This upcoming week is our last game before a break due to Thanksgiving. The conclusion of those games will put a full cycle of hockey in the record books as every team should have played every other team. I'm happy to say I've not heard very much as a whole in regards to issues or complaints. Just like anything, I'll a few comments here and there, but not anything major.
Keep in mind, a team may have beat you in the first go-around by many goals, but the next go-around may be your week. Don't judge a team, player or season by a few games.
For this week,
Puckheads Vs Rink Rats -
Last season's two expansion teams go head-to head in this week's match up. Rats bring an impressive 3-3 record to this game while Puckheads 2-2-2 (they don't like taking games to OT). Both teams have their star players like Billings, Whipps & Young for Rink Rats and Hunt, Coffie and South for Puckheads, but it's going to be the role players that make the difference in this game.
Propst and Pierce have been non-factors for the Puckheads this season. One often wonders why these 2 even play hockey, but this is their coming out party. Each will earn their first goal of the season and contribute to the team's success. On the flip-side, Rink Rats have their own dead weight with Evans, Dayton & Syverson. These 3 have been a sore spot in the Rats lineup, and only remain due to sheer necessity based on others being injured. This game will have Dayton record a hat trick while Syverson and Evans tally 2 assists each. The game goes to the Rinks Rats by a score of 5-4.
Voodoo Vs Alien
Alien comes off a disappointing loss last week and the difference maker, Bafia was not there to help his team control the game. This week, Bafia will be there and the results should be different. Players like McCallum, Brand & Adams will see much less ice time on defense with Bafia back in the line up as he typically sees 45 minutes of ice times. If guys like Knipper & Dylo don't pull their weight offensively, Joe's not afraid to take the puck up and score as he has done on countless occasions.
Voodoo's ice time hog is none other than Bentzen. It doesn't matter if their are 4 on the bench or 40, Todd will stay on the ice until the end of period buzzer reminds him that there is a break in the action. You'd think he was a contributor to the team with those kinds of minutes, but not so much. Word on the street was that there may have been a Whitaker sighting, but it was just a photoshopped image of a look-a-like running through the forest. Damos, Cohan & Mudge will need to focus on this game and not the fact that they're all missing Nashville on ABC. This one goes to Alien 6-2.
Victors Vs Red Alert
What do you get when you have hot goaltending, a powerful offense, solid defense and a good penalty kill unit? The Chicago Blackhawks. Red Alert on the other hand just needs Greene and Swanson to show up for the game and the rest is irrelevant. A source close to the team (Tom Kirvan asked to remain anonymous) was stating that both Swanson and Greene would both be "no shows" for this week's game. Both are travelling to Gary, Indiana for the filming of "Hoosiers 2 - Hockey in the Corn Fields". That being said, guys like Curran, Worth and Becker bought an extra supply of Depends to bring to the game, as this one may get out of hand in a hurry.
Victors comes in with a strong win last week. Marc LePera had a lights out night last week scoring a hat trick and even assisting on all 3 of his own goals. This week, he duplicates his output and does it all in the 1st period. Nesbit, Bartak & Hudson also have great games and each get a hat trick to add to the obnoxious score of 12-1 in favor of Victors.
Kryptonite Vs. Forklifts of Des Moines / Kyles Bikes -
Will this be the week for the undefeated to fall? I believe so. The FDM/KB team looks to rest their starters in preparation of the Turkey Tourney. "It's no different than Ovechkin telling his team that he's playing in the Olympics for his country because it's important to him" stated the Radcliff duo. "The Turkey Tourney is our Olympics and we're resting up!" Guys like Wahlert and Goodman don't recognize the Thanksgiving holiday so they will play this Wednesday since it's "just another day to stuff your face with turkey". Brekke was heard saying that he won't show up to the game, but not because he's preparing for the Turkey tourney, but rather he doesn't come when he knows his good players won't make it to cover up for his lack of ability on the ice.
Kryptonite is bringing everyone and the kitchen sink. Their full roster consists of 22 players and all will be in attendance. They've already been working on their bench strategy and determining who will sit on who's lap while waiting for their shift. Miller will sit on Dean, Hill
on Close, Gugat on Paoli and Toigo on Huyck. This will allow for quicker and more accurate shift changes. This excessive bench depth will prove to be a great strategy and provide FDM/KB their first loss.....6-4.
