CFHL Cherry Cup Champion

 Congratulations to the Greek Empire!!  This year's Cherry Cup Champions!  They led the league from the beginning, came in as the number one seed, was super confident they would bring the Cup home as the playoffs started...And they were right on all accounts.

They would play the 2nd best team in the league the Space Monkey Mafia, so this year's finals went chalk.  This is how they got there...

In the second round of the playoffs the Greek Empire had their hands full with the Assassins.  Assassins beat them in assists 26-14 and was able to edge them in PPP by one.  Stamkos had a huge week for the Assassins with 3 goals and 2 assists plus Kucherov had 5 assists.  But unfortunately that would be the only categories they would win.  Forsberg had 4 goals for the Greek Empire and both Tavares and Lucas Raymond both had 3 goals.  Hellebuyck was huge for the Empire getting 2 wins and a SV% of .962.

It was even closer with the Space Monkey Mafia and the Krampus Carols as they tied 3-3.  Mitch Marner had 6 assists for the Monkey Mafia helping them win assists 16-13.  For the Krampus, Brady Tkachuk had 14 hits helping the Krampus dominate the boards 47-29, but they couldn't get just one more goalie win from Stuart Skinner that would have gave them the win.  Instead the Mafia moved onto the Cherry Cup Final.

Cherry Cup Final

Greek Empire vs. Space Monkey Mafia 4-2

This was a shorter week than normal, but didn't matter to the Greek Empire as they won easily to capture their first Cup!  They beat the Mafia by 7 goals, getting 2 from Tavares and 2 from Lucas Raymond, their playoff MVP.  

Raymond and Seider were big in the Finals for the Greek Empire

They absolutely dominated hits getting 34 in the sort week to only 10 by the Mafia.  Defenseman Moritz Seider (another Red Wing) led the team with 10 hits and John Tavares had 7 and was the Cherry Cup MVP.

Tavares earns Cherry Cup MVP honors

Connor Hellebuyck did get a win in his only game, but gave up 3 goals with a .870 SV%, but Binnington would come through with a SV% of .973 to give the Greek Empire the win in SV%.

It was an impressive run by the Greek Empire that pretty much dominated the entire season.  While they only led the league in hits, they had a well rounded lineup that just seemed to win week to week.  Congratulations Greek Empire on winning the Cherry Cup.  (Which will remain in the CFHL headquarters...I'll send you a picture).

Greek Empire fans celebrate their first ever Cherry Cup:

CFHL Playoffs Round 1

 There wasn't a whole lot of drama in the first round of the CFHL playoffs but things did get a little interesting on Sunday for the Who Gives a Puck vs. Krampus Carols game.  Let's take a look at last weeks action and a look ahead at Round 2.

 Assassins vs. California Raisins 3-2-1 - This game wasn't as close as the score indicated.  The Assassins were pretty much in control the entire game with substantial leads in all skater categories.  Steven "Stinky" Stamkos was the game's MVP for the Assassins scoring 6 goals!  He also had 4 PPPs and 7 hits!  His playing partner in the NHL and CFHL, Kucherov tallied 9 assists and 5 PPPs!  The Raisins had some good net play with Lyon and Talbot combining for 4 wins and .923 SV%.  They then tied up hits but just wasn't enough to defeat the Assassins.

Krampus Carols vs. Who Gives a Puck 3-3 - With the dreaded tie breakers in the playoffs, the Krampus win the game being the hire seed after skating to a 3-3 tie with  the Puck.  It really looked like the Puck had no chance to even tie this game after Saturday.  Sid the Kid notched 5 goals for the Krampus Carols and Caufield added 4 more.  Brady Tkachuk was a monster on the board recording 28 hits, 16  in one game on Saturday!!  But on Sunday, the Puck got a win from Juuse Saros to take the Win category and then Thomas Harley ended up with 3 PPP and flipped the PPP category to make the game 3-3.  Maybe if Tkachuk didn't go nuts on Saturday with hits, maybe the Puck pull it off.  

