CFHL Cherry Cup

 The Cherry Cup Final was a close one, as expected.   Who Gives a Puck vs. R.C. Goon Crew.  One team going for it's 4th Cup and one team going for its first ever.  

The game was tied at 3-3 with the Puck up 10-2 in goals, but only up 1-0 in goalie wins and the SV % was close too at .861 to .828.  Dylan Strome and Drake Batherson combined for 6 of those 10 goals!  The Puck would hang onto all three of those categories.  However with the game tied at 3-3, the Goon Crew would still prevail, as they held the tie breaker.  

The Goon Crew had solid leads in assists (9-3) and in hits (16-10), but only led PPP by one (4-3).  Radko Gudas led the team with 5 hits in the game.  But just one PPP by the Puck on the last day of the week, Thursday, and the Puck would win the game 3-2-1.  They wouldn't get one PPP, but they would get two!  Drake Batherson would score 2 PPP Thursday Night to give the Puck the victory 4-2 and earned Cherry Cup Final MVP!  

Batherson the Cherry Cup Finals MVP!

This gives Who Gives a Puck their 4th Cherry Cup and now trail the Checkers in Cups by only 1.  The Goon Crew came up short once again to get their name finally engraved on the Cup.  Looks like they will have to wait yet once again for next year.

Congratulations to Who Gives a Puck!

CFHL Semis

 

The stage is set for the Cherry Cup.  

The Goon Crew were able to hang on to beat his brother and 5 time Cherry Cup Champion Checkers.  The game ended 2-2-2 and with the Goon Crew the home team and higher seed, they break the tie.  This game couldn't have gotten any closer.  The Checkers dominated, as predicted, goalie categories with Hellebuyck and Vasilevskiy combining for 4 wins and a SV% of .917.  The Crew only had one goalie going.  The teams tied for Goals and Assists but the Goon Crew managed to edge the Checkers in PPP 8-6 and surprisingly hits 46-40.  Leading the way in hits was Olivier with 14 and Tom Wilson with 13 for the  Crew.  This will be the Crew's second trip to the Cup final.  Last time they were here they lost to the Checkers on a last minute empty net goal by Zetterberg...

The other game wasn't quite as dramatic.  Who Gives a Puck dominated the California Raisins 6-0. Goals were close (8-7) but the blew out the Raisins 21-9 in assists, 7-4 in PPP and 42-25 in hits.  Brandon Hagel had 7 assists in the win and Luke Schenn had 14 hits!  

Who Gives a Puck vs. R.C. Goon Crew

For the 2024-2025 Cherry Cup, Who Gives a Puck is going for their 4th title and the Goon Crew are trying to get their name engraved on the Cup for the first time.  If either team plays like they did last week it should be another close one.  The week is short (ends Thursday) and some players only play once.  Adin Hill is coming in for the Crew but plays a back to back so will likely only get one start.  Hits will be close but the Goon Crew might have the edge with Wilson, Olivier and Gudas.  Lucke Schenn for the Puck will be a force on the blue line and the boards.  

Good luck!

CFHL Playoffs

 Hey I'm back!  Yeah I know that the weekly update lamed out this year, but been busy and out of town and just flat out had no writing juice to be honest.  But I thought I better put one out as the regular season has come to an end and we enter the playoffs.  

And for whatever reason, this years playoff format is just the top 4 teams.  I think in the past the two top teams got a bye and the next four played in first round.  Oh well.  This year just semi-finals and finals.  This league has been ever changing....lol

The top 4 teams:  

R.C. Goon Crew snagged the top seed (imagine that) with a final week 2-1-3 win over the Checkers.  Their reward?  They get to play the Checkers again!  Ugh.  

Next at number 2 is Who Gives a Puck.  So we have two teams in the playoffs (Checkers and Puck) that have a combined 8 of the past 13 Cherry Cups.  Checkers have 5, including the first 3 in history, and the Puck have 3.

California Raisins round out the playoff teams and have been hungry to get their name on the cup.  Not nearly as hungry as the Goon Crew who have been in the league from the beginning only to see his brother win 5 times...but I regress...

Round 1:

Checkers at Goon Crew - The Crew will be off to a bad start to this series as they tried to bench goalie Logan Thompson, who is hurt, at 6:58pm, but line ups were locked already.  So they will be taking the ice with only 1 goalie.  If this will be anything like the last game of the season, it will be another nail biter.  They finished tied with goals, assists and goalie wins.  Checkers should have a big advantage with Checkers goalie tandem of Hellebuyck and Vasilevskiy and Crew only having Ottinger.  Just win goalie categories and likely hits and they could steal one more for the win.  

California Raisins at Who Gives a Puck - The Puck are coming off a 6-0 shellacking of the defending champion Greek Empire.  California Raisins are coming off a 5-1 beat down of the Krampus Carols to make the playoffs.  So both teams are coming in hot.  Looking at both teams players, it's hard to pick a winner.  Very even.  Key matchups will be Mikko Rantanen  and DeBrincat for the Raisins vs. Matthews and Dylan Strome from the Puck.  Strome had a huge week last week, so can he replicate it?  

Predictions:  The experience of the Cherry Cup playoffs prevail and we will end up with a Checkers vs. Puck Cherry Cup final.