Friday January 17

(3)Brewers vs National (7)

O.Valiquette, champion National rout Brewers in season opener

O.Valiquette and the recent winners of the Masters 35+ division opened their title defense with a convincing 7-3 thrashing of the Brewers on Friday night. The better start did belong to the Brewers however by winning the opening frame 2-1. By the time the second period ended, the game was still up for grabs as both sides entered the final stretch evened up at three goals apiece. National eventually broke the tie when O.Valiquette buried his third of four goals early in the third period. Then, and perhaps arguably the turning point of the game occurred when the Brewers gave up two consecutive shorthanded goals in a very short span. Clearly that sequence deflated their bench as there was no way of recovering from a pair of blunders. Overall, they did match up well with National and could have had a better outcome if not for a poorly runned power play.

(3)Devil Dawgz vs The Family(2)

Devil Dawgz grab first lead off of J.Constantin’s late marker

J.Constantin’s goal with four minutes remaining held up, and the Devil Dawgz did just enough to edge out the Family. That goal was the first lead of the night for the Devil Dawgz, who rebounded twice to even the score. The Family will look back at times where they could have widened the gap by a pair, but were stuck facing a solid goaltending performance by M.Trivisonno. Both sides played a good eight minutes in the third period with the game tied up at two goals apiece. Eventually, something was bound to give, and the Devil Dawgz were the ones to seize the moment. N.Faria scored once while setting up two goals, and M.Trivisonno found a way to get the decision over his counterpart G.Maragno, who was just as solid in net for the Family.

(9)Templars vs Chiefs (4)

Chiefs can’t overcome mistakes in loss to Templars

A bad start and a few errors did the Chiefs in on Friday night. The Chiefs weren’t terrific and looked sloppy at times that enabled the Templars to benefit on a couple of errors throughout the game. One thing you don’t want to do is fall behind against a stingy defensive hockey team. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, the hole was dug early as they found themselves trailing 3-0 after the first period alone. D.Verta was involved in most of the action as the crafty forward was dangerous all night collecting six points that included a hat trick.

(4)Pylons vs HBHA Seniors (2)

Pylons earn hard fought win with late game charge

Simply relying on your top gun in time of need paid off for the Pylons. T.Settino created his own space to find himself in front of C.Stavriadis where he slipped the ball through on a clever back hand move. As much as that goal was clutch, the Pylons needed more than just a timely goal to win this game. O.Caillet had to be brilliant in net which he was, and the Pylons had to buy into a solid defensive game in order to keep the HBHA to the outside as much as possible. There were times that the HBHA had plenty of ball possession keeping the Pylons pinned on their heels. Often, when two teams grind it out, a break will eventually occur and T.Settino was able to make the most of his.

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Tony Settino of the Pylons. In a night that every game had a difference maker, T.Settino will merit the honour for not only snapping a late tie, but by also contributing as a responsible two way centre man versus a very good HBHA Seniors hockey team.