Wednesday Wusings: Unsportsmanlike conduct

Well, wasn’t our game against the Kodiaks on Sunday night interesting? There were over 40 minutes of penalties awarded in the game, and three quarters of those were awarded in just the last 10 minutes of the third period.  At one point our penalty box was standing room only.  It’s also amazing that no fights came out of the game, but it probably came close.  This was not a typical Puck Hogs-Kodiaks match (I used to say that the Kodiaks were one of the classiest teams in the league), which used to be very clean and competitive.  I’m not entirely certain as to what’s going on with the Kodiaks, but their captain seems worn out. 

Additionally noteworthy is that apparently the game before us – Volcanoes vs. Ice Dawgs – also had some issues with officiating, and we had the same set of referees.  I’m not going to go on a diatribe about officiating here because I said enough in an e-mail to the hockey director this week.  The officiating is what it is, and you know what you are likely to get into when you get on the ice and see who is calling your game.  Referees are not perfect and you need to cut them some slack, but when for some officials games consistently seem to get out of control, I think there is an issue there that must be addressed. 

Competition in the league seems to be getting much more intense, and I’m wondering if it’s to do with the impending playoffs (now two weeks away), or if there’s an overall declining trend in good sportsmanship.  At the end of our game against the Kodes, our teams did not even line up to shake hands – a few did, but others swore to “bring it next game”.  The Pirates won their game against the Phantoms (what did I tell you, people!?), and it seems Team Second-Coming-of-Christ (at least that’s what it sounds like if you read their website) were more sour than the team they beat.  And finally, apparently APL forfeited their game against the Flyers after trying to sneak in an illegal player.  We are not amused, APL.

What this league needs is one big giant group hug as a gesture of peace and togetherness – or maybe, just the captains of the top three teams should.  I wouldn’t mind that so much.

Singh10.

Monday Musings: More rough, rough.

I was off for a week entertaining guests, so I didn’t get a chance to do much hockey blogging.  But, my inactivity wasn’t an indication that there was nothing to write about, because there certainly was.

In my last blog post, I wrote about some of the physical play that we saw when we played the Ice Dawgs.  I’m beginning to wonder if this is the start of a trend.

Monday Musings: Cranky, cranky

It was an odd night in the Bronze League last Sunday.

Monday Musings: Back to the future

How interesting…

Not to keep harping on our early exit during last season’s playoffs, but here’s more harping.  Last season, had we gotten by the Kodiaks in the first round, we would have played the Volcanoes in the second round of the playoffs.  But, of course we were knocked out by the bears.  They went on to play the Volcanoes instead of us, but lost and were eliminated.

This time, having beaten the Kodiaks (who actually were missing some key players) in our rematch, the schedule has us facing the Volcanoes.  It’s too bad it didn’t work out this way in the playoffs but I think next Sunday should be a great game and a test of two strong teams.  Both of our teams are undefeated, and so whoever wins this game gets to sit in first place all by themselves.  This motivation will only add to the rivalry between our teams.  We were the only team that the Volcanoes couldn’t beat last season, and we’re hoping, of course, that the trend continues. It won’t go our way, however, without a huge determined effort by our team.

As for my triumphant return to the ice, it didn’t go as badly as I thought it might.