Week Three opened with our Week Two cover team, Captain John Boddy’s 2-0-0 ‘Night At The PinkDeBerry’, taking on Captain Tyler Winstead’s winless ‘It’s Not Grey In A Threeway’. It is certainly still early in the season, but Pink’s 9-2 edge in goals scored coming in had to be a concern for Grey, and the absence of their skipper didn’t exactly help the ‘limit the damage’ outlook against the league’s top offense out of the gate, but…you never know. Well, I do know, actually, because it is five days later, and the box score has been posted since Monday. This one went about as you might have expected, with Captain Boddy breaking the scoring seal at 1:15 in the first, then adding an unassisted second strike eleven seconds later. Boddy’s first was assisted by newcomer-to-our-league-but-certainly-not-to-hockey, Liv Bryant. It was Bryant’s first career SDFHL point…CONGRATULATIONS, LIV! Bryant was not done, though, as she pushed the lead to 3-0 with her first career SDFHL goal at 1:16 in the second…CONGRATULATIONS, LIV! Boddy and team namesake, Matt DeBerry, had the helpers on Bryant’s milestone tally, and Pink rolled into the third with a commanding three goal lead and a 19-9 edge in shots. Boddy would cap his hat trick at 7:46 in the third (Jackson Tomaszewski), and cap the scoring in the process, with Will Heinl (15/15) and Pink cruising to a third straight win to open the season, 4-0 over Grey. Don Tran (20/24) was steady as you like at the other end, but with just two goals to show for now nine periods of play, it is no wonder that Grey has yet to hit the win column. Winstead & Company now sit at 0-2-1, sharing cut line real estate with Royal Blue as we enter into the middle third of the season. Obviously, nothing is a ‘must win’ at this stage in the proceedings, but anything but a win over dead last White this Sunday would be devastating for Grey. Pink, by contrast, are already closing in on the typical ‘magic number’ of nine points to lock up a playoff spot, and will face what should be a good challenge in Will Heinl’s other team, Baby Blue, this weekend.

Captain Sean Bathgate’s ‘Turd Bergenson’ were Pink’s first victim of the season, a 6-2 drubbing that the victors used as a springboard into a strong start, and left Brown wondering aloud if they were in for the proverbial ‘long season’. A much closer loss to Neon in Week Two (a game in which Brown had the better of the play) was encouraging, but moral victories do not count in the standings, and Bathgate & Company set out to snatch their first win from the jaws of a third straight undefeated opponent in Captain Rob LaVigne’s ‘MacBlueber’. As fate would have it (because fate apparently hates Brown), Baby Blue would have both of their biggest offensive weapons in the lineup for this match, with Luke Wolmer making his season debut alongside super stud speedster sniper, Kalen Hunter. Cue the inspirational underdog music, which simmered in a scoreless first, but swelled a bit with Mark DeGraffenreid’s first goal of the season…a strange sequence in which super sub Don Tran played a dumped ball softly behind his own net, only to have DeGraffenreid collect it, wrap it, and deposit it to make it 1-0 Brown with 1:37 to play in the second. The underdog music clicked up a few notches with DeGraffenreid’s second of the game, a blind, spin around wrister from the half boards that found twine to make it 2-0 (Josh Wirt & Chris Tran), and LaVigne & Company never did strike a chord of retaliation, with Chris Tran’s (literal) last second empty-netter sealing a big 3-0 win for Brown over Baby Blue. Matt Henderson (19/19) (shout out to one of the most loyal front page readers in the league) was superb in his return from injury, keeping a stout offense off the board throughout to finally lift his mates out of the basement and into the win column. Don Tran (15/17) was sharp in a sub stint for Chris Tran…who was not in nets for Baby Blue because he was busy notching 1 and 1 against his other team…such a twisted little league we have. Brown will hope to even their record at 2-2-0 this Sunday as they clash with Captain Teglia’s 0-2-1 Royal Blue, while Baby Blue will need to regain their scoring touch, and hope for a triumphant return for ‘The Prodigal Tran’™ as they take on budding juggernaut, Pink.

