Sunday, January 5, 2014

Naughty or (N)ice?

As the holidays have come and gone, its a good time to reflect and visit with some of our league's players to see if Santa was good to them.  Here are some of the great gifts they received.

Paul Adams (Alien) - New Skates

Paul Knight (Kryptonite) - Free Family Photo Shoot

William Jackson (FDM/KB) - Ankle Weights


Stout Family (Puckheads) - Microbrew Sampler

Dusty Beenen (Red Alert) - Stilts


Dave Lundberg (Rink Rats) - Hockey Book

Dave Chongo (Victors) - 2 Tickets to Blackhawks Vs North Stars


Kacy Reeves (Voodoo) - Finger Goalie Game


Brendan McCallum (Alien) & Matt Johnson (Kryptonite) - Meat of the Month Platter

Hoping everyone got what they wanted on their wish list!



Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Spotlighting the Stars & Predictions

This week we take an opportunity to spotlight some of our league superstars.  We took a top player from each team and asked them the same questions.  You may know these players on the ice, but do you really know them off the ice?  This should give you a look inside the private life of some our very own.

Name: Brendan McCallum
Team: Alien
Years Played hockey: 34
Favorite Hockey player: Mike Modano

Favorite Hockey movie: Strange Brew
Occupation: Iowa Wild Strength & Conditioning Coach
Pre-Game Meal: NY Strip Steak topped with bacon
Superstition: Always wear a Team USA t-shirt under my gear
Quote: "Ask not what you can do for your team, ask what beer your team can buy for you"

Name: Brad Dean
Team: Cup O' Kryptonite
Years Played hockey: 61,320 hours
Favorite Hockey player: Crosby or Malkin
Favorite Hockey movie: Mystery Alaska
Occupation: Iowa Energy Power Forward
Pre-Game Meal: Cocoa Krispies

Superstition: Always has Rich Huyck tie his skates
Quote: "I am the chosen one....bow down to me"

Name: Andrew Mellein
Team: Forlifts of Des Moines / Kyles Bikes
Years Played hockey: Since leaving the womb
Favorite Hockey player: Jaromir Jagr (but only when he played for the Flyers)
Favorite Hockey movie: Love Guru
Occupation: Used Car Salesman
Pre-Game Meal:  2 shots of whiskey

Superstition: Look in mirror pre-game and say "I will succeed" three times 
Quote: "How much puck, would a chuck a puck chuck if a chuck a puck could chuck pucks"

Name: Gregory Propst
Team: Puckheads
Years Played hockey:  3 weeks
Favorite Hockey player: Derek Hickey
Favorite Hockey movie: Slapshot 2
Occupation: Motivational Speaker
Pre-Game Meal: A full tube of Jimmy Dean sausage (uncooked)

Superstition: Show up to the rink 1 full day before game and meditate in locker room 3
Quote: "shhhhhh....someone may hear you"

Name: Shaun Greene
Team: Red Alert
Years Played hockey:  12 (only 4 professionally)
Favorite Hockey player: Zarley Zalapski
Favorite Hockey movie: Hockey Mom
Occupation: Children's Book Writer
Pre-Game Meal: 2 hot dogs, bowl of chili & a diet Coke
Superstition: Puts on all gear first and jock last
Quote: Cross me on the ice, and watch your back"

Name: Brad Bedwell
Team: Rink Rats
Years Played hockey: Not long enough
Favorite Hockey player: Jenny Schmidgall-Potter 

Favorite Hockey movie:  MVP-Most Valuable Primate
Occupation: Ski Instructor
Pre-Game Meal: Hostess Ding Dongs
Superstition:  Take a sip of his goalies water bottle between periods
Quote: "Burn me once shame on you, burn me twice..shame on you again"

Name: Dave Natale
Team: Victors
Years Played hockey: 2 years (since last cioncussion)
Favorite Hockey player: Mickey Mantle
Favorite Hockey movie: Youngblood

Occupation:  Unemployed
Pre-Game Meal:  Anything Dave Gannon brings him
Superstition: Be the first on the ice and take a slapshot in warm ups on the opposing goalie
Quote: "I can do backwards crossovers while skating forward"

Name: Nick Dawson
Team: Voodoo
Years Played hockey: 47 years
Favorite Hockey player: Brent Gretzky
Favorite Hockey movie: PeeWee All-Star 1997 Home Video
Occupation:  Prison Guard
Pre-Game Meal:  Tofu Salad

Superstition: Skate to penalty box during warm ups and set down water bottle to visit it later
Quote: "Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there's vomit on my sweater already, mom's spaghetti"

Predictions this week:
Kryptonite (1) Voodoo (2)
Alien (3) Puckheads (4)  
FoDM/KB (1) Red Alert (2)  
Victors (3) Rink Rats (4)

(they just happen to be same scores as locker room assignments...how coincidental)

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Hockey Break coming up for Turkey

This upcoming week is our last game before a break due to Thanksgiving.  The conclusion of those games will put a full cycle of hockey in the record books as every team should have played every other team.  I'm happy to say I've not heard very much as a whole in regards to issues or complaints.  Just like anything, I'll a few comments here and there, but not anything major.  

