Two of the four lossless teams coming into Week Three left lossless, and remained in the lead pack after a tight, thrilling tilt that ended in a 2-2 tie. Carl Vankoughnett remained the top story for Black, having scored all of his team’s goals coming in. He got his team on the board first in the first (with the assist to his right hand man, Brennan Abel). Captain Tomáš Jankovic responded for White with just 0:21 to play in the period (from Steve Linke and Zach Salt), and Rich Shane flipped the lead in White’s favor with his first career goal (from Sally Jackson and Linke). Chris Tran (21/23) would batten down the hatches for Black from there, while Matt Henderson (16/18) ultimately ceded the equalizer to…Sadie Hellstrom (NOT Vankoughnett!) midway through the third. Of course, Hellstrom was assisted by Vankoughnett and Abel (those two just HAVE to be involved), but it is a positive sign for Captain Ian Crooks & Company that somebody…ANYBODY else on the team is capable of scoring a goal. As noted, both teams entered and left the meeting without a loss, though Black still find themselves on top of the pile at 2-0-1, while White have proven to be competitive, but not quite closers at 1-0-2.

Purple entered Week Three still in search of their first win, while Neon looked to double their double-U’s coming off a 4-0 romp over a short-benched Grey. Both benches were lacking in this match, with Cooney, Northrup, and Winstead out for Purple, and Captain Wolmer and Nik Thompson out of the lineup for Neon. The biggest guns were geared up, though, and this one was a battle from start to finish. Chuck Russell kicked off the scoring with 3:27 remaining in the first, then, less than a minute later, THREE more goals were scored in the span of FOURTEEN seconds! First came an answer from Neon’s David Schlatter, a Purple pushback from Kalen Hunter, and yet another response from Schlatter. The 2-2 tie held until midway through the second, when Joe Malki put Purple on top, but Tom Darlington (from Schlatter) equalized again at 6:48 in the third. Captain Will Heinl gave Neon their first lead of the game at 2:23, and it looked like Captain Rogers & Company would surely suffer their second loss in three tries. It was Joe Malki to the rescue, tucking home the game-saving goal at 0:49 to knot the score for good at 4-4. Chris Malki (15/19) moved his personal record to 0-0-2, with special thanks to his boy for bailing him out, while Sean Kelly (23/27) hit a rare rough patch in allowing more than a goal or two in the draw.

Grey and Green both entered their match with 1-1-0 records, looking to take a turn for the better it what was expected to be a close contest. It was close, but no cigar for Captain Brandon Olsen and his crew, who have been bitten by the poor attendance bug so far this season. Jon Salt was in attendance for Green, and he had the first and last laugh for Green. The first came at 9:19 in the second, with assists to Josh Tran and John Hwang. Captain Olsen would even the score himself later in the first, and both Silas Perks (10/11), and Nick Meglich (20/22) remained sharp and stingy through two. It was Salt again early in the third, this time from Captain Jon Champine and Eric Willard to boost Green to a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish. The win has Green one of (surprisingly) only two team with two wins over the first third of the season. Grey will look for better attendance, and better results going forward, starting with a showdown with a tough, and tenacious Red side this Sunday.

Sometimes, you make the paper for all the wrong reasons. Such is the case with our cover team, Gold. Captain Parsa Mostafavi and ‘My Harsh Will Gold On’ have struggled to score, and struggled to prevent scoring to this point, with a 2 GF/11 GA/ -9…not a winning string of numbers. Add to it the fact that Mostafavi is now injured, and you’re looking at an uphill climb every week. That climb looked to be reaching a promising peak in Week Three, as Silas Perks (12/13) held the fort against the Naval attack, and Mark Ennsmann finally struck Gold against Alex Theis midway through the second. Theis (25/26) was otherworldly in this one, but the hockey gods seemed to have other plans for him and Navy…or maybe not. A frantic and furious final frame reached a crescendo, with Nick Vacchio found a will and a way to put one past Perks to even at 1-1 with just 0:17 left on the clock. Gold, who would have been the ones to win, settled for a woeful 1-1 waffle, and have to be wondering what, when, and how they are ever going to overcome. They now sit at 0-2-1, sharing basement floor space with the beleaguered Blue, and running (captain-less, again) toward a Black brick wall. Navy, meanwhile, continue to compete (to the bitter end, clearly). finishing the first third of the season without a loss, and looking to improve their standing in the…standings in a marquee matchup with Green in Week Four.