Round 2

Alex's Assassins at Greek Empire - If I were the Empire, I would be a little nervous facing this Assassins team.  They have the fire power to hang with the Empire with Stamkos, Kucherov, Hyman, Suzuki and Kane.  Not to mention Cale Makar on the blue line.  Empire come to the ice with 6 skaters with over 100 hits.  JT Miller can hit and score with 35 goals.  Forsberg can match up with any of the skaters the Assassins has.  Difference is goalies, where the Empire have two top goalies in Binnington and Hellebuyck.  Vasilevskiy is the best the Assassins have and he has been giving up goals.  This one will be close but with the Empire holding the tie breaker the Assassins have to go 4-2 or 3-2-1.  Empire prevail 3-2-1.

Krampus Carols at Space Monkey Mafia - Some great one on one matchups.  Crosby vs. MacKinnon.  McDavid vs Bedard.  Aho vs. Marner.  Plus we get the Tkachuk brothers facing off against each other.  Brady for the Krampus and Matthew for the Space Monkey Mafia.  In net it will be two of the top goalies going against each other.  Krampus have "Principle" Skinner and Mafia has Shesterkin.  Both have 34 wins.  Even with Brady Tkachuk, I might give the edge to the Mafia in hits.  Another close one, but have to go chalk and the Space Monkey Mafia win 4-2.

CFHL Final Week and Playoff Match ups

 The season concluded with a mad dash for the final 4 spots in the playoffs.  The Crew who were in playoff contention 4 weeks ago vomited on themselves down the stretched and finished 2nd to last in the standings.  Who Gives a Puck who was out of playoff contention 4 weeks ago, fought their way back and were as high as 3rd place, and almost blew it but managed to snag the last playoff spot.  

Week 16 action: 

Assassins vs. Goon Crew 4-1-1 - What appeared to be a promising start to the week for the Crew ended in disappointment as the Assassins came back and put the Crew out of their misery.  It was a disappointing week for the Crew's Bruins trio of Coyle, Marchand and McAvoy.  They combined for only 1 goal, 2 assists and 1 PPP.  Frederik Andersen of the Assassins had a shutout in the win.

Andersen notched a shutout for the Assassins

Checkers vs. White Mambas 4-2 - The Mambas were sitting in playoff position for a good portion of the year, but he big loss to the Checkers in the final week was the nail in their coffin.  The Checkers on the other hand, at one point during the week were in the playoffs, but by weeks end they would fall short.  Jamie Benn led the Checkers with 2 goals, 3 assists 2 PPP and 4 hits.

Benn finished strong for Checkers

Greek Empire vs. Slapshots 2-2-2 - Greek Empire were just playing out the season, with the number one seed wrapped up.  Slapshots got a great game from Tage Thompson who scored 4 goals and Leon Draisaitl who had 5 assists.  Slapshots would finish with 16 goals!

Tage Thompson with hattrick for the Slapshots

Krampus Carols vs Space Monkey Mafia 5-1 - Krampus made a statement finishing the season with a dominating performance against the Number 2 team in the league as they enter the playoffs.  Connor McDavid had a typical Connor McDavid week scoring 3 goals, 5 assists 3 PPP and 6 hits.  Brady Tkachuk had 16 hits.  Watch this team in the playoffs...

McDavid hoping to have more big weeks to come

California Raisins vs. Who Gives a Puck 3-2-1 - The Pucks quest to win back to back cups continues despite their loss to the Raisins   Panarin had 7 helpers for the Raisins and Trocheck had 5 as the Raisins racked up 23 assists. 

