CFHL Week 7

 Sorry for the hiatus while I was enjoying the sunshine and warm weather of SWFL.  But back at it up here in the Grey/Brown season with an update on the CFHL.

Goon Crew in Week 5 dispensed the Checkers easily 5-0-1 15 hits from Foligno and a great week from goaltender Ukko-Pekka "Oompa Loompa" Luukkonen who had 2 wins and SV% of .968.  Unfortunately, the Crew would then fall to the Assassins 1-4-1 the next week, despite 4 goals from Dylan Larkin. They  remain 6 points back in the Cherry Division in 4th place...

The Oompa Loompa did well for the Crew

After the Checkers lost to the Goon Crew, with 18 hits from none other than Jeremy Lauzon, they were able to bounce back against the White Mambas 4-2.  The Checkers scored 16 goals with Marshessault getting 5 and Reinhart and Toffoli netting 4 each!  Lauzon continued to hammer the boards with 17 more hits!  However they remain in last place in the Cherry Division...

Lauzon being Lauzon...

The Assassins in Week 5 played a tough game against Who Gives a Puck beating them 3-2-1.  5 assists from Makar and a good week in goal by Demko (2 wins and .925 SV%) helped the cause.  The following week they got the Crew and took care of them 4-1-1.  Nikita Kucherov had a huge week scoring 4 goals, 5 assists, 3 PPP and 3 hits!  Assassins are in the mix of things in the North, trailing 2nd place Raisins by only 1 point and division leading Greek Empire by 2...

Kuch had huge week for the Assassins!

In the big California rivalry, Greek Empire shut out the California Raisins 6-0!!  Star of the game was Joel Eriksson Ek who had 4 goals, 4 assists, 3 PPP and 5 hits!  Plus Hellebuyck continued his MVP performance with 2 wins and .958 SV%.  But then, what seems very common place in this league, the Greek would lose the following week, this time to the Slapshot 1-3-2.  Hellebuyck finally stumbled, not getting any wins and a SV% of .878.  They still lead the Cherry Division but only by 1 point over the Raisins.

4 goals for Joel...who has a little Kopitar look to him...

Speaking of the California Raisins and the tale of 2 weeks, after they got their butt handed to them by the Greek Empire, they took it out on Who Gives a Puck beating them 5-1.  This was not a goalie dual, with only one win between all 4 goalies.  But the Raisins got great production from Brock Boeser (3g, 3a, 3PPP, 1 hit) and 5 assists from Dobson.  After that 5 win week, they trail the Greek by only 1 point.

Boeser scores for the Raisins

The Buffalo Slapshots still remain in last place, but showed some signs of life the past two weeks going a total of  6-4-2.  Thy tied the Krampus 3-3 in Week 5, edging them by 1 assist and just 2 PPPs.  Leon Draisaitl led the team with 2 goals 3 assists and 2 PPP.  The following week they were able to get the win against the Greek Empire again with a good performance from Draisaitl (6 assists) and 4 goals from team favorite JJ Peterka. 

Krampus Carols went 3-3 in back to back weeks.  First to the Slapshots.  Thankfully the Krampus had great goaltending or it wouldn't have been that close.  They got 4 wins and a SV% of .952 between Kuemper and "Principal" Skinner.  Then they went toe to toe with division leading Space Monkeys getting a huge week from Connor McDavid.  He scored 4 goals, 4 assists, 3 PPP and 5 hits!  They now trail the Space Monkey Mafia by 3 points.

McDavid keeping the Krampus in contention

League leading Space Monkey Mafia were surprised by the White Mambas in Week 5 despite Nathan MacKinnon's week of 3 goals, 5 assists, and 4 hits.  MacKinnon followed that up with 5 goals, 2 assists, 3 PPP the next week in their draw with the Krampus Carols.  Fours were wild with Matthew Tkachuk, who had 4 goals, 4 assists, 4 PPP, and 4 hits!

Space Monkey Mafia fans celebrate MacKinnon's Hatty

The reason the White Mambas were able to surprise the Mafia was the play of David Pastrnak.  He had 5 goals, 2 assists, and 2 PPP.  Victor Hedman also had a big week from the blue line scoring 2 goals, 3 assists 2 PPP and 3 hits!  They wouldn't be able to surprise the Checkers though losing 2-4, even if Brayden Point had 4 goals and Pastrnak with 3.  The White Mambas are a long way back in the Smythe division, but are still in the thick of the playoff race...

White Mambas serving up a big helping of Pasta

The defending champs Who Gives a Puck certainly are having their struggles.  They currently sit at 37 points on the outside of the playoffs looking in.  Week 5 saw the Assassins come in and beat them 3-2-1.  The Puck did get 5 goals from Matthews and 4 more from Rantanen in the loss.  And then the Raisins hammered them 5-1 the following week.  That week Matthews was only able to manage 2 goals and just 1 PPP.  Cherry Cup hangover?

