Captain Jon Salt factored in all four of his team’s goals (2 and 2), getting the higher seeds off on the right foot to open the playoffs with a 4-2 win over Black.  Jason Northrup had Black on the board first, but Danny Wissing equalized on the power play with just 0:15 to go in the first frame.  Wissing would add an assist on Captain Salt’s game-winner in the third, and an empty netter to seal the deal.  Andrew Jacobsen kept Black in the mix, assisting on Northrup’s tally, and evening the score 2-2 early in the second, but that would be all of the damage that Cory Brin would allow (16/18).  Andrew Wong and Andy Strathman each collected a pair of assists from the blue line for Purple, who advance to the Winner’s Bracket to face the eighth seed, Gold, of all teams.  Black will look to stave off elimination this Sunday against a shootout shell-shocked White.

Orange had perhaps the most hit and miss regular season of any team, finishing with a 4-5-0 record, and rounding out the final third of their slate by beating Green 3-0 between losses to Red and Gold.  Fortunately for Captain Steph Palomo & Company, Week One of the playoffs was a ‘hit’, as Jerry Gonzales cashed in early in OT to push Orange past Tie Dye, 3-2.  Raj Patel and Nick Vacchio built a 2-0 lead for Orange in the second period, but London Peters and Alan Razoky undid their work in the third.  Razoky’s strike came with just 0:35 to play.  Late tying goals can be crippling to a team, but Orange bounced back quickly off Gonzales’ stick to win it in extra time.  The upset win for the six seed cooled the uber-hot Tie Dye, sending them into an tough elimination match with second-seeded Green.  It was a big win for Orange, and an omen of bad things to come for top seeds later in the evening…

Very few pundits would have predicted much of a match between top-seeded White and bottom-seeded Gold.  The former smashed the latter 5-0 in the first week of the regular season, racked up more than twice as many goals, allowed about half as many goals, and cruised to a 7-0-2 record, while Gold sneaked in the playoff back door in their final game to cap a 2-4-3 campaign.  So, the stage was set for another White washing, but Captain Janet Goins’ crew apparently has very little respect for facts, and history, and math, and such.  Tim Vick put the underdogs on top midway through the second, and Jon Zygelman leveled the score on the power play minutes later.  Neither team would crack the rest of the way, leaving the decision to a shootout.  Rookie, Chris Turner, was the unlikely hero in the most unlikely outcome of the season, converting on in the second round of the shootout to stun and silence the top seed, 2-1.  White will have their war paint on in the wake of their only loss to date, as they gear up to take on Black in an elimination engagement.  Gold will take their house money and push it all in against Purple on the Winner’s Bracket side. 

The uprising continued in the late game, as #7 Lime sliced through #2 Green, 5-1.  Chris Malki showed his boys how it’s done, posting a hat trick to lead the way, while son Joe accounted for a mere 1 and 1.  Justin Stege recorded the game-winner, and Alex Theis allowed just one goal (Mark Scelfo) on sixteen shots to hold the winning fort.  Anthony Cerasuolo assisted on both of Papa Malki’s real goals (the last was an empty-netter), and Lime took the ‘hottest team’ baton from Tie Dye with the win…their third in a row.  Captain Enright’s bunch move on to face Orange in the Citrus Bowl this Sunday, while Green will look to regroup and rebound in a do-or-die duel with Tie Dye.  

Tie Dye saw Black’s AJ, and raised them a BS.  That’s Brian Sheptycki, for those of you who have been under a rock for the past five weeks.  Sheptycki has racked up fifteen points (11 and 4) in that span, powering his team to a 4-0-1 record, and vaulting them into the playoffs as a very dangerous three seed.  Sheptycki’s 10th and 11th goals of the season counted as the game-tying and game-winning markers, washing out Andrew Jacobsen’s early strike, and giving Tie Dye a 2-1 win over Black.  London Peter’s had a helping in hand in both goals, and the soon-to-be-departed Mark Boulanger earned the win with a 16/17 showing.  Tie Dye will face Orange in their playoff opener–the team that served as Sheptycki’s first victim back in Week Five when he dropped 2 and 2 in a 6-2 win.  Black limp into the playoffs, having lost their last two games, including a gut-puncher to Pink.  They face Purple in their opener, whom they defeated by a 3-0 score back in Week Five.  