Panarin had 7 assists for Raisins

Playoffs Round 1:

With the two division winners (Greek Empire and Space Monkey Mafia) getting byes, here are the Round 1 matchups for this week:

California Raisins at Assassins - Its a Cherry Cousin matchup.  Assassins have been strong all year.  They have a lot of fire power on their team between Kucherov and Zach Hyman.  With Stamkos, Kucherov and Vasilevskiy, Assassins may go as the Lighting go.  Raisins seem a little week in net, with Talbot of the Kings and Lyon of the Redwings but their skaters are well rounded and strong on the blue line with Weegar banging the boards.  I give the edge to the Assassins in this one 3-2-1

Stamkos and Kucherov are a pair of Assassins

Who Gives a Puck vs. Krampus Carols - The Puck's quest to win back to back cups begins against the Krampus Carols this week.  This could come down to Auston Matthews of the Puck vs. McDavid of the Krampus.  Who will out play who?  Puck also has Rantanen, but the Krampus has Crosby and Brady Tkachuk.  I'll give the edge to the Krampus Carols with Skaters and close to a draw with the netminders.  Should be a close one but Krampus ends the Pucks' dream of a repeat. 4-2

Crosby and McDavid vs. Matthews 

CFHL: Playoff Race Update

 The final stretch to the playoffs is underway!  In week 12 Who Gives a Puck were way out of playoff contention, but after 3 weeks they have roared back into the playoffs and sit at the 3rd seed!  You can thank the Crew for that one.  In Week 14 they lost to the Puck 0-6!

But now we are in the middle of Week 16, the final regular season week.  The Greek Empire will be the top seed in the league and basically will have two byes.  This week against the last place Slapshots then next weeks playoff bye.  The Empire are very confident that they will have no problem in the playoffs and bring the Cup to California!  Careful there bearded wonder...

Greek Empire fans getting fired up for the playoffs

Monkey Mafia will be the two seed with a 9 point lead over the Puck.  Monkey currently have a 5-0-1 lead over the Krampus Carols but the game is still tight in goals, assists and PPP, so this could certainly change.  Krampus just need to keep it close to stay in the playoffs as they currently sit 5th with 88 points.  

Better watch out for the Monkey Mafia

Speaking of the tight race we have for spots 4 through 6...

4. Raisins with 88 points are leading the Puck 4-2 but very early, with slim leads in hits and PPP.

5. Krampus Carols with 88 points as mentioned above.  

6. Assassins with 87 points hold the final playoff spot.  They lead the Mambas by 1 point and the Crew by 2.  Currently they are losing to the Crew 4-0-2.  Again it is very early, but the Crew have a commanding lead in hits (23-6) and a decent lead in Assists (5-2) and goals (6-4), but this can all change in a heart beat. 

7. White Mambas with 86 points are battling the Checkers and losing 1-3-2.  A loss here and playoff hopes go bye bye.

Light night tonight in the NHL, but Thursday there are 14 games and Saturday 15 games!  Hang onto your hockey helmets, should be a wild ride to the playoffs!

CFHL Week 13 Update

 How quickly things can change as we head toward the end of the regular season.  Last week the Raisins were out of the playoffs, but after last week's games they move into the final playoff spot as the Krampus Carols went 2-4  and dropped out.  Three weeks to go to solidify your playoff spots!

Week 13 action:

Space Monkey Mafia vs. Goon Crew 3-3 - Crew were able to hang on and keep a tie game with the Mafia despite losing most of the skater categories.  Thankfully they were solid in net and on the boards.  Nathan McKinnon was a beast again for the Mafia scoring 3 goals, 7 assists, 3 PPP and a hit!

MacKinnon leads the Mafia

Assassins vs. Krampus Carols 4-2 - Assassins win the game dominating the power play getting 6 points vs. only 1 to the Krampus.  Cale Makar at the blue line was a stud scoring 4 goals, 2 assists, 2 PPP and a couple of hits.  Thatcher Demko had a huge week with 3 wins and .969 SV% but went out in the final game with an injury and could be out 2-3 weeks.

Makar shines on the blue line for the Assassins!