Matthews one of the few bright points for the Puck

CFHL Week 5

 Space Monkey Mafia and California Raisins still in command of their respective divisions.  Raisins put some distance between them and the Greek Empire after going 4-1-1 while the Greek went 2-4.

Week 5 action:

Who Gives a Puck vs. Goon Crew 3-2-1

This game was close all week long with the Puck getting the best of the Crew on the last night of hockey to get the win.  The Puck got 7 hits on Sunday with Trouba leading the way tying hits and ultimately getting the win.  Marchand had 4 goals for the Crew in the loss.  

Trouba smashing the boards for the Puck

Assassins vs Greek Empire 4-2

This was a goalie dual between the Assassins and Empire.  Assassins Double D net minders Daccord and Demko had 3 wins a piece during the week and combined for a SV% of .935.  Empire countered with Hellebuyck and Binnington with 2 wins and an even better SV% of .944!

Joey Daccord for the Assassins

California Raisins vs. Krampus Carols 4-1-1

Raisins dominated most of the week in all skater categories.  They beat the Krampus by 5 goals, 10 assists, 7 PPPs and 11 hits!  Vincent Trocheck had a good week scoring 3 goals, 2 PPPs and dealt out 7 hits in the win.

Trocheck helped the Raisins to a win

Checkers vs. Space Monkey Mafia 3-2-1

The Checkers were able to survive this battle and beat the league leading Space Monkey Mafia behind 40 total hits and a great performance by goalie Alexandar "My Brother" Georgiev. Georgiev notched 3 wins and a SV% of .925.  Andreas "Robert" Englund (was a nightmare for Mafia skaters) and of course Jeremy Lauzon combined for 23 hits!

Georgiev playing well in net for Checkers

White Mambas vs. Slapshots

The Mambas lit up the lamp his week with 18 total goals defeating the struggling Slapshots.  Elias Pettersson tallied 5 goals while Clayton Keller put 4 more in the net.  Pettersson also had 4 helpers on his way to Number 1 Star of the week!

Pettersson had 5 goals for the Mamba!

Three Stars of the Week

Number Three Star:  Thatcher Demko, G, Assassins - 3 wins,  .942 SV%

Number Two Star:  Clayton Keller, F, White Mambas - 4 goals, 2 assists, 2 PPP

Number One Star:  Elias Pettersson, C, White Mambas - 5 goals, 4 assists, 1 PPP, 6 hits

Goon of the Week:  Marcus Foligno, F, Goon Crew - 14 hits

Lexie Shaw, Demko's girlfriend...

...Who apparently is also a goalie!

CFHL Week 4

The Space Monkey Mafia continue to lead the Smythe division by 2 points over the Krampus Carols and then 10 points over the Puck.  The Cherry Division is being led by the two California teams of Raisins and Greek Empire who are tied for first.

Week 4 action:

Space Monkey vs. Goon Crew 4-2

The Space Monkey Mafia had little trouble with the Crew winning all skater categories.  Matthew Tkachuk led the Mafia with 3 goals, 4 assists, 3 PPP and 5 hits!  The Goon Crew however lived up to their name breaking the jaw of rookie phenom Connor Bedard.

Goon Crew send Bedard home with a broken jaw

Slapshots vs Checkers 4-2

Slapshots might be finally figuring things out with a 4-2 win this week.  Tage Thompson had 2 goals and 2 assists while Barkov had 5 total helpers!  Too bad the Checkers didn't have any skaters to go with their goalies.  They notched 5 total wins between Georgiev and "What about" Bobrovsky.

Tage Thompson of the Slapshots

Raisins vs White Mambas 3-3

These teams skated to a 3-3 ties with 4 goalies between them getting only 1 win and both posting sub .900 SV%.  Elias Pettersson for the Mambas had 4 goals at least.

Elias had 4 goals for the Mamba

Greek Empire vs. Who Gives a Puck 4-2

Empire got things rolling against the defending Champs with unbelievable goal tending play!  Binnington and Hellebuyck combined for 5 wins and a SV% of .948!  They also managed to pound the boards with 45 hits!

Binnington came up with some big stops for the Empire

Krampus Carol vs. Assassins 4-2

While we are past Krampus season, the Krampus Carols posted their 4th straight winning week and this is with 4 players injured.  Thankfully they had good netminders between Kuemper and "Principal" Skinner, who combined for 4 wins and .920 SV %

Principal Skinner!

