Our cover team this week has been making the papers for all the wrong reasons, having dropped from moderate to strong contenders through their first three games to ‘currently out of the playoffs’ with their ineptitude since. Aqua limped into a Week Twelve meeting with White on an 0-3-1 slide, and with both top pick David Schlatter and de facto ‘engine’ Matt Rogers out of the lineup, the hopes of reversing that tragic trend were not high on Captain Steph’s bench. White had already secured their playoff passage coming in, but were looking to bounce back after getting knocked around by Purple 6-1 the week prior. Captain Maureen’s team came out very strong in the early going, dominating play from the opening faceoff, but Chris Tran’s superb form kept any damage at bay until the final tick of the first period clock. To add insult to the injury of (literal) last second timing, that opening White goal was scored by SDFHL super senior citizen, Steve Linke (from Brennan Abel and Vance Morra). The old man would return the favor on Abel’s early second period tally, which (with respect) was one of the flukier balls to find a home this season, bouncing in off Anthony Cerasuolo’s midsection. How they go in doesn’t matter, it’s how many go in, and Aqua was only able to muster one response — Mark DeGraffenreid from Brian Sheptycki and Cerasuolo midway through the third. Chuck Bender (14/15) was hardly tested, as White’s iron-clad defense kept less than half of Aqua’s meager shot total in the ‘actually a threat to score’ column, while Tran’s stellar 29/31 effort was spoiled by a drooling elder, one tick of the first period clock, and a hard luck own goal. The 2-1 win keeps White comfortably in the top half of the standings, with an outside shot at the top spot on the line in their remaining two games. Aqua will need a good result in one or both of their remaining games (Olive and Red), or they will concede their playoff place to color cousins, Tropical Blue (or possibly even Red).

Charcoal and Royal Blue met in a heavyweight bout with little more than pride, playoff positioning, and scoring title stats at stake. Eric Herrmann’s 11 and 7 coming in gave him just a one point edge over a fittingly ‘OP’ Owen Perks (11 and 6). The offensive potency of both teams (well beyond the two aforementioned studs) made this match an appealing post season appetizer, and promised to be a regular season ‘great show’. It did not disappoint. THE Chad Goins (his words), rumored consort of Captain Janet, struck first for Royal Blue on the penalty kill at 6:09 in the first. Eric Herrmann collected the sole assist on that tally, and soloed a (breathtaking) goal of his own later in the period. Charcoal, in the personage of…who else…Owen Perks had responded to tie the game roughly a minute before Herrmann restored the one goal lead, and Herrmann’s second of the game (from Carl Vankoughnett and Mr. Goins) doubled the difference through two periods of play. Both Don Tran (15/18) and Nick Meglich (20/21) held up well under the weight of the two top scorers, but Meglich was a smidge surer, and Royal Blue’s super star was a mite brighter, as Royal Blue held on through a scoreless third to celebrate a big 3-1 win. I should also note that Charcoal scraped the (very) bottom of the barrel and brought in Melissa Busby to replace Nadia Connelly. Busby promptly (and not surprisingly) flailed and failed on glorious chance after glorious chance for Charcoal, begging the question ‘why not just play with four out there when Shawna needs a rest’. If you’re scoring at home, Herrmann keeps his seat on top of the scoring charts with 21 points (13 and 8), while Perks remains in striking distance with two games to play at 18 (12 and 6). The win keeps Royal Blue just two points behind standings leader, Silver, whom they will face this Sunday. A win for Royal Blue would move them into first, but that position is likely to be very temporary, with Silver holding a game in hand to close out the season. The loss drops Charcoal to 5-3-0 leading into a Week Thirteen test of their high-powered offense versus White’s shutdown defense.

