The early game saw the Omegas beat the Cougars 6-1. Mark Zylstra scored two goals to lead the way for the Omegas. His cousin, Matt helped out with three assists in the game. Zach VanReenen also had a three point night with a goal and two assists. Pete Linthoud stood tall in the Omegas' net once again. He has yet to lose a game in our league.

The Hawks rebounded from losing their first game of the year last week by beating the Flyers in this week's middle game with the score of 4-1. Dave VanOostveen continued on his role by scoring twice for the Hawks and adding an assist. We'll give this week's Player of the Week honours to Dave's teammate, Nick DeBoer. Nick matched Dave by scoring twice, including the game winner, and added an assist. Hawks goalie, Mike Ward also continues to be strong in net this season.

The Ice Dogs were able to beat the Stars in the late game by the score of 4-1. Josh Tamminga was solid in net for the Ice Dogs when he was needed. This was another close game, until Adrian Roelands sealed the victory for the Ice Dogs with just under five minutes to go in the third.

Well, we're already done a quarter of the season. The unbeaten Omegas are looking to be tough to beat this season, but the Hawks only sit two points behind them in second place. Only two points separate third place through sixth. The Flyers & Ice Dogs are tied for third place with four points each, while the Cougars & Stars are only two points behind them with two points each.

This week's games saw three players ejected for receiving three minors each.

Corey Moesker of the Stars received three minors in the early game against the Flyers. This is the second time that this has occurred for Corey this season. He is okay to play in the next game, but if he is ejected for receiving three minors in a game the rest of the season, he will be suspended for two games.

Pete Greydanus of the Ice Dogs & Jeff Vanderdeen of the Cougars each received three minor penalties in the late game. This is the first time that this has occurred for both of these players this season, so they are both okay to play in their next games.

This week's early game saw the Stars win their first game of the season by beating the Flyers 8-6. This was a close game all the way through as the teams traded goals. The Stars were the first team to have a two goal lead when Curt Moesker scored his fourth goal of the game early in the third period. The Flyers scored another goal half-way through the third to make it a one-goal game once again. The Stars were able to survive after a slew of penalties in the second half of the third period. Curt clinched the game by scoring his fifth goal of the game into an empty net while short-handed. Curt earns this week's Player of the Week honours for his five goal performance. Greg Wierenga of the Stars got a goal of his own and assisted on three of Curt's goals. Ryan Cross & Matt VanMarum each had a three-point night for the Flyers.

The middle game was a battle between the two undefeated teams so far this season. The Omegas now remain the only undefeated team by beating the Hawks 4-1. Last week's Player of the Week, Karsten Berg, once again led the way for the Omegas with a goal and two assists.

In the late game, the Ice Dogs were able to get their first win of the season by beating the Cougars 7-2. Trevor Benjamins of the Ice Dogs had a three point night with two goals and an assist, while his teammates, Jordan & Joe DeBoer, each scored a goal and got three assists.

As mentioned in the last posting, the game between the Omegas & Ice Dogs was filled with penalties. After sorting things out, here are the things to take note of:

1) Duncan Vanderwal was given a "10 minute" misconduct with 11:24 to go in the third period. The referees mistakenly thought that he was supposed to leave the game immediately because he had received two minor penalties prior to this call. This was the wrong call by the refs, because the rule is that he would only be ejected if he had gotten a third "minor" penalty. I spoke with the refs after the game and made them aware of this, but they suggested that we change this rule.
Anyways - since Duncan received the "10 minute" misconduct with only 11:24 to go in the third period, he would've been in the box serving this penalty for the remainder of the game anyhow. This is because the "10 minute" misconducts are actually served for 13 minutes in running time.
Because this was Duncan's first "10 minute" misconduct this season, he is okay to play in this week's game. If he receives another "10 minute" misconduct this season, he will be suspended for one game.

2) Brett DeBoer of the Ice Dogs received three minor penalties in this game. This is the first time that this has occurred for Brett this season, so he is okay to play in this week's game.

This week's early game saw the Hawks beat the Stars by the score of 5-2. The Stars were able to keep it a close game through two periods. Dave VanOostveen's second goal of the game gave the Hawks a little breathing room half-way through the third period. When the Hawks took two late penalties in the third, the Stars pulled Risser for the extra attacker to give them a six on three advantage. They had some chances, but Dave VanOostveen was able to pick up a loose puck and got his hat-trick goal into the empty net.
Dave is making it hard not to pick him for a third straight week for Player of the Week, but I'll resist and give him honourable mention this week instead. I don't want Dave to get the reputation of being a Player of the Week hog.

The headline of the middle game between the Omegas & Ice Dogs was the number of penalties taken. The Omegas were able to capitalize twice on the powerplay and beat the Ice Dogs 5-3. This was another game that stayed close until the end of the second period. At this point, the game was tied at three. The Omegas scored an early goal in the third and sealed their victory with an empty netter.

For the most part, the referees put away their whistles in the late game between the Flyers & Cougars. The Flyers were able to come away with the win in this entertaining game by beating the Cougars 6-4. Halfway throught the second period, Ryan Cross had already scored twice for the Flyers, but he was not to be out-done by Billy Sipkens of the Cougars who scored twice in the second period. The Flyers' Matt VanMarum was the one who stole the show and is this week's Player of the Week by scoring two sweet goals of his own and adding two helpers.