By John Ward

It certainly didn’t look promising for the good guys last night. In a battle for outright first place in the last game before the holiday break, the Saints came prepared. They had the League’s two top scorers, Michael Marusiak and Doug Balzer, on the ice. They also had three of their best Division 1 players, including their top defensive pairing of Jack Riggs and Greg Prodor, as well as their best forechecker and second-leading Division 1 goal scorer Rick Doiron. They also had a top Division 1 goalie, Chris Poohachoff, in the net.

On our side, we were without several key players, including Jordan Walsh, Joseph Ruffino, Paul Nikkel, Mikhail Kolychev, Keith Lin and goalie Michael Tothe – all of whom have played critical roles during our recent run of victories.

...Hau Tzeng got in the path of our own runaway locomotive, Kenny Lam, who inadvertently knocked him into next Christmas...

But as we have done consistently for the past two months, we relied on a combination of depth, discipline and good team speed to overcome our opponent. We won 6-4 and, impressively, outshot the Saints 33-22 in a game we never trailed. We are clearly the best defensive team in the league (led by Gerald Toh and Darryl Eisler), giving up a league-best 3.00 goals per game and a league-low 26.3 shots at the halfway mark of the season. Our Division 1 team is similarly stingy, leading the league in shots against and second in goals against. Goalies Michael Tothe, Yusof Ali, Eugene Chin and Russ Ramos have alternated in our Division 2 net and have played at turns sound and spectacular.

Last night, we relied on three middle schoolers – Nick and Pat DeRose and Bradley Kobylarz – who stepped in and skated well. Nick and Pat both scored, although Pat’s goal was disallowed on an incorrect reversal (the net came loose after the goal). Our two newest players, Nikki Howie and Hau Tzeng, also contributed – and both got banged around for their efforts. Nikki took an unintentional elbow to the sternum from Jack Riggs, knocking her off the ice, while Hau Tzeng got in the path of our own runaway locomotive, Kenny Lam, who inadvertently knocked him into next Christmas. It was an extremely fast, intense and physical game, which was dictated to a large extent by the Saints, who have more overall size and strength. And they came to win.

... [Kenny] gave me an opportunity to earn my first hat trick. But, predictably, I got stopped...

Timo Rasanen, playing defense in Division 2, got us on the board first with a hard slap shot from the point. But it was a lead that didn’t last long, unfortunately. Martin Lovse’s son, Paul, was in town and prepared to play. But we had 12 skaters, so we offered Paul’s services to the Saints, giving them nine. He quickly demonstrated that he was possibly the fastest guy on the ice, with Timo-like speed and great hands. Taking me by surprise, he accelerated around the corner and shouldered his way in front of the net, scoring the equalizer in the first period.

Fortunately, we kept father Lovse. A few minutes later in front of their net, Martin Lovse, in a show of strength, muscled in a one-hander while fighting off the goalie and a defender.

Meanwhile, Eugene Chin made some great saves to ensure that our lead would hold up. The Saints briefly made it tense with 40 seconds remaining when they made it 5-4. But Iggi Ng won the ensuing center ice face-off and got the puck to Kenny Lam, who split the defense and scored to make it 6-4 with 30 seconds left. Kenny also made a great breakaway pass to me with 10 seconds left that gave me an opportunity to earn my first hat trick. But, predictably, I got stopped, trying to pound it through on the short side.

The Division 2 race is tight. We have a 2-point lead over the Saints and a 4-point lead over the Wings. The Hornets are just six points back. It’s still anybody’s to win.

No Division 2 games until Jan 17. There is a Sunday night shinny on Jan 9 at 10 pm. All are welcome. Division 1, which has played one game fewer, has two games in one week after the holiday (Jan 10 and Jan 13). Enjoy the break!