The middle matchup between Tropical Blue and Red was dripping in playoff implications, with both teams desperately desperate to scrape together enough points to push past pitiful prior performances and into playoff position. At 1-5-1, a win for Captain Emily Bennington’s Red would give them five points in the standings, keeping cut line straddlers, Aqua, and at least one other team well within reach with two games to play. A win for Captain Kyra Forsyth’s 1-5-2 Topical Blue would give them two straight wins, and (miracle of miracles) would put them ahead of Aqua and out of the cellar in the final playoff position with (alas) just one game left on their schedule. If you happened to get a peek at the player of the week, you know that Nick Vacchio was the man of this match. In a twisted twist, Vacchio is actually on the roster for both teams, but Red was obligated to find a sub for him in nets, as is the way. That sub (Nick Meglich) was under siege throughout, facing persistent pressure as Tropical Blue pulled out all the stops in their late season push for a minor miracle playoff conversion. Dan Jurgens provided the first punch for Tropical Blue late in the first (from Vacchio and Christopher Fiore), then assisted on Vacchio’s game-winner just 0:31 later to improve the lead to 2-0. It was Vacchio again (from Jurgens, again) to build the lead to three in the second, and Red would muster just a lone, late response from Joe Gaudio (from brother Rob and Too Tall Tyler Winstead). Don Tran (22/23) got a taste of victory in a fill-in role, after absorbing the loss for his true team (Charcoal), and the shoe was on the other foot for Nick Meglich (29/32) who suffered a surrogate loss for Red following a win with his real roster, Royal Blue. So, with the 3-1 win, coupled with the results from the 4:00pm game, meant that Tropical Blue would move into a tie with Aqua at six points, even in the win column tie breaker, and holding the head-to-head tie breaker…but also having just one game left to play to Aqua’s two. The loss puts Red at 1-6-1, but (insanely enough) still alive in the playoff picture. They will need to beat Purple this Sunday (no small task), and will need some help (in the form of Olive beating Aqua this Sunday, and a Charcoal win over Tropical Blue in the final week of play), but if they manage to sneak past Purple, and that help does arrive, they will have their playoff fate in their own hands as they take on Aqua on April 30th.

The season long funeral procession for Captain Shelby Shattuck’s ‘Black Widow’ continued to wind through the streets of SDFHLtown, with Purple bearing the pall in Week Thirteen. The good news for Black…they scored twice as many goals in this game as they had in seven prior games combined. The bad news…Purple scored twice as many goals as Black in this game. Jon Salt put Purple in front late in the first (from Brandon Olsen and Rob LaVigne), but an Alan Razoky sighting at 3:55 in the second (from Justin Stege and Jordan Pynn) drew the underdogs level at 1-1. A pair of late second period strikes — Captain Kerri Sevenbergen from Salt and Olsen, then Olsen from Janine Ulloa abruptly upended any Black hopes for a upset win, and Eric Willard’s goal (from Olsen) at 6:16 in the third was just another shovelful of dirt on Black’s coffin (the coffin now having made its way to the cemetery plot, if you want to follow the imagery along). Matt DeBerry put a brief pause in da burial with his first of the season at 5:02 (from Mark Daquipa and Captain Shelby Shattuck), but Reverend Patrick Theis (22/24) cleared his throat, and completed his eulogy with ‘yea, and Purple laid Black to rest on that day, having scored two fold thine enemy’s two‘. The plate was then passed to collect donations for the Brotherhood Of Unsupported Goalies…a cause near and dear to Matt Henderson (20/24). RIP, Black…may winged hat tricks forever circle your shoulders in the after season. Meanwhile, back on the living plane, Purple have officially officially secured safe playoff passage with the win at 4-3-1. They will look to inter another quasi-corpse in Red this Sunday…

Two teams riding lengthy unbeaten streaks met to put those streaks to the test in Week Thirteen. Captain Wendy Enright’s Olive lost their first two games of the season, but had not lost or even tied since. Captain Audrey Stratton’s Silver side had, well, never lost, and had allowed just one tie in a mid-March meeting with White. So, while both teams sat very comfortably in playoff position already, with really nothing to lose in this match, neither wanted to set their unbeaten streak aside, and both hoped for something of a ‘statement win’ to further bolster confidence heading into the final weeks of play. A scoreless first saw Silas Perks as the far busier of the two netminders, as the MVP-to-be stopped all seven shots he faced, compared with the meager pair deflected by Zach Siemer at the other end. Erin Dowrey continued his sparkling swan song season with his fourth on the campaign (from Josh Wirt) at 6:43 in the second, but Zach Salt responded with a pair of goals later in the frame (the first from Sadie Hellstrom and Matt Gottfried, and the second from Captain Stratton) to give Silver a 2-1 edge through two. The third period clock wound towards its final tick, and it certainly looked as though ‘The Silencer’ would secure another W for Silver, but Josh Tran found a will and a way to wind one home with just 0:27 to play to provide what is perhaps the most apropos final score between two teams that refuse to lose…a 2-2 point splitter. Perks (18/20) remained the busier of the goalies throughout, and ACTUALLY ALLOWED TWO GOALS for just the second time in eight games. Siemer (11/13) surrendered the pair of Salt strikes in a busy second frame (facing ten shots in that period, alone), but Olive’s defense was sublimely stingy in the first and third, forcing Zach to make just three total saves over that twenty minute span. The result keeps Silver at the top of the pile at 6-0-2, with only a few potential threats to that perch remaining, including Olive (5-2-1).

