Monday March 7

P.Dupuis and C.Gingras carry the offense for the Country Club

While the first game seemed like two evenly matched teams, the same couldn’t be said for the second encounter between the Country Club and the United Arms. The Country Club controlled the action for a decent part of the game as they made the United Arms work harder in order to compete with them. The offense was powered by P.Dupuis, who buried a hat trick after collecting a pair of points in the earlier contest along with C.Gingras, who was a force setting up four of the five goals. Unlike the opening game, the United Arms imploded early on and never really recuperated. The score may suggest for a lopsided affair but it only went that way towards the late stages of the game when the Country Club capped it off on three insurance markers.

(4)Country Club vs United Arms(4) S.O

(1)United Arms vs Country Club(5)

A.Sarigiannis sneaks his way through for the winner in wild opening game between Altius and Assadi Classics

There are always thrillers that occur during a hockey season, and tonight saw one of them between the Altius and the Assadi Classics. You would have to figure leading 5-3 with less than 45 seconds is substantial for a clean win, but that nearly wasn’t the case if not for some late dramatics. The Assadi Classics did the improbable by netting two straight markers by M.Mavroudis’s hat trick and J.Rochon’s equaliser. However, what happened next disproves the theory that momentum can fuel your hockey team to take over a game. Instead, and for whatever reason, A.Sarigiannis had all the time in the world to end the game for the Altius. His tally came with six seconds left on the clock to stun the Assadi Classics. Both these teams are very evenly matched and that showed in the ensuing game as a shootout was required to determine a winner. This time, it had a more normal finish with P.Arkalis notching the lone shootout goal for the Altius while P.Delli Colli denied three sharp shooters-from the other end. Even though they came somewhat empty handed, the Assadi Classics have a very nice looking line up and know that they will be just fine going forward.

(6)Altius vs Assadi Classics(5)

(3)Assadi Classics vs Altius(4) S.O

Sensational goaltending by A.Zardrian gave Hungry Hippos a chance vs Degenerates

You just never know when your team is one shot on net-from potentially winning a hockey game. With A.Zardarian guarding the cage for the Hungry Hippos, that reality was just around the corner if the Hungry Hippos could have managed to beat F.Koch. The net minder wasn’t nearly as busy, but denied the few shots he received in order to preserve the shutout, and more important the win for his club. The second game did have the flood gates open, at least in the first period. The Degenerates finally broke the spell that resulted in six first period tallies. M.Kardum was finally able to hit the back of the net striking three times for a hat trick while S.Marricco potted a pair after netting the lone goal in the earlier 1-0 decision. On the large part, the Degenerates dictated much of the pace. The addition of J.Adamou will have an impact to their back end as the slick quarter back was dominant breaking up plays while contributing with four assists. But the real story of the two encounters was the brilliant performance led by A.Zardarian, who was just incredible making a ton of saves.

(1)Degenerates vs Hungry Hippos(0)

(1)Hungry Hippos vs Degenerates(7)

Snipers use two late goals to down Lyft Off

Its never fun to lose a game late, especially when it happens twice in a row but the Lyft Off should take positives from tonight’s results. The Snipers are no push over and play like a blue collar team because of their relentless style and work ethic. In both cases, the two games could have easily gone either way. F.Nasser broke a late 2-2 tie in the first encounter before feeding a yawning cage for his second .The following match had a near identical ending with about the same amount of time left over when Ali Khanafer decided matters for the Snipers snapping a 3-3 tie. Sometimes things just go right for a team. The Snipers are playing very well and can argue they deserve the bounces they get for their no quit attitude. The Lyft Off may not be were they want right now in the standings, but they are far-from being a push over to any opponent.

(2)Lyft Off vs Snipers(4)

(5)Snipers vs Lyft Off(3)

Depleted Dragons eventually run out of gas

The Dragons started as well as a team playing with only two change ups against an opponent that just doesn’t stop running could have hoped for. If not for a pair of late breakdowns, they would have least walked away with a victory. Instead, the Kakivelis brothers had the final say with Costa Kakivelis scoring twice with the help of his brother Angelo. That late surge enabled the Bonjour High to take it in the shootout with Costa Kakivelis notching the lone tally. Entering the second game, it was apparent that the Dragons legs started to get heavy. Already down  2-0 early, the Dragons may have felt the game slip away but that wasn’t fully the case when G.DeMarinis scored to cut the lead in half. The eventual turning point occurred early in the second period where C-M Levasseur bagged his second in a shorthanded situation to regain a two goal cushion. From-there, it was all the Bonjour High as the quicker side dominated the play to put the game completely out of reach.

(5)Bonjour High vs Dragons(4) S.O

(1)Dragons vs Bonjour High(6)

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Patrick Dupuis of the Country Club. No doubt Dupuis was influential for both the Country Clubs wins over the United Arms on Monday night. The forward collected two big points in the first game before scoring three straight in the second match.