Captain Joshi & Company’s path to playoff redemption hit Checkpoint White in the final week of play.  Unfortunately for Pink, they did not have ze papers, and were promptly rounded up and executed.  White’s passing and cycling kept Pink spinning and sputtering, and four separate scorers tensed the netting in a 4-1 White on Pink mercy killing.  Carl Vankoughnett, Steve Goncalo, Jordon Pynn, and Quinn Hume each accounted for one goal, with all but the first tacking on an assist, to boot.  Shelby Shattuck collected two assists, and Chuck Bender came within 0:34 of a shutout, allowing just one goal to Eric Willard on the sixteenth shot he faced.  The story for Pink in this game, and indeed this entire season, can be summarized by Chris Tran’s line…39/43.  So, after a heroic 3-2 win over Black in Week Eight had lifted Pink’s playoff hopes high…said hopes were unceremoniously dumped off a cliff in Week Nine.  The remaining results on the night confirmed their impact on the ground below.  Meanwhile, it has been official since Week One that White is the team to beat.  They enter the playoffs to face Gold as the top seed.  At 7-0-2, with a goal differential of +22 (more goals than six other teams have even scored this season), and all the swagger of a champion, they are the odds-on favorite for summer Cup glory.  

‘Stayin’ A-Lime’ earned their namesake honors, and headlines in the process, with a Week Nine must-win conversion over Purple, 3-0.  Joe Malki furnished the game-winner early in the second, and Emily Lincoln and Harsh Wanigaratne supplemented the scoring in the third to save the season for Captain Enright’s brightly-clad gang.  Alex Theis was in top Theis form, stopping 14/14 to preserve the crucial W.  It was Lime’s second straight win, pulling them from a dead-in-the-water three points to a playoff-path-paving seven points.  They enter the second season as the seven seed, and will look to avenge their 2-0 Week One loss to Green this Sunday.  The loss leaves Purple in the four slot.  Captain Salt’s crew will have regular season revenge on their minds, as well, as they square off against Black in the Week One early game.  

Red was up next on the must-win docket.  A victory would vault them past Pink and Gold, assuring them a playoff position even in the (seemingly unlikely) event that Gold rose to a win over Orange later in the evening.  The point was rendered moot, as Red rendered zero goals, and zero points in the standings in a 5-0 swan song loss to Green.  Dale Stuzka paid dividends in his first game since coming on to replace suspended super star, Steve Jones.  Stuzka’s 1 and 1 included an assist on the second of Dan Jurgen’s three goals, giving Green hope that their is still plenty of chemistry in the Green labs as they enter the playoffs.  Mara Bernd’s first of the season rounded out the scoring in the win, Bill Casey collected three assists, and Jurgens added two helpers to his hat trick to give him POTW panache.  Andrew Lockard’s 14/14 clean sheet could be marked with something of an asterisk, given the absence of Red’s biggest weapon, Josh Wirt.  Still, a win’s a win, and Green racked up enough of them to secure the second seed.  They will face the upstart Lime this weekend, hoping to prove that there is playoff life after Jones. 

Captain Janet Goins and Gold stepped out for their warm-ups knowing what needed to be done.  A win meant ‘we’re IN’.  A loss…’we’re OUT’.  A tie would pull them even with Pink in the race to the final spot.  They tied Pink 0-0 in the regular season, would have an identical record with a tie in their final game, as well as an identical goal differential.  They would advance on the FOURTH tiebreaker, which is total goals scored on the season.  So…a tie or better, and Gold could snatch a playoff seed in the (literal) final hour.  Connor Miller helped his team take the ‘better’ option, scoring twice to help Gold to a vital 4-3 win over Orange.  Rookie, Chris Turner, opened the scoring for Gold just 0:25 in, and fans were treated to another rare Kamal Gill sighting, as the oft-AWOL sniper added 1 and 1 to the winning cause.  Rob Sangha served up six PIMs to accompany his one goal, and Jet Javelet and Nick Vacchio helped make things interesting to the end for Orange.  Gold’s careful-what-you-wish-for Week Nine heroics have earned them a meeting with White, who bludgeoned them 5-0 in Week One.  Orange will hope their hit and miss season is due for a hit as they take on the hottest team in the league, Tie Dye.  

