The bits of paper have all been entered, money has been collected (except for those slack buggers who haven’t filled in a piece of paper or paid!), the rosters compiled, the schedule put out, the rosters re-compiled a couple of times with late entries and the inevitable forgotten person.

Yes that’s right ladies and germs, it’s DIHL A Grade time. Last year the competition between the four teams was very tight, with almost half the games ending up draws, heaps of exciting games, and some top quality play. We’ve got most of the same crowd back again, plus some extras, to see who takes out Autumn 2007. Just think of it like the Stanley Cup, but the money comes from the players, rather than to the players. And the skill level is just a little bit different.

Let’s look at the teams.

Bullfrogs. Oh a team after my heart. Bullfrogs are the ‘almost’ team of the DIHL, losing the final in penalty shootout in 2005, and a very close semi in Autumn 2006. They’ve brought in Christchurch/Nelson/Christchurch/Roxburgh import Kibbelwhite to play casual games, and they’re stacking up the goal with big Toby Schuck. Bulling and Sanford are both in the Prems squad, so look for them to notch a few nets, and Gilchrist, back from NZ duty where she scored a stack of goals as well. There are a couple of players in this team who are playing up from the B grade, so it’ll be interesting to see how they cope with the big time. If the team can keep the shots on Toby down, they shouldn’t see too much scored against them, so then it’s just a matter of making sure they play well at the other end to keep ahead.

John McGlashan Oldboys. Johnnies are working hard on building up a hockey culture here, which is great to see. They’ve added to their B grade team with an A grade team made of current and former students, and they’ve even snuck in and grabbed pro coach Jenel Bode, who played in the WNHL, giving her a part time to claim her as an ‘old boy’. As well as Bode, watch out for Cleugh, Mannerswood, and Weir, all dangerous players, and solid Blake Sinclair on defense. Tony Pasco was the top goalie in the tournament last year, he’s almost impossible down low, and the team is even hoping to get some shiny new tops for their shiny new team. If the team clicks, they’re sure to benefit from the voice of wisdom of Bode on the bench, it’ll be interesting to see if some of the kids who are recently B graders can help them stay in it.

Phantoms. Phantoms, A grade champions in 2006 are back to defend their trophy. New manager Stefan King has put together a formidable lineup – Aitken, Christos, King, Lamb, all big goal scorers, Zanzee Pielak-Jones – just back from representing NZ women in Europe, Wick, always a threat in front of the net, Sales, Knyvett. They’re very solid and absolutely the team to beat as defending champions. It’ll be interesting to see how they work their lines and structure the team, other teams will have to see if they can target the few non-prems in the team, and work hard to give goalie Nick Metzger a rough time. They’re going to score goals, it’s going to take big defence and really hard work when they’re on offense to shut them down and then get it down the other end. Teams are going to have to work it really hard and look to capitalise on the powerplay.

Sharks. Sharks have been stitched