Bip's dad

Bip's dad died on Thanksgiving and was buried yesterday at Indiantown Gap. The entire Ice Demons team sends its condolences to Bip and his family. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.


--Babs

Scorekeepers money

Just to make it clear: we've instructed Mitch to pay the scorekeepers $300 out of our team monies for this season. That, combined with the money we gave them at Game 1 ($25 credit to Fred Sanford---Fred-correct me if I'm wrong), gives them about $325 for the season. That's a generous offering. Don't feel obligated to tip them on the way out as Billy and Peter both know that we've made this donation to them via the league monies. Thanks to Mitch Duguay for relaying the monies from us to make our (accounting) lives easier.

I'll get an accounting from Mitch after the holiday and then let you know what we're going to owe extra beyond the initial estimated payment. The expected jersey cost is $62, but that money won't be due until early 2008.

Have a nice Thanksgiving!
--Babs

Stats after week 4, per Tim Patton

Check 'em out and let me know (via comments here...not in email) if adjustments are to be made.

Here's the link: http://mbsoftwaresolutions.com/hockey/StatsAfterWeek4.pdf

Demons skate past Bears, 5-2

The Bears scored early to give them a 1-0 lead, but that lead was short lived as Andy Conrad tied the score later in the first with a nice equalizer.

The score remained deadlocked at 1-1 until midway through the 3rd period, when Sean "Jack" Daniels buried two great feeds from Steve "Zimmy" Zimmerman to give the Ice Demons the lead for good within a span of about a minute. Zimmy notched another for the black and red, and Jack ended up with a hat-trick before the game was over.

The Bears played a tight game on us and the 2nd Bears goal was a beauty rebound goal, smacked out of the air after Gilmer walked away from the Jim/Zimmy board collision to give the Bears their 2nd and final goal of the game. Bip made a great first save, but didn't get a chance to spoil the rebound.

Plenty of Ice Demons assisted on goals, again showing the depth of scoring/helpers that this team has become. Let's hope this trend continues.

Scratches were Fred Sanford, Greg Carder, Brad Peifer, Mike Dancona, Jesse Snyder, Roger Johnson.

There's nothing worse in hockey than putting on wet gear

After helping the Hornets (MD) to a 3-1 win last night (1G, 1A!), I put my equipment out to dry out before Saturday's contest against the Bears. Unfortunately, the porch where I can lay out my stuff is not covered and completely open. This morning, I awoke to the sound of rain on the windows. I rushed downstairs...only to confirm my gear is completely soaked. I then took it inside the basement to dry out. I didn't like that as my first choice as that's the cat's area, and cats seem to find my gear all too appealing. Been there, done that, had the stinky equipment (not to mention my allergies going hayway at the game).

Now I can understand perhaps the pure genius Dave Friewald used to employ by always leaving his gear inside his car trunk---sure, it stunk so bad that it could kill you if you had over-exposure, but at least his gear never got rained on or had cat hair/smell all over it. ;-)

Last season I noticed some manufacturer selling an equipment bag that had an "air circulation system" and air pump, designed to move airflow in your bag, allowing you to basically keep your gear in your bag. Price tag was steep ($180 total?), but times like now, I think it might be worth it.

I hate putting on wet gear.

The Hawks/Bears controversy over 5-rated player

There's apparently controversy brewing in the league over a 5-rated player who wants to play in the league, particularly for the Hawks.

Some of you may recall the guy--he referred in some games over the past 2-3 years. His name is Tony --he was the young, thin ref who, imo, was the best ref out there at the time.

Here's a summary of what I've been told (and Bears/Hawks reps can post corrections here as they see fit):

• Hawks 5-rated player Ben Westerman isn't able to play
• Hawks players, who already play with Tony at the Oaks rink league, talk to him about him coming on board as a Hawk to replace Westerman
• Hawks already have a 5-rated player -- Nate Beil (who, imo, is a high 4...Nate is not the same as Gorman, Barry, Sanford, JP Mitton, etc. And Nate knows I like him so this isn't a personal dig of any kind--I have great respect for the man who was once the little kid I coached back in the 90s--he rocks for the Hawks for sure)
• Hawks were rumored to be trying to get Hanruchuck (sp?) from the Stars in the off season, but I think that fell through
• Jon Pogera left the Hawks of his own accord, going to the Stars without any apparent return pick/player from the Stars (this will probably need to be corrected by the other team reps). I don't think this has anything to do with the Tony Bears/Hawks issue, but nonetheless, I listed it just in case
• Bears do not have a 5-rated player
• MDL historically tries to evenly distribute 5-rated players coming into the league to team's that do NOT aleady have 5-rated players...exception would be Matt Fangman issue of 2 seasons ago when Fangman apparently said he'd only play for the Phantoms and refused to play for the Ice Demons...Ice Demons waived rights to Fangman in exchange for Phantoms draft pick...this occurred all prior to that season's draft