One team’s bad beat is another team’s good beat. Week Eight saw a winless Pink rise to victory in stunning fashion, keeping their ticket to the big dance in hand for at least one more week. The final week of the regular season is upon us, and no one is crying outside by the dumpsters…yet.

MUSIC TRIVIA: Who originally sang ‘Turn The Beat Around’?

JoeHemian Rhapsody’s path to playoff redemption coming into the final two weeks of the regular season looked very, very frightening, to say the least.  The one-two death punch of Black and White would surely keep them below the cut line for good, winless and washed out by mid-August.  Still, in spite of their struggles, Pink had proven plucky and proud through seven weeks of play, Chris Tran had proven himself the equalizer, and, well, Captain Joshi’s side had nothing left to lose.  It certainly looked as though they had at least the game at hand to lose, after Black struck for two strange goals in close in the second period (Andrew Jacobsen & Jason Northrup).  Eric Willard finally broke away and broke through for Pink, skirting past his defender, then moving around Don ‘The Other’ Tran to make his team’s first deposit.  It was Willard again off a rebound four minutes later to make it 2-2.  Another tie, and another point would give hope to the hopeless, but fate had other plans.  Those plans came in the form of a breakaway chance in the waning seconds, which Mark DeGraffenreid converted to give Pink their first win of the season–a 3-2 stunner over Black.  Chris out-dueled Don in the Tran Bowl, stopping 20/22 to further improve his MVP case. The miracle finish pushes Pink above the cut line, and actually has them perched in seventh place going into the final week of play.  While they face the toughest of all challenges in White, they at least hold their own destiny in hand, knowing full well from Week Eight that anything is possible.

Brian Sheptycki is already a household name in the SDFHL, and a house of horrors name for opponents.  The uber-skilled forward racked up another hat trick for Tie Dye, who continue to bolster their playoff position with each game he plays.  London Peters put the tie in Tie Dye, saving a point for his team with a goal at 0:14 to force a 4-4 tie with White.  White had built a 4-2 lead as the game moved into the final minutes of play, with Carl Vankoughnett’s  back-to-back third period tallies leading the way.  Jordan Pynn and Jon Zygelman provide the balance of the scoring for White, who are finally showing a few cracks in the late going, having allowed eight goals in two ties over the past two weeks of play. 

Pink’s early game heroics added extra heat to the afternoon for fellow bubble teams, Lime, Red, and Gold.  Gold’s turn on the hot seat came first, and a surprise appearance from Kamal Gill yielded early dividends in the form of an assist on the first of Nick Adkins’ two goals.  Danny Wissing and Stephanie Chen responded to those goals in turn, leaving the score at 2-2 through the first.  Unfortunately for Captain Janet Goins’ crew, they did not grab the magic baton from Pink.  Troy Ohlsson gave Purple their first lead of the game, and Captain Jon Salt sealed the deal…4-2, Purple over Gold.  Cory Brin was big for Purple, stopping 19/21, while Mark Boulanger absorbed the L in a fill-in roll for Matt Henderson with a 17/21 effort.  The loss tarnishes Gold’s playoff hopes all the more, but if they can manage a good result against Orange in the late game this Sunday, and if they get the right help from other teams earlier in the slate, they may find their way to the end of the rainbow after all.

The Nestle Crunch Crucial Match-Up of the week came with 1-5-1 Lime facing 2-4-1 Red.  As loss for Lime would mean elimination.  A win…a chance at late season redemption.  The teams battled through a scoreless first, and finished with a scoreless third.  It was Chris Malki coming through with the GWG in the second, converting an Emily Lincoln assist into the most important goal of Lime’s season.  Don Tran did his best Alex Theis impersonation, stopping 21/21 to preserve the win, while Christian LeClair (18/19) was tagged with yet another loss in a difficult debut season. The 1-0 win for Lime over rival Red inches them above the cut line for now.  They will have a tough challenge in Purple this week, but Gold and Red will need to earn a point or more against Orange and Green, respectively, if they hope to twist Lime back out of the playoff picture. 