Keep in mind, a team may have beat you in the first go-around by many goals, but the next go-around may be your week.  Don't judge a team, player or season by a few games.  

For this week, 

Puckheads Vs Rink Rats - 
Last season's two expansion teams go head-to head in this week's match up. Rats bring an impressive 3-3 record to this game while Puckheads 2-2-2 (they don't like taking games to OT).  Both teams have their star players like Billings, Whipps & Young for Rink Rats and Hunt, Coffie and South for Puckheads, but it's going to be the role players that make the difference in this game.
Propst and Pierce have been non-factors for the Puckheads this season.  One often wonders why these 2 even play hockey, but this is their coming out party.  Each will earn their first goal of the season and contribute to the team's success.  On the flip-side, Rink Rats have their own dead weight with Evans, Dayton & Syverson.  These 3 have been a sore spot in the Rats lineup, and only remain due to sheer necessity based on others being injured.  This game will have Dayton record a hat trick while Syverson and Evans tally 2 assists each.  The game goes to the Rinks Rats by a score of 5-4.
Voodoo Vs Alien
Alien comes off a disappointing loss last week and the difference maker, Bafia was not there to help his team control the game.  This week, Bafia will be there and the results should be different.  Players like McCallum, Brand & Adams will see much less ice time on defense with Bafia back in the line up as he typically sees 45 minutes of ice times.  If guys like Knipper & Dylo don't pull their weight offensively, Joe's not afraid to take the puck up and score as he has done on countless occasions.
Voodoo's ice time hog is none other than Bentzen.  It doesn't matter if their are 4 on the bench or 40, Todd will stay on the ice until the end of period buzzer reminds him that there is a break in the action. You'd think he was a contributor to the team with those kinds of minutes, but not so much.  Word on the street was that there may have been a Whitaker sighting, but it was just a photoshopped image of a look-a-like running through the forest.  Damos, Cohan & Mudge will need to focus on this game and not the fact that they're all missing Nashville on ABC.  This one goes to Alien 6-2.
Victors Vs Red Alert
What do you get when you have hot goaltending, a powerful offense, solid defense and a good penalty kill unit?  The Chicago Blackhawks.  Red Alert on the other hand just needs Greene and Swanson to show up for the game and the rest is irrelevant.  A source close to the team (Tom Kirvan asked to remain anonymous) was stating that both Swanson and Greene would both be "no shows" for this week's game.  Both are travelling to Gary, Indiana for the filming of "Hoosiers 2 - Hockey in the Corn Fields".  That being said, guys like Curran, Worth and Becker bought an extra supply of Depends to bring to the game, as this one may get out of hand in a hurry.
Victors comes in with a strong win last week.  Marc LePera had a lights out night last week scoring a hat trick and even assisting on all 3 of his own goals.  This week, he duplicates his output and does it all in the 1st period.  Nesbit, Bartak & Hudson also have great games and each get a hat trick to add to the obnoxious score of 12-1 in favor of Victors.

Kryptonite Vs. Forklifts of Des Moines / Kyles Bikes
Will this be the week for the undefeated to fall?  I believe so.  The FDM/KB team looks to rest their starters in preparation of the Turkey Tourney.  "It's no different than Ovechkin telling his team that he's playing in the Olympics for his country because it's important to him" stated the Radcliff duo.  "The Turkey Tourney is our Olympics and we're resting up!"  Guys like Wahlert and Goodman don't recognize the Thanksgiving holiday so they will play this Wednesday since it's "just another day to stuff your face with turkey".  Brekke was heard saying that he won't show up to the game, but not because he's preparing for the Turkey tourney, but rather he doesn't come when he knows his good players won't make it to cover up for his lack of ability on the ice.  
Kryptonite is bringing everyone and the kitchen sink.  Their full roster consists of 22 players and all will be in attendance.  They've already been working on their bench strategy and determining who will sit on who's lap while waiting for their shift.  Miller will sit on Dean,   Hill
on Close, Gugat on Paoli and Toigo on Huyck.  This will allow for quicker and more accurate shift changes.  This excessive bench depth will prove to be a great strategy and provide FDM/KB their first loss.....6-4.