It still seems like we're just getting going in this season, but we're already done one round.

I really appreciate all the supportive comments that I've been getting about the message that I wrote last week. It seems to have made a difference, because this week's games were played with a great deal of improved behavior by our players. The referees were still making a lot of calls that may have been questionable, but for the most part, I was very impressed with the way our players from all the teams did not argue the calls. This resulted in the kind of a night that I'm sure we all like to see. Nobody was ejected for "3 minors" and there also were no misconducts in any of the games. Let's keep this up!

The early game saw the hot Flyers beating the Hawks by a score of 5-2. Nick DeBoer and Kyle Huizinga each got a goal and an assist for the Hawks. Derek Bouma scored twice for the Flyers with Tyler Veenendaal getting a goal and 2 assists. Substitute goalie Risser Wierenga earned the win for the Flyers.

The Omegas flexed their muscle in the middle game by beating the Cougars by the score of 12-2. Chad VanReenen scored twice and added an assist in his first game since the beginning of last season's final series. Kalen Hellinga scored his first goal in our league and also added an assist. This week's Player of the Week honours have to be shared by Joe VanReenen and Perrin Berg. Joe scored 4 goals and Perrin scored 2 goals and got 3 assists.

In the late game, the Crusaders beat the Stars by the score of 3-2. A lot of minor penalties were called in this game against both teams, but all players kept their cool with the referees and played a very good game. The fans that I spoke with said that this was a very good and competitive game to watch. Ryan Benjamins led the way for the Crusaders by scoring twice, including a powerplay goal in the second period which stood up as the game winner.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but the teams need to make sure during the game that they are keeping track of how many penalties their players are getting. It happened twice on Friday where a player did not leave the game immediately when a third minor against him was called. I caught it both times before it was too late, but I'm afraid of how many times it happens when I'm not there to catch it.
Believe me, it sucks having to make a team forfeit a game because of this reason.

Before I get into what suspensions are taking place, I'd like to take the time here to make a couple of things clear.
First of all I DO NOT PICK THE REFEREES. I get this all the time. All I do is tell the referee assigner what dates we play, game times, and that we need two referees for each game. The rest of it is in the assigner's hands and all I can do is hope that two referees show up. Most of us have seen this first hand where they don't show up, so I'm happy when I see that they show up, regardless of who it is.
I know that there are a couple of referees that we get regularly that seem to be whistle happy. This can be very frustrating, but every team should understand that all the teams go through this. The difference is how some teams adjust to it differently than others. To some teams, or players, it seems that they are getting everything called against them. What everyone should realize is that these referees that we are talking about never change their minds about any calls that they make, so why do we keep arguing with them? This is why the calls build up against certain players or teams. Our players need to realize this is happening and need to just shut-up! Every team in our league has these type of players that are easy targets for the refs. This is where the team leaders should be stepping in. The leaders should be the only ones questioning (in a civil manner) the referees calls. The refs respect this and they will (should) listen. Show the referees respect and they'll return it.
I don't mean to sound like I'm on a power trip, but I don't care. I was very upset with what went on last Friday and what I've been seeing the last little while. As one of the leaders of this league I'm embarassed of what I've been seeing.
A friend of mine who played some games in our league also plays in the Police League here in Sarnia. He told me that when they let new players in their league, they make it clear to them that "they run a very competetive league, but they absolutely will not put up with any crap -that's for the church leagues". When he told me this, I thought "Well I guess they don't know our league very well". Since I heard this, I realize that they probably know our league better than I thought.
We need to go into each game knowing that we should be witnesses to the world of how Christians are supposed to act. We are the ones who need to show the referees that we can play competetively, but show respect to one another and to them. Otherwise we are just showing everyone witnessing our games that being Christians sure doesn't mean a whole lot.
Let's turn our league's reputation around!

Okay -with that said, here's a list of the suspensions that came from last Friday's games:
Matt Tamminga got 3 minor penalties and will be allowed to play in this Friday's games.
Andrew Melville got 3 minors and a "10 minute" misconduct. He is also okay to play this Friday.
Brett DeBoer got 3 minors and a "game misconduct". For the "game misconduct", he is suspended for 1 game.
Jordan DeBoer received a "10 minute" misconduct and a "game misconduct". For his "game misconduct", he is suspended for 1 game.
Joel VanVeller got a "game misconduct". For this, he is suspended for 1 game.
Mark Sipkens received 3 minors and will be allowed to play this Friday.
Brian Sipkens received a "major penalty" for body contact. He will be allowed to play in Friday's game.

This week's early game saw the Omegas showing the Stars why they are the defending champs by beating them 7-2. Matt Zylstra and Lance Ross led the way for the Omegas with each of them scoring 2 goals. Congrats go to Case Zylstra for winning the game in his first start in about 2 years.

Oh brother, what can I say about the middle game? In a penalty filled affair, the Flyers beat the Crusaders 2-0. This week's Player of the Week honours go to Rick Jones of the Flyers for getting the shutout. Nothing against his performance, but I'm sure that Rick will tell you that most of the game was played in the Crusader's end as they were playing short-handed for most of the game. Watch for another posting where I'll clarify what suspensions are taking place.

The late game was quite a relief to my writing hand. In a "back and forth" game the Hawks got a late goal scored by Rob Nutma and managed to beat the Cougars 3-2.

For the second time this season, Matt DeBoer of the Crusaders was ejected for "3 minors" in the game. He is still able to play next week.