Green is having trouble keeping up without the Jones.  The super star forward was shelved for the remainder of the season after an ugly incident in a Week Six match-up with Gold.  Things have been uglier since, with Captain Noceti’s team suffering two straight shutout losses.  The second of those losses came courtesy of Orange, who snapped a cold streak of their own (0-3-0) in the process.  Goals from Jerry Gonzales, Kevin Dinino, and Raj Patel provided more than enough for Marc Devoe (11/11) to record his second shutout of the season–3-0 Orange over Green.  Green has been granted a replacement for Jones in the person of Dale Stuzka.  They will look to get back on track in their final regular season tilt with a desperate Red.  Both teams are already securely in the playoffs, so the real playoff implications for Orange’s final game are all on the other side of the ball (Gold).

As often happens when two teams in desperate need of a win meet, neither Pink nor Lime prevailed in the Week Seven opener.  In fact, neither team scored, as both Alex Theis (13/13) and Chris Tran (30/30!) kept the nets empty and starred in the production of a 0-0 tie.  Tran has been impressive all season, bubbling toward the top of the goalie stats board, but the distinct lack of Pink scoring punch (five goals in seven games) has doomed him to disappointment.  The knotted result keeps both teams below the cut line with just two games to play.  Pink has the toughest road to salvation possible, facing the top two teams in Black and White.  Lime takes on Red this Sunday in a crucial match…it may well be a must-win for Captain Enright’s side.  Should they pass that test, their fate will resolve in the final week of play, when they take on Purple.

Brian Sheptycki continued his flame thrower attack on opposition in his newborn SDFHL career, this time torching Gold to the tune of 3 and 1.  Sheptycki is already zeroing in on the overall stats lead, having racked up 6 and 4 in just three games.  Some chick on his team contributed 1 and 1 in the winning cause, and just the one response from the losing side (Chad Goins) made the final 4-1, Tie Dye over Gold.  The win gives Tie Dye three straight, and has them leaping and bounding up the standings.  Gold remains in some peril with the loss, hovering just above the cut line at 1-3-3.  They will likely need at least one more point to pull into the playoffs, and they hope to manage that against Purple and Orange to close out their regular season.

When the Jones is away, the AJ will make you pay.  Green will be without the services of their dynamic super scorer for the remainder of the season, and into the playoffs, with Mr. Jones serving a hefty suspension for his actions in a violent Week Five incident.  His absence meant an absence of scoring for Green, as they fell to Black, 4-0.  The aforementioned Andrew Jacobsen did the majority of the damage, dropping a second period hat trick gavel on the proceedings.  Elliot Hicks provided the game-winner in the first, and added an assist on AJ’s first tally.  Don Tran earned the easiest shutout bonus check of his career, stopping all FOUR shots he faced.  Green will look to rebound this week against Orange, while Black looks to maintain their number two playoff seed by sticking a fork in Pink’s playoff hopes.

Red unleashed the Killer J’s on Orange, as Josh Wirt, Jim LaGrossa, and Jeannine Stuzka built a three goal lead through two.  Orange’s own J, Jet Javelet, responded, and Raj Patel cut the lead to two, but Mark Daquipa finished the fight in the final minute–4-2 Red over Orange.  Captain Nagy contributed three assists in the win…nothing like leading by example.  The win is a big one for Red, who move to the relative safety of five points (2-4-1).  Much like Gold, they may need another point or two to punch their ticket, and this week’s match-up with Lime is definitely a big one.  Orange remains suspended in the middle of the standings, and while they’re not in all that much danger of missing the playoffs, they will want to stop the bleeding on their three game losing streak this week against Green.

Captain Salt’s Purple had the juggernauts dead to rights, opening a 4-1 lead over White through the first 17:19 of play.  Time was still on White’s side, however, as the undefeated top dogs remained undefeated with a three goal surge in the remaining 12:41 to even the score for good at 4-4. Troy Ohlsson had one of his best career games, notching 2 and 1 for Purple, while Jon Zygelman wore the cape for White, accounting for both third period tallies.  Steve Goncalo racked up three helpers for White, and we witnessed Chen-on-Chen crime, as Stephanie scored for Purple less than a minute before Jeff answered for White.  Cory Brin was unconscious (figuratively, this time), stopping 33/37 for Purple, while Chuck Bender was called on much less at the other end, stopping 9/13.  White remains undefeated, in spite of the non-win, and has already clinched first place with two weeks left to play.  Purple will look to improve their position this week against Gold, who will be hungry for points in their scramble for playoff safety.       