Our Week Three cover team took to the court next, with Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s ‘CarliforNeons’ hoping to defend their perfect record against Captain Wendy Enright’s 1-1-0 ‘Gilda Redner’. Neon’s perfect start had not been the result of the kind of dominance that fellow attic dwellers, Pink, had established in their first third, with a 3-2 win over Green in Week One followed by an empty-net-aided 3-1 topping of Brown. So, with Justin ‘The Albatross’™ Hepler and Mark Nagy out of the lineup, Captain Carl probably didn’t love his team’s chances of keeping pace with Boddy’s Bunch…until he arrived to find that Red would be without the services of three of their best. Andy Strathman, Jon Zygelman, and Owen Perks were all elsewhere as warmups wrapped, and the rest of Neon’s scoring stars commenced lip licking, hoping to pounce on a short-benched, powered-down opponent. Neon did just that, but it was a new hero doing most of the scoring on his way to a sparkling POTW performance. Enter young Darin Cerasuolo…teenaged son of veteran blueliner and proud papa teammate, Anthony. Darin struck first for Neon at 2:58 in the first (Vankoughnett & Jim LaGrossa), then, after LaGrossa’s first of the season made it 2-0 at 1:19 (Vankoughnett), added his second with just ten clicks left before the break (Vankoughnett & LaGrossa). These were Darin Cerasuolo’s first and second career points, and first and second career goals in the SDFHL…CONGRATULATIONS, DARIN! Tim Vick responded for Red at 6:19 in the second (Trevor Vick & Joe Nguyen), but any hopes of a Red rally were quickly snuffed by Captain Vankoughnett’s second of the season at 5:22 (LaGrossa). The third period featured just one goal, and that one goal belonged to ‘DC’…Darin Cerasuolo completing his first career SDFHL hat trick at 9:47 (Vankoughnett & Shelby Shattuck), and providing some not-so-needed padding…CONGRATULATIONS, DARIN! Incredibly enough, a near weaponless Red managed to outshoot Neon 21-14, but Chuck Bender (20/21) was up to the task, keeping Neon comfortable throughout in a smooth and easy 5-1 win. Jon Cima (9/14) suffered the loss for Red, who fall below .500 for the first time this season at 1-2-0. Perks’ attendance projection was a known cause for concern for Captain Enright coming in, and the big gun is slated to miss his second straight this Sunday in a key middle ground matchup with Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green. Vankoughnett & Company will look to stay perfect against Purple in another Hepler-free week, but with the rise of the Darin Cerasuolo, the Sunday forecast is looking bright for Neon this season, with or without ‘The Albatross’™

Jerry Gonzales suffered a knee injury at some point in the Wing League 2025 Final, and he was sorely missed while nursing that sore knee back into a usable state over White’s first two weeks of play. Captain Meglich was sharp in nets in both the 2-0 Week One loss to Purple and the 3-2 Week Two loss to Pink, but with J-Gon gone, and presumed one-two punch of Rob Gaudio and Eric Willard accounting for just one goal and one assist combined through two games, White found themselves edging towards desperation coming into a Week Three showdown with Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green. The good news for White…Gonzales would make his season debut, and while he was reportedly looking a bit limited in his play, the better news is that he scored a goal. The bad news for White…that Gonzales goal at 9:21 in the third (Gaudio & Willard) was the only goal they would manage. The worse news…Green scored four. Newcomer Dave Bourgouin put Green on the board bright and early, scoring his first career SDFHL goal at 7:39 in the first (Brennen Abel & Mostafa Azab). CONGRATULATIONS, DAVE! Abel would follow with one of his own less than two minutes later to make it 2-0, then provide the primary assist on Sadie Hellstrom’s second of the season at 1:36 (Bourgouin with the second assist…his first career SDFHL assist). A scoreless second led up to the aforementioned Gonzales response early in the third, and Hellstrom capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 0:02 to play (Bourgouin). Sean Kelly (15/16) was his customary studly self in the 4-1 Green win, while Captain Meglich (24/27) and White were left with a third straight loss to start the season, and (worse) the sinking feeling that this might just be the tip of the losing ice berg. Now dead last, and the only team without a point in the standings, Meglich & Company will need to begin their scramble to playoff safety this Sunday against an 0-2-1 Grey. A win would not only bounce them off the bottom of the standings board, but might inject some much needed confidence into the ranks. Green, meanwhile, will look to improve on their 2-1-0 record and move firmly into the upper crust of the standings with a win over 1-2-0 Red in the ‘Stop & Go Showdown’ to open Week Four.

