United We Stand, On Wednesday We Fall

A new season begins Wednesday for the ABC League. With the quest for the Fleming Cup beginning, I also felt the need to provide the odds for week 1 and a breakdown of favorites & underdogs.

So here goes the 100% error free picks of the week:

Game 1 Puck Hawgs Vs. Red Alert
Hudson in net for Hawgs & Hansen minding the net for Red Alert should provide a great match up. I watched the Pucks Hawgs during training camp and saw a work ethic second to none with Dudechenko. "She's an animal on the ice...we're all scared of her", commented Captain Beede. "She was very upset when she heard there was a hat trick rule in place." Her firepower coupled with superior speed of Gannon & Tessau makes this an easy pick. As for Red Alert, the 4-J Line (Jim, Joe, Josh & Justin) have made it very clear they are not happy with their 5th linemate, Paul. "We made a bid to pick up Jon Rech to give us the 5th J, but Tony felt Paul was a better choice." This being said, all eyes will be on the Battista Bros to keep the damage to a minimum during this game. Hawgs by 2.

Game 2 Cup o Kryptonite Vs. Yankee Doodle Dandy Tattoo
With Kryptonite being my choice for best regular season record, I believe they begin down that road in Week #1. A late season acquisition of Richard Huyck should prove to be huge. Richard retired back in 2002 when he played with the Des Moines Dungeon. After a 2 year lay off, he made a comeback and played with the Ankeny Ant Eaters for 4 more years. During that off-season, he had surgery on both knees, shoulder replacement & hair implants. This was enough to cause him to retire again. But on a warm summer afternoon this past year, Matt Johnson recruited the once famous, now rejuvenated Huyck. His name & retirement are just like the famous Favre (prounounced Farve)...and Huyck (prounced Hike). As for YDD Tattoo Voodoo they play this game like poopoo. They won't lose EVERY game this season, but week one will have them on that track. It will take a few games for guys like Tim "Jerry" Lewis, Dan "Me Too" Toomey, and Caleb "I wish I was Woody" Harrelson to get their game on track. With Reeves facing 40-50 shots this game, he'll only be able to do so much. Kryptonite by 4.

Game 3 Irwins Vs. Alien
With Bast being on the upswing in his career, a solid offense scoring goals & a defense that is unbeatable (that includes me), this pick would be a no-brainer in favor of Alien...however, Bast misses the home opener due to his volunteer efforts building squirrel shelters in Oklahoma. "We know squirrels need houses, but we need our goalie", sobbed Knipper when he heard the news. "Its a bunch of #@!%#^" Alien sub goalie is Barker, and although that seems like a comparable replacement, Blaine is the best 3 period goalie, not 6 periods. He'll be well spent 5-6 minutes in and even I can't stop the shots for him. Irwins on the other hand has players like adult league veteran Potthoff, newcomers Place & Johnson, and always lethal Rob "18" Wheeler. Team captain Irwin stated "We're gonna beat those Aliens so bad they wish they played in another galaxy." Big words...but accurate. Irwins by 3.

Good luck to all!

Expert Analysis

Last Tuesday's ABC League Pre-Season game was a final tune up for the upcoming season. It was an opportunity for players to fine tune their game, tweak their gear and shuffle up the roster. Although it was not a good predictor of the final standings. Players like Johnson (Cup o' K), Dylo (the slow one of Alien), and Koenig (Tattoo) logged many minutes last Tuesday as their team's primary starters rested for regular season play.

So it is my responsibility to provide a professional breakdown of how the league will play out. On the surface it may seem as though teams are relatively even, but throw in the variables that only an expert such as myself can pick out, and you have a better insight. Here are my end of season rankings from worst to first and an explanation.

6th Place - Yankee Doodle Dandy Tattoo
Facts-Possgate, Lewis & Jones will all see their fair share of goals. Throw Reeves in net and you have a chance to win every game....heck, even go undefeated. Here is where the HOWEVER comes in. The likes of Whitaker, Koenig and late season acquisition of Brown not only offsets the top performers, but brings the team down in such a way that is unrecoverable. If this was a mock trial league where a team needed an expert witness in the area of tattoos, then yes, 1st place...but its hockey.