You’ll forgive me for sounding like a broken record in these recaps, but Silas Perks looks to be on pace to break some records this season…I’m just trying to be like him. Silver and Maroon are both good teams, but Perks makes the former great, and continues to make opponents look, well…’meh’. With the goaltender being the only player on a team who is on the court for the entire game (unless he/she gets pulled in the waning minutes), having a great one gives you a great chance of prevailing…this is simple math. So, in a matchup between the (statistically) best goalie in the league and the worst, it should probably come as no surprise that the former won…handily. You do have to score goals to win, no matter who your goalie is, and Zach Salt did the honors (with honors) in this one, opening and closing the scoring in the first period for Silver, completing his hat trick in the third, and assisting on the only two Silver goals that he didn’t score himself (Matt Gottfried’s game-winner in the first, and Sadie Hellstrom’s insurance marker in the second). That’s five total goals, which is WAY more than enough when you have King Silas behind you. Perks (19/20) collected his fifth win on the season, keeping his team at ease throughout, and keeping Silver at the top of the pile at 5-0-1. Steve Deppensmith (11/16) saw his record (and his team’s, in turn) fall below .500 with the 5-1 loss, having been afforded only a fifth the goal support of his counterpart — Chris Malki’s fourth of the season late in the second period. Silver will look to add to their already impressive win total this Sunday, when they take on Black…a team that has exactly the opposite record (0-5-1), and has scored just ONE goal all season. Maroon will look to bounce back against Red (AKA…’The Other Maroon’), who have also failed to find their footing this season at 1-5-0.

The only team other than Silver without a loss this season put that mark on the line against a desperate, nearly down and out for good Tropical Blue side. Captain Maureen Ruchhoeft’s squad has proven to be the most resilient and least put-away-able team this season, by far, having survived the clock against Royal Blue, a three goal deficit with four minutes to play against Maroon, and even managing a tie against the well-oiled winning machine that is Silver. In short, you’d expect a fair amount of confidence from White as they strode onto the court in Week Ten, and you would certainly expect no panic to set in when Nick Vacchio converted on the powerplay (from Ian Crooks and Luke Wolmer) to draw first blood for Tropical Blue at 2:58 in the first. You’d be very right in assuming that White would bounce right back, as Vance Morra evened the tide just 1:20 later, scoring on one of twelve (!) first period shots for the favorites. Sean Kelly (27/29) has had a shaky season (especially by his lofty standards), but he was (paradoxically) ‘The Old Kid’ in this one, keeping Tropical Blue in it from start to finish. Unfortunately for Captain Kyra Forsyth’s crew, that score at the finish was 2-1 in White’s favor, and even more unfortunately, this loss may be the one that finishes them for good. Morra came through again in the third period, as well, but this time providing the helping hand on Geoff Downes’ game-winner at 4:37, wasting Kelly’s vintage valiance, and making the ho-hum effort from Chuck Bender (9/10) at the other end good enough for another win. So…White at 3-0-3…nine points…just tuning up for the second season, at this point. Tropical Blue…0-5-2…just three games left to play with hope (against hope) that winning out may get them into the final playoff spot. That hoping starts this Sunday as they take on color cousins, Aqua, while White look to remain undefeated (and help Tropical Blue in the process, incidentally) against cut-line-adjacent Purple.

