Game 13, last of the regular season

Highlanders v. Marines
July 28, 8PM

We wrap up the regular season tonight with the Marines.  We have second place sewn up, so not much to play for other than to build on the momentum gained from last week's win.  (Someone's been reading the sports pages again.)

Your Deal of the Day - S17 Helmet

For your bargain hunting information...

...opened up the old inbox this morning and saw that Perani's is closing out S17 helmets from Easton.  It's the lighter more adjustable version than the one your intrepid blogger uses.  The helmet is very comfortable and the fit adjustment in the back keeps it from sliding forward. It's a great deal now if you are in the market for a new lid.

Game 12 vs. Rockers

After a string of poor results, we finally got off the slide with a 6-2 win over the blue collar Rockers.

2011 AZ Hockey Classic Stats

They have posted the tournament stats to the CA Hockey Productions site. (only took them a month...speedy!)  We are reposting them to the blog in the interests of permanence and for your enjoyment.  Take note of how only one of us failed to find the back of the net.  Well, two if you count Pete, but he gets a pass for having a sub 4.00 GAA in men's league, which is the equivalent of a sub 2.00 GAA in the NHL.  Also, we find it humorous that the "goals for" column in the standings table doesn't match the team total for goals.  They must be using New Math over at CA Hockey Productions.  Follow the jump to view:

Game 9 v. the Kings

Game 9, Thurs., June 23 at 8Pm.

You can also follow us on Twitter

Truth be told we here at the blog prefer Twitter to the facebook.  If you'd like to follow there is a button on the left-hand column for that, as well.

Like button added

In a moment of weakness, we here at the blog made a pact with the devil the facebook to drive more traffic.  You can now "like" our little blog by clicking the button at the left.  It may be below the fold, so scroll down to find it.  If someone could please try it out that would tell me if I coded the meta tags correctly.

Current Summer League Standings

The Commish released the standings today:


TEAM       GP W L T OTL  PTS
Highlanders 7 5 2 0 0         10
Kings         7 4 2 0 1          9
Marines         7 3 4 0 0          6
Rockers         7 2 5 0 0          4

We were scanning the memory banks, and we couldn't remember having two loses.  Does anyone else recall another loss in the regular season?

2011 Summer League, Game 7

We play the Rockers on Thursday in Game 7 of the Summer League at Iceoplex.  This starts the second half of the season.  Game time is 9:30PM.

Images from the denouement

Here is the official photographic evidence.  (Yes, we're aware of Photoshop.  Take off your foil hat for a minute, okay?)  First is the full team shot.  Birkle clearly was distracted by a shapely female form in the audience.  And then there is Rich showing us the physical price one must pay to be a champion.  Second, is the triumphant raising of the cup by Pete.  After are some fun shots of the boys doing their best cup winning poses.  (Apologies for the quality of the later images.  The photographer was quite a distance away.)

No tongue, please

The thrill of vicory...

"Hey, don't drop that thing, butterfingers!"

Dane enjoying his first tournament experience.

To pull back the curtain a bit on the trophy presentation:

• The trophy is a scale replica of the Stanley Cup...without ANYTHING engraved on it at all.  It's really just a plastic prop like the kind some superfan brings with him to an NHL playoff game, except this one had some ballast weight in the bottom.  See the second to last photo?  Yours truly was monkeying around with "the cup" and the weights broke free and slammed into the inside of the bowl.
• The fact that this was a replica of the real Stanley Cup kind of harshed the buzz of winning.  As beer leaguers, we are painfully aware that we are engaged in a simulacrum of professional hockey.  Being handed a fake Stanley Cup after reaching the apex of said simulacrum is a stark reminder that we are all just a little bit pathetic in continuing to compete past our primes.  If youth sports is about character building and interpersonal skill building, then adult sports are about escapism.  Once or twice a week we pull on our matching sweaters, take to the ice, and forget that we have a day job.  Okay, maybe we don't forget entirely, but we get a chance to be reminded of the dreams of playing professional hockey that we all once had as little boys.
• The height of the irony, though, was how Mr. Tournament Employee wouldn't let "the cup" get more than two feet away from him.  No, we didn't even get to suck a beer out of the damn thing, because he snatched it away before we could abscond with it to the locker room.  The tournament director completely missed the point by not letting us keep a trophy for the year.  Instead they handed us each a plaque like we are a bunch of seven-year-olds that need our self-esteem stoked.  Look, we're not going to cry if we don't get individual awards.  No doubt most of these end up in a drawer in the garage, or perpetually rattle around in the bottom of a hockey bag.  What's the harm in letting us watch over "the cup" for the intervening year (or perhaps just a few weeks), take lots of fun pics and videos with it and post them to Facebook, YouTube, etc?

Okay, no more kvetching.  Couldn't be prouder to have been part of the team.

Calendar posted

Note on the left is a calendar with the schedule.  This will be maintained throughout the year.

Game tonight

Summer league gets back underway tonight with Game 6 against the Kings at Iceoplex in Escondido at 9:30pm.

New look!

Because this blog was created and updated using the Android mobile app, there wasn't an easy way to make it beautiful on the road.  Now, with the help of Pete's new H-wheel logo, we have a more attractive color scheme and design.

Championship update, or what's your ring size?