Two similarly-shaded sides played under the lights to wrap the Week Three night, with Captain William Teglia’s 0-1-1 Royal Blue taking on Captain Mason Holcomb’s 1-1-0 Purple. Both teams had managed just two total goals in their first two outings, with the former having tied 1-1, then lost 5-1, and the latter having won 2-0, then lost 3-0. Any team backed by Silas ‘The Silencer’™ Perks can remain confident that they will compete even in lean offensive times, but with Perks out of the lineup for a second straight week, it would be up to ‘The OG Silencer’™, Sean Kelly, to prevent an offensive awakening for Purple and propel Royal Blue to their first win of the season. Considering the offensive anemia plaguing both teams coming in, this one was much wilder and looser than you would have predicted. Jon Salt broke the scoring seal with his second of the season at 4:30 in the first (Tony Thinh), and ‘Da Kid’ did his part in stemming the Purple pushback, in spite of facing twelve shots to his counterpart’s five. The same Salt-Thinh combo accounted for the game’s second goal, swelling the positive vibes on a short Royal Blue bench at 7:18 in the second. Joe Malki was first to answer for Purple at 7:00 (Chris Malki), and Christopher Fiore was second just 0:45 later (Chris Malki & Shawna Hamon) to knot the score at twos going into the second break. The first half of the third ground along with Purple punishing Royal Blue with pressure and shots (ultimately winning the shot battle by a gross 35-10 margin), but Kelly kept his temporary mates in the game as well as you could expect from any goalie, The Silencer™ included. The building pressure finally produced Purple’s first lead of the game, with Zach Siemer converting a Craig Russell feed into paydirt with 5:50 to go. Chris Malki’s tenacious effort in front produced a blue collar boost to 4-2 at 4:14 (Joe Malki & Hima Joshi), and an absolutely unreal laser from the point off the stick of Russell made it 5-2 Purple with just 0:47 to play (Steve Linke & Fiore). Tony Thinh would cap a valiant three point night with his first of the season on a quick put-back with 0:18 to play, but Captain Holcomb (7/10) and Purple would hold on for the 5-3 win. Captain Teglia would get the news of his team’s second defeat in three tries via text, as he, Janet Goins, Chad Goins, Steph Palomo Schmidt, and (or course) Silas Perks were all elsewhere on June 8th. Kelly would finish with a 30/35 line, and I am confident that Perks could not have done more, especially in the second game of a back-to-back. Perks will be out again this Sunday, and Royal Blue will turn to Don Tran to backstop a better result against Brown. Purple will hope to keep the scoring hand hot and hand Neon their first loss of the season as we enter into the middle stretch of the Summer 2025 campaign.

Week Two opened with our cover team, Captain John Boddy’s ‘Night At The Pinkbury’, taking on Captain Nick Meglich’s ‘Live From 4S, It’s Sunday White!’. The former came in as the only team to record a truly convincing win in Week One, having dispatched Brown 6-2 in their opener, in spite of being outshot by a slim margin (21-19), while the latter suffered a close loss (2-0) to Purple, in spite of being outshot by a huge margin (26-8). The absence of very valuable veteran, Jerry Gonzales, was certainly part of the problem in that opening loss for White, and Captain Meglich would need his (still Gonza-less) offense to actually provide actual offense in their second outing, lest they suffer the same frustrating fate. Right on cue, Tom ‘The Other’ Darlington cashed in on the powerplay at 8:11 in the first (Rob Gaudio) to give White their first lead of the season on their first goal of the season. When Eric Willard made it 2-0 just over a minute later, it seemed that White had put a stop to their scoring schnide, hit their stride, and were on their way to a big bounce back win. Alas, Captain Boddy had another middle and ending in mind for this story. Pink’s captain provided his team’s first response at 3:09 in the first (Jason Lee & Parsa Mostafavi), then provided the second assist on the lone goal in the second (Geoff Downes from Jackson Tomaszewski and Boddy), bringing about an up for grabs final period with the teams knotted at twos. It was Boddy again at 3:05 in the third (Tomaszewski & Elyse Shattuck) giving his team their first lead of the game, and the only lead they would need, as Will Heinl (14/16) and Pink hung on for their second win in the first two weeks of play, 3-2 over White. Captain Meglich (20/23) absorbed another hard luck, high hopes loss, and while removing the goose egg from the goals column is encouraging, White will clearly need to find a way to generate more offense as we close out the first third of the season this Sunday.

