Original Four Ball Hockey League

Week 8 - The O4 moves to the Funny Farm

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2023-03-05

OK I know our new venue is called Foster Farm and not the Funny Farm but after some wild action in Week 8 I think the nickname fits... As I mentioned on our Facebook page I want to thank all of you for your patience and understanding as we finish up the current season in our new location. It's not perfect but of the options it's about the only one that lets us finish the season without much additional disruption. The gym is considerably narrower and will require a different style to be successful, so the team that adjusts the best to the new surroundings is likely to take home the trophy this season. The first week in the new digs saw lots of goals, lots of shots and 5 close games, unfortunately we also saw 2 mercies as the 2 lowest ranked teams both continued to struggle mightily regardless of location. We alos saw some record breaking performances with Zach Verge tying to the league mark for assists in one game with 7 helpers and Devin McManus also tying the all time mark with 73 shots against, we're likely to see more records challenged in this shooting gallery of a gym... should be fun! As long as you're not a goalie....

Onto the recaps from our first of 7 weeks at the Funny Farm...

8:10 - It's BJ Time 4 Runners & Gunners 3

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Beagan steals one for the BJs in tight win

Off and running in our new temporary home as It's BJ Time hosted the Runners & Gunners, suprisingly based on the later games it would take a long time before we'd see a goal, finally 14 minutes in Jason Kellar  would beat Gunner tendy Jason Fong with a nice shot but the lead was short-lived with Rob Clark  converting a beauty Gabriel Grimard  pass to knot the game at 1-1 after 1 despite 51 combined shots on goal!

The second half would see more scoring at least in the opening minutes, IBJT's tenacious sniper Elise Berthiaume  would have a great shift to start the period and pick up a pair, R&G would get one back but Kellar would regain the 2 goal advantage with 14 left to play. R&G would turn up the heat and pull within one thanks to a Grimard snipe but despite some late pressure they couldn't beat Herb Beagan again and fall 4-3.

Herb ended up stopping 44 of 47 in the win while Fong wasn't quite as good but still had a strong outing only allowing 4 goals on 42 shots against. Bradley "Pass First" McCarter  and captain Devin McManus  both put up a pair of apples in the win.

9:00 - Here To Make Friends 5 All Blais No Bite 4

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Amanda makes no friends with last second game winning goal

Game 2 at Foster Farm had the struggling All Blais No Bite welcoming back their namesake Shawn facing off against the league leading Here To Make Friends, but maybe the new gym would aid the lower seeded squad? Early on it didn't look like it would be so as just minutes in HTMF would get a fortuitous bounce with the ABNB defender trying a shot from behind their own net that was blocked by Sean Frewen directly into the open cage. The rest of the period was back and forth with 2 more goals coming from each squad and the Friendly ones leading 3-2.

The 2nd period was considerably tighter and more competitive as ABNB would pepper Russell Latham with shots, Shawn Blais would bring his team even before Scott Cameron would pick up his first OFBHL snipe to regain the lead. WIth time ticking away Shawn would take over again and his efforts were rewarded finishing off another Stephanie Brunette-D'Souza feed to tie the game with 3 minutes to play. Just when it looked assured that this one would end in a tie tragedy struck ABNB, with less than 10 seconds remaining captain Andrew Stephens would win a ball down low in the offensive zone and show remarkable patience and vision to abstain from shooting and send a pass across to his better half Amanda for the easy tap in GWG.

As mentioned, despite the new gym, HTMF goalie Latham was his usual self turning aside 53 of 57 to steal another victory for his team.

9:50 - Seacrets 11 Give'r 4

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Hawkins and Verge way to much for struggling Give'r squad

With the first 2 games being extremely close one goal affairs maybe that meant that this gym would lead to all the games being tight? Not so much apparently

The 3rd game had the struggling Give'r taking on the surging Seacrets and those 2 trends would continue in spades... after the dust cleared on a lopsided first half Seacrets would be threatening mercy with a 6-1 lead thanks in large part to their dynamic duo of Zach Verge and Ryan Hawkins , they would get to the "Verge" of ending it early in period 2 before Give'r managed some pushback with 3 straight goals, 2 off the stick of captain Sean Frewen . But all that would do was extend the inevitable as the Seacrets would turn up the pressure again and end this game early with 3 minutes left to play by an 11-4 score. Verge was the unquestioned star with 9 points including no less than 7 helpers while Mike Zaborski , Genevieve Auger and Christina Osborne all found the scoresheet with multiple points as well. Steve Andrews picked up 3 points in the loss.

10:40 - O Come All Ye Faith-Ful 7 Denis' Menaces 6

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OCAYFF barely avoid another late game collapse and edge out Menaces

Week 8's "Hump Game" had old friends and rivals taking the floor as the Malloy's OCAYFF took on the Richer's Denis' Menaces. The play would be fast and furious in this game from the start, OCAYFF would come out firing with sniper Gisele Seguin  finding space for a pair in the opening 5 minutes, DM would take a bit longer to adjust but did manage a pair of their own as the game went to half with the Faith-ful ones up 4-2 and dominating the shot counter 30-13.

