Demons fall apart early but keep spirits despite ejections

The Pugs beat us yesterday easily, after myself and Bip got ejected in the first period. Joe O'Neill also left the ice with Bip.

Let me start by saying that I'm not happy with my ejection yesterday early in the first. I take full responsibility for my actions and again am sorry to my team and the few fans we had in attendance. I should have known better than to drop my gloves after taking that vicious elbow in the face. I didn't do anything more than drop the gloves, but nonetheless, I know better than that.
Kudos to rest of the Ice Demons for sticking it out and continuing on.

I'm a scratch for next game. Good luck guys.

Demons double up on Pythons (and then some), 10-4

Well, I missed the game, but judging by what I hear, I wish I could have been there. Who knows...perhaps it would have been a closer game since we probably would have been shorthanded moreso with me in the lineup. (haha)

According to what I heard in emails: Fred had a great game with 4 goals, 2 assists; Greg had 1 goal and at least 1 assist; Zeke had a pair of goals, possibly even a hat trick depending on how they recorded it; Doc had an assist on one of Zeke's goals; Jesse had a goal; and finally, Bip didn't have any penalties again!

Scratches were Babs, Nate Friewald, and Mike Dancona.

Post corrections to this if it's incomplete/inaccurate!

See you this Saturday for the 2:30pm game versus the East Division leading Pugs.


--Babs

Demons lose to former Champs (Crunch), 5-3

The Demons mustered a challenge to the former champs, but made too many mistakes in the end and/or missed opportunities, as the Crunch defeated their West division rivals, 5-3.

Scoring for the Ice Demons were rookie Andy Conrad, who has been picking it up as of late for the Ice Demons, and veteran defenseman Sean "Jack" Daniels. Zimmy and Fred were held scoreless.

Missing in the lineup were many, including: Mike Dancona, Justin "Zeke" Strouphauer, Jesse Snyder, team-leading goal-scoring rookie Greg Carder, and Dave "Doc" Dierwechter. It showed too, as the Ice Demons were not winning the races to the puck and seemed to be in "conservative mode" all night long (no doubt due to respecting the Crunch's explosive transition/well-skating offense and lack of reserves).

This commentator would like to say that we should roster 20 players...then, when only half showed up, we'd still have a decent chance. With only 8 guys showing up and the roster being what it is, it's pretty hard to win, especially against the best team in the league who outscores it's opponents with a +41 rating (versus us, who had a -2 rating) coming into yesterday's game.

All in all though, it was a respectable performance, given the numbers (or lack thereof).

It's worth noting that the Pugs and Crunch both have the lowest PIMs in the league, and that's a big reason they're #1 and #2 in the standings. Last season, we were either the lowest or 2nd lowest, and we were #3 in the league. We can still come back and make it a respectable finish...we just need everybody to show up and have Babs and Bip not take penalties (especially dumb ones). Note: Bip had no penalties again this week. Babs had one after a Crunch player got into it with Joe O'Neill in front of the net. (Hey, I wasn't gonna let him do that to Joe!)

Guys--if you're not gonna make it to the game...please call Zimmy, Babs, or Jack and let us know. It's just nice to know ahead of time rather than being surprised in the locker room just minutes before we hit the ice.

And on that note: Babs is a possible scratch for this Saturday's game and will let Jack/Zimmy know later this week.

Good seats are still available...call 1-800-4DEMONS for tickets today!

Bip nets 2nd shutout in 3 games, Sanford tallies hat-trick as Demons shoot down Hawks, 7-0

Bob "Bip" Bohner reminded all of why he's one of the best goalies in the league when he achieved his 2nd shutout in the past 3 games to lead the Demons victorious over the rival Hawks. Also of note--Bip didn't have any penalties again. ;-)

Fred Sanford had a hat-trick, including a highlight quality top-shelf backhander in the slot in the 3rd period; Captain Zimmy had a goal; rookie Andy Conrad had 1 goal, 2 assists; and Justin "Zeke" Strouphauer added an assist along his his sweet one-timer on a "tick-tack-goal" play in the 3rd. I think team-leading-rookie forward Greg Carder notched one too, adding to his impressive stats this year.

The Ice Demons looked sharp in a game that I thought had many passes (most of which were on target!) and hustle. The defense clicked, as Jesse Snyder filled in for the missing Sean "Jack" Daniels. As Freddie noted in the locker room afterwards "we beat them to the puck" in many siutations. The little battles paid off as the Demons took the big victory.

On a disappointing note, the end of the game handshake got nasty as a scuffle developed between Bip and Hawks goalie Tommy Hanrahan, er, uh, I mean Scott D'onofrio. Some words were exchanged and then a small fight seemed to break out. Apparently it didn't end there though, as it continued off the ice as well, into the locker room area as well as after leaving the rink. The Hawks leadership apologized for the incident and we appreciated that, along with their gestures to make things right, including a suspension of sorts for some pretty nasty things that were said.

I for one would like to say that while I'm a fierce competitor on the ice, I hope to always remember (and that everyone else does) that it's just a game. Yes, I'm aggressive, and yes, I make it my job to "even up" things at times when I feel one of our players was unjustly hit or cheap shotted. You could say that I'm the Craig Berube of the squad. (Remember when Flyers coach Craig Ramsey sent Berube out on the power play right after the other team cheap shotted one of the Flyers key players? Yeah...that. I guess that's why I've got the 3rd most penalties in the league this year...well, I lie...I'm just too lazy to keep skating and hooking/interference calls and I seem to go hand in hand....lol) But in the end, the game is over when the 3rd period buzzer goes off. I shake hands, even with the guys I'd love to have another shot at on the ice...but that's the key: "on the ice." When we're off the ice, I'm back to the other Mike Babcock...the nice, Christian guy who'd have a beer with most anybody. Sure, I'll take on Stoltzfus or Stephenson or any of the other guys in the league ON THE ICE, but when the horn blows, it's over...until the next time we step back onto the ice. One final thing: the league can't force anyone to shake hands at the end, but I gotta tell you that I have NO respect for ANYONE who leaves the ice without shaking hands. Anyone who does that--be it on my team or some other team--is not a good hockey player--regardless of his stats. I'll respect a 1-rated player who shakes hands before I respect a 5-rated player who doesn't.

And that's it this week from Babs' Corner...good seats are still available for this Saturday's game versus the seemingly unstoppable Crunch. They've got twice as many players in the top scoring ranks as us, but just remember--any team can be beat on any given day...so show up and let's let them enjoy their right to lose!!! ;-)