The Blues Brothers Battle™ was up next on the docket, with Captain William Teglia’s 0-0-1 Royal regiment squaring off with Captain Rob LaVigne’s 1-0-0 Baby batch. LaVigne & Company made the front page in Week One, with Chris Tran (33/34) heroics and JUST enough scoring punch combining to produce one of the most improbable wins in recent memory. With top gun Kalen Hunter returning, Baby Blue hoped they would not need another water tight Tran turn against their color cousins to stretch their win streak to two, while Royal Blue knew they would likely need more than the lone goal they managed in their opener to make their way into the win column. It was Will Heinl, fresh off his second win in nets to start the season for Pink, to act first, putting Baby Blue on the board at 4:00 (Bryan Ossa). The booming long range shot of Jon Salt equalized for Royal Blue at 2:33 (Tony Thinh), but Kalen Hunter checked in with his first of the season at 1:12 to match his dear old dad in goals and wrest the lead back for the lighter blues at 1:28 (Leah Gonzales & Gary Peters). A scoreless second saw Baby Blue outshoot Royal Blue 13-7, but Nick Meglich (playing in his second game of THREE on the night) kept his surrogate side just one back going into the third. That third belonged entirely to Baby Blue, with Kalen Hunter’s second at 6:27 finally offering some breathing room (Leah Gonzales & Captain LaVigne), Bryan Ossa adding more padding at 3:04 (Leah Gonzales), and Ossa’s second in less than a minute making this a boat race at 2:23 (Arnold Gonzales). So…as one might have predicted…more offense for Baby Blue in Kalen’s return, less stress on a less-tested, but no-less-terrific Chris Tran (20/21), and another one goal night for Royal all added up to a 5-1 win for the paler Blue twin. Meglich (27/32) can only be applauded for his efforts, and lauded for his dedication to the league, as he remained suited up for his THIRD game of the night…a second sub stint, this time filling in for Brown’s Matt Henderson…

Captain Sean Bathgate’s ‘Turd Bergenson’ was the only team to get truly wiped and flushed in Week One, with their 6-2 loss to Pink standing out starkly on a slate of very close, very low-scoring games. If Brown were to have any hope of avoiding the same fate for two weeks straight, they would need to contain the considerable arsenal at Neon Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s disposal, particularly The Albatross™, Justin Hepler. Hepler’s triumphant 2 and 1 return to league play served as the foundation (and most of the rest of the construction) of a 3-2 win over Green. With plenty of other guns, Brown down a key defender in John Kushneryk, and Nick Meglich staggering into the crease for his third straight game, the odds were squarely in favor of ‘The CarliforNeons’. Odds can often be evened out, though, especially with the small sample size of one prior game, and Brown came out on the front feet in the opening period, outshooting Neon 9-3. Shots may be something of a barometer, but they don’t count for wins and losses, and Neon survived through a scoreless first ten to produce two shots (out of their second period total of twelve) that actually counted in the second. Ramsey Ksar struck first at 5:21 (Pat Gladstone & Justin Hepler), and Captain Vankoughnett doubled the damage less than a minute later (Jim LaGrossa). Holding Hepler to just one helper through two periods of play was certainly encouraging, but a two goal hole is a two goal hole, and Brown would need to start climbing out of that hole early in the third, or find themselves buried with another early season loss. Josh Wirt threw a rope down to his mates with 6:40 to play (Marc Lapointe & Captain Bathgate), and while Brown continued to press (outshooting Neon once again in the third, 12-8), they could not get Bender to break for a second time. Pat Gladstone shoveled a loose ball the length of the rink with Meglich (finally getting a rest) on the bench for an extra attacker, and her empty netter (Mark Nagy) would seal the deal, putting Neon up for good 3-1 with 1:10 left. There was some squawking about whether or not Gladstone’s second of the season actually went in, with many eyes on and off the court suggesting it actually hit the post and bounced away, but the goal would stand, and Brown would never find a second, anyway. Chuck Bender (31/32) earned first star honors for his second win of the season, and Nick Meglich (21/23) was still REALLY good in his seventh, eighth, and ninth periods of hockey on the evening. The loss keeps Brown in dead last going into Week Three…not a good place to be in when set to face an undefeated Baby Blue, while Neon will hope to defend their own undefeated position against the 1-1-0 Red.