Did someone say (write) ‘woeful waffle’? Blue began their season-long deflated death march with a 7-3 Week One thrashing, could not stick the comeback landing in a 4-4 Week Two tie with Purple, and…thrashed again in Week Three, this time at the hands of Captain Rob Gaudio’s Red. It was the captain himself opening the scoring (with the assist in the form of his brother, Joe). It was Joe’s turn in the second (from Sheptycki…who of course made his season debut in time to face Blue), then Dan Jurgens to make it 3-0 at just over the half way point. Vance Morra deflected home a Kyle Prior shot/pass to account for Blue’s token tally late in the second, but any hope of a comeback was snuffed out just fourteen seconds later with another Rob-from-Joe production. Red’s captain would complete the hat trick in the third (this time from Andy Strathman), and Don Tran (15/16) stood tall to the end to preserve the 5-1 win. The win is Red’s first, after opening the season two hard-fought ties. Blue…they will need to figure something out if they hope to save their season. The scoring is there (eight goals in three games), but they have surrendered a league-leading sixteen…math is a cruel mistress…

Captain Luke Wolmer and super stud, David Schlatter, were not in the lineup for Neon’s 1-0 season-opening loss to our cover team, Black, so the pair were eager to show Grey what they could do in Week Two. What they could do was power Neon to their first win. Wolmer opened the scoring for his team (for the game, and the season), with the powerplay game-winner midway through the first (from Rob LaVigne and Will Heinl). It was Wolmer again to double the lead in the second, this time on a feed from Schlatter, then Heinl from Schlatter and LaVigne to make it 3-0 in the third. Schlatter added an empty-netter to round out the scoring in the 4-0 walk in the park win, leaving both Neon and Grey at 1-1-0 to start the season. Sean Kelly was…Sean Kelly, stopping 16/16 to collect the SO, even his record, and dip his GAA to 0.50. Nick Meglich absorbed the loss, in spite of a valiant 18/21 effort, while still maintaining a stake in the upper half of the goalie stat pile.

Getting old sucks, but Carl Vankoughnett is taking it in stride…and then some. The half century old Canadian relic led his team in scoring last season, and has carried his new team, Black, to a 2-0-0 start, having scored all of their goals to this point. Granted, Black has only scored three goals, but…scoreboard…standings…only team with two wins through two weeks. Carl put Black on the board first at 6:06 in the first, with first year Young Canuck™, Brennan Abel, collecting his first career point, and Black’s first non-Vankoughnett point with the lone assist. Jon Salt answered just over a minute later (from Gary Peters and new comer, Justin Ker), and the 1-1 tie limped along through the second, and deep into the third. You already know how this ends…Vankoughnett (from Abel, again) at 1:55 to bounce Black to a 2-1 win over Green. Young Canuck™, Silas Perks, suffered his first career loss with a 15/17 line, while Chris Tran (21/22) suffered his first goal against in six full periods of play, jumping out to a nutso .966/0.50/1 SO start to what looks to be an incredible season.

Our creamy middle game was completely devoid of any semblance of our league’s trademark parity. Both sides were short-benched, but White made it a long night for Gold…whom they made short work of…words are weird. Don Tran (18/18) and Alex Theis (5/5) combined on a shutout in a sub role for the still-sidelined Matt Henderson, but the real stories in this one were Zach Salt and Steve Linke. The scoring went Salt (from Andrew Wong and Linke), Linke (from Salt), Salt, Salt, Linke (from Captain Tomáš Jankovic), Salt (from Jankovic), and Linke (from Sally Jackson and Jankovic). If you’re scoring at home (which would be weird, but…you do you), that is seven goals for two dudes, one of whom is ancient and obese. The 7-0 shellacking came at the expense of Captain Parsa Mostafavi, his pride, and his season stats, and Gold now find themselves at the bottom of the pile as the only team with no points in the early going. White remain lossless at 1-0-1, with a big game against 2-0-0 Black up next. Gold will hope for a full bench, and a resilient captain in nets when they take on Navy this Sunday.

The parity that briefly departed in the previous game returned in all its glory in game four, as two titans of the twine battened down the hatches in a heated battle between Red and Navy. A scoreless first saw plenty of action, but few recorded shots (six…total), and not much of note beyond Janine Ulloa’s first career penalty. The shots ramped up in the second (six for each side), and the scoring came with it, as Dan Jurgens converted for Red at 9:21 (from Bao Nguyen) and Mark Nagy responded for Navy at 2:06 (from Jim LaGrossa). That would be the only scoring the Don Tran (13/14) and Alex Theis (17/18) would allow, however, leaving both teams with a bittersweet one point in the 1-1 draw. The result preserves the ‘no loss’ record for both teams, although Red remains one of four teams without a win at 0-0-2. They have their chops pre-licked for their run at fellow winless wonders, Blue, this Sunday, while Navy hope to prolong the misery of 0-2-0 Gold to cap the first third of their season in style.

