The 2022-2023 EHL Season is a wrap. BC Heating earned the championship.

Other prizes were handed out as is the tradition:

• Guzzler Prize for the most points went to Trevor Moore on Nutrien.
• St Paulie Girl Prize for no penalties was a random draw and Chris Jedlowski.
• The Tall Boy Prize for most shutouts went to Brian Markowicz.

Thank you to all who participated this season. 

I’ve waffled on the league setup for next season. While I enjoy the Monday night draft league and feel that a draft done correctly creates the most parity, we are not going in that direction. It comes down to time and energy, which I’m in short supply of lately. The easier path is to keep our format, but we will return to 40+ with no exceptions. 

So far, teams in for next season include Frozen Wings, Budtenders, Marauders, and Gooners Dogs. 

It was fun watching Marauders come together toward the end of the season to capture third place! Well done guys. 

Enjoy your summer. The league will be back in September. I’ll have a manager meeting in August.

Dave

Quick Personal Update

It is likely a condition of being over 60, but I’ve not been in a good state of mind these last few months. My tolerance level is at zero and I just don’t have the desire to put in the type of effort I have in the past. I’m not throwing in the towel, but I’m ready to remake things so the fun is back.

The Friday skates are now out of my responsibility. I will continue to skate and will help as possible, but it won’t be a weekly obligation. For over eight years I’ve felt the pressure to organize a skate each week. For a long time, it was twice a week. It really is easier than the beginning, but it is one responsibility that I was ready to shed. Brandon Wescott Kevin Hale has stepped up to run the Friday night skates. Our next skate is March 3rd at 7:30 pm.

Playoffs

Thanks to Nutrien and BC entering the league we got to six teams. That might not have been the wisest decision in hindsight, but it is what it is. Playoffs are similar to the regular season schedule as we work through a round-robin tournament during the next five weeks.

Frozen Wings will be skating with an ineligible player and will forfeit. Ty and I have spoken about it and it was his decision to skate with his friend and not be concerned about the championship. The player has been skating but missed the necessary 8 games to health reasons.

The rosters of eligible players have been sent to each team manager.

Jeff will be out for the balance of the season. Please work with the scorekeeper prior to the game to check in your players. While all but one team routinely checks in with Jeff, I felt that we were adults and could manage to make it to our locker rooms and police our rosters without Jeff’s help. Giving him a break.

Big thanks to Jeff and his hard work in keeping us organized. I will still have his help with some details and he will be involved.

Managers Meeting

The board directors for the Eclectic Hockey League met in Skaters Bar on Sunday, Sept. 18th. We voted to stay with the six teams as they have strong rosters and adding the seventh would require cutting the number of games to get the season completed before the Alumni Tournament. As it is, we are scheduled through April 2nd, which could cause an issue with Old Timers Tournament.

In an effort to get to six teams we lowered the age to 35. Only a few teams have skaters under 40. We decided that a player must be 35 by November 15th to qualify and a roster can not contain more than 5 players under 40.

Further player restrictions include prohibiting any player who has skated in 18A in the last year from joining our league. 

We will have a competitive season. Please remember that this is a recreational league. Try to keep the ego’s in check and have fun:)

Regarding registration. We have collected most teams’ rosters and USA hockey numbers. I’m emailing managers with rosters as we have currently. Be sure to check in at the registration table on the way in.

 This season is starting without one of the easiest-going guys and great skaters in the league. We will open each game this week with a moment of silence to remember Chris “Swell” Wellman who lost his battle with Cancer.

See you at the rink!

Dave

Larry is bringing his trailer up and will be on-site selling sticks this Sunday. As always, just $89 for a great stick! Check out his new offerings of a custom logo bags, hockey gloves, and more on www.AllBlackHockeySticks.com

Big thanks to our sponsors. Friends who have stepped up to help support the program. This last year has been challenging and it is my friends, including the hockey community who has helped me keep my head up.