|
|
|
 |
| |
Irish’s Early Picks?
(aka: O’ Ye of Little Faith…in Me)
D-1 has in its ranks:
Dry Ice
Tour Gretzky Predators
Bauer Pythons
North Bay Bandits
Rinkside Rockets
Pama Cyclones
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs
Tour Bandits
Mission Empire Snipers
Tour Gretzky Predators. Predators should be ready this time out to take the number one spot. I seed them number 1. They are the deepest from top to bottom. Davie P may get his D1 championship this time out.
Mission Empire Snipers did well at NARCh and have played together a long time. I seed them number 2. The sentimental favorite and the first time any New York team hits the floor, I think an ovation will be the order of the day. We really should make it an event.
Tour Bandits will be a top four team if everyone flies in. If they do, I seed them number 3.
The Rinkside Rockets are always good. A typical Goodwin team as they can score, and have size and speed. I seed them number a possible 4.
The fourth seed is a toss up. I also like the Anaheim Mission Bulldogs. Solid. They will do well. Possible Final 4.
Others? Bauer Pythons are also good in D1, but need to be deeper on the bench. iplayrollerhockey.com has remaining talent from 2 years ago. Probably won’t get into the top 4. North Bay Bandits look like a new team with some familiar faces. Pama Cyclones-the great unknowns. Dry Ice-Need will help to get into the second round.
This is going to be close and a tough fought division.
Juniors
The Division consists of:
NorCal Mavericks
San Diego Misfits
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs 83
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs 84
Tour Gretzky Predators
North Bay Bandits
Red Army
CPH 1
CPH Rangers
Tour Bandits
West Coast Hurricane
Tour Venom
Mission Empire Snipers
Bauer Pythons
Castle AZ Stars
Pama Cyclones
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs 83 are simply a great team. If they have everybody, most think they are number one.
Tour Gretzky Predators, always an Irish favorite, inside track to the number 2 position if they get all their players there.
West Coast Hurricane Always a threat. Seem to have talent and coaching. A probale number 3.
Mission Empire Snipers Always a threat and they may have that Tour Dragon kid with them. Put them in the number 4 spot.
Final Four? AMB 83, Predators, Hurricane and Empire Snipers.
Others? The NorCal Mavericks should be competitive with the coaching of Gregg Smith, and they added some of the Stars from last year. Probably not a final four appearance this time. San Diego Misfits may need some more talent to play at this level, but these boys always skate hard-most of the talent is playing elsewhere, so look for them in Juniors AA in TPC. Anaheim Mission Bulldogs 84 Talented as well, but their size will affect them. It is hard to give up a year at this level. If they get on a roll and get some help, though, they may crack the top four. North Bay Bandits lost their best to D-1, and are rebuilding. Red Army is trying to reestablish the prominence of old. Did better than average but not stellar in TPC, and still rebuilding. Again, possible final four but will need some help to get there. CPH 1 is a solid team and well coached, but may need some size and more talent to get into the final four. Long odds here. CPH Rangers are a Double AA TPC team. Tour Bandits solid, but unless they added a lot they are probably not up in the top four. Tour Venom showed well at NARCh and might do some damage; but, right now probably won’t crack the final four. Bauer Pythons have been together a while and have good coaching, but probably not in final four unless they also get some help. Castle AZ Stars play at the AA level. Pama Cyclones are an unknown.
Bantams
You know what, this really isn’t funny. Not funny at-tall. Nope. None fun. Not sick and not even ill. I have got to pick the top four in Bantams? I would rather pick the top four Red Wings. It would be easier. Well, then again maybe not, but so what.
Even though I think the Juniors and D-1s are holding their own, the Bantams at Winternats always seems to have its own excitement. They are almost a cut above the rest and in many ways exceed the Pro Division in fans, if not competency. I still remember that OT win by EPH against Walt Gretzky’s Bramptonites two years back that had the arena packed, and was one of the most exciting finishes, ever.
The division consists of:
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs
Oakville Coyotes 85
NorCal Mavericks
ProJoy Roadrunners
Red Army
NEXED OC Blades
Mission Empire Snipers
Arizona Stars
Team Excalibur
Tour Mavericks
San Diego Gulls
Michigan Sting
Prescott Ravens
Nike Rinkside Rockets
Outcasts
Team St. Louis
Las Vegas Titans
Las Vegas Tour Rebels
This year seems to be shaping to be a great one in many different ways, chief of which is the level of competition. Top to bottom, and while recognizing that we have not seen these teams in their this-season-forms, 8 teams could win it. How in the world can you cut down to 4 for quarterfinals?
