CFHL Week 13

Only two more weeks before the Olympic break...and then its a mad dash for the playoffs....

Checkers vs. Goon Crew  (4-2)

Checker Mascot very happy!

In the Brother Cup the Checkers came out on top once again.  They met in week 2 and the Checkers took them out 5-1.  So I guess you could say this was an improvement to only lose 4-2?  Whatever.  The Crew tried to tie the game up by getting 2 goals on Sunday to pull with in 1, but couldn't find that last goal to tie goals.  Pavelski for the Checkers had 3 goals 2 assist and a +3, while Zetterberg had 5 assists and a +5.  

USSR vs Krampus Carols (4-2)

This game came down to goalies on Sunday as going into Sunday it was 2-2 and both goalie categories were tied (including SV%!).  It would be Brodeur for the Krampus vs. Luongo for USSR.  Brodeur would end up getting lit up at Yankee Stadium and yanked in the 2nd period after giving up 6 goals.  Maybe the old man can't handle the cold.  Luongo would then come away with the 5-4 victory to edge the Krampus in SV% and Wins making the game 4-2.  The victory moves the USSR back into the last playoff spot.  Damn Ruskies.

Brodeur has seen better days...

Mayhem On Ice vs. AshBusters (4-2)

Goalies were once again the talk as the Mayhem tallied 5 goalie wins this week while the AshBusters put up a respectable 3 wins.  Lehtonen for the Mayhem got 3 wins and a .944 SV% and even Tim Thomas got into the action getting 2 wins.  Tavares continued his MVP season getting a goal and 5 big assists. 

Enforcers vs. Who Gives a Puck (5-0)

The Enforcers shut out the Gives a Puck, but the game was much closer than the score indicated.  Enforcers edged them by only 1 goal 7-6 as the Puck got 2 goals from Zuccarello in the snow and ice of Yankee Stadium but couldn't get the third.  They tied in assists.  Enforcers only beat the Puck by 4 PIM and edged them in SV% by .006.  Ouch for Who Gives a Puck.  Alexander Semin was the Number One Star with 3 goals, 2 assists a +3 and 4 PIM.  

Semin was casted as Luke's kid in upcoming Star Wars movies

SLVB vs. Assassins (4-2)

This was a good match up and didn't disappoint.  The teams battled to a 8-6 goals and 18-11 assists, with the Assassins winning Goals and SLVB winning Assists.  Plus the PIM were 54 in total as the Killer Smurfs played in yet another chippy bloody game.  "That's how we like it! Heh heh heh" said Owner Steve of the SLVB.  Undrafted Okposo for the Killer Smurfs had one of this weeks top performances with 3 goals, 4 assists, -1 and 11 PIM.  Scott Hartnell for the Assassins was typical Delta Bravo with 13 PIM.

"Stuff it Kyle!"

Heisenberg's Ice vs. Fluffy Bunnies (5-1)

After the Bunnies 6-0 shutout of the USSR two week ago, they have gone 2-4 and 1-5 past two weeks and are close to losing the #2 slot to the surging Enforcers.  The Bunnies played Heisenberg on the wrong week as they tallied 11 goals, 19 assist and 18 PIM.  Kessel had 4 goals, Sid the Kid had 2 goals, Kane had 3 assists as did Gonchar.  In net for Heisenberg was Pavalec who has been on fire lately.  5-1 in his last 6 starts and this week had a .931 SV%.

Kessel partaking in Heisenberg's ice...
(and why is his girlfriends leg all wet?)

CFHL Week 12

Big Match up Week in the CFHL this week.  We had the Number 1 and 2 ranked teams face off.  We had the Husband vs. Wife match up again and we had the 2nd and 3rd place team in the Norris battle it out as well.  Here's how it went.

Checkers vs. Fluffy Bunnies (4-2)

Crawford came up big for the Checkers!