Three Stars of the Week:

Number 3 Star:  Sam Reinhart, F, Checkers - 5 goals, 1 assist, 4 PPP, 1 hit

Number 2 Star:  Matthew Tkachuk, F, Space Monkey - 3 goals, 4 assists, 3 PPP, 5 hits

Number 1 Star:  Connor Hellebuyck, G, Greek Empire - 3 wins, .937 SV%

Goon of the Week (who else):  Jeremy Lauzon, D, Checkers - 13 hits

Hellebuyck with his wife Andrea

CFFL Memorial Cup

Week 18 brings us to the Memorial Cup, where every team competes for a free entry for next season and as a division to win the Memorial Cup in memory of owners who have passed away:

• Jennifer Cherry - Jennifer Jewels
• Steve Machcinski - Steve's Stooges
• Burt Carlson - Bacardi's Bums
• Rich Johnston - Russian Roulette

The North finally win the Memorial Cup as they scored a total of 139 points!  The North Remembers. Winter is here.   It was no surprise that the South finished in last with only 60 points down in Kings Landing...

The North and the Animals were Kings in the North

Alex's Animals continued their dominance of the CFFL with the most points by a team with 55 points.  Dak Prescott hit CeeDee Lamb for two 10 point connections this weekend and they combined for 28 points!  He was also smart to bench Kyren Williams, knowing he was not playing, and put in Joe Mixon who had 2 scores.  

Prescott finished with 16 points in the Memorial Cup

Here is the Standings of the Memorial Cup:

1. North - 139 points

    Animals 55

    Chislers 33

    Ferrets 28

    Crew 23

2. East - 113 points

    Sinistars 39

    Cocktails 34

    Krauts 32

    Juggernauts 8

3. West - 83 points

    Whales 37

    Killers 27

    Crush 21

    Legion 18

4. South - 60 points

    Bees 28

    Dragons 18

    Warbirds 14

    Titans 0

Well that concludes the 2023 CFFL season.  Our 39th!  Next year is a big year.  We celebrate our 40th season and we kick it off in Fabulous Las Vegas with the Draft on August 17!!  Plan is to do the draft at the Circa Sports Book and Casino on Freemont Street.  Stay tuned for details this winter!

The Crew and Vegas Vicky

Owner of the Circa Derek Stevens ready to
announce the 1st pick in the draft...

CFHL Week 3

 The Space Monkeys are quickly establishing themselves as one of the top teams in the league with the most points (25) and leading the Smythe division by 2 points over the Krampus.  Buffalo Slapshots quickly establishing themselves as the worst team with only 10 points.  

The Cherry Division seems pretty tight with 4 teams separated by only 4 points, with the Raisins leading the way with 21.

Week 3 Action:

Goon Crew vs. Greek Empire 4-2

Crew dominated in assists, beating the Empire 24-6 in that category.  Brad Marchand led the way with 5 assists.  Crew Goalies were solid in net too with Ulmark and Wedgewood combining for 3 wins and a .922 SV%.  

Marchand had 5 assists for the Crew

Assassins vs. White Mamba 4-2

Assassins won all the skating categories and Mamba all the goalie ones.  Unfortunately for the Mamba there are only 2 goalie categories.  Kucherov had 3 goals and Morgan Riley had 4 assist to go along with 2 PPP and 2 hits.

Kuch with 3 goals for Assassins

Raisins vs. Checkers 4-2

Checkers skaters struggled again only leading in hits with 41.  They did get 4 wins from their goalies "What about" Bobrovsky and "My Brother" Georgiev.  Panarin led the Raisins with 5 goals this week including a hat trick!  DeBrincat had a huge week too getting 2 goals, 4 helpers and 2 PPPs. 

The Cat, Debrincat celebrates one of his goals!

Space Monkey vs. Slapshots 4-2

Slapshot woes continue, especially in net where they couldn't manage one win.  Space Monkey Mafia had no issues between the posts as they tallied 3 wins and a SV% of .929 between their net minders of Gustavsson and Shesterkin.

Gustavsson for the Mafia

Krampus Carols vs. Who Gives a Puck 3-2-1

This was a close one with the Krampus Carols coming away with the win as they wrapped up Krampus Season.  Will they continue to win after the season is over?  Connor McDavid tallied 3 assists and 4 hits while Brady Tkachuk did his part with 10 hits.  Puck got 13 hits from Tom Wilson, 7 from Doughty and 10 more from Trouba!  This was a violent game...

McDavid had 3 assists

This Weeks Three Stars

Number 3 Star:  David Pastrnak, F, Mambas - 2 goals, 4 assists, 3 PPP and 1 hit

Number 2 Star:  Igor Shesterkin, G, Space Monkey - 2 wins, .968 SV%

Number 1 Star:  Artemi Panarin "Bread", F, Raisins - 5 goals, 1 assist, 2 PPP and 1 hit

Goon of the Week:  Jeremy Lauzon, D, Checkers - 16 hits

Panarin's wife Aliza Znarok...