The early game saw the Ice Dogs beat the Flyers 5-1. Joe DeBoer once again had a strong game and earns the Player of the Game with his four point performance. Josh Tamminga's bid for a second straight shut-out was foiled when Chris VanVeller scored a power-play goal half way through the third period.

The middle game between the the Hawks & Cattle Barons went right down to the wire and fittingly ended in a 3-3 tie. The Hawks looked good holding a 3-1 lead going into the third period, but the Cattle Barons tied it up with two goals early in the third. Each team had lots of chances late in the third period and throughout overtime, but Mike Ward & Steve Pastoor held their ground for their respective teams. Ryan Tamming of the Hawks scored his first goal in our league. O.J. Deelstra of the Cattle Barons had two goals and an assist and is the Player of the Game.

The Omegas beat the Stars 6-3 in the late game. The Omegas looked like they might run away with it when they went up 3-0 early in the second period, but the Stars answered back with two quick goals. The Omegas held a 4-2 lead going into the third and it stayed that way for most of the third thanks to an excellent effort by David Noorloos, filling in as the Stars goalie for the game. He had a very busy night and kept the Stars in the game for the most of it. He is the Player of the Game. When the Stars took some untimely penalties late in the third, they took themselves out of any chance to win the game and the Omegas cruised to victory. Dave Giffen of the Omegas scored his first two goals in our league.

The early game was a close one between the Hawks & Flyers and the Flyers came away with a 6-5 win. It looked like it was going to be a blow-out with the Flyers holding a 4-1 lead after the first period. The teams each scored a goal in the second, but the Hawks came back to make a game of it in the third. Pat Dam scored twice for the Hawks, while Matt VanMarum & Kev Karelsen led the way for the Flyers with two goals each. We'll give the nod for the Player of the Game to Ryan Cross of the Flyers, who had three assists in the game. He added some mid-game entertainment with his attempt to jump over the boards. He also took one for the team late in the game when he took a deflected puck to the mouth and had to leave the game.

The Omegas beat the Cattle Barons in the middle game by the score of 6-2. Ian VanReenen & Lance Ross each scored twice for the Omegas, but we'll give the Player of the Game nod to Dave Giffen, who assisted on three of the Omegas' goals.

The late game saw the Ice Dogs beat the Stars to the tune of 9-0. Matt Tamminga, Cam DeBoer, & Chris Pool each had four points for the Ice Dogs. Josh Tamminga earned the shutout. Normally any of these guys would be "gimmies" for Player of the Game, but how can you argue with giving it to Joe DeBoer, who had six goals and an assist?

With the Stars' loss, they have been officially eliminated from the playoffs and take on the role of "spoilers".
The rest of the five teams continue to be separated by only two points going in to 2013.

Once again, everyone was "well behaved" this week. The referees only had to call one minor penalty in the early game, two in the middle game, & five in the late game. That's awesome, boys! Let's keep it up going in to the new year!

I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for keeping your cool and just having fun playing hockey in the games last night. Last year I spent the whole Christmas week sorting out suspensions. This year will be a lot less stressful week for me and I will be able to enjoy it with my family.

Have a Merry Christmas!!

Jeremiah Winia of the Cattle Barons surpassed the 30 minute plateau in penalties and will sit out the next game.

Matt DeBoer of the Ice Dogs has also reached the 30 minute plateau in penalties. He will also sit out the next game.

After getting some feedback about the issue, I have decided to go back to posting the penalty minutes on this website. This does make things much easier for me anyways. I would appreciate it if we can all be mature enough to not go back to "taunting" those that are getting close to the 30 minute mark in penalties.

The early game between the Ice Dogs & Cattle Barons was even all the way through, but the Ice Dogs won it 5-4 in overtime. Chris Helps scored two goals for the Cattle Barons. The Player of the Game is Greg Bork of the Ice Dogs, who scored twice - including the overtime goal.

The middle game between the Stars & Flyers was the highest scoring game of the season so far. The Flyers eventually came away with a 10-6 win. It was 3-3 after the first period, but the Stars gave up four second period goals and were unable to recover. Tyler Poort & Curt Moesker each had two goals for the Stars. Eric Vanderlinde of the Stars scored his first goal in our league as well. Darryl Poort of the Flyers scored twice, but the Player of the Game is Matt VanMarum, who got five points in the game, including four goals.

The Omegas beat the Hawks in the late game 5-2. The Omegas got off to a 2-0 lead by the end of the first period. Things were pretty even after that, but the Omegas scored an empty netter to seal the deal. Lance Ross & Fred VanReenen Jr. each scored twice for the Omegas. They will share the Player of the Game honours.

After all said and done, the top five teams are now separated by a mere two points. The rest of the season should be pretty exiting. Every game matters.