With all of the praise and press piled on Perks (‘The Silencer’™) over the past three years, it is easy to forget about the original king of the goalies…a living legend whose legacy is still being written…Sean ‘Da Kid’ Kelly. You are very rarely out of a game with Kelly as your last line of defense, and while Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green did lose their opener to Neon, they remained confident coming into their second game of the season against Captain Mason Holcomb’s Purple. Holcomb was forced to sit out of his team’s opener with illness, but was well enough to watch with pride as his team topped White 2-0. The storyline was set…the return of the relative newcomer and first time captain to the crease to duel with an SDFHL demigod at the other end…winner take all (all two points…that’s it…winner take all two points). That storyline morphed into two storylines, both of them featuring Green heroes doing heroic things to bring glory to Green. Brennen Abel was the first of those heroes, scoring first at 4:45 in the first (Emily Bennington & Mostafa Azab), second unassisted with seconds left in the first, and third at 5:11 in the second (Vacchio) to push Green to a 3-0 lead. Meanwhile, our second storyline was simmering, with Kelly having stopped 14/14 through two. Purple (apparently) went off for SIXTEEN shots in the third, but Kelly would stop every one of those shots, bringing his epic effort to a 30/30 wrap, and capping a crazy 3-0 win for Green. I use the term ‘crazy’, because Purple outshot their victorious foes 30-12, and yet…nothing at all to show for it…THAT’s the work of a ‘Silencer’™, and his name is not Silas. Captain Holcomb (9/12) would have liked a better result in his personal debut as a captain, of course, but can take solace in the fact that his team ran into a hot goalie serving up an ice cold loss. Both 1-1-0 teams will take on winless sides this Sunday, with Green facing off against White, and Purple looking to rediscover their scoring touch against Royal Blue.

The nightcap matched two winless teams, with Captain Wendy Enright’s ‘Gilda Redner’ having fallen victim to Chris Tran’s monster effort in a 2-1 Week One loss, and Captain Tyler Winstead’s ‘It’s Not Grey In A Threeway’ having battled to a 1-1 draw with ‘The Silencer’™ and Royal Blue in their first go of the season. So, both teams had mustered just one goal the Sunday prior, and both were thwarted by strong goaltending efforts at the other end, but Red had to feel particularly pent up after having nothing to show for a 34-12 advantage in shots in their debut. It’s also worth mentioning that the runaway scoring leader from last season was held to one assist in Red’s first game, and keeping Owen Perks goal-free for a second straight game is not a task that Don Tran and his Grey mates were looking forward to taking on. Perks did contribute in the first period, but again as a setup man for Jon Zygelman at 1:52. The 1-0 first period lead for Red became a 2-0 lead with Zygelman’s second of the game at 4:33 in the second (Trevor Vick), then 3-0 with Zygelman’s unassisted hat trick capper at 4:10 in the second. Captain Winstead & Company had accomplished the primary goal of keeping Perks at zero goals on the season, but JZ had clearly picked up that torch and scorched Grey’s hopes for a winning effort. A taped-together Jordan Pynn finally posted a response to the Zygelman outburst, cutting the lead to 3-1 at 4:27 with his first of the season (Dan Jurgens), but…finally…Owen Perks broke his season scoring seal to restore Red’s lead and extinguish any chance of a daring comeback. Zygelman accounted for the lone assist on Perks’ goal, leaving him with a brilliant 3 and 1 line for the game. Were it not for Sean Kelly’s 30/30 win-stealing performance for Green, JZ would have been a no-brainer choice for POTW. Jon Cima (11/12) was considerably less tested than Don Tran (25/29) in Red’s 4-1 win, but math was finally in Red’s favor, as their lopsided shot totals translated to a convincing win the second time around. Grey sit nestled with Royal Blue just above the cut line at 0-1-1, but also share a lowest goals-for total of two with three other teams (White, Purple, and Royal Blue). They will need to find more scoring this Sunday for sure, as they face the team with the highest goal output through two weeks of play…Pink (9).

