Week 2 - Early parity reigns supreme |
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2023-09-17
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Well just like that we're through 2 weeks of the season, after a stunted start to week 1 this second week went off much more smoothly. On the floor we saw some outstanding team hockey and some phenomenal goaltending, so far it looks like the draft process was once again a resounding success as an unbelievable 6 of the 7 games had the final margin of victory as ONE GOAL... we won't talk about that 7th game in fear of making Five Alive feel bad :). Week 3 will see some great matchups including the makeup game between Red Lights and Sarcastic Monkeys who won their openers this week and will get all teams up to 3 games played.
Onto the recaps from Week 2's action! 
Perron saves the best for last with late game heroics
After Week 1 started with a hiccup and rescheduled game our second week started without a hitch, the opener had Mykala's Madhouse and Call Me Daddy both coming off an opening win and looking to keep the undefeated streak alive.
CMD would come out of the gate flying with a pair of goals in the opening 4 minutes, but MM would right the ship and take a 4-3 lead into break thanks to Captain Shawn Weatherdon's 2nd goal of the game very late in the frame. Much like the first periodCMD would again dominate the opening of the second stanza and pull even, the teams would trade goals throughout the period until veteran sniper Missy Newhook would pop a goal with just over 2 minutes left to give CMD a 6-5 lead and put them in the driver's seat for a W. Unfortunately for them MM boast the services of phenom Austin Perron, the scoring ace was having a somewhat quiet outing until the final 2 minutes, seconds after the CMD go ahead goal Austin would set up Weatherdon for his 4th goal of the game then just 22 seconds later he would score on a sneaky shot through traffic to put MM up 7-6. CMD would pull the goaltender but were not able to equalize as they fall by that same score.
9:00 - Truculent Defenders 4 Philthy Phil's Philanthropists 3 | View Boxscore |

Toste outduels Latham in a battle of veteran tenders
The second game of the day was expected to be a tight low scoring affair as we saw two of the O4's top goalies face off as Philthy Russ Latham met Truculent Steve Toste, and neither masked man disappointed in this one. The first half would see a surprising 5 total goals scored with the last one coming off the blade of rookie Stephanie St-Cyr who finished on a scramble in front for her first OFBHL goal and a 3-2 lead for TD despite being outshot 30-14 in the frame. Thegoalies would take over the second period with neither team being able to light the lamp, still trailing by 1 PPP would pull Latham in the final minute but the move would backfire as TD would find the empty net with 30 seconds to play, the Philthy ones would make it interesting with a late marker but would fall by a 4-3 final.

Better late than never, Red Lights open season with tight victory
Game three saw the Red Lights finally hit the floor for their season opener as they were one of two teams impacted by the hiccup in week 1, their first game was a good one featuring old friends on opposite side as the "Malloine's" Red Lights took on the Richer's Mr & Mrs Smith.
This game would be another tight defensive game with great goaltending from M&M's Marc-Andre Lalonde and RL's Collin Jackson, in fact the first period would see no goals scored despite 27 shots from RL and 14 froim M&M. Early in period two Shawn Lemoine   would get RL rolling but that goal would be quickly matched by team co-namesake Colin Smith  to tie things up again. With the score now 2-1 Red Lights were granted a PP opportunity with less than 7 to play and take advantage, Lemoine would notch his 2nd off a sweet feed from Tim Squires  to make the score 3-1. M&M managed to get one back but couldn't find the equalizer as RL start their delayed season with a 3-2 victory.

Downer and Legari put on a show!
The "hump game" of Week 2 had our other team suffering a delayed start, the Sarcastic Monkeys taking on the Dirty Downers who opened with a low scoring tie in week 1.
For the 3rd straight match the game would be dominated by defensive hockey and some great goaltending, the Monkeys would control the bulk of the play but freshman and team namesake Phil Downer continued his red hot debut season with save after save, at the other end Monkey man Mark Legari wasn't nearly as busy but was every bit as good as his counterpart. The first goal would come with just 15 ticks left in the first frame thanks to Steve Sicotte   potting a rebound on the powerplay, they would extend that lead on a Roxy Nesbitt  snipe halfway through the second period. With time ticking down DD would finally break the Legari shutout bid thanks to a patented Steve Toste  blast, but it was too little too late as SM hold on for the 2-1 victory. Downer and Legari were the unquestioned stars in this one, despite the loss Downer was huge stopping 54 of 56 shots, while Legari gave up just one on 30 shots against.

Commish Junior takes home first O4 win in debut game
Our next matchup pitted aptly named Injured Reserve taking on The Next Generation who welcomed the literal next generation of O4 ball hockey to the league with young Mason Frewen making his debut between the pipes for his parent's team, it was questionable who was more nervous for the young goale's debut Mason or his parents but if he was nervous the rookie didn't show too many nerves as he had a strong showing.
IR rookie goaltender Ben Conrad improved in his second start of the season stopping 33 of 39 shots overall including 15 of 17 in the second half.

Game finishes with 3 goals in the final 2 minutes, and heartbreak for the Amandas
Game 6 had a little healthy sibling rivalry as Brock Murray's Hocus Pocus faced off versus Amanda Stephens' Amanda Hugginkiss in a game with a lot of veterans but also some new faces who would make an impact in this one. With lots of scoring talent on both squads it was somewhat surprisingly the goaltenders who completely stole the show in the first period as veteran MC Chartrand and rookie Andrew Riff combined for 34 saves on 34 shots against.

Consider the Week 1 HRA loss Avenged!
With all 6 games thus far being extremely close one goal affairs would the last game of the day keep up the trend and finish off one of the most competitive days in O4 history? Unfortunately not so much...
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About Our League
Established in January 2000 and now entering our 44th season of continuous operation, the OFBHL is the pre-eminent recreational, mixed ball hockey league in the Ottawa area. We strive to offer our players a unique and fun experience each and every season!
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Recent Results
September 17MM | 7 | Call Me Daddy | 6 | TD | 4 | PPP | 3 | Mr & Mrs Smith | 2 | Red Lights | 3 | Dirty Downers | 1 | SM | 2 | TNG | 6 | Injured Reserve | 5 | AH | 4 | Hocus Pocus | 5 | Five Alive | 1 | HRA | 7 |
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Upcoming Schedule
September 248:10 | AH vs TNG | 9:00 | HRA vs Dirty Downers | 9:50 | Five Alive vs PPP | 10:40 | Mr & Mrs Smith vs Hocus Pocus | 11:30 | TD vs MM | 12:20 | Injured Reserve vs Red Lights | 1:10 | SM vs Call Me Daddy | 2:00 | Red Lights vs SM |
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