Captain Emily Bennington’s Red has shared basement accommodations with Tropical Blue and Black all season, and while they have a ‘game in hand’ on Tropical Blue, and while they have proven they are capable of…you know…actual quantifiable offense, unlike Black, they have also reached the MUST WIN phase of their dismal Winter 2023 campaign. The back door is open (TWSS) for Red (more on this in a bit), but a loss to run and gun Charcoal in Week Ten would certainly not help their chances. Spoiler alert…they lost to Charcoal. The first period was not only scoreless, but the two teams managed a combined FIVE shots…one shot for either side every two minutes…wow. The shot totals ramped up considerably in the second period, but only for Charcoal, and one of those shots found a home behind Nick Vacchio to break the scoring seal, and put Red in an all too familiar position going into the third. That second period game-winner came off the stick of Owen Perks (from Mark Ennsmann), who is really doing his all to keep pace in the press with brother, Silas. Perks rattled off his second and third goals of the game in the third, and assisted on Ennsmann’s tally at the top of the period to bring his goal total on the season to eleven (tied for first with Eric Herrmann), and his point total to seventeen (one back of Herrmann). So, basically, if you have The Perks Boys™ on the same team, you’d win every game something like 17-0…give or take. Vacchio (17/21) was very sharp, and did all he could in the losing effort, but the operative word here is ‘losing’, and that is a word with which Red can no longer afford to be associated if they want to play into May. Don Tran (7/7) returned from his whirlwind vacation and got all suited up to stop seven whole shots…not the stuff of legends, but it’s not his fault the team in front of him is that strong. So…about that backdoor (TWSS) for Red…they have four games remaining. They face a tough challenger this Sunday in Maroon, but if they can generate more than seven shots against Deppensmith, they can expect more than zero goals. They then have Tropical Blue…a very beatable team that has been very beaten this season, Purple…a team Red would need to pass, and a team that has lived as close to the cut line as any team ‘in playoff position’ has all season, then one final hurdle in Aqua to wrap the regular season. Is a Red playoff berth likely…no. Is it possible…yes. Red can at least take solace in the fact that they have a certain amount of ‘berth control’ heading into their final four games.

Our cover team, Royal Blue, are probably overdue for some attention…some hype…maybe even a little Cup buzz. Captain Janet Goins’ team has, by most standards, ‘flown under the radar’ to this point, in spite of waging an impressive march toward the tippy top of the standings ladder. Were it not for a 4-0 loss to Purple, a game in which they were without the services of Nik Thompson, Glenn Pinto, and a scrappy role player by the name of Eric Herrmann, and an absolutely last millisecond (perhaps…extra millisecond) tie with White, this team might be 6-0-1, atop the standings, and (for now, anyway), holding the high ground on their April 23rd opponent, Silver. Yes, I know, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas, but…my point is that this is a damn good team that is maybe not getting their due in the ‘lamestream media’ (that’s me, in this case). Aqua (one of ‘the other blues’) has held their own this season, but quite honestly have yet to earn the kind of respect and buzz as the teams at the top of the standings have proven they deserve. They entered the fray with Royal Blue at 2-1-2, with just ONE player on their roster having recorded more than one goal through five games (David Schlatter). Eric Herrmann has a lot of goals this season, and he had the first one in this tilt, converting a pass from Captain Janet Goins into a 1-0 lead at 5:33 in the first. It was the captain herself doubling the damage less than a minute later, on a fluky/bouncy passing play from Kyle Prior. Down two, with Matt Rogers headed to the box for roughing up Carl Vankoughnett at 3:25 in the second, the situation looked grim for Captain Steph Palomo Schmidt & Company. Enter the aforementioned Schlatter, racing onto an outlet pass from Anthony Cerasuolo to cut the lead in half on the penalty kill, and give life to a limp Aqua bench. It was Schlatter again early in the third, scoring from distance (from Matt Rogers and Chris Tran) to knot the score at two apiece, and bring an already heated match to a boiling point. In hindsight, I regret congratulating Erin Plone on her first career SDFHL goal before the opening faceoff. That is because Erin Plone scored her second career SDFHL goal in this one (from Herrmann and Glenn Pinto) following her own rebound to slide the game-winner past a baffled Tran to seal the deal for Royal Blue, 3-2 over Aqua. I think maybe my pat on the back was the push in the right direction (well, the wrong direction, for me) here. Were it not for Chris Tran (21/24…and, oh yeah, an assist!), this game would not have been as close as it was. Nick Meglich (18/20) was no slouch on his end of the rink, stopping a good number of quality chances, including at least one Schlatter breakaway. The win has Royal Blue at 4-1-2, tied with Charcoal at ten points, and one point behind Silver for the catbird seat. Intrigue abounds, as both Charcoal and Silver remain on Royal Blue’s regular season slate…place your bets, and bring your popcorn. Aqua, meanwhile, will lick their wounds, and look to officially punch their playoff ticket with a strong showing in their remaining four games.