The Wing League 2025 post season would be a tough act to follow, with a relentless run of regulation nail biters, overtime thrillers, and shootout life savers/heart breakers, but the opening week of a new season is never lacking bang and buzz, and the clash between Captain Rob LaVigne’s ‘MacBlueber’ and Captain Wendy Enright’s ‘Gilda Rednor’ would be serve as the ‘cold open’ to our SNL themed Summer 2025 run. You can compare teams ‘on paper’ all day, but it usually takes at least one or two first hand looks of those rosters in action to conjure anything approaching an accurate estimation of how they will fare. Unfortunately for Captain LaVigne, his bunch would be bereft of the services of Kalen Hunter, Luke Wolmer, Bryan Ossa, and TK Mason, with the first two absences in that list hitting like a nasty uppercut and a crushing body blow to Baby Blue’s chances of surviving their week one bout. It was Captain Enright herself who rang the bell in round one, finishing a powerplay chance at 6:54 in the first to give Red the early lead (Owen Perks & Jon Zygelman). Blue bounced back in the second, with Kevin ‘Pops’ Hunter making up for his son’s absence with his first career SDFHL goal in his first career SDFHL game – a solo strike at 8:30 in the second to level the ledger at 1-1. CONGRATULATIONS, Kevin! Another SDFHL dad was next to act, with Gary Peters making his triumphant return to league play with his first of the season on the powerplay at 3:44 in the second (Arnold Gonzales) to give the heavily outgunned Baby Blue a stunning 2-1 edge. The real story of this game was Chris Tran. Tran’s heroics were on full display through the first two periods of play, with Baby Blue somehow not only still in the game, but ahead going to the third in spite of a 23-9 shot edge in Red’s favor to that point. That shot gap widened to a 34-12 chasm over the course of the third, but Tran would not budge. A late flurry from Red had the veteran all but literally breakdancing in the crease, but Tran (33/34) and ‘MacBlueber’ would somehow hold on for the 2-1 win. So, last season’s post season may have been a tough act to follow, but the opening act of the new season took the baton and windmill dunked it into a flaming hoop. Jon Cima (10/12) and Red are clearly a strong side, and as frustrating as this loss may be for them, they have to expect that they will be facing human goalies from here out. The win is unexpected money in the bank for LaVigne & Company, and that extra confidence and the (presumed) return of their scoring core is a scary prospect for their Week Two opponent, Royal Blue.

There was just one exception to the parity party that was Week One, and that exception came in the 5:00pm game, with Captain Sean Bathgate’s ‘Turd Bergensen’ facing off against Captain John Boddy’s ‘Night At The Pinkbury’. With both teams missing just one player (Brown without Marc Lapointe, and Pink without Ryan Loughran), this would be a good first test for both teams…the proverbial early season ‘measuring stick’ match. A scoreless first period saw Brown on the long end of that stick in the shot column, but the 7-3 edge in that department would ultimately serve as nothing but the basis for false hope. Parsa Mostafavi broke the scoring seal at 8:08 in the second (Jackson Tomaszewski), but newcomer John Kushneryk responded less than two minutes later with the first of his career to bring Brown back even at 1-1. CONGRATULATIONS, John! The rest of the second period belonged to Pink, with Eli Schonbrun cashing in just ten ticks after the Kushneryk strike to snatch the lead back for Pink (Jason Lee & Geoff Downes), Matt DeBerry flicking home his first of the season at 3:43 to build the lead to two, and Downes capping the run at 1:09 (Boddy) to put Pink in full control going into the second break. Tomaszewski piled on with his first of the season at 6:54 in the third (Schonbrun & Mostafavi) before Josh Wirt finally stopped the bleeding for Brown at 4:44 (Mark DeGraffenreid). An empty net for Jason Lee with 1:12 (Tomaszewski & Boddy) was icing on the 6-2 winning cake for Pink, who strut away from their opener with that ‘measuring stick’ held aloft like a royal scepter. Will Heinl (19/21) was impressive in nets for the winning side, outdueling a very hard working, but ultimately hard luck Matt Henderson (14/19). Captain Boddy & Company will take their measuring stick with them to face the winless (and goal-less) White this Sunday, while Brown will hope to bounce back against a very tough Neon.

Week One’s middle game saw the return of living legend of the (scoring) leaderboard, Justin Hepler. Hepler’s reign of terror ended with his departure from league play in mid-late 2017, but Captain Carl Vankoughnett made his return official when selecting him fifth overall, and the first player assigned to his ‘CarliforNeon’ creation. Regular Thursday attendance in recent years made it clear that Hepler still had the potency/potential to resume that aforementioned reign of terror, but a few Sunday spins would no doubt let us all know what we are up against with ‘The Albatross’™ back on the Sunday scene. Captain Bao Nguyen’s ‘More Cow Abel, Green Frenkle’ would be the first to find out first hand, and it did not take long for Hepler to find his first league goal in eight years. Hepler’s first of the season at 7:23 in the first (Ramsey Ksar) was followed by his second of the season at 3:39 in the first (Mark Nagy), giving Neon a 2-0 edge through ten minutes of play, and confirming that the reign was on once again (use the Canadian pronunciation of this for rhyme’s sake, please). The second period nearly slipped past in scoreless fashion, but Sadie Hellstrom turn and wristed a (literal) last second snipe home to cut the lead to one (Brennen Able & Nick Vacchio) and put Green (who was outshooting Neon 14-9 to that point) on the front foot going into the third. Neon may have been looking to Hepler to restore their two goal edge, but it was another living league legend, Pat Gladstone, instead…snapping home what I am told was a ‘really nice goal’ with 5:30 to play, with (who else) Hepler on the primary assist and Ryan Karns with the second. Brennen Abel answered for Green at 3:56 (Vacchio), leaving plenty of time for Green to complete a comeback coup, but Chuck Bender (15/17) and Neon’s defense would hold on to preserve the 3-2 win. Sean Kelly (16/19) was his standard stellar self in spite of the loss, and while Hepler did finish with 2 and 1 and a share of the scoring lead through the first week of play, it’s safe to say that Green did about as well as a team can hope to in containing his pent up point production payload. Captain Nguyen & Company face another tough challenge this Sunday in 1-0-0 Purple, while Neon look to keep the early season ball rolling against the winless (and quite possibly woeful) Brown.