DM would come out with a much stronger second period but 3 more quick goals by OCAYFF would put them up 7-3 with 13 minutes remaining. Now on the ropes DM would come hard firing most of their 22 second half shots in the final half of the frame, Don Prior  would get the comeback started with a nice snipe then with time ticking down spare star Austin Perron  would find the twine twice to pull his temporary team within 1 with just 1:55 remaining. With their once assured victory in peril OCAYFF would tighten up the D and despite some good DM pressure to finish they couldn't find the equalizer in a 7-6 battle.

Despite the loss and 7 goals against Marc-Andre Lalonde was a difference maker for his team with 49 saves while Dale Cahoon  had a strong outing. At the other end Brock Murray  and Jonathan Malloy  both potted big goals to lead their team to victory.

11:30 - Baton et Balles 8 Jurassic Puck 1

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New location, same struggles for Jurassic Puck as B&B dominate

With 4 games in the books seeing 3 one goal outings and one blowout apparently it's either one or the other in this new gym and on this day, unfortunately Game 5 would add to the blowout column and wouldn't go down in history as one to remember especially for the struggling Jurassic Puck.

In fact, their lone bright spot would come with under a minute left in the 1st half as ever improving sophomore Roxy Nesbitt would take a turnover and hammer home her first OFBHL goal in her 21st career game. Apart from that highlight the rest of the game was all Baton et Balles, star Michel Blondeau would do most of his damage in the 1st half with Alex Rogozinski , Michel Sirois and Julie Martin also finding the stat sheet on multiple occasions. Make the final 8-1 for B&B with spare tendy Justin Labrecque turning aside 31 shots.

12:20 - Heron Road Assassins 11 Hubba Bubba 7

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Welcome to the "Funny Farm" HRA stay undefeated in a wild barn-burner

Game 6 was billed as the "marquee matchup" of Week 8 with 2 of the teams locked in a battle for top spot facing off, the game also featured a ton of offensive firepower on both ends so a barn-burner was expected and that's what the fans were treated to in the end.

Hubba Bubba started off extremely short benched but that doesn't hurt when one of your players is Austin Perron who'd probably be good to play the full game if needed, Austin would strike twice in the opening stanza but so would emerging sniper and Assassin captain Dave Allston including a beauty SHG as the first would end in an entertaining 5-5 deadlock with both goalies needing to catch their breath.

The frenetic pace would continue into the second with Austin leading the way, first setting up spare Sean Frewen early then regaining the HB lead minutes later with his 4th snipe of the game to make it 7-6. Now down a goal and with their undefeated record on the line Captain Allston would put his team on his back and take over the final 10 minutes of this game, he would score his 3rd and 4th of the day under a minute apart to put his team up 1 then a few minutes later would set up Ty St-Jean for the all important 2 goal cushion. HB would press for the last 5 minutes but couldn't get the bounce they needed with HRA adding a pair of late insurance markers to walk away 11-7 victors. Kelly Brant has proven to be an ideal linemate for Allston and continues to shine this season adding 4 more points to her stat line in this one.

1:10 - Multiple Floorgasms 8 Poke the Bear 7

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McManus likely still trying to catch his breath after facing 73 shots and taking the W

Onto the last game of the week and which script would it follow... would it be a tightly contested high scoring affair or our 3rd mercy of the day? Early on it looked like the latter as the Floorgasms were flying with sniper Ryan Hawkins and captain Shawn Weatherdon scoring early, but Poke the Bear would regain their composure and adjust to the new surroundings as they went, they would push back hard and by the time the first half finished the score was 6-4 for MF.

The second half would feature some better defence and some great goaltending from both keepers, a Hawkins snipe with 15 minutes remaining would put MF up 8-5 but PTB refused to quit, the Muscant boys Cory and Jason would both light the lamp off hard working shifts by Danielle Leroux to make this another one goal game, but that was as close as PTB would get as MF pull of the win by an 8-7 score. Bernie Car and Mona Le Blanc had big games for the winners... while between the pipes, can a goalie be happy giving up 7 goals? Well Devin McManus should be pretty happy, if he has the energy, after facing a whopping 73 shots and turning aside 66 of them to EARN that W.

Week 8 - The O4 moves to the Funny Farm

2023-03-05

8:10 - It's BJ Time 4 Runners & Gunners 3

Beagan steals one for the BJs in tight win

9:00 - Here To Make Friends 5 All Blais No Bite 4

Amanda makes no friends with last second game winning goal

9:50 - Seacrets 11 Give'r 4

Hawkins and Verge way to much for struggling Give'r squad

10:40 - O Come All Ye Faith-Ful 7 Denis' Menaces 6

OCAYFF barely avoid another late game collapse and edge out Menaces

11:30 - Baton et Balles 8 Jurassic Puck 1

New location, same struggles for Jurassic Puck as B&B dominate

12:20 - Heron Road Assassins 11 Hubba Bubba 7

Welcome to the "Funny Farm" HRA stay undefeated in a wild barn-burner

1:10 - Multiple Floorgasms 8 Poke the Bear 7

McManus likely still trying to catch his breath after facing 73 shots and taking the W

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