To say that Captain Shelby Shattuck and her ‘Black Widow’ have had a rough season is a pretty massive understatement…it’s a Hindenburg-level tragedy. With five games in the books, and zero (yes, zero) goals in that 0-4-1 span, the playoff door was already only VERY slightly ajar as Black took to the court against Olive in Week Ten, with the sense being that this might be the week that door slams shut for good. Olive came in riding a league-best three game win streak, flipping the script on what might have been their on horror story season after an 0-2-0 start. Olive’s resurgence has largely been led by Josh Kosh B’Gosh™ (Wirt and Tran), with the two accounting for the lion’s share of goals and assists over that stretch, but the hero role was played on this night by Erin Dowrey. Dowrey scored first for Olive in the first (from Wirt), assisted on Will Heinl’s game-winner later in the first, and sealed the win with an empty-netter in the final minute of play to snatch first star honors with a 2 and 1 showing. But…wait…Pope…surely I have misread the previous sentence…or, you have clearly made an error! If the second Olive goal was the ‘game-winner’, then…that would mean that Black actually scored a goal. Please explain how this is possible. Faithful reader, I do understand your confusion, but I can assure you that BLACK ACTUALLY DID SCORE A GOAL! Now, granted, I am told it was something of an odd/broken/fluky play, but Mike Chiaco (who else) finally broke the scoring curse for Black (from Justin Stege), and actually made this one a game down to the bitter end. That bitter end was a 3-1 loss…another on the pile for Black, and another in the sprint the other way for Olive. In all seriousness, congratulations on ending this historic streak, Black! Captain Shattuck and the gang will have to settle for the moral victory, as it may well be the only kind of victory they manage this season. At 0-5-1, with two of their remaining games coming against the likes of White and Silver…I feel confident in the assessment that this team is officially done. Hopefully they are able to just relax and enjoy the rest of the season…maybe score a few more goals…stay healthy, and live to fight another season. Zach Siemer (10/11) may suffer the stain of being the only goalie to have allowed a Black goal this season, but he is also now 2-0-0 with a snazzy .926/1.00 since coming on as Olive’s regular backstop. His efforts have helped to extend Olive’s win streak to four, and Captain Wendy Enright’s team is quickly becoming that ‘team you don’t want to draw’ come playoff time.

Captain Matt Rogers and ‘The Grape Ones’ entered the playoffs as the eighth seed long shots, and they exited the playoffs the same way. Black had something of an up and down season, but stuck the dismount in Week Nine with a 10-2 lambasting of Blue that pushed the stats totals on the regular season for Brennan Abel to 25 (13 & 12), and Carl Vankoughnett to 22 (11 & 11). Both teams fizzled in their playoff debut, but there was really no question who the favorite was in this match up. Joe Malki threw caution to that prevailing wind, scoring just 0:34 into the first to prop Purple up 1-0, and send a shock of tension through the Black ranks. Carl Vankoughnett righted the ship for Black in the second, with assists from his BFF linemates, Brennan Abel and Sadie Hellstrom, but both Chris Tran and Chris Malki seemed calm, collected, and in control in their respective nets. The dam finally broke in the third, as Vankoughnett found the game-winner in the early going, then followed minutes later with his third of the game. Abel sealed off any possible escape routes with an empty netter to cap the 4-1 win for Black, putting Purple out to playoff pasture in the process. Tran (18/19) recovered nicely from the early blip to keep his mates in the match long enough to muster some offense, while Chris Malki’s debut season came to an end with a valiant, but vain 18/21 effort. Black move on to face Grey in a battle of short-benched sides this Sunday in another loser-goes-home scenario.