Scientifically, I guess if everyone is equal, just toss all the names in a hat and pick out the first four. OK, here I go.
Final Eight:
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs
Innovative Red Army
Michigan Sting
OC Blades
Las Vegas Tour Rebels
Team St Louis
Nike Rinkside Rockets
Mission Empire Snipers
Finals? Go see someone else. It could be any one of them. My personal pick? Anaheim.
Pee Wee
This is a toss up too because it is so early in the season. We also will be missing the Armadillos 87 as well as some very strong teams from up north and back east. But, you play who they put in front of you.
We do have three strong teams appearing out of Southern California, and the race has already narrowed to four teams, three of whom are playing. And so as to those teams, it is pretty much a no-brainer. Unless they end up in the same division and knock each other off early, it should be: OC Blades 88, Irish seeded 1; and, Hyper Empire 87 seeded 2. OC Blades 87, by most accounts, should be seeded three.
However, even many non-HE87 peeps believe that Hyper should be seeded numero uno, because they beat OCB88 last time out, and beat them a lot more handily than the 3-2 score showed, and have a stronger roster over all. I have even been accused of suggesting that my giving the OC 88s the unofficial first seed is to deflect attention from Hyper! Moi? Am I that devious? Probably.
Seriously, the OCB88s did pull out the overall tournament win. So, while razor close, the nod goes to OCB88. That is also not only based on the most recent tournament play, but also on the relative strengths of the teams, where we are in the season, and rostered players that are anticipated to play. Remember too, rarely does the team that wins Winternats goes on to win NARCh. At this time, if any of these teams don’t take their preliminary division then it will be a huge upset.
However, I think we will see some shake-ups after the preliminary rounds. The biggest rivalry is one that is downplayed by both teams, but it is between the OC Blades 87 and the 88s. It is clear that the 88s think they are the better team. They say in their walk and their talk. It is also clear that the 87s don’t agree with that, though the 87s are just going about their business quietly. It is also clear that if all those Blades people keep smiling like they are their faces will break. I say a good evening of mud wrestling at C2C should do the trick. But the 87s must break out at some point and start beating the 88s or their season will be a long one indeed.
The problem in this division is the fourth spot. I kind of want to go with the Patriots, but then we have the Detroit area Tour Venom, who did well in NARCh Gold last year. Although they lost their recent TPC tournament, I think the Venom may be ready for a strong Winternationals finish.
I also think the Nike Rinkside Rockets may do better than expected, though I believe top dog Dre is back at ice. Arizona may surprise anyone. I saw them as very strong last year. I don’t think you can count them out.
So, when all is said and done, that fourth spots may be filled by any number of teams and at that point it is, well, pretty much everyone for themselves and anything can happen.
The division consists of:
Silicon Valley Quakes
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs
Rollin Ice Patriots
Hyper Empire 87
NEXED OC Blades 87
NEXED OC Blades 88
Nike Rockets
Tour Venom 87
Empire 88
La Verne Empire
Irvine Raiders
Irvine Havoc
Castle Stars
Team Excalibur
San Diego Gulls
Las Vegas Titans
Nor Cal Mavericks
Jokers
Final Four? OCB 88, Hyper Empire 87, OCB 87 and Detroit’s Tour Venom.
UPSET? Upset in the making…
Finals? Hyper Empire 87 and OC Blades 87 – yes, 87.
I am calling the OC Blades 87 to upset their baby brothers, the 88s and start to re-establish themselves as the C2C team this year to watch…and the 88s as next year’s news. OC Blades 87 just have too much pride to take a back seat.
Darkhorses: Rollin Ice Patriots and Arizona aka Castle Stars.
Is This Winternationals What NARCH Finals Will Look Like In Pee Wee?
By the way somebody asked me if I was already calling a Southern California PeeWee final at NARCh.
NO WAY. I would like to see it for the benefit of the locals, but there remains in Pee Wees a terminal case of the stupids. We are still splitting our talent up and there really is no effort to secure a truly all-star team like we see from Canada or Detroit, for example (or, we have kids trying to pick those on their own team, but being a good teen age player does not make you a good talent recruiter). Prima Donas won’t play with this player or that. Some parents want their kid on a team so “he” will stand out, I suppose in glorious defeat.
