It was good to see that all three of this week's games were awesome games! The previous week's games were not much fun (at least not in a convenor's perspective).

The early game between the IceDogs & Omegas saw the Omegas fall to defeat for the first time this season. This game had a real playoff type of atmosphere. The score remained 0-0 until the IceDogs scored five minutes into the third period. They added one more goal to win the game 2-0. Both goalies were great in this game, but we'll give the nod for Player of the Week to Josh Tamminga of the IceDogs in earning the shutout.

The middle game was a good battle between the Flyers & Cougars. The Flyers came away with a 6-5 win. The Flyers had a 5-1 lead at one point late in the second period. That's when the Cougars came back to score four consecutive goals to tie it up at 5-5. Kev Karelsen of the Flyers scored his second goal of the game with about seven minutes to go in the third, which held up as the game winner. Kev Karelsen, Ryan Cross, Josh DeGroot, & Darryl Poort of the Flyers all had a three point game. Chris Sipkens of the Cougars also had a three point game.

The late game between the Hawks & Stars was also another great game. The Hawks won the game 5-4 in overtime. The Stars looked like they were going to hang on to a 4-3 win in regulation, but a late penalty proved costly. Pat Dam scored his second goal of the game with 19 seconds left in the third period to send the game to overtime. Dan Feenstra of the Hawks scored his second goal of the game with just 11 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Hawks the win.

Because of the Cougars losing the middle game, the Omegas have now clinched a playoff spot.

For the most part I really enjoy running this league. This week was not a very enjoyable week.
Here is a run-down of all the misconducts, ejections, and suspensions that came from last Friday's games:

In the early game between the Cougars & Hawks, Brian Sipkens of the Cougars was given a "major" penalty and was sent to the dressing room. I am waiting input from the Referee's Association on clarification on the call. Brian will be disciplined according to what the Referee's Association tells me.
Billy Sipkens of the Cougars & Dave VanOostveen of the Hawks each received a "10 minute" misconduct in the game. They are both okay to play in the next game because this is the first "10 minute" misconduct for both of these players. If either one of these players receives another "10 minute" misconduct this season, then he will be suspended for one game.

The middle game between the Stars & Omegas resulted in multiple players getting suspended. Corey Moesker of the Stars, Jeff VanderSlagt of the Omegas, and Sid VanReenen of the Omegas were all given "game misconducts". All three players will be suspended from playing the next game. If any of these three players receives another "game misconduct" the rest of this season, he will be suspended for a minimum of five games upon league review.
Curt Moesker of the Stars & Fred VanReenen Jr. of the Omegas are each suspended for the next two games for "fighting". If either of these two players gets in another "fight" this season, he will be suspended for a minimum of five games upon league review.

In the late game between the Flyers & IceDogs, Duncan Vanderwal of the IceDogs was ejected for receiving three minor penalties. This is the first time that this has occurred for Duncan this season, so he is okay to play in the next game.

Like I said, I will be speaking with the Referee's Association about Brian's incident, so I will make a ruling afterward. The Referee's Association also wants to speak to me about all of the rulings on the game between the Stars & Omegas, so consider the above as "unofficial" and it may be subject to change depending on what they say. It will be at least the minimum.

The early game between the Cougars & Hawks was a close one all the way through and ended in a 4-4 tie. Steve Pastoor scored twice for the Cougars and Chris Simard did the same for the Hawks. His second goal in the dying seconds of the third period sent the game to overtime.

The middle game of the night between the Omegas & Stars was also a pretty close game until the Omegas broke the game open in the second half of the third period, winning 6-1. Risser played great in net for the Stars and kept them in it until late in the game. We'll give the Player of the Week honours to share between three Omegas players. Karsten Berg once again led the scoring for the Omegas with a hat-trick. Ian VanReenen got three assists, while Matt Zylstra scored a goal and three assists.

The Flyers cooled down the hot IceDogs in the late game by winning 6-1. Ryan Cross scored twice in the Flyers' win and got one assist.

This week's early game was a great game between the Flyers & Omegas. The Flyers looked like they may hand the Omegas their first loss of the season, but the Omegas made another comeback and won the game 7-5. Dan VanReenen played a strong game for the Flyers by scoring two goals and an assist. Kalen Hellinga & Karsten Berg each had three point games for the Omegas. One of this week's co-winners of Player of the Week goes to Chad VanReenen of the Omegas. He scored twice and added two assists including one on the game winner.

The IceDogs continued on their roll by beating the Hawks 4-1 in the middle game. Matt, Joe, & Jordan DeBoer each scored three points in the IceDogs' win.

The late game was one that the Stars would like to forget. They fell to the Cougars 10-4. Dale Moesker & Greg Wierenga each had three points in the Stars' loss. Darren DeGroot scored four points in the Cougars' win, while OJ Deelstra had five points. The other co-winner of the Player of the Week is Jeff Vanderdeen, who scored a hat-trick for the second consecutive week, and added an assist.

It's hard to believe, but we're already done half of our regular season. The weeks seem to be flying by.
At this point the Omegas look to ready to clinche a playoff spot soon, but even though they haven't lost a game yet, the scores have been close for the most part.
The Omegas lead the standings with 19 points. The IceDogs are in second with 12 points. The Hawks are two points back from them with 10, while the Flyers are a close fourth with 9 points. The Cougars & Stars are not out of it by any means with 5 points each, but they've got their work cut out for them if they want to make the playoffs.

Keep in mind that we will be still playing straight through the next five weeks because our Friday nights will not be interrupted by Christmas or New Years this year.
The next Friday that we do not play will be January 20 because of Silverstick. We also will not be playing on February 3 because of another Silverstick tournament.

Looking ahead to the playoffs, we will be playing on the following dates:
Friday, March 9
Saturday, March 10
Friday, March 16
Saturday, March 17
Friday, March 23
Friday, March 30
Keep these dates open if you don't want to let your team down. They may never forgive you.