Playoffs don’t always play out by the numbers, of course, but you can typically expect the top three seeds to be in the mix for the first three or four weeks of play. Captain Rob Gaudio and ‘Robby Reddy Piper’ proved an exception to that norm, losing a crazy, close contest to sixth-seeded Grey in their second season opener, then failing to find redemption against the seven seed in Week Two. A scoreless first was no real cause for concern, and Janine Ullloa first career SDFHL goal (CONGRATULATIONS!) in the second had Red on top, and feeling fine. Don Tran was a perfect 18/18 at this point, but you can’t really expect to get more than one or two against Sean Kelly, so he would have to continue that hot hand through the third…he didn’t. David Schlatter evened the score just thirteen seconds into the final frame, and Will Heinl follow less than a minute later to give Neon the lead. Luke Wolmer provide the lone assist on Heinl’s goal, then provided the only assist on Schlatter’s second of the night to make it 3-1. Schlatter would complete the hat trick with an empty netter in the waning seconds, and with that Red’s playoff hopes were wiped out in a stunning 4-1 loss. Kelly (24/25) proved why he is still considered the best in the business, while Tran (22/25) could only tip his cap, and shuffle out of the playoff picture with the rest of his mates. Neon march on in the Losers Bracket with renewed confidence, as the only team to have unseated an upper seed. They will look to make more waves this Sunday, as they face the four seed, Navy, in another elimination match.

Coming into Week Two of playoff action, the last time that Captain Jon Champine and ‘JONtario’ had lost was in Week Four…to Captain Arnold Gonzales and Navy. Since that loss, Green had won six straight, while outscoring their opponents THIRTY-FUCKING-TWO TO FIVE! So, Week Two scene set…storylines in place…Green looking to continue their reign of terror, and avenge their last loss, and Navy looking to repeat the defeat, knock the top seed into the Losers Bracket, and move on to the Winners Bracket final. There are no ties in playoff hockey, so…one of these possibilities became a reality…it was the former. Jon Salt continued his ‘man on a mission’ antics, opening the scoring two minutes into the first, then doubling the lead for Green minutes later. A scoreless second gave Alex Theis (24/27) and Navy some breathing room, but the third brought another wave from the favorites, with John Hwang building the lead to 3-0, then sliding home an empty net coffin nail to seal Navy’s fate, 4-0. Silas Perks (18/18) was sharp as ever, keeping both his Calder and Vezina campaigns cooking with another shutout/shut down effort. Navy remain alive in spite of the loss, and will stay afloat against upstart Neon in Week Three. The Winners Bracket final is a treat for Salt Bros™ fans, as Jon and Zach line up for Green and White, with a ticket to the big show on the line.

Grey jumped all over Red in their first playoff game, strutting out to a 5-1 lead over the three seeds before slinking back into a 5-4 sweat-it-out win. White’s playoff debut followed a similar pattern, with the two seed building a 4-0 cushion, only to let that lead erode in the third against a pesky Neon side. The Week Two questions, then…which team would manage to build a lead, and would that lead hold, or fold? It was Captain Tomáš Jankovic and White who did the building…a slow and steady effort starting with (who else) Zach Salt (from Justin Stege) in the first. Jeff Henderson netted his first goal (indeed, first point) of the season in the second, with the lone assist coming from his D partner, Andrew Wong. Meanwhile, Jeff’s brother, Matt, was working on a shutout, and was looking much steadier and sharper since some early season post-surgery comeback kinks,rust, and relapse. Justin Stege (from Salt) gave White some additional breathing room at 3:47 in the third, and that was more than enough to get the job done in this one…3-0 White over Grey. Henderson (Matt) earned first star honors for the game, and POTW honors for the week with his 20/20 outing, while Nick Meglich (9/12) and Grey took their lumps, and limped off to the Losers Bracket. White move on to a major marquee meeting with top-seeded Green in Week Three, while Grey bring an empty bench, and a full helping of hope into a loser-goes-home liaison with Black.

Boxes are up…recaps to come…

What better way to kick off a Canada-themed season than with a team honoring the nation’s greatest treasure/gift to the world, Nickelback. Captain Brandon Olsen and ‘Nickelbackcheck’ opened the season slate against the as-yet-unnamed and short-benched Purple, and the former rocked and rolled their way to a Week One win. A scoreless first frame saw Grey outshoot Purple 7-1, with Chuck Bender (24/27) filling in very capably in lieu of a much-anticipated Chris Malki netminding debut. Alexis DaCosta finally broke through early in the second (assists to Pat Gladstone and Eric Herrmann), and Captain Olsen himself provided insurance later in the period. DaCosta struck again in the third to give Grey a 3-0 lead that would hold through the final horn. Nick Meglich (8/8) was steady as ever in the shutout win, and Grey will look to double their delight with the return of ‘The Deputy’ in Week Two.