The SDFHL Civil War reenactment was up next, with young Captain William Teglia’s Royal Blue taking on Captain Tyler Winstead’s Grey. The stakes in this particular ‘Civil War’ weren’t quite as high as the real deal, and we can hope that Winstead’s troops don’t hold the same ideology as their Confederate counterparts, but…yeah, you know what…I am bailing on this analogy…these two SDFHL teams were wearing the same colors as the two sides in the war…the end. It’s probably a good thing I am cutting the connection between the two, as this ‘Civil War’ ended in a draw (which…who knows where that would have left this country…probably where it will be in a few years, based on how things are going). A scoreless first ended with Grey holding a slight edge in shots (9-7), but it was Royal Blue’s Brendan Jew who would make the first mark on the score sheet at 8:09 in the second (Vinny Santora & Gordon Schmidt). Josh Tran was very quick to respond for Grey, knotting the score at 1-1 just fifty ticks later (Justin Stege & Mark Scelfo). Grey continued to press the play in the third, outshooting Royal Blue at an 8-3 clip, but…alas…those shots were directed at Silas ‘The Silencer’™ Perks (21/22), and neither he nor veteran Don Tran (13/14) would allow anything more to sneak through. So…Royal Blue 1, Grey 1…both teams lightly wounded, but neither left for dead on the bloody, body-strewn battlefield…yeah…definitely leaving it. Captain Teglia’s team soldier on to face their softer-shaded cousins, Baby Blue, in Week Two, while Captain Winstead’s Grey will hope for good news from Jordan Pynn’s medical team as they gear up to face an 0-1-0 Red.

The Week One nightcap had a different kind of ‘Civil War’ theme, with the two goalie captains facing off for backstop bragging rights. Unfortunately, the rare goalie captain on goalie captain clash was made far less intriguing when Captain Mason Holcomb fell ill, leaving Chuck Bender on the shields for Purple, opposite Captain Nick Meglich and White. Neither Bender nor Meglich would budge in the first period, as the third scoreless opening frame of the night came and went in spite of Purple holding a rather obscene shot advantage (11-2). The lopsided shot ledger leveled as little as possible in the second, with Purple racking up a 10-2 edge, and Joe Malki finally laced one of those ten shots past Meglich to give his team a 1-0 lead (Chris Malki & Steve Linke). White would equal their shot total through the first two periods (a whopping FOUR) in the third, but none would find a nest behind Bender (8/8). Joe Malki added insurance with his second of the game with 5:50 to play (Shawna Hamon & Steve Linke), and that would be all of the offense in another tight, low-scoring Week One game. The 2-0 win for Purple was impressive, and given the lopsided shot totals (26-8, when the dust had cleared) the result likely would have carried even if White could have availed themselves of the services of Jerry Gonzales (currently out with a knee injury). Captain Meglich has reason for concern for the anemic offensive performance from his mates, but could not have done much more to help the cause personally, landing the second star of the game with his 24/26 effort. Meglich and White will (obviously) have to hope for more scoring in their Week Two match with Pink (a team who broke out for half a dozen in their opener), while Purple will have their captain back between the pipes with hopes to keep their sheets clean against Green.

