do the rest between the pipes. It was David Schlatter proving the latter to be a matter of fact, scoring at 9:04 and 6:05 in the first to give Neon a strong push off the blocks. Brennan Abel struck back from Black late in the stanza to cut the lead in half, but the second period saw more Neon flex, with Captain Wolmer converting on the power play, and Schlatter completing the hat trick to build the edge to 4-1. Abel provided the lone assist on Carl Vankoughnett’s response at 5:47 in the third, but Sean Kelly (15/17) held firm the rest of the way, and only an empty-netter from Schlatter (his fourth of the game) would find a home from there, as Neon went on to eliminate Black 5-2. Chris Tran (14/18) did not get a lot of help from his mates in the defensive zone, but sometimes you just have to tip your hat to great players making great plays…and both Wolmer and Schlatter certainly provided plenty of that for the upstart seven seeds. Neon did not have much time to savor the win before jumping back on the court for a revenge rematch with White in the second game of the night…

Revenge is a dish best served in a playoff elimination game. Captain Tomáš Jankovic and White had the first laugh back in Week One of the playoffs, with four different scorers (including Jankovic himself) building a 4-0 lead that would withstand some third period erosion in a 4-2 win over Neon. It was Neon on the board first in the rematch, with rookie Nik Thompson finding twine short-handed at 3:47 in the first. Rich Shane leveled the ledger with just 0:38 to play, finishing a nifty feed from super sub, Maureen Ruchhoeft. It was a similar exchange of salvos in the second, with Captain Luke Wolmer staking his team back to a one goal lead before his old teammate, Zach Salt, set things back even just over a minute later. Sean Kelly (14/16) would hold it down in the third, while David Schlatter went ‘hold my beer’ in a good way, assisting on Tom Darlington’s game-winner early in the period, then adding even strength insurance and an empty-netter to ice the win, and slice White out of the playoff picture, 5-2. White’s steady rise and sudden fall show just how unforgiving the playoffs can be, with the flip side being the so-so to surging switch flip that Neon has made. They will hope to keep their momentum mounting to a Cup crescendo, as they prepare to face Green in the Fall League Final this Sunday. If this is truly a revenge tour, it is a fitting final stop, as Neon suffered their worst loss of the season to Green back in Week Six (4-0). With last Sunday’s rainout, Captain Jon Champine and Green have idle since November 20th. A month between games may show as rest or rust for the top seed, but either way…one game or two…this is sure to be a thrilling climax to another great season.

The elder of the Salt Bros™ had the first laugh in the regular season, as Jon posted a hat trick to lift Green over Zach and White 3-2 in their Week Eight meeting. He had the second (and possibly last) laugh, as well, as Green won in, well, a laugher in the Week Three playoff rematch. Jon scored the only goal in each of the first two periods, with helpers to Kim Hernandez and Gary Peters on the strike at 6:37 in the first, and Justin Ker on the game-winner at 3:20 in the second. His goal at 6:20 in the third (from Ker and Peters) completed the natural hat trick, and put Green well in control, 3-0. White would muster just one response, with Justin Stege closing the gap on the power play with 1:43 to play (from Andrew Wong and Steve Linke), but Justin Ker’s empty-netter restored the three point edge less than half a minute later, and Eric Willard chipped in one more at 1:01 to close out the scoring, and close out White, 5-1. Matt Henderson (19/23) was the much busier goalie in the losing effort, while Silas Perks (8/9) collected a rather ho-hum W to help usher his team into the Fall League 2022 Final. The top seed will await the survivor of a Week Four ménage a trois in which White will sit by for sloppy seconds after Black and Neon have a go at each other.

David Schlatter and Sean Kelly are really fucking good, and the rest of the roster looks quite nice, but Neon just sort of bumbled and fumbled their way along through the regular season, never once stringing together consecutive wins. After dropping their playoff opener to White 4-1, many (if not most) pundits would have had them making a quick two and through exit. Enter the aforementioned hero horses, Schlatter and Kelly, with the former dropping a third period hat trick, and the latter stopping 24/25 to snuff out Red in a Week Two elimination match. Could Neon finally keep that winning form going for a second straight game, or would Navy (who prevailed in the regular season match with Neon 4-3, and who came in not having lost two in a row thus far) eliminate the lower seed, and stay in the race for the Cup. Schlatter opened the scoring midway through the first (from Rob LaVigne), and doubled Neon’s edge late in the second (from Captain Luke Wolmer and Nik Thompson). To that point, Kelly had only faced THREE shots, and that’s not enough of a push to push one past the GOAT. The shots picked up for Navy in the third, and Josh Wirt picked his team up with 6:04 to play, cutting the Neon lead to one goal. It was Schlatter again, though, restoring the lead on the power play at 2:07 (from Thompson)…a lead that the underdogs would not surrender…3-1 Neon over Navy. Kelly (11/12) collected his (and Neon’s) first back-to-back win, while Alex Theis (14/17) and Navy suffered their first back-to-back loss…and this L was a playoff KO. Neon look to continue their surprising surge after the Thanksgiving break, hoping to best Black, then wiggle past White and into the Final.

Our league has been running strong for a quarter of a century, and coming into this season, I cannot recall an instance where we had to resort to spot male subs. It might have happened once, but certainly not multiple times. When Neon reported seven players out for their Week Nine match with White, we were forced to call in reinforcements. Fast forward a whopping three weeks to Captain Brandon Olsen reporting just three players and a goalie for their elimination playoff match with Black. One female sub (Steph Palomo Schmidt), and one male sub (Sean Bathgate) gave Grey the bare minimum, but sadly left them barely able to compete. Sadie Hellstrom recorded what may well be the most potent performance ever from an SDFHL female, pouring in FOUR goals, and assisting on another, as Black crushed, and cruised to a 7-0 win over a severely short Grey side. Hellstrom scored twice in the first, twice in the third, and recorded the only assist on Carl Vankoughnett’s late game strike. Vankoughnett and Brennan Abel each had goals of their own in the second, as the trio account for 4 & 1 (Hellstrom), 1 & 3 (Abel), and 2 & 1 (Vankoughnett). Nick Meglich (27/34) was absolutely battered and deep fried at one end, while Chris Tran (9/9) just had a nice view of the carnage at the other. It’s a tough break for Grey, who certainly showed signs of strength through their season, but attendance is an important part of a winning formula, and sometimes the calendar is not in your favor. Black move on to face Neon in the first of two games on December 4th. If they can prevail in that match, they will have a short rest, then turn to face a waiting White side to determine who will advance to face Green in the Final…