5th Place - Alien Vegas
Can you say NY Yankees of Adult League Hockey. Signing top dollar players like Knipper & McCallum in the off season, and big re-signing of the "good" Dylo would lead most to believe that this was a strong team. In the past, their goaltending was suspect, but after many years of B,C & D league play, this will be the year of Bast. Unfortunately, the offensive production will be poor. With Dylo's wicked wrister appropriately hitting 4' above the net, Blomquist's rogue defensive ability, Lowell's lack of shooting all together & Clutts more worried about diaper changing than line changing, this team will be in for a long season.

4th Place - Irwins
What do you get when you take Anthan, Wheeler, Beyer & Hickey and put them all on the same team? 4th Place. After a long break and trying to come out of retirement like Theo Fleury, Dave Lasnek will be a bright spot for Irwins. Goodman has appropriately chosen the color yellow for team jerseys. This team will play like a yellow traffic light, unsure if they should stop playing all together, or try and gun it to make a game of it. Grumblings from the Irwins camp also indicates that Holloway & Rech already looking for a possible trade.

3rd Place - Red Alert
Strong team. Powerful offense. Tight Defense. This will get this team over .500 and a solid lock for 3rd place. Many may look at roster and find no flaws or weaknesses. Lady Byng candidate West, Battista Bros wrecking crew, Kent & Curran leaders on & off the ice all show a group that shows very little room for error. The only mistake made by brilliant team captain Hansen is the lack of purchasing a mirror. By selfishly putting himself in net, he gave up his team's chances of a 1st or 2nd place finish. They could have thrown Swift in net and had a better chance!

2nd Place - Puck Hawgs
You can put lipstick on a pig and its still a pig, but put lipstick on a Hawg and you have a contender for the championship. This team is definitely not pretty, but you've got lightning in a bottle with Bartak, Hewlett & Kozak. Add the two ladies (Lisa & Nataliya) and you've got a team destined for greatness. Wildcard question will be whether Hudson can run through an injury free season, after all 33 games is a long time.

1st Place - Cup O' Kryptonite
While other teams were picking up players willy nilly, Team Owner, manager & star defenseman Johnson was busy forging what may be the next dynasty. As players like Bishop (Alien), Gannon (Hawgs) & Zorich (YDD) approached Matt to play on his team, he politely said "no". His vision was bigger than even these players. Even friendships with Feathers (Red Alert) were broken as Johnson worried more about the Kryptonite empire than he did about loyalty to an ex-teammate. An impenetrable defense with Dean & Hill, and an offensive power 2nd to none of Smiley, Kundel & Barker create a winning combination. Oops, I almost forgot that weak link in net named Blaine Barker. How can you beat this group? You can't.

All in all, any given Wednesday, any team can win. Depending on who shows up, line match ups, and more. In the end, with all things equal, my picks are a lock. This doesn't mean I believe Cup O' Kryptonite wins the Fleming Cup as the playoffs are an entirely different animal. To be continued.....

Playing for the Fleming Cup

With the ABC League start just around the corner, we felt we needed to start a tradition of playing for a Championship Trophy.

The NHL has the Stanley Cup which according to Wiki is:

The Stanley Cup (French: La Coupe Stanley) is an ice hockey club cup trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs champion. It has been referred to as The Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously (chiefly by sportswriters) as Lord Stanley's Mug.[1] The Stanley Cup is surrounded by numerous legends and traditions, the oldest of which is the celebratory drinking of champagne out of the cup by the winning team.

I felt we needed something similar with some meaning to it as well. So we have named our top award as The Fleming Cup in honor & memory of Gabe Fleming. Gabe was an adult C league player that passed away on Saturday, May 23 2009 and as his obituary stated "Gabe enjoyed playing and watching hockey and died with his skates on. "


With 6 strong teams in its inaugural year (wow sounds like the Original 6), the Cup is up for grabs. Best of luck to all in pursuit of this prized possession.