BACK ROW L>R: Pat Gladstone, Sadie Hellstrom, Captain Bryan Ossa, Josh Wirt (MVP), Mark Daquipa

FRONT ROW L>R Mark DeGraffenreid, Will Heinl, Chuck Bender, Mostafa Azab, Carl Vankoughnett, Elyse Shattuck

At the risk of beating a (very) dead bird, the Wing League 2025 playoffs will easily go down as one of the weirdest and wildest stretches in SDFHL history. Upset after upset…nail biter on nail biter on nail biter…OT’s galore…SO’s galore…a VERY literal ‘any given Sunday’ smorgasbord that ultimately led to a Final featuring Captain Joel Gattey’s SEVENTH seeded challengers, ‘Malkiwis’, taking on the Captain Bryan Ossa’s SIXTH seeded Final incumbents, ‘FlamingOssas’. Lime would need to repeat their Week Four feat and manage two wins to capture the Cup, while Pink would just need one more winning effort to complete a perfect playoff run and turn a so-so season into a sensational success saga. Given the unprecedentedly unpredictable trajectory of the playoffs to this point, the only sure bet seemed to be on more twists, turns, and tension on the final night of play. Josh Wirt put Pink on the board first at 6:53 in the first (Sadie Hellstrom & Mostafa Azab), and in spite of being outshot 20-10 over the first two periods, Chris Malki’s equalizer at 9:23 in the second (Joe Malki) meant another tight, tense playoff battle would wage into the third. Neither team could finish the job in regulation, so it was on to YET ANOTHER overtime period. Lime finally found a shooting edge in that fourth frame (6-1), and one of those six shots, a bouncing pinball swat off the blade of Craig Russell (Joe Malki), worked it’s way over the goal line to end things in Lime’s favor in the opening game, 2-1. Matt Henderson (27/28) was spectacular in the must-win win, and while Chuck Bender (18/20) was less busy, he was no less impressive in the Pink’s first losing postseason effort. Much of the capacity crowd headed for the exits at that point, and Ossa’s troops (and the officials, no doubt) heaved a heavy sigh at the prospect of having to start all over with a second game to decide it all…

The second game opened in eerily similar fashion, with Sadie Hellstrom giving Pink the first lead of the game at 7:23 in the first (Carl Vankoughnett & Josh Wirt), and when Jordan Pynn evened the score with a point snipe at 3:17 in the second (Joe Malki & Leah Gonzales), it looked like we were headed for another 1-1 battle to the tape in the third. The game one parallel was broken, however, when Mark DeGraffenreid tucked home the go-ahead goal for Pink with just 0:11 remaining in the second…a lead that Pink’s ranks hoped would hold through ten more minutes of play, with the Cup awaiting their eager hands on the other side. Nope…Jordan Pynn blasted home his second of the game to knot the score at twos with 8:50 to play (Joe Malki & Chris Malki), and Joe Malki gave Lime their first regulation lead of the night just 1:22 later (Chris Malki & Leah Gonzales). There was some controversy about that third Lime goal, with Pink alleging goaltender interference on the goal scorer, but the officials deemed it a valid goal, and the Pink push was on to salvage their Cup run with seven minutes left to play. Neither team would budge, and with time winding down, Pink pulled Bender for an extra attacker. With Joe Malki working to possess a loose ball and deposit the would-be-game-and-Cup-icing-empty-netter, Captain Ossa took a well-advised hooking penalty to prevent the chance. Unfortunately for Pink, he then threw his stick in frustration, which earned him another two minutes in the box. Short handed, short on time, and beyond desperate, Pink pushed on…and that is when this insane Wing League 2025 playoffs took its final stunning twists. SIX seconds left…ball pops out to Josh Wirt at the point…FIVE…Wirt shoots…FOUR…GOAL! Yes, loyal reader, Wirt had found the game-tying, short-handed tally (Mostafa Azab) to lift Pink back to level at 3-3 and force YET ANOTHER OT period…the OT period to end all OT periods. Wirt was not done playing hero, and with 3:05 remaining in overtime, he shot from nearly the same spot into the same net and that was game, set, and Cup for Pink…4-3 winners in the most thrilling conclusion to a season imaginable for Pink, and the most crushing finish imaginable for Lime. Sadie Hellstrom and Mark Daquipa collected assists on the Cup-winner, with Daquipa collecting his first ‘ring’ in what I am told is seventeen years of SDFHL play. Chuck Bender (14/17) is no stranger to rings…collecting another for his collection with brilliant night of work after coming on as a mid-season replacement for Pink’s Michael Haine. Matt Henderson (17/21) was as gritty and great as ever, fighting through more shoulder issues to shoulder his team to the brink of an end around Cup run…super impressive, Matty! It will be tough, if not impossible to top the drama that Wing League 2025 has laid out, particularly the five weeks of pulsating playoff play, but it is time to look onward to Summer 2025…get ready to rumble in Week One this Sunday!