Goodness knows I’ve tried and tried and tried and my efforts usually end up with bone heads recruiting to try and beat the teams I help put together, just for the joy of it I suppose. Hey ho. What is that all about? And I will admit that it is the most frustrating thing to sit back and watch it, well, for the six to seven years my boys have been playing roller hockey. Terminal stupids. It’s a virus. Like Anthrax in a way.
So, right now, where should your focus be for NARCh 2002? Not here, not here, and its our own collective fault. There is still time.
Remember, there are no small minds, only big heads.
Pee Wee Déjà Vu
In the Déjà vu category: Some folks may remember the Irvine Stars, former State Koho/TPC Champs from a few years back. Well, you will see all but one of the 1987 births reuniting in a way this Winternationals. Derrick Burnett, Brad Ellis and Ryan Lasch will be playing with Hyper 87. The other one? Danny Marmorstein is with Castle Stars from Arizona.
Squirts
The division consists of:
Silicon Valley Quakes
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs
VC Vipers
Tour Rapid Fire Dragons
NEXED OC Blades
Team Excalibur Black
Team Excalibur Silver
Rinkside Rockets
Irvine Havoc
CPH
Team Eagle BC
Las Vegas Tour Rebels
LaVerne Empire
Las Vegas Titans
Cavemen
Devils Hockey Club
Final Four: AMB89, OC Blades, Las Vegas Tour Rebels and Quakes
Finals: AMB89 and OCB .
Darkhorses: Team Eagle BC
This division is still shaking out. More than most, this will serve as a feeling out process and a guide for the rest of the year.
The class of the division remains Anaheim Mission Bulldogs 89, who are rolling along right now and whose only enemy just may be boredom. OC Blades will also be tough, but with Scooter Vaughan out with a broken arm, well, it just may be too big a loss to overcome. But the mountain to climb is just a hill and it remains possible. Other great players, including young Stretch, remain playing for the Blades.
Mites
The Division consists of:
Rinkside Rockets
Tour Rebels
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs
CPH Patriots
CPH
NEXED OC Blades
Empire 91
Team Excalibur Black
Team Excalibur Silver
Las Vegas Titans
Tour Corona Edge 92
Tour Corona Edge 91
I won’t call the final four in these younger divisions since, almost by definition, they are divisions where kids are still learning, growing and getting to know this game. Everyone will be a winner.
Atoms
The Division consists of:
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs
NEXED OC Blades
Team Excalibur
Las Vegas Titans
I won’t call the final four in these younger divisions since, almost by definition, they are divisions where kids are still learning, growing and getting to know this game. Everyone will be a winner.
Don’t miss these games!
College
No, this is not the Division 1 Ice Hockey Finals! What a line up.
University of Missouri
University of Michigan
Penn State University
Cal Poly SLO
Michigan State University
Rochester Institute of Technology
University of Rhode Island
Iowa State University
WHAT, no Notre Dame?
I will definite see every one of these games.
Pro
Sport Court Jokers
Team Hyper
Team Mission
Tour Mudcats
Team Tour West
Nexed Canada Backhanders
Team Projoy
Rinkside Rockets
Winner: Team Hyper.
Womens Division?
Girls don’t play hockey. This is all a ruse.
Adults?
I have no idea. Who cares any way. They are too old. Shouldn’t be playing hockey at their age. Shame on them.
So, there you go.
Sorry to ruin your holidays. Go out and prove me wrong and watch how much press you get!
What’s A Shakin’ So Far in SoCal?
Everyone always asks what is going on out here in Southern California.
First, everyone still hates me.
Second, well about 6 tournaments, north and south, season and pre-season, are now under our belts. How is it shaking out? I still think we may see some shifts, and some teams jump in, but we can start to see how things are shaping up.
Dawgs Are the program We Are Chasing This Year…
When I commented that this year the Anaheim Mission Bulldogs may pull out half, if not more, of all TPC top AAA honors, you wouldn’t believe the indignant emails and complaints I got. Of course, this mostly came from one particular program, but then they complain if I suggest they may finish out the year with at least one loss.
Right now I am calling the Dogs as the early favorites in: Squirts, Bantams and Juniors. They may even go 1-2 in Juniors. They are in the run for two more divisions as well (Atoms and Mites). Their only rebuilding division is Pee Wee. I am a little hesitant in Squirts as AMB 89 has not played the OC Blades, and while I don’t see them going undefeated, I’ll take the chance and call the Corn Dawgs early there too.
The Rest?