From my POV, this is a case of "do you allow a guy to play with his buddies" vs. "do you strive to keep parity in the league and help out those teams who really need it." It's not an easy call, as I can see both sides. If it were me coming into the league and I had the talent Tony does (which I don't of course!), I'd like to play with my buds, but at the same time, I wouldn't mind playing against them too. They're my friends regardless, and that's what makes this league so special and different from all of the other sucky rink leagues out there. This league operates as a whole unit, for the betterment of the league (I would hope), and not just a collection of individuals who only care about themselves. I'm not sure where I'd vote on this, but I'd like to see a win-win of some scenario where both the Hawks and Bears benefit from whatever decision is made. I have friends on both teams (and likewise, there are guys I don't care for on both teams), so I have no personal bias one way or the other on this one. One word that is important to me though in all of this: parity. I don't want to see another "lop-sided" kind of scenario like the Crunch were in their first season. Nobody does. Even Hawks players who truly want good, evenly matched fair play don't want this (I hope). For those who want to win at all costs---this isn't the league for you. This is a fun, Saturday league where we all have a good time and enjoy *competitive* play. It's no fun to either blow somebody out or get blown out...and if you disagree, you're absolutely in the wrong league. In fact, you'd probably be a former member of the Coyotes, one of the a-holes who hopefully will never set foot on the MDL ice ever again. (Yes, I told you so....zebras don't lose their stripes...those 3 were criminals/thugs/punks).

Oh, er, uh, sorry...got off on a tangent there. Anyway, weigh in with your thoughts on this so that Fred or Nate can vote on behalf of the Ice Demons majority position on this matter.

Thanks!
--Babs

Call for scratches for Game 3 vs Bears, 11/17 at 7:30pm

Ok men, if you're not going to make it, post it here asap so we can get some of the part-time guys involved if possible!

Already known scratch for Game 3: Fred Sanford

Ice Demons demolish Pugs, 6-1

Fred Sanford got the Player of the Game award as he notched his first hat-trick of the season with some beautiful goals, proving that he's our 5-rated player along the likes of Barry and Gorman. The one that stands out to me is the goal in the 2nd where he roofed it in the top corner and it popped right back out...I'm glad the refs were in position to call it a goal! Well done, Fred!

We also had scoring across many other guys, showing a good trend from the Ice Demons--depth for scoring. One pretty play that I had the pleasure to witness up close was a pretty "tic-tac-goal" play in the 2nd. Nate Friewald relayed a sweet pass to the scorer...perhaps Zimmy? My memory sucks.

The new lad, Nate's buddy Nate (don't have my files here to list his last name!) did good in his first outing, playing the 2nd half of the game at defense. It'll be great to get Brad Peifer into the lineup hopefully next game.

Bip almost had his first shut-out of the season until we screened him and let one score in the final seconds of the 2nd period.

The Pugs will be a hurting bunch this season without Jon Hoffman in their lineup. They've got some good players, but without Hoffman, this commentator expects them to finish in the bottom half. Oh well...at least they'll get a good draft pick for next season!

The Ice Demons are off this weekend. Next game is Nov 17th versus the Bears. Good seats are still available, and it was incredibly awesome that we had more fans than the other team last game, so please please please bring your family and friends to next game to support your Ice Demons team!

Healthy scratches were Mike Dancona, Joe O'Neill, Jesse Snyder, Brad Peifer, and Roger Johnson.

Call for stats from Games 1 and 2

Guys,

Let me know what you did (scoring/assist-wise) in Game 2, and Game 1 also if you can remember. We'll keep track here to "check" the league's stats with ours. The excel spreadsheet I saw after just 2 games tells me that the same inaccuracies continue somewhere in the chain.

Thanks,
--Babs

Game 2 -- 11/3, 6:30pm vs Pugs -- call for scratches

Ok men...call for scratches....anybody not gonna make it? As far as I know, everybody is expected to be there! Let me know asap if you're a scratch so we can adjust the lineup accordingly.

Thanks!
--Babs