Ice Demons start season with 5-2 victory over Pythons

The Ice Demons started the season with a W, beating the equally talented Pythons by a score of 5-2.

It was a tight game until the 3rd period. Zeke won the annual award for "First Ice Demons Goal of the Season" and Babs and Blankey now officially lead the team in penalty minutes (each with 2).

The star of the game had to be Bip, who pulled out a ton of great saves, giving us enough time to get the job done up front. Goal scorers were Zeke, Zimmy, Greg, Fred, and ???. I know it wasn't me! 2nd star of the game probably was Flopppy (for them), as he made tons of great saves on us too.

The refs were good and certainly much better rapport on the ice. Bip was already giving them a good workout and the one ref handled him beautifully, even checking on Bip later in the game to make sure that "we were all cool" which was much appreciated and made me sense that these guys will be better than the last crew.

Seeing how we're only playing each team TWICE (since it's only a 16 game regular season), it'll be exciting to see the next Demons/Pythons game, as we're pretty evenly matched.

NEW FRANCHISE RECORD -- We set a franchise record of having more fans there than the other team...it's incredible that it took us all these years to finally achieve this milestone. It's great to see our fans there! And yet, we didn't have Zimmy's crew, Fred's wife and our team equipment manager (Ricky), and others. Imagine if they came....we might have to start a season ticket plan!!!

Scratches for the game were Dave Dierwechter, Mike Dancona, Brad Peifer, Jessie Snyder, and Roger Johnson.

Ice Demons schedule (just our games listed)

1. 10/27 - 6:45pm vs. Pythons
2. 11/3 - 6:30pm vs. Pugs
3. 11/17 - 7:30pm vs. Bears
4. 12/1 - 3:30pm vs. Stars
5. 12/8 - 4:45pm vs. Hawks
6. 12/15 - 3pm vs. Crunch
7. 12/22 - 6:30pm vs. Raiders
8. 1/5/2008 - 4:45pm vs. Phantoms
9. 1/12 - 7:30pm vs. Pythons
10. 1/19 - 4:45pm vs. Pugs
11. 2/2 - 6:30pm vs. Bears
12. 2/9 - 6:30pm vs. Stars
13. 2/16 - 4:45pm vs. Hawks
14. 2/23 - 3pm vs. Crunch
15. 3/1 - 6:30pm vs. Raiders
16. 3/8 - 4:45pm vs. Phantoms

Double elimination tournament

Somebody please double-check me versus what you see on the MDL site to make sure I didn't enter one incorrectly!

Thanks,
--Babs

Game 1 - Saturday, 10/27, 6:45pm vs Pythons - Call for scratches

Welcome to another MDL hockey season, gentlemen! Let's make this one our best ever!

Here we go...."call for scratches!" If you (or your buddies for whom you speak) are not gonna make it, post here asap so that we can adjust our bench accordingly.

Also, please remember to bring your deposit for your league fee if you can.

Thanks!
--Babs

For me, the season officially began last night

I'm playing for a team in MD called the Hornets, and our first game was last night. We got blown out !!-0 (that's read: "many to 0") but the beer and comradery in the parking lot after the game was more than enough to make up for the loss. They seem to be a fun bunch of players (including 2 women) so I'm sure I'll enjoy playing for them. I think I might even be able to play some offense, which will be a nice change for me.

And get this: NO PENALTIES....although I was warned several times to play the puck (and not the man). ;-)

We played 3 defensemen...wow...with this weight I've gained over the past year, I feel like I'm dragging an anchor around out there. As the season progresses, especially given ice time in both MD and PA, I'm sure I'll lose (at least some) of that extra baggage.

Looking forward to this weekend!

Jersey details -- name, number, size

Guys,

My laptop (where all of my emails/files/etc are for the Ice Demons) is temporarily down, so I apologize that I don't have the recent emails from you guys on what you wanted. I'm going to start this thread so as to get everyone's jersey details right. Enter your name as you want it to appear on the back, the jersey number, and the size of the jersey. This document/thread will be used by Mitch for the actual work, so make sure it's right here!!! I know a couple of your requests, so I'll enter them below. If you're not below, add your details asap please...thanks!

Babs - 98 - XL
Bip - 29 - goalie cut
Daniels - 7 - L

MDL Schedule posted

http://www.mdlhockey.com/Unnamed%20Site%201/0708MDLSCHEDULE.htm

Ice Demons well represented at last pre-season game

Greg, Bip, Nate, Brad, Blank, Andy, Zeke, and Babs skated alongside of the Stars/Hawks players (3 FULL lines of both offense and DEFENSE!). We had 3-4 goalies, and it was a lot of fun! At one point, I joked with Tim Patton asking him if his Hawks were going to score any goals or just let the Ice Demons players do all of it. Our boys really represented us well!

Terry Bossler said it best: "it's sad that pre-season is so short as it's a lot of fun playing with players from other teams." I couldn't agree more!

--Babs

New jersey sizes

IF YOU DO NOT WANT A SIZE XL, YOU NEED TO LET ME KNOW ASAP!!! Bip gets a goalie cut.

Thanks, lads!