The battle between the 1st and 2nd ranked teams.  The Bunnies had made a charge to catch the Checkers in the overall standings so this game would give the winner an inside track to the top seed in the playoffs.  And it came down to the final day and would have to be determined by a shoot out.  The game was 3-2 for the Checkers and the two teams had their Goalies facing off on Sunday. Checkers had Crawford and the Bunnies had Rask.  The Bruins vs. Blackhawk game would go into OT and then to a shoot out where Crawford and the Blackhawks would win giving the Checkers the 4-2 victory instead of a 3-3 tie.  The Checkers found some offense as well scoring 12 goals.  Pavelski and Marchand both had 4 goals!

SLVB vs. Enforcers (3-3)

This is how the SLVB vs. Enforcers game started

These two teams seem to only want to tie each other, neither wanting to face the wrath of a spouse scorned by beating the other.  And it was a close one.  Killer Smurfs winning by only one goal.  Enforcers winning by only one assist.  It was a blood bath however on the ice with a combined 78 PIM with the Enforcers edging the SLVB by a count of 41-37 even with Killer Smurf "Mister" Garrison's 19 total PIM.  Killer Smurfs got a solid performance between the pipes as Bernier and Bishop both had 2 wins and Bishop had a SV% of .932.  Ginger Twin update:  Stock Down.  No goals, No assists, a -1 and 8 PIM.

Assassins vs. Goon Crew (4-2)

Hossa got revenge over his former team.

After beating the Enforcers 5-1 and looking like they were hitting their stride, the Assassins come to town and put the Crew back in their place.  It was close all week long but the Assassins seemed to have the edge in every category by just a few or one point.  The Goalies struggled for the Goon Crew despite getting 3 wins.  Mason got lit up  and only had 1 win and a .875 SV%.  Hossa was the Assassins sharp shooter netting 3 goals while Corey "Dog" Perry got 4 assists along with Hartnell.  The victory brought the Assassins up to the 3rd seed in the standings overall.  Assists were wild as the two teams combined for 40 assists in the game!

Player of the Week: Martin St. Louis, Krampus Carols.  5 Goals, 3 Assists, +3, 2 PIM.

St. Louis had 4 goals in one game!

St. Louis was really the only bright spot for the Krampus Carols in this match up between bottom dwellers.  He had 4 goals in one game and helped the Krampus from being totally shut out.  The AshBusters came out on top 4-2 when it was all said and done putting the Krampus Carols now in the bottom 12th spot.


Around the league...Who Gives a Puck came away with a win over the Mayhem on Ice 4-2.  They finally got their goalies working as Quick got 2 wins and a .967 SV% and Talbot was able to manage a win and a .967 SV% as well...Heisenberg's Ice was able to tie the USSR 3-3.  Net minder Ondrej Pavelec for Heisenberg was able to win both goalie categories on his own with 3 wins and a SV% of .921.  Ovechkin continues to do his part, with little help, scoring 3 goals but no assists and a -1.

Quick's wife Jaclyn Backman

CFHL Week 11

Some interesting games this week.  We saw the number one team in the league take it on the chin, another shut out in the league and one team lit up the score board.

AshBusters vs. Checkers (3-1-2)

Lundqvist had 3 wins for AshBusters

Just when it looked like the Checkers were running away with the league, they let their guard down, got too comfy and the last place, worse in the league AshBusters came into town and upset the 2 time defending champs.  On Sunday the Checkers just couldn't make a move on the AshBusters.  Goals remained knotted at the end at 6 while the AshBusters dominated the assist battle 12-5.  It was a total team effort for the AshBusters with 4 players getting 2 assists each.  Both teams were strong in net... both had 2 wins and SV% was .943 - .935 in favor of the AshBusters. And this was done with only one goalie on each side! Lundqvist for the AshBusters and Hiller for the Checkers.  Hiller's win on Sunday at least helped it from being worse than it was.  Just goes to show you...any given...Monday through Sunday...

Mayhem on Ice vs. Assassins (3-3)
You could say the Assassins had a pretty good game.  9 goals.  11 assists.  20 PIM.  4 goalie wins.  a .912 SV %.  Hell that would be good enough to beat a lot of teams.  However not the Tavares lead Mayhem on Ice.  They had 12 goals! 16 Assists! +16! All that to keep this game tied at 3.  Corey "Dog" Perry did what he could for the Assassins netting 2 goals, 3 assists, +4 and 2 PIM.  But John Tavares was huge earning player of the week.  He scored 4 goals, had 6 assists, a +9 and 2 PIM!  Tavares was a BEEAAASSST!!!