Captain Siemer’s Tie Dye were on a bad trip to start the season, sweating and shaking on the basement couch at a not-so-groovy 0-2-2, and closing in on full freak out mode, man. Week Five saw the long-awaited arrival of the SDFHL’s latest mythological hero, Brian Sheptycki. The new comer dropped in, and his effect was immediate, and very potent. The chemistry certainly seems to be altered for this team, and future opponents should be bracing themselves for a whole Lotta Sheptycki Damage…

Alan Razoky put this week’s cover team on the board in the first minute of play, and assisted on fellow Calgarian Brian Sheptycki’s first career goal later in the period. Sheptycki, in turn, recorded a second assist on a goal credited to Melissa Busby (clearly a scoring error…I will look into it) to swell the lead to three. OG SDFHLers, and ride or die homies, Raj Patel and Jerry Gonzales, assisted on each other’s counter-strike offerings for Orange over the next two periods, but another Sheptycki goal (again…scoring error…Busby credited with an assist), and another Sheptycki assist (on one of two legitimate London Peters insurance tallies in the third) powered Tie Dye to their first win of the season, 6-2 over Orange. The win elevates Tie Dye out of the muck at the bottom of the standings, at least for now, while Orange remain safely tucked towards the top of the table, in spite of the loss.

Red scored first and last, but it was another week, another win for the indomitable ‘Eight-Ball Bender’. Carl Vankoughnett sparked a run of five unanswered goals, including a pair from perennial scoring sensation, Jeff Chen, one from rookie Quinn Hume, and the Steve Goncalo GWG, as White continued to blow past opponents in running their record to a perfect 5-0-0. The 5-2 stroll past Red had the victors rattling off over thirty shots…something of a rarity in this league, and a further illustration of White’s utter dominance. The numbers are staggering across the board for this juggernaut, who look destined to rumble straight through to the finish line without a scratch. Red, meanwhile, now stand at 1-3-1, and will need to scratch their way up the standings a bit if they hope to avoid a pre-Labor Day layoff.

Captain Mark Ennsmann put Black on the board in the first period, and Don Tran (20/20) made sure that was all his team would need to prevail over Purple, 3-0. Andrew Jacobsen netted a pair in the third period to dash any hope of a comeback for Captain Salt & Associates, who suffered their second straight shutout loss to drop to 2-2-1 on the season. The win is the first for Black since Week One, and it levels their record at an identical 2-2-1. Cory Brin was steady and sharp in his return from a concussion he suffered back in Week Two, but Purple definitely missed the dynamic defensive duo of Andrew Wong and Andy Strathman in the loss.

Two teams in desperate need of their first win collided in Week Five, with Gold taking on Lime. More accurately, Gold took on half of Lime, as attendance issues once again plagued Captain Enright’s side. The understaffed underdogs fought hard, and employed a definitive strategy of ice, ice baby, but Gold broke through in the second period, and marched on to a 4-0 win. Connor Miller assisted on all four Gold goals, including Chad Goins’ game-winner, Captain Janet Goins’ power play tally, and Tim Vick’s lead-padding pair. Matt Henderson stopped what little he faced (7/7), while Alex Theis was stellar, but stung by ceaseless salvos (28/32). The win vaults Gold into the thick of the playoff hunt, while Lime are barely ‘Stayin’ A Lime’ at 1-4-0 with four games to play. It doesn’t get any easier with Black up next, but if the Malki boys make it out to play the rest of the way, anything is possible…

Some losses hurt more than others, and Pink’s 2-1 loss to Green was particularly painful for Mark DeGraffenreid (yours truly), who is almost certainly out for the rest of the season with a fubarred hamstring. Captain Joshi’s crew fought hard, with Ramsey Ksar cutting the lead in half in the late going, but the Dan Jurgens goal off a draw with :05 on the clock in the first, and a late second period strike from Steve Jones spelled doom for a team already soaking in doom near rock bottom in the standings. Both goalies were sharp in the low scoring affair, with Andrew Lockard (17/18) prevailing over Chris Tran (22/24). Perhaps a poised and potent Pope replacement and a little grit can turn things around for Pink, starting this Sunday against Purple, but it is definitely coming to the now or never part of the season. Meanwhile, the Green machine keeps on chugging, still sitting in striking distance of the top spot with four games left to play.