By Anthony Blass

Week 21 in NIHL Division 1 play saw the Brewerkz Bruins extending their winning streak to 11 contests with a 9 – 5 victory over their chief rivals the Coq N Bull Bulls. The Bruins patchwork goaltending team was again tested as Henry Tan went down early in the first period with a knee strain. Deciding to forego a goaltender in favor of an extra attacker, Brewerkz successfully rattled off a couple of goals thanks to the howitzer slapshot of Greg Blakney.

... they managed to tally 2 to leave the game tied 3 – 3 after one stanza...

Despite a valiant effort of not allowing the Bulls clear shots at the goal during this period, they managed to tally 2 to leave the game tied 3 – 3 after one stanza. Replacement netminder Russell Ramos then entered the game and the result tilted decidedly in Brewerkz’s favor. League leading scorer Timo Rasanen again had a stellar outing and managed to distance his scoring lead over the opposing Jarko Salo of the Bulls. Salo, playing a strong game of his own managed enough points to move ahead of Bruin’s Andrew Delios who was traveling on business. The top of the scoring leaderboard still shows 5 Bruins among the top 6 with only Salo spoiling the sweep. With only 3 regular season contests remaining, Brewerkz has now clinched the first place spot in the playoff round with their (17 Win, 3 loss, 1 Overtime Loss) record

In the other contest, L’Estaminet Beers shocked the hockey world with their 2nd consecutive victory, 8-2 over the Linear Technology Lions, and are making a late season surge. Time will tell if the White and Orange are for real though, as they meet the Bruins in next week’s action. Next week’s late game features the Bulls taking on the Lions. Both matches will be held at the Fuji Ice Palace, Jurong Entertainment Centre, Jurong East

For more information on the Singapore National Ice Hockey League (NIHL), visit www.singaporeicehockey.com.