Ice Girls collect hats from
Tavares' hat trick!

Fluffy Bunnies vs. USSR (6-0)
The Bunnies were done messing around and took it out on the USSR shutting them out and moving to only 1 point behind the top seed in the CFHL.  This game was never really close.  USSR manged to only score 2 goals.  Bunnies won +/- by 18.  PIM by 4 and wins by 2.  Filppula lead the way for the Bunnies getting 2 goals an assists a +4 and 4 PIM.  Carey Price had a great week too getting 2 wins and a .957 SV%.  Rask however had a tougher go at it as the Bruins played along the west coasts and lost 2 of 3.  Thankfully for the Bunnies their one win was a shut out.  That will help the old SV%.  Rumor has it several USSR players were sent to Siberia for the poor play this past week.

Price came up big in the Bunnies shut out.

Goon Crew vs. Enforcers (5-1)

Tavares had 5 assists for the Crew

The Goon Crew have fought and clawed their way back into the playoff race with this 5-1 victory over the Enforcers.  While the Enforcers edged the Crew by 1 in goals thanks to Getzlaf getting 3 goals and Toews 2 (one on Sunday that helped them capture the goals category), the Crew blew up assists getting 18.  Vanek was huge getting 5 assists and a +9 as he benefited playing on the same line as this weeks Player of the Week Tavares.  Brad Richards also had 5 assists.  The Crew were also helped in their victory by the Enforcers problems in net.  Nabokov got the start, and was coming off a groin injury...few minutes after his first start back he re-aggravated it, leaving the Enforcers with only one goalie rest of the week in Mike Smith, who couldn't get a win all week.  This game looked like it would end at 4-2, then 4-1-1 when the Crew tied up PIM.  But then with only 3 seconds left in the Flyers game Simmonds lost it and got a 10 minute misconduct penalty to give the Crew their 5th victory.

Krampus fans celebrate with the Krampus Mascot

Around the league...Krampus Carols pulled the upset of the Killer Smurfs 3-2-1.  The Sedin's were benched for this one in the SLVBs attempts to alternate them in and out of the line up.  Okposo and Nash helped keep the SLVB in this combining for 7 goals, enough to alone beat the Krampus in goals.  The Defense was the story here for the Krampus.  Their defenseman combined for 6 assists a +3 and 8 PIM....Who Gives a Puck edged Heisenberg in a close one 3-1-2, but the story in this one was the beat down they put on Heisenberg.  They beat them in PIM 41-13.  The 2 big goons for Who Gives a Puck were Kreider (17 PIM) and Koivu (10 PIM).

Player of the Week:  John Tavares, Mayhem on Ice.  4 goals, 6 assists, +9, 2 PIM.
Tavares was on fire!  You knew he was going to have a big week when he starts out the week in the first game getting a hat trick, 2 assists, and a +3!

Tavares has huge week!

As we pass the mid way point of the season its time to start making that serious run for the playoffs, pick up that key player that will make a difference, or work a trade that will fill that final piece of the puzzle for a Cherry Cup Championship.  As we stand today, the Division leaders seem to be in pretty good shape.  The Checkers have a 14 point lead over the Assassins in the Norris Division.  The Fluffy Bunnies have a 17 point lead over the SLVB in the Smythe Division.  The Enforcers have an 8 point lead in the Patrick Division.  The race will be for the last 3 slots.  Season ends March 23 with playoffs starting March 24.  Trade deadline (not that we had any this year yet!) is February 20.

CFHL Week 10

The CFHL can be an exciting time when there are several games on a Sunday as was the case this week.  Sometimes it changes games completely or gives that one team the needed push to pull off the 6-0 sweep!  Well see for yourself....

USSR vs. The Enforcers (3-2-1)

Skinner celebrates his goal!

