Captain Siemer’s Tie Dye were on a bad trip to start the season, sweating and shaking on the basement couch at a not-so-groovy 0-2-2, and closing in on full freak out mode, man. Week Five saw the long-awaited arrival of the SDFHL’s latest mythological hero, Brian Sheptycki. The new comer dropped in, and his effect was immediate, and very potent. The chemistry certainly seems to be altered for this team, and future opponents should be bracing themselves for a whole Lotta Sheptycki Damage…
Alan Razoky put this week’s cover team on the board in the first minute of play, and assisted on fellow Calgarian Brian Sheptycki’s first career goal later in the period. Sheptycki, in turn, recorded a second assist on a goal credited to Melissa Busby (clearly a scoring error…I will look into it) to swell the lead to three. OG SDFHLers, and ride or die homies, Raj Patel and Jerry Gonzales, assisted on each other’s counter-strike offerings for Orange over the next two periods, but another Sheptycki goal (again…scoring error…Busby credited with an assist), and another Sheptycki assist (on one of two legitimate London Peters insurance tallies in the third) powered Tie Dye to their first win of the season, 6-2 over Orange. The win elevates Tie Dye out of the muck at the bottom of the standings, at least for now, while Orange remain safely tucked towards the top of the table, in spite of the loss.
Red scored first and last, but it was another week, another win for the indomitable ‘Eight-Ball Bender’. Carl Vankoughnett sparked a run of five unanswered goals, including a pair from perennial scoring sensation, Jeff Chen, one from rookie Quinn Hume, and the Steve Goncalo GWG, as White continued to blow past opponents in running their record to a perfect 5-0-0. The 5-2 stroll past Red had the victors rattling off over thirty shots…something of a rarity in this league, and a further illustration of White’s utter dominance. The numbers are staggering across the board for this juggernaut, who look destined to rumble straight through to the finish line without a scratch. Red, meanwhile, now stand at 1-3-1, and will need to scratch their way up the standings a bit if they hope to avoid a pre-Labor Day layoff.
Captain Mark Ennsmann put Black on the board in the first period, and Don Tran (20/20) made sure that was all his team would need to prevail over Purple, 3-0. Andrew Jacobsen netted a pair in the third period to dash any hope of a comeback for Captain Salt & Associates, who suffered their second straight shutout loss to drop to 2-2-1 on the season. The win is the first for Black since Week One, and it levels their record at an identical 2-2-1. Cory Brin was steady and sharp in his return from a concussion he suffered back in Week Two, but Purple definitely missed the dynamic defensive duo of Andrew Wong and Andy Strathman in the loss.
Two teams in desperate need of their first win collided in Week Five, with Gold taking on Lime. More accurately, Gold took on half of Lime, as attendance issues once again plagued Captain Enright’s side. The understaffed underdogs fought hard, and employed a definitive strategy of ice, ice baby, but Gold broke through in the second period, and marched on to a 4-0 win. Connor Miller assisted on all four Gold goals, including Chad Goins’ game-winner, Captain Janet Goins’ power play tally, and Tim Vick’s lead-padding pair. Matt Henderson stopped what little he faced (7/7), while Alex Theis was stellar, but stung by ceaseless salvos (28/32). The win vaults Gold into the thick of the playoff hunt, while Lime are barely ‘Stayin’ A Lime’ at 1-4-0 with four games to play. It doesn’t get any easier with Black up next, but if the Malki boys make it out to play the rest of the way, anything is possible…
Some losses hurt more than others, and Pink’s 2-1 loss to Green was particularly painful for Mark DeGraffenreid (yours truly), who is almost certainly out for the rest of the season with a fubarred hamstring. Captain Joshi’s crew fought hard, with Ramsey Ksar cutting the lead in half in the late going, but the Dan Jurgens goal off a draw with :05 on the clock in the first, and a late second period strike from Steve Jones spelled doom for a team already soaking in doom near rock bottom in the standings. Both goalies were sharp in the low scoring affair, with Andrew Lockard (17/18) prevailing over Chris Tran (22/24). Perhaps a poised and potent Pope replacement and a little grit can turn things around for Pink, starting this Sunday against Purple, but it is definitely coming to the now or never part of the season. Meanwhile, the Green machine keeps on chugging, still sitting in striking distance of the top spot with four games left to play.