This week's early game saw a match-up of two of the three teams tied for first place. The Cattle Barons beat the Ice Dogs 8-7 and are now on top of the standings all alone with 22 points.
Both teams dealt with a short bench and it seemed that the extra ice-time led to some of the top players scoring a lot of points in this one. Andrew Melville had three assists for the Ice Dogs. Matt Tamminga scored twice. Brady DeBoer got three assists for the Cattle Barons. It's tough to choose between three players for the Player of the Game, so I'm gonna wimp out and make them all co-winners of it. They are: Jordan DeBoer, O.J. Deelstra, & Chris Helps. Jordan had five points for the Ice Dogs, including four goals. O.J. did the same for the Cattle Barons. Chris also had a five point game for the Cattle Barons, but he scored three and assisted on two.

Thanks to a good goaltending duo between two substitute goalies, the middle game between the Flyers & Stars was a pretty close one. The Flyers won the game 6-4. David Noorloos once again played great in net for the Stars, while Josh Tamminga also had a busy night and played great for the Flyers. Corey Moesker & Jonny Wagenaar each scored twice for the Stars. Curt Moesker also had a good game with three assists. This game is also too hard too pick just one Player of the Game, so the co-winners are Matt VanMarum & Kev Karelsen, both of the Flyers. Kev had a goal & three assists, while Matt had three goals & one assist. I have not heard from any "little birdies" to this point, so I'm assuming that this is all accurate this time.

In the late game, the Hawks kept their hopes of getting into the playoffs a reality with a big 5-2 win over the Omegas. The Hawks meant business in this one and held a 4-0 lead after two periods. The Omegas came alive in the third period to make it 4-2, but Kyle Huizinga scored his second of the game into the empty net and sealed the victory for the Hawks. Kyle also got one assist and earns the Player of the Game. Hawks goaltender, Mike Ward, deserves honourable mention for his efforts in keeping the Omegas at bay when they were making a late game surge.

Brandon Wilpstra of the Stars surpassed the 40 minute mark in penalties and is suspended from playing in the next two games. He will not be allowed to play again until February 22.

Duncan Vanderwal of the Ice Dogs surpassed the 30 minute mark in penalties and is suspended for one game. He will not be allowed to play again until February 15.

The Cattle Barons beat the Stars in the early game by the score of 9-3. Collin Timmermans scored two goals in the Stars' loss. Eric Bakker, O.J. Deelstra, Chris Tenhage, & Jason Hotke each had three points for the Cattle Barons, but we'll give the nod for Player of the Game to Chris Helps who had five points, including four goals.

In the middle game, the Flyers beat the Omegas by the score of 6-2. Lance Ross scored both goals for the Omegas. The scoresheet shows that Matt VanMarum had four points for the Flyers, but a little birdie told me that this may not be entirely accurate. We'll give the nod for the Player of the Game to Flyer goaltender Rick Jones, who blew out his knee halfway through the game. He continued to play through the injury and only allowed a single goal against after he got hurt.

The late game between the Hawks & the Ice Dogs was the closest game of the night. The Ice Dogs squeaked out a 3-2 victory. Both goaltenders were on the game for this one, but the Player of the Game is Josh Tamminga of the Ice Dogs. He made some real big saves late in the game when the Hawks were looking to tie the game up.

We have only five games to go in the regular season and the standings are as tight as they can be with only three points separating the top five teams.
The Omegas sit on top by themselves with 20 points. The Ice Dogs & Cattle Barons are tied for second with 18 points each. The Hawks & Flyers are tied for fourth place with 17 points each. The Stars are looking like they are taking their role of "spoilers" seriously, so this is sure to be an interesting final five games of the regular season.

Now that we have reached the 15 game point of the season, all players that have not yet played a game this season have been removed from their team's respective roster.

The Omegas beat the Ice Dogs 6-1 in the early game. Six different Omega players scored, including Will Marut, who scored his first goal in our league in about ten years. Wesley Boelens scored the lone goal for the Ice Dogs. We'll give the Player of the Game nod to Omegas' goaltender Pete Lindhout, who kept the high-scoring Ice Dog team at just one goal.

The middle game saw the Stars win their first game of the season by beating the Hawks 7-5. The Stars got off to a good start and held a 4-2 lead after the first period and a 5-3 lead after two periods. Things got a little nervous for the Stars when Ryan Nutma scored twice for the Hawks in the third period to make the score 6-5. The Stars were able to hold on to the win when they scored an empty-net goal in the last minute to seal the victory. Chris Simard scored two goals for the Stars & Dale Moesker had four points in the game, but Brandon (Chooch) Wilpstra was the Player of the Game. He scored four goals for the Stars.

In the late game, the Cattle Barons beat the Flyers 5-1. O.J. Deelstra scored two goals for the Cattle Barons. Cattle Barons goaltender, Steve Pastoor, is the Player of the Game, holding the Flyers to one goal.