This was a big match up and the Soviets needed it bad to keep pace for the playoffs.  While some of the categories weren't that close, Enforcers won assists 18-9 and the USSR won goalie wins 3-0, Goals were where the Enforcers could try to tie up this game at 3-3.  Going into the last day The Enforcers were up 7-5.  Both had Carolina players, USSR with Skinner and Enforcers with Semin.  The Hurricanes would score just 2 goals in that game, but who got the goals, Skinner (despite getting a puck to the face) and Semin.   The USSR would then get 2 big goals from Eberle of Edmonton to tie it up.

Getzlaf celebrates the USSR win as
Enforcer's Kesler skates off.

Toews still a winner however...

The big games of the night were Sharks at Blackhawks (Couture, Hjalmarsson, Burn for USSR vs. Toews and Demers for Enforcers) and the Canucks vs Ducks (Bieksa for USSR vs. Getzlaf, and Kesler for enforcers)  On paper it looked like advantage Enforcers.  Bieksa and Hjalmarsson would net goals for USSR while Kesler and Demers for Enforcers.  Locked up 10 goals a piece.  Both games saw frantic 3rd period action with Couture almost scoring for the USSR and Toews and Getzlaf narrowly missing the net for the Enforcers.  Neither could score and the final would be tied at 10 for goals.  What a wild finish!

SLVB vs. Who Gives a Puck (3-2-1)

The Ginger Delta Bravos

In another game that saw some exciting action on the final day saw the Ginger Twins activate their powers and pull the Killer Smurfs from the jaws of defeat.  Who Gives a Puck had a 14-12 lead in assists going into the final day and were looking like they were heading for an upset win over the SLVB.  Ginger Twin powers activate...Form of "D"...Form of Bag!  Well they were certainly Delta Bravos for the Puck as the Twins combined for 5 big assists and ultimately won assists 18-16.  Thankfully for the Puck Malkin was back from his injury and had a huge day, scoring 2 goals, 1 assist, a +3 and 2 PIM all in one game!  I'd say he his healthy again.  Who Gives a Puck's goalie woes continue as they posted no wins and a .861 SV% from Dubnyk of Edmonton.

Checkers vs. Krampus Carols (6-0)

Checkers taking face off vs. Krampus Carols

With the Holiday Season behind us the Krampus Carols powers must be fading as they got swept by the Checkers, furthering the Checkers dominance in the league and moving them to an impressive number one ranked team of 39-17-4.  The only category saving the Krampus from a total sweep was Goalie Wins.  This was knotted at 2 going into Sunday.  Krampus getting wins from Miller and Brodeur and Checkers getting their 2 wins from Hiller.  Hiller and Crawford were both on the ice Sunday for the Checkers. Just one win from one of them would complete the sweep.  Crawford loss in a shoot out to the Sharks leaving only Hiller left.  Hiller and the Ducks would take the Canucks to overtime.  In overtime the Ducks won the game giving Hiller his 3rd win of the week and the Checkers their sweep!

Kane racked up some points

Around the league...Goon Crew battled Heisenberg's Ice to a 3-3 tie in a game that saw some wild swings in the score.  At one point the Goon Crew were up 5-0-1 and then they were down 4-2.  But they got the tie to avoid any more damage to their already fragile record.  Evander Kane came up big for Heisenberg with 3 goals, 2 assists and a +5, while the Goon Crew goalies continue to keep them in the game.  Mason had 2 wins and a .923 SV% while Niemi struggled some getting only 1 win and a .875....
The Assassins had a great week beating up on the AshBusters 5-1 and wouldn't you know it...their division leading rivals would sweep so no ground gained by the Assassins in the Norris.  Byfuglien threw his weight around, and its a lot of weight, getting 8 minutes in the sin bin for the Assassins....Bunnies made it 4-2 over the Mayhem on Ice losing only the goals and PIM categories.  Kunitz continues to shine for the Bunnies netting 2 goals, 3 assists and a +1.  Tavares and Patrick Sharp each had 3 goals in the losing effort for the Mayhem on Ice.

"Some might say I have a bit of a 'weight' problem"

Player of the Week:  Brian Elliott, Goalie, USSR
Elliott had a great week and helped the USSR beat their division leading Enforcers.  He managed 3 wins and an incredible .962 SV%. This included a shutout and a 2-1 decision.

Despite looking like he's taking a dump, Elliott was stellar.