Still too early to say for Atoms, Mites, Pee Wees and D1. At least three teams could take it in each division, and though I have favorites, it is Florida type close or all teams haven’t played, and so I am not ready to call them. In most division the final four will probably include the OC Blades and the Anaheim Mission Bulldogs. CPH has a good mite team (CPH is the renamed EPH). Hyper has good chances for final fours in Atoms, Mites, Pee Wee AAA and Bantam AA.
Overall, it is still too early and close.
Anticipated top 4 in Pee Wees: OC Blades 88, OC Blades 87, Hyper Empire 87 and Dillos 87. The division is an obvious four-way race unless other teams step up on a consistent basis, not one win against the top-level teams now and then. Rockets are still building and lurking. Lest see how it goes… Still may see some changes in this final four!
CPH has a good Mite team. Edge has some good younger teams. Las Vegas hasn’t played yet. Arizona will impact greatly in AA and perhaps in some AAA. NorCal has the Quakes in Squirts, Patriots in Pee Wee and the Mavericks 85 in Bantams.
Other Stuff
News Flash ! News Flash ! News Flash !
The news reports that Osama Bin Laden is guilty.
Boy is that is a relief. If he wasn’t, then we would be looking really, really stupid right about now…
Great Team Web Pages
I need some more submissions, but I have been looking at quite a few. Right now, go to www.maverickshockeyclub.com for the NorCal Mavericks. Professional, interesting and informative. I suggest other teams take a good hard squint at it to see how to do it right. Manager: March Stanczyk. It’s a genetic thing, since they are former Young Romeo parents. Got to say we just excel everywhere, right?
The Corny Performance Hockey (www.cphockey.com) page is also a good one information wise, even though it doesn’t have the same panache as the Mavericks offering. Email me other with team pages to markellis56@hotmail.com. Who knows, maybe we can do a link or something.
Where Are The Young Romeos Now?
I have gotten a lot of questions about “Where are the Young Romeos?” This, of course, came mostly from female fans and Mission Betties.
Where are the Young Romeos this year? Primarily, the 1987 births are playing for Shayne Arsenault’s Hyper Empire 87 Pee Wee AAA and the 1986 births are playing for the Nike Rinkside Rockets Bantam AAA. The two Northern Acquisitions for NARCh? One is playing for the undefeated Rollin Ice Patriot Pee Wees, and another with the NorCal Mavericks 86. A YR that only played with us over the Arizona Regional, and is now with the OC Blades 87, along with their goalie. One is playing for Raiders 87 and the another for Marina High School.
What Do I Really Think of the OC Blades 1988s?
So, this is a burning question?
They are ugly, smelly, ignorant children. (Ask a stupid question…)
Of course, the spin was after the first tournament that the Blades 88 shocked the world and the pee wee division is wide open. Not hardly on either account. You would have to be a blind and retarded Mongolian not to have seen that the Blades 88 were good. The only people they may have shocked is themselves.
The two top team are anticipated to be Hyper 87 and Dillos 87. Possible quarter finalists and un-Probable Semi Final finishers.
The class of the 88s is really the goalie. When he is on, he can’t be beat. When he is off, he is hard to beat. If he’s got the flu playing in another arena he is still hard to beat. In my estimation, he is probably the one of the best goalies in North America in the 88 age group. To this you add some very good skaters, not the best in the age group perhaps, but good enough to stick with most 87 level teams, and you have the makings of a great team.
At NARCh, it will still be an upset for the Blades 88 to get past Quarterfinals, but they should make the first cut. Second year teams from Saint Louis, Honey Baked, Hyper Detroit, New York, New Jersey and a few Canadian teams, not to mention locals Hyper 87, Blades 87 and Dillos 87, will just be too tough a road to hoe to victory.
Don’t count the Blades 88 out of anything, but they are not favored to win anything.
Nexed…
Riddle
What goes: “Bing, bang and boom?”
Three mirrors make when the Anaheim Bulldogs 84 look at them.
Genetics
I just finished my genealogy and find ancestors alive during the Salem Witch trials. You got it, they were the accusers of the innocents… Who would have guessed it?
Daily Updates at Winternats
By Phat Plastered
International Man of Adventure
Phat Plastered will be attending Winternationals and posting periodic updates.
Phat has of late been interrogating terrorist in Afghanistan and well, there was a little problem with some missing cruise missiles and a large influx of funds into Phat’s Swiss Bank Account, so he is on his way home...
Tune in for the truth…
|
|
|
|