Checkers vs. Slapshots 3-2-1 - Checkers managed to defeat the scrappy Slapshots.  The Slapshots tied PPP and won  Assists on the last day thanks to Roman Josi getting an assist and PPP.  Checkers were led by center Jamie Benn who had 2 goals, 4 assists and 3 PPP.  Sam Reinhart continues to have career year netting 3 more goals for the Checkers.

Reinhart has scored 45 goals so far for Checkers

White Mambas vs. Raisins 3-3 - Raisins and Mambas skated to a tie last week.  Mambas scored 10 goals, but not to be outdone, the Raisins countered with 23 assists and 50 hits!  Pastrnak led the Mambas with 2 goals, 4 assists 2 PPP and 4 hits.  Weegar had 19 hits for the Raisins, but of course it wasn't enough to win Goon of the Week...

Pasta got his 40th goal this week for the Mambas

Greek Empire vs. Who Gives a Puck 5-0-1 - The Greek Empire are a machine and definitely the odds on Cup favorites.  They dominated the Puck in all Skater categories beating them by 10 goals,  8 assists, 5 PPP and 21 hits.  Forsberg led the Empire with 4 goals as John Tavares led the way with 17 hits!

Tavares was active on the boards for the Empire

Three Stars of the Week:

Number Three Star:  Filip Forsberg, F, Empire - 4 goals, 2 assists, 2 PPP, 6 hits

Number Two Star:  Thatcher Demko, G, Assassins - 3 wins, SV% .969

Number One Star:  Nathan MacKinnon, C, Mafia - 3 goals, 7 assists, 3 PPP, 1 hit

Goon of the Week:  Who else?  Jeremy Lauzon, D, Checkers - 23 hits

CFHL Update Week 12

 

Was out last week once again in SWFL, but back for a CFHL update.  There are only 4 weeks left in the regular season!  Its time for that playoff push!  What does the playoff picture look like right now...

Its hard to believe that the Greek Empire will relinquish the top seed in the league as he has an 8 point lead for that spot, despite his loss to the Goon Crew 3-2-1 last week. :)  The team is strong with JT Miller at center who can score and has over 100 hits.  Their goalies are combining for 50 wins so far this season (Binnington and Hellebuyck).  

JT Miller a bruising center

Space Monkey Mafia are right there, although 8 points behind the top spot, but seem to be in prime position to make the playoffs.  Nathan Mackinnon leads this squad with 37 goals, 64 assists and an incredible 36 PPPs.

Mackinnon playing well for Monkey Mafia

After those two teams its a log jam for the next 4 spots, all tied or only 1 point back of each other.  Assassins, White Mambas  and Goon Crew are all tied and the Krampus Carols are only one point behind.  So the next 4 weeks could see seeds change for all of these teams or maybe someone dropping out of the playoff race.  The California Raisins are lurking only 2 points behind this group.  

Two teams with the most Cherry Cup Championships, the Checkers and Who Gives a Puck are on the outside looking in.  But with 4 weeks to go, don't be surprised if one of these teams make a run for the playoffs.  

Top Skaters through 12 weeks:

Best in Goals:  Auston Matthews, C, Puck - 53 goals - How the Puck are not in playoff contention with this guy!

Best in Assists:  Connor McDavid, C,  Assassins - 67 assists - McDavid at the top of the stats per usual and a big part of the Assassins success this year thus far.

Best in PPP:  Nikita Kucherov, F, Assassins - 42 PPPs - Another reason the Assassins will be a handful come the playoffs

Best in Hits:  Jeremy Lauzon, D, Checkers - 292 hits - A familiar name as Goon of the Week almost every week.

Best in Wins:  Thatcher Demko, Assassins and Alexandar Georgiev, Checkers - Both with 31 wins (That's three players for the Assassins that lead in stats)

Best in SV%:  Connor Hellebuyck, Greek Empire - .924 - Good reason the Greek Empire are on top.