Final score: SD Highlanders 6, LA Mt. Dogs 2
The game was tight through two periods, with neither team taking clear control of the proceedings. We had more scoring chances but we entered the third tied at two.  That was when we stepped on their necks and didn't let off.  Three quick goals - two from Dane Ludolph and one from Joe Dusbabek - to start and we had them on the ropes.  Dan Comrie, the human highlight reel, earned a penalty shot a few minutes later, pulled a dirty Pavel Datsyuk-esqse flip shot out of his deep bag of tricks, and put the contest to bed.
Great performances from all our team.  We gelled right away and ran the table without defeat.  Those of us that have been coming to this tournament for years only to come up just shy of title (this is number eight for your intrepid blogger) particularly relish this win.  We just wish a few more of our longtime teammates who couldn't make it this time could have joined in the victory.  There's always next year. (Though there will likely be fewer open spots on the roster next year.)
In other news:
Highlanders named to the All Tournament Team were forwards Dan Comrie (who I'm pretty sure led us in scoring) and Nathan Sigmund, as well as goalie Pete Nordell.  The Tournament MVP was none other than Nathan Sigmund, or The Backbone of the Highlanders. Nathan contributes "atbothendsoftheice" with an energy level that is only surpassed by his incredible talent with the puck. We are lucky to have him in our squad, and there is a pro team somewhere in Europe or North America that is worse off without him.
More posts to come later in the week when we get home and sort through the video clips.  Stay tuned.

Win! 6-2

'Nuf said

All Tournament Team

Here are our nominees for ATT:

Forwards
Nathan Sigmund, also nom'd as MVP
Dan Comrie

Defense
Calvin Elfring

Goalie
Pete Nordell

W 7-5

We finished the round robin 4 - 0.  Team is looking very strong heading into tomorrow's final.  The rumor is that we get LA as an opponent, but I didn't see the results of the other game tonight.

In other news...

...the boys from Anaheim upset LA 7-5.  That makes the race for second interesting and convoluted.   It appears that there is a scenario for any of the other four teams to join us in the final.

Latest standings:
SD 6 pts (3 - 0)
LA 4 pts (2 - 2)
Val 2 pts (1 - 2)
Phx 2 pts (1 - 2)
Anh 2 pts (1 -2)

Highlanders clinch

In a close, back and forth game, we beat the Valencia Pirates 5-4.  Pete made a series of saves at the end of the game after Valencia pulled their goalie to try and get the equalizer.  Overall a well played game by both teams, and a solid win for us.

That gives us 6 points and a guaranteed spot in the final tomorrow.

Standings photo

Sunday's schedule

SD vs. Val, 11:30am
LA vs. Anh, 12pm
Anh vs. Val, 6pm
SD vs. Phx, 8pm

Two games for us today, but if we take care of business this morning, the nightcap is a mere formality.

Current standings...

...as of Sunday morning at 9:

SD 4 pts (2 - 0)
LA 4 pts (2 - 1)
Val 2 pts (1 - 1)
Phx 2 pts (1 - 2)
Anh 0 pts (0 -2)

Other results

LA defeated Phx in OT.  Phoenix led 5-4 but surrendered a late equalizer with under a minute left.  LA ended the affair 2:35 in OT.

Phx now has two losses and has to get a lot of help to get into the final.  LA, Valencia and us have the inside track to the final.

H'landers win 8-4

Domination of the Anaheim boys which seamed more interested in fisticuffs than hockey. 
Your intrepid blogger was allowed to dress and redeemed himself with a +3 rating.
A win tomorrow morning and we're in the final regardless of the nightcap.  Let's see if the boys show some restraint in their revelry tonight...

Standings, again

A picture is worth some words...

Sat morning results

LA 3 - Valencia 2
Phx 5 - Anaheim 3

Standings, as of 5pm Sat:

SD 2 pts (1 - 0)
Phx 2 pts (1 - 1)
LA 2 pts (1 - 1)
Val 2 pts (1 - 1)
Anh 0 pts (0 - 1)

Big opportunity for us to take a commanding lead at the top of the standings tonight.

Day 2 schedule

Games for Sat, May 28

Anh vs. Phx, 10AM
Val vs. LA, 10:45AM
Anh vs. SD, 6PM
Phx vs. LA, 6:40PM

With the five teams in contention this year there will be two games in one day for each team.  The other teams play their double headers today, and ours is tomorrow. That may be an advantage in tonight's game.  Anaheim got the raw deal being the odd team out of Friday night's games, now having four games in two days.

Updates of this morning's scores to come shortly.

Day 1 Standings

After Friday's games:

SD Highlanders 2 pts.
Valencia Pirates 2 pts.
Anaheim Sleestaks 0pts (no games played, yet)
Phx Red Wings 0 pts
LA Mt Dogs 0 pts

Other results from day 1

In the other game last night, the Valencia Pirates took down the Phoenix Red Wings 4-3 in overtime.  Perhaps a surprising result? Perhaps not.  The Red Wings are the defending AZ Hockey Classic champs, and also dropped their first game of the tournament.

Game 1

Highlanders 6 - Mt. Dogs (LA) 5, Final (OT)

The sqad played well overall. Took out early leads of 3-0 and 4-1. In the third we fell victim to some bad bounces and took too many penalties allowing the Hill Puppies to get back into the game and eventually tie it at 5.  Newly acquired star, Dane Ludolph, netted the winner in overtime with a wicked wrister to the top shelf.

Your intrepid blogger was on the ice for four goals against, so you may be seeing him in street clothes behind the bench for the next game in order to improve the team defense.

2011 Az Hockey Classic

It's that time of year again.  Time to go out to the desert and slap the puck around.  So, we're giving it another go.  Perhaps we can win this one after finishing runner up in 5 of the last 7 years.
The squad:


no.     name                              pos.
2        Brent Cummings             D
5        your intrepid blogger       D
27      Calvin Elfring                  D
55      Don Floss                      D
14      Mike Medeira                D
8        Joe Dusbabek                F
10      Rick Comrie                  F
20      Rich Martha                  F
33      Nathan Sigmund            F
34      Dan Comrie                  F
44      Craig Cherwinski          F
81      Dane Ludolph               F
87      Sean Birkle                   F
29      Peter Nordell                G

Looks great on paper.