Captain Goncalo’s ‘Wrister Brownstone’ used to lose a little but a little wouldn’t do it, so the little got more and more. They just kept tryin’ to get a little better, said a little better than before. Brown never did get better, and Week Eleven saw the band slink sullenly off the playoff stage and back to their ‘tour bus’ (a 1987 Chevy Astro Van). A half dozen bands are still nervously pacing backstage, hoping they don’t melt under the hot lights and high pressure of the final two weeks of regular season rockin’…
Jon Salt dropped a hat (and ‘the other shoe’) on Brown, and assisted on Jon Zygelman’s game-winner in the second, locking up a playoff spot for Red, and officially locking Brown out of the playoffs with a 4-2 result. It was the fourth (!) hat trick on the season for Salt, who has clearly been on a mission to prove his manhood after coming up empty in the first two weeks of play. He now sits just one point behind ‘The Herrmannator’ (who, granted, has played four fewer games), having now accounted for fourteen of Red’s twenty-three goals. The brightest light in the dark for Brown came with Kyra Forsyth scoring her first SDFHL goal…as a sub (*sad trombone*). Yes, the goal will not count for her personal stats, but it was a great moment for an awesome newcomer….CONGRATULATIONS, KYRA! Geoff Downes scored in the final minute of play, but it was much too little much too late to save Brown from the playoff scrap heap. Nick Vacchio (27/31) absorbed his seventh loss in eight tries, but will not be in nets to face Nick Vacchio (the forward) this Sunday. Andrew Lockard’s 15/17 was enough to secure his fifth win of the season, and lock Red into playoff position as they move into their belated bye week.
Black and blue…colors any true hockey player knows well. Fittingly, this one was billed as a bruiser of a battle, with both teams needing at least two more points in the standings to make it through. Black drew first blood, as POTW honoree, Rob Gaudio, converted in the final minute of the first period (on assists from Ezra Cohen and Kyra Forsyth…KYRA!). Gideon Schon drew Blue even late in the second, but it was Gaudio again even later in the second to restore the one goal edge. Andrew Jacobsen leveled the ledger early in the third, but Ezra Cohen (from Gaudio) and Josh Tran (from Gaudio) one-two punched Black to a huge 4-2 win. The feat was made all the more fantastic when you consider that resident ninja, Jeff Anderson, was out of the lineup for Black. Ash Wadhwa did not make the score sheet, but at the very least seemed to be a good luck charm for Black in his debut, replacing the departed Brian Phillips. Wayne Wong evened his record in nets at 3-3-1 with a 13/15 effort, while Chuck Bender (13/17) suffered his fifth loss. Black has not officially, officially arrived in the second season yet, but they face beleaguered Brown this Sunday, so…yeah. Blue’s battle with White this Sunday could not be dripping with any more playoff implication. They will look for a good result in that one, as a date with proud and potent Purple is lurking in their season finale.
Captain Wirth’s White was left for dead in mid January, nursing a 1-4-1 record, with one of those losses representing Brown’s one and only win. To say that pundits were puzzled by the poor performance of such a potent-on-paper-potential-powerhouse would be a major understatement. Well…all of that potential has turned to pop, as White has rattled off two straight wins to pull out of the poop at the bottom of the pile, and leave themselves primed for postseason passage. This win, a 3-1 rally past Grey, took the form of a rousing return, a determined superstar, and a OMG own goal. Shawna Hamon was back…back on the court after a long injury hiatus, and back on the scoreboard for White early in the third period. A late first period marker for Mark DeGraffenreid had given Grey the lead, but (determined superstar) Josh Wirt wove into the zone and snapped the game-winner past Chris Tran less than a minute after Hamon’s damage. With the clock winding down, Craig Russell played the ball back into Grey’s defensive zone…which was completely empty…not a creature was stirring, not even a goalie. Not the most climactic finish, but White will certainly take the W. Don Tran was lights out for the victors, stopping 23/24, including multiple clean breakaways from DeGraffenreid and Kevin Wilkinson. Chris lost the battle of the Trans with a 11/13 line, but the real story was Hamon, who scored in her return…oh, and who was credited with a second goal on the empty net blooper. The nerves are now fully abuzz for Grey, as they face pole sitting Green this Sunday. White will look to keep their revival rolling in a massive matchup with Blue.
The Malki Express just keeps chugging along. The latest to lay down on the tracks was a desperate Cream team, who had hoped for a springboard win against the top team in the league, but found themselves just diving into deeper water with a 4-2 loss. Captain Joe Malki broke the scoring seal just over a minute into play, and proud papa, Chris doubled, then tripled the lead a few minutes later. It seemed at one point that anything thrown at Steve Deppensmith had a great chance of going in. Cream’s netminder would finally settle in, allowing just one more goal (Joe’s second) early in the second period, and Cream strikes from Ian Crooks and Wendy Enright set the stage for a very watchable final frame. Cream pressed hard, but Nick Meglich (12/14) stood as tall as he has all season to collect his league-leading seventh win. Meglich has actually yet to suffer a loss this season…Green’s only loss came with Chuck Bender filling in between the pipes. Dan Jurgens was a beast (in a good way) all game, assisting on both goals, and bidding for a few of his own, but Meglich stayed cool and focused in deflecting all of his blistering, knuckling attempts. The win does little for Green but pad their lofty first place perch. A win over Grey this Sunday will cement them as the top playoff seed. Meanwhile, Cream now face a pair of (literal) must-wins…with ‘The Herrmannator’ up first, and a potentially-equally-desperate Grey in their finale.
Said ‘Herrmannator’ was held pointless in Week Eleven by his only known weakness…having other plans on Sunday evening. Captain Bill Casey was also away, as were David Clark and Ramsey Ksar. The remaining six members of ‘Twisted Citrus’ managed very little against a hungry, hustling Pink side, who took full advantage of the absence of the league’s resident WMD. Carl Vankoughnett broke a scoreless tie midway through the second, and dished up a second literally seconds later. Both tallies were assisted by Jim LaGrossa, who scored early in the third before assisting on Vankoughnett’s third, then assisting on the final goal of the game from Greg Mallinger. When the dust had settled, Vankoughnett had posted the second hat trick of the evening, LaGrossa had a 1 and 4 gem to polish, and Mallinger got in on the fun with 1 and 2 of his own in the runaway 5-0 freight train win. Sean Kelly collected his second shutout of the season (and ~575th of his career) with a ho-hum 11/11 night, while Cory Brin (15/20) dropped to 3-3-1 on the season after a forgettable night in nets. The win should be enough to punch Pink’s playoff ticket already, although we haven’t sicked the math majors on all of the possible scenarios, just yet. The loss definitely keeps Orange in peril with eight points. Orange will be banking on a Herrmann/Deppensmith matchup to vault them into the playoffs this Sunday. If that should fail, they will have to go through a red hot Red to ensure passage to the promised land.