Brief Recap and Power Rankings

Due to repetitive stress syndrome brought on by constantly refreshing the page of his fantasy baseball team, Nick is unable to provide a recap for this week's games. I'll try to fill in briefly for him, and include the Power Rankings for the week.

Sunday night was one of the biggest turnouts we had. JR and Jared chose what looked to be fair teams on paper; each team had 2 full lines. Reminiscent of Game 1 from last week, this week's first game went well over an hour. The dark team once again had solid D from the group of Joe, Lee, Matt D, and yes Jimmy (well, to an extent!). That, combined with stellar goaltending from Jack (returning after a 3 week hiatus) allowed the dark team hold off the White team's attack and eventually prevail 5-4. John and Dale powered the offense scoring all 5 goals (Dale netting the GW). Unlike last week, this game was close throughout - no historic comeback was needed. It was simply a hard fought, fast paced game.

Game 2 was not quite as memorable as the dark team jumped out to a 4-1 lead before seeing the White team net a couple to close the gap. Lenny was the hero though, wristing home the game winner. Sorry Nick, I don't have time to write anything witty here...

Game 3 - tied 2-2 before the lights went out.

Power Rankings

10. Steve P / Mike C (tie) - Both newcomers played well for the White team, each scoring twice (we'll ignore the hand pass this week Mike). Steve displayed some good offensive skills while Mike provided some grit around the net. Good job guys.

9. Jared - Was an ongoing concern all night in the offensive zone, but couldn't score on any of his trademark 80-footers (finished with 1 goal). Jack stopped him consistently all night, with many great saves sprinkled in. Jared's effort would normally rank him higher, but with the amount of chances he had, if he buried just a couple it could have given his team a win.

8. Lenny - Complete opposite of Jared this week. Did not have an abundance of chances, but made the most of what he had. Lenny was key to the Game 2 win by setting up John for a one-timer after a nice rush into the zone and behind the net, and then scoring the next two goals for the win. Could probably have ranked higher, but he never should have argued with his captain!

7. Dale - Only had 2 goals on the night, but they were big as it helped the Dark team win Game 1. Dale centered the second line and did a solid job. He looked for his teammates more than normal, and for the most part made an effort defensively to cover his man (defensive play fell off a bit toward the end of the night). Most impressive was the frequent subbing and keeping the shifts short (maybe he was afraid JR would have benched him if he stayed out too long!). All around a good team effort though from Dale.

6. Mike W - Displayed his tremendous hustle and speed all night, and produced on the scoreboard (2 G, 1A). He was the best player on the White team this past week.

5. Lee - Probably the highest ranking Lee has reached, he earned it with solid D all night. He had an assist as well, but he made smart choices with the puck on defense all night long. When your goaltender singles you out as making an impact defensively, you've got to be recognized on the Power Rankings.

4. Griff - Honestly, I didn't expect to be placing him this high. Griff was very selective in his hustle this week. Yet he was the second leading scorer on the night (2G, 3A) and could have had a few more assists if his teammates could have buried some of the chances he created. You just can't argue with the production.

3. Joe - Third week in a row of stellar play on D. He had his typical sliding style to breakup chances in the defensive zone, and very good getting open at the point. He probably would have had some goals if his teammates could have found him. He also had several nice rushes with the puck.

2. John - Yeah, so maybe I'm a little biased here, but the stats back it up. No, I'm not talking about Goals / Points. I'm talking the number of times I subbed. It must have been some sort of record. Team player folks, right here. Oh yeah, and I'm probably going to make up for that by not subbing at all next week!

1. Jack - It's not happened too often this year that Steve has been outplayed by the opposing goalie, but that's what happened last night. The senior Riley was able to keep the Dark team in the game until they could get their offense going. Very few if any questionable goals allowed, and many great saves, especially against Jared. Save of the night came on a kick save when Jared thought he had a goal. That's a size 13 shoe Jared...you better aim high!