And Here We Go! 2016B Season week 1 recap

My name is Billy Concarney and we are kicking off another action packed season here at the HFHL and it looks like it might be our best so far! We are welcoming 5 rookies into the league this season and our talent pool has gotten bigger and deeper.

The draft was held on September 8th at Eastside Mario's in Bayers Lake, who have graciously once again picked up our player of the week awards, and all captains strategically picked a team they thought would give them a shot at the coveted HFHL Cup. Well this past Monday was the beginning of the journey and there is no telling what could unfold.

The first game of the night was between the Bulldogs and the Sabres.

The Dogs and the Sabres finished neck and neck in the race last year fighting for ...er...5th and 6th place, but hey it was still a close battle!

The ball dropped and the boys were off to the races! Mark Duggan recorded the first goal of the year on a pass from Jeff "The German" Sheppard, who has come back from a stint in the European Semi Pro Wiffle Ball league, or was it waffle pan league, we don't know, but he's back! One nothing for the Dogs

Trevor "the Law Man" McGuigan tied it up shortly afterwards off a rebound from a blistering shot by Jake "The Snake" Haddad and this one was tied at one all!

Duggan picked up his second goal of the night on a feed from Matt Seto followed by what was the game winner by league veteran Evan "The Knight" White when he was fed a clever pass from Greg Sullivan. 

The Sabres grabbed a power play goal in the third when Colin Waugh sent a bullet in the top corner off a pass from Trevor McGuigan, but Evan "The Knight" kept the Sabres at bay by grabbing his second goal of the night.

This was a low scoring affair. Both keepers Craig "The Gargoyle" Burgoyne and Paul "I Wish I was" Highmore served notice that they are bringing their A game this season.

Bulldogs win their opener by a score of 4-2

Our next game was between the new look Lynx, who were winless last season, and the deeply talented Fire.

This one started out with the Fire dominating right out of the gate. Tom "Will I Get A" Wynn stood on his head in the first facing 20 shots and making some unbelievable saves. But the Fire were relentless and took a 2 zip lead into the second.

The next two period would be scorchers as the Fire ripped a total of 59 shots at Wynn, and in doing so picked up 6 goals in total. The Lynx on the other hand could not get the wheels going on the bike. Actually they weren't even spinning. Missing two key components on the front end didn't help, but they still managed to get 40 shots off but could only muster one tally.

The big players in this one were Alex "The Codroy Kid" Gale, who had a goal and 3 helpers...yes folks he may have actually passed the ball! Also Roy "The Toy" Monk sporting his new old fashioned moustachio grabbed 2 goals and a helper and Eric "Brother of Alex" Gale added 2 tails as well. Fort the Lynx, their only bright spot was the play of Tommy Wynn.

Fire win this one by a score of 6-1...Lynx remain winless since 2015... but change is gonna come boys, change is gonna come!

Next up we have the Slayers and the Hackers. These teams are both big time deep. Dave "Super" Cooper wants his title back and tonight was the start of that quest. Johann "Tierra" Tienhaara wanted to prove hat his drafting skills were right up there with every other captain in the league. He has assembled an offensive juggernaut the with like of JD "Big Head", Trevor "The Blazer" Wadden and Evan "Pretty Boy" Canning. 

Well this was a doozy! 3 period and 18 goals later...

Lets take a look.

Cooper wasted no time asserting himself as he scored the first three goals of the game. Add in a goal from Gordo Martell and you have a 4 zip lead late in the first. Hackers in complete control at this point. JD Big Head grabbed his first goal of the season in then first and the Hackers take a 4-1 lead into the second.

The Second started with Doug "The Pug" Forrest ripping a slap shot past Dan "The Man" Nuass, who was filling in for the missing Jason Boudreau. The second saw each team trading goals for the most part as the Hackers added 4 tallies while the Slayers grabbed three and after two the score was 8-4 Hackers. Clear dominance...but wait...there's more!

The third period saw a wind of change, and the Slayer woke up and started clicking.one, goal, two goals, three no four goals by the Slayers to start the third and this baby is all tied up!

Gill "Mombo" Mombourquette grabbed his first of the season that finally stopped the bleeding and gave the Hackers the lead once more. But ain't no Mombo high enough to stop Shanti Dogra from making this a 9-9 affair late in the period.

This was a play off game guys and gals...could be a sign of things to come.

Last game of the night was between the Ballstar looking Titans and the typical looking Chill.

This game was dominated by the Titans who capitalized on a really disorganized Chill team. 

Rookie big man Gordon Caines grabbed his first goal in the league followed by Scott Cross to quickly give the Titans a lead. Chad Bank grabbed his first and the score was still close after the first. Titans up 2-1

The second opened up with the Titans scoring first but the Chill scored two and for a brief moment it was tied up...but that was  short lived. The Titans started dominating and they scored six goals in a row. Titans will be a force and they take this one 9-4 in a lopsided affair.

Well thats the look at the first night of the season folks. Not sure where things will go from here. There are 6 or 7 great teams and then a couple of "who knows". Time will tell

This weeks Eastside Mario's Player of the Game goes to the Fire's Chris "The Big C" MacKinnon. He posted a one goal performance with a .975 save%. Way to go Chris!

Asking you all to make sure you take your family and loved ones out to supper or lunch at Eastside. They have been supporting us, lets make sure we are supporting them!

Well that's how the week looked. I am Billy Concarney saying so long and hope you all have a great week!

Be well folks!