Two blue hues faced off in game two, with the darker denomination exerting total domination. Captain Chuck Bender’s Blue crew didn’t exactly have the highest hopes coming in, but the absence of their top pick, John Boddy, certainly didn’t bode well for a winning Week One. Jim LaGrossa picked up where he left off in his torrid Summer season, scoring just sixteen seconds in to give Navy a 1-0 edge. Nick Vacchio’s big night started late in the period with an unassisted strike, and LaGrossa capped the first with his second to balloon the bias to 3-0. Vacchio led off the scoring in the second, then assisted on Josh Wirt’s first of the season to make it 5-0, before Blue finally found a response in the form of an Alan Razoky powerplay marker. Mark DeGraffenreid pushed home a second Blue goal on a wild play minutes later, making it 5-2 Navy over Blue through two. Josh Wirt built the lead to 6-2 early in the third, Vance Morra answered for Blue late in the third, and Vacchio completed his hat trick with less than a minute to play to round out the scoring, and leave Blue done and dusted, 7-2. So, Vacchio 3 and 2, Wirt 2 and 2, and LaGrossa 2 and 0…not bad, for an evening’s work. Chris Tran (13/16) snatched the win in spite of a lukewarm (by his standards) performance, while Chuck Bender (16/23) was ice cold at the other end. Bender will need his A game, and a big career debut from ‘Dr. Dangles’ this Sunday to right the Blue ship…

You wouldn’t think people, let alone hockey players would be good for much of anything once they hit the big 5-0, but Carl Vankoughnett continues to defy his considerable age, and do his team (Black, this season) and elderly everywhere proud. Sean ‘Da Kid’ Kelly is far from fifty, but definitely no longer an actual ‘Kid’, but he was the one shining beacon for ‘Celine Neon’ in a disappointing debut. Those are your two stories in this one…let’s combine them into a spinetingling tapestry, shall we? Carl scored unassisted in the second…it was the only goal allowed by Sean (26/27) in a hard luck loss…the end. The subplots here were that Chris Tran collected a ho hum shutout (7/7) with Neon’s Captain Luke Wolmer and David Schlatter proving that ‘working from home’ does not make you a productive SDFHL employee. Still, Captain Crooks (nice ring to it) and Black will take the 1-0 win and run.

The Week One parity really hit full stride in the penultimate game, with the colors of the Canadian flag clashing in a fun, frenetic, but (mutually) futile match. Zach Salt proved he’s still the better Salt Boy™, opening the scoring for White unassisted in the first, adding a second (from Captain Tomáš Jankovich) in the second, and assisting on Old (Fat) Man Steve Linke’s game-tying tally in the (literal) last second of the second. The return of Joe Gaudio threw the ‘who’s the better Gaudio Boy™’ debate into a tailspin, as Joe potted two goals to Captain Rob’s 1 and 1. Eric Caligiuri made his triumphant (part time) return to league play to record the assist on Rob’s goal, and Joel Gattey cached a second assist on Joe’s second strike. When the dust settled, it would be a 3-3 tie between Red and White, with neither super sub Silas Perks (16/19), nor veteran Don Tran (14/17) collecting a W, nor suffering an L.

Captain Parsa Mostafavi brought his Gold group to the court in Week One, with high hopes that he and his new crew could rekindle some of the magic that found him backstopping a team in the Final just two weeks prior. Captain Champine and Green had other plans…and they carried out those plans to…plan, in a 3-1 win. Perennial second rounder, Mark Ennsmann, had Gold on the board bright and early (seventeen seconds in), but it would be all Green from there. Zach Siemer evened the score in the latter half of the second, with assists to newcomer, Justin Ker, and Captain Champine, himself, then Jon ‘Lesser Of The Salt Boys™’ Salt took over in the third. Salt’s first came at 9:15 in the third (on Mr. Ker’s second helper of the night), and he added a dash of insurance (see what I did there) less than a minute later. Silas Perks, of Young Canucks™ fame, earned the win in his (real) SDFHL debut with a 10/11 line, while the aforementioned Captain Mostafavi suffered the loss in his captaining coming out party.