The nightcap was a blowout-to-be turned barn burner that was worth the wait for eight (PM). After an embarrassing/demoralizing 7-3 loss to Navy in their opener, Captain Chuck Bender and Blue were hopeful that the debut of their first round pick, and first season star, John Boddy, would change their early season course. The first period saw no such shift, as Young Canuck™, Kalen Hunter, set out on his seek and destroy mission with a pair of goals in the first. A third Hunter tally late in the second had Purple up 3-0, and Blue wondering just how bad and how long a season could be. Mark DeGraffenreid deposited an end board Alan Razoky rebound past sniper-turned-stopper, Chris Malki, to cut the lead to 3-1 late in the second, then set up John Boddy for his first career goal early in the third to make it 3-2. Razoky fired another long shot at Malki midway through the third, and this one found home to knot the score at threes. It was Boddy from DeGraffenreid again at 1:55 to give Blue their first lead of the season, and set up an improbable come from behind victory story to tell the grandkids one day. One problem…the very same problem for Blue from earlier in the story…Kalen Hunter. Hunter’s fourth of the night came at 0:55…somehow finding a path through legs and feet to stun the stunners, and leave both teams wondering what just happened in a 4-4 tie. Chris Malki (17/21) was sharp and solid in his nets debut, and Captain Chuck Bender (21/25) was back on his A game, making several crucial stops to preserve the point.

Our 25th anniversary season has been an homage to all things 1997, and the definitive pinnacle of art and culture that year was the timeless work of cinematic excellence that was/is the movie film ‘Face/Off’. Orange and Grey can only hope to deliver the same powerhouse performances that Travolta and Cage blessed us with in the year of our league’s birth, 0 AD (After Dale). The scene is set, the cameras are ready to roll, and the action is set to unfold in a thrilling one (or two) hour epic/preposterous thrill ride this Sunday…

The family drama was shaken out of the Salt v Salt playoff battle to the death by virtue of Captain Jon’s absence, but there was still plenty of drama stirring in this, the third and final installment of Atomic Blue v Pink. A scoreless first led to a (mostly) scoreless second, with Carl Vankoughnett finally breaking the drought with a solo effort at the 2:57 mark. Sean Kelly (25/26) and Nick Vacchio (24/25) were the story for their respective sides, as Vankoughnett’s strike stood as the lone blemish for either netminder with time ticking past the halfway point in the third. Matt Gottfried put Pink on the board at 3:56 (from Joe Nguyen), bringing an already very even game to an officially even keel at 1-1. Regulation was not enough to declare a winner, and overtime fared no better at deciding things, so it was off to the shootout. Dan Jurgens converted where Zach Salt failed in the first round, but Carl Vankoughnett converted, and Matt Gottfried could not answer in the second round. Mostafa Azab and Joe Nguyen traded blanks, before Matt Rogers put the underdogs on top in the fourth round (capitalizing on Zach Siemer’s miss). With Steph Palomo Schmidt’s no goal in round five, the only saving grace for Pink would be a Kaity Gottfried conversion…she did not convert, and Nick Vacchio and Atomic Blue hung on to complete the 2-1 upset shootout win over Pink.

There is no rest for the weary in the fourth and final weeks of SDFHL playoff hockey. Atomic Blue was the weary, but no less hopeful Cinderella, and Captain Jeremy Copp’s ‘Steel Crazy After All These Years’ the midnight chiming clock tower. A furious first frame saw Brandon Olsen put Grey on top (from Rob Gaudio and Andrew Wong), Zach Salt level things less than a minute later (from Matt Rogers), Rob Gaudio put Grey back in front less than thirty seconds later (from Olsen and Jordan Pynn), and super sub, Steph Palomo Schmidt, tie a 2-2 knot with 2:01 to play. The scorers settled down, while Nick Meglich (19/21) and Nick Vacchio (14/16) settled in, keeping both nets empty through the next period, and the next period after that. Overtime…*crickets*….it would be another game, another shootout, with a punched ticket to the Final on the line this time. Jordan Pynn and Zach Salt could not find a way in round one, and Jim LaGrossa and Carl Vankoughnett were stymied just the same in the second. Rob Gaudio finally found twine in round three, and a Mostafa Azab miss put the pressure squarely on the remaining two Atomic Blue shooters…Matt Rogers, and Steph Palomo Schmidt. Neither shooter, nor their Grey counterparts (Justin Stege and Hima Joshi) could solve their respective opposing goalie, and so, Gaudio tucking one ball past Vacchio tucked Grey into the SDFHL Sprummer League 2022 Final with a crazy close 3-2 decision, and tucked Atomic Blue into the ‘close, but no cigar’ file.

Grey advance to the Final as the top seed, but come in as the ‘away’ team in a rematch with Orange. Captain Joel Gattey’s ‘GO, OJ, GO!’ embarrassed Grey in Week Three of the playoffs, after bowing to Grey in the regular season 5-3 (albeit, with the two ‘big guns’ out of the lineup). Get your popcorn, and your pompoms ready, because, one game or two, this is sure to be a spectacular finale!