Team bill = $5500

Nate said that it's $5500 for our team bill. I'm not sure if that includes the refs and scorekeepers (I sure hope so!) so let's assume it does. That means that each full time spot will cost $393. Part timers = $197.

Full time players are expected to pay $200 at Game 1, then balance remaining balance by Thanksgiving.

Part time players must pay $150 at game 1, and the balance by Thanksgiving.

The new alternate jersey cost will be collected at a later date. Mitch has agreed to work with us a bit on that. (I've never met as great a vendor as Mitch Duguay when it comes to our hockey stuff. He should get the MDL Lifetime Achievement Award when the league creates it!)

IF THE SCOREKEEPERS WERE NOT INCLUDED IN THAT $5500 NUMBER, every player will pay $2/game, which comes out to 20 games @ $2 = $40 for the season.

If the refs weren't included, I'll just recalculate the entire thing when we find out the ref costs.

--Babs

It's official...our site is 3rd best in the MDL!

The Crunch's eTeamz site is kinda neat, but a pain in the ass to navigate. (Boy, who fills in all of those stats? They deserve to be paid in free beer after the game!)
The Bears site is DOA.
The Pugs site is still under construction. (C'mon Ritzy--finish it already!)
The Hawks link is dead.
The Phantoms site gets my vote for 2nd best site.
The Pythons don't even have a link!
And of course the Stars as usual have the best site.

That puts us at #3. Hmmm...3rd place....we seem to be stuck on that for everything in this league!?!?!! Oh well...we're better than the other half! ;-)

For you guys who have nothing or suck worse than us when it comes to this stuff, lemme tell ya: it don't get any easier than blogger.com. Even Tim Patton could "get 'er done." :-D

Cages, shields, or throwing caution to the wind (literally!)

I've got a half-shield but I'm contemplating getting a cage. Guys who have cages--do you like them (other than the fact that they save a trip to the dentist)?

I'm goofy looking enough...I don't need another fake tooth! ;-)

--Babs

This Saturday's 2nd game is now LOCKED...no more players!

According to the league website and emails I've had back and forth with Tim Patton, we're mixing WITH the Hawks/Stars/Raiders to form 2 teams for the late game. So the players expected to be there representing us are as follows: Bip's buddy, Nate, Nate's buddy, Blankey, Zeke, Andy, and Babs. Greg -- we apparently won't need you afterall, but show up if you want. There's concern that there's going to be TOO MANY now, so it's no longer an issue for us to get players.

Bip -- I'm trying to confirm with them that they'll rotate you in, as Tim said they already have 2 goalies. He left the impression that they didn't need/want anything beyond 2 goalies. It's up to you if you want to see if they'll let you in. Sorry for the confusion. I didn't know the Raiders were in that game with us...I thought the Raiders were the first game.

If your name isn't listed above but you told me you're coming, reply asap to me so that we don't have too many...likewise if you said you'd show but you're changing your mind, let me know asap so any guys beyond those 6 can play if they want to do so.

Later,
--Babs

Stars/Hawks want to play us this Saturday, 6:30pm

Guys,

Tim Patton said the Stars/Hawks are forming one team and they'd like to know if we could form the other. I need a head count of how many we can plan for so that we know how many we need to pick up from other teams ASAP. Saturday, 6:30pm start!

PLEASE REPLY ASAP!!!!

I sent this via blog because I won't have access to my GROUP email addresses until later tonight.

Thanks!
--Babs

Upcoming season info

Well boys, I attended the last league meeting this Thursday and this is some of the info you should know about. The league fee for this year is $5500 per team, that is $300 less per team. We are getting a new ref crew from the Lancaster area. It is going to be a 16 game season with a double elimination playoff bracket. It is the MDL's 10 year anniversary, keep an eye on the website for updates on the activities. See you all on the ice.

Possible lines

Jack and I talked last night and he threw out some lines. I modified what he thought by moving me up as shown below. Comments/requests welcomed. --Babs

Defense
Jack - (Joe/Doc/Dancona/Jessie)
Jim Hulse - Brad Peiffer

Offense
Zimmy - Fred - Babs
Greg - Nate - Nate's buddy
Zeke - Blank - Andy

This way, Nate and his buddy are together, Bip's buddies are together, and the Pine Grove trio (except me) are together. Obviously, this doesn't mean anything and can be changed at any time....just something to get the discussion going. If I can't keep up with Zimmy and Fred, I'm bump down or switch with Jack. I'm open for suggestions.

--Babs

VOTE for new alternate jersey!!

Guys,

I'd like to vote on whether or not we purchase an alternate/2nd jersey for the Ice Demons in a mostly WHITE color scheme (with red/black trim). This would be helpful when we play the Crunch (black) and the Hawks (red).

Here are some links from Mitch that would show possible jerseys we'd purchase:
http://www.nlsstudios.com/hockey10.htm -- Steel 402 or Mystic 502 or Storm 502
http://www.nlsstudios.com/hockey5.htm -- Buffalo or Ottawa

So far, Greg, Doc, Fred, Bip, Nate and I have voted. You need to vote too so that we can order this asap if the majority leans that way! Expected cost should not exceed $50. Anything beyond that can be picked up by our corporate sponsor.

Thanks,
--Babs