2020/2021 Season Wrapup

Quick update as we wrap up the 2020/2021 Season.

Board meeting 3/21 as planned.
Present: Ty Burt of Frozen Wings, Tim Jankowski of Old Fokkers, Chris Joncas of Kidd Co, Brian Hall of Hartwig, Dave Crabill of Budtenders, Jeff Rouse of BC, Steve of Wolverine.

Round robin is one game against each team. In event of tie at end, regular season record is Champ.

Staying with Lager and Stout Conferences – 25+ and 40+ for next season. Jeff Dennings will be back at registration table.

I didn’t have a chance to laser the Stanley Pints. I dug them up and I’m down to 19 in stock. I’ll have them at the rink to distribute but I’m out of town until April 7th.

Ref cost and ice cost is going up. I’m going to try to hold the cost the same. There will be penalties for late payments from teams.

Have fun and no injuries!

See you on the ice soon I hope.

Commish Dave

EHL Playoffs

Sunday Early Hockey League

This league was formed in 2015 by and for hockey players.

The reasons we formed the league were as follows:

1) Better scheduling than Polar Palace provided. We now get a schedule that rarely changes for the season.

2) Better control on eliminating problem players.

3) Consistent prizes and group buy-in on the goal for fun and exercise.

Things that went wrong this season:

Well, the schedule got wonky with COVID.

Jeff Dennings wasn’t able to help this season due to health concerns. Our league fee collection process changed and it put all the burden on managers to work with players.

We didn’t have the parity in the Conferences as we like.

The 40+ Stout Conference has one team dominating but I don’t hear too much whining. Just the normal whiners.

The 25+ Lager Conference fell apart. We lost one team for certain and I suspect three more teams are likely leaving. Way too much emotion was brought to the rink.

Next Season

I’m hoping that Jeff can help next season, but it isn’t certain yet. With or without Jeff the money collection is going to be tighter again. I plan to move up all dates and enforce the rules to remove teams from the league who can’t get it together. I hate bookkeeping and simply do not have the time or interest to collect money all season.

A new league management system will likely be selected for use next season. The finance part of Hockey Community doesn’t work for either the players or me as I would like. I’m told that Sports Engine works well for GFHA. I’ll be doing some research. Let me know if you have a solution.

We grew the league from four teams to twelve in six seasons. I’m ok with scaling back. My goal was to hit 16 so we had eight in each Conference. Playoff schedules and variety are better with that number of teams. I’m ok going backwards if it relieves stress.

Each March I get burned out on hockey drama. My goal is to have fun playing hockey with those who are in line with our goals. I’m actively removing stressful players from my hockey universe. I simply don’t have the patience anymore.

Let’s be respectful of the rink, other players and the tradition of ice hockey and finish this season in a fun and competitive way.

EHL Board Meeting

I’m calling an EHL Board meeting for either Saturday, March 20th at 4 PM or Sunday, March 21st at 4:30 pm. I expect a representative from each team to email, call or text with a preferred date and the final time will be set by majority vote.

Thank you for participating in the EHL.

See you on the ice!

Dave

Illegal Player Issue

Kidd Company player Brian Knack, #9 is under age for our league. I’m told his birthday is in April, but I’m also told that he will be 24 in April.

He is leading the league in points and has been an instigator of the trouble with his chirping.

It is the responsibility of the team manager to inform the players of the league bylaws and rules and keep them in line. Ray Markey is the Kidd Co manager. He pulled together this team for the season and it was communicated that any exceptions must be approved by the board.

A copy of Brian’s drivers license has not surfaced, so I’m assuming that he is under age. I don’t have proof one way or another yet.

Sorry guys, but let’s wrap this up with a quick motion and vote. Someone propose what we should do about this situation and lets vote on it.

Thanks,

Dave

Valentines Massacre

Dangerous Drama

Isn’t it ironic that we are at the peak of hockey drama right at Valentines Day!

To recap the situation: On Sunday Feb. 14th during the third period between Kidd Company and B C Complete a scrum occurred in the corner. The reaction of both benches was to pair up and defend their “man.”

You can hear both benches clearly. Lots of trash talking. Back and forth. Not the kind of hockey that I’m even remotely interested in. I wouldn’t skate in that league.

Now I’m from New Jersey. In Jersey we tend to yell. Insults are an endearment. Ignore someone to really piss them off. We had a saying. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

It isn’t the trash talking that bothers me as much as the physical attacks. It is possible to be competitive without going insane. This should be a safe place to play ice hockey. The chippieness and whining is only going to get worse if we don’t take responsibility. Let’s dial it back and finish this season.

This league is managed by the team captains as a voting board. It has been suggested that we form a discipline board. Please contact me if you would be interested in serving on the board for the future. Due to time constraints we are going to wrap this up and move on.

Suspensions

For discipline we have this recommendation from our head ref, Andy Palovich and a majority of the team managers.

4 Games #9 BC Curtis Christianson plus one year probation. Repeat Misconduct will be expulsion from league.

3 Games each for BC’s #74 Chris Christian, #24 Jeff Rouse; KC’s #22 Tyler Sutton, #9 Brian Knack

Schedule

We planned to run through April 4th. Games both April 3rd and 4th to wrap up the Round Robin Tournament. Michelle just texted. April 4th is Easter.

So… We will adjust again.

Games Saturday March 20th and March 27th and season ends Sunday March 28th.

I’m committed to this sport.

I’ve been organizing since the Broad Street Bullies came to town. This was taken on January 1st, 1977.

Board Decision on Suspensions Needed

Managers, please review the video and chime in on suspensions.

During the BC vs Kidd Co there was a scrum that turned to more activity in the penalty box that isn’t seen in the video. Feel free to give me a call if you have questions.

Feb Finance & Schedule Update

Stout Conference schedule is cut to 20 games. Refunds will go to teams by end of season.

Lager Conference schedule is cut to 19 and one team has 18 games due to byweeks.

Teams in serious arrears: Old Fokkers owes $937; Hartwig $1,245

Schedule to be reworked after Sunday if all teams not paid in full.

Regular season games end on March 7th and then a five game round robin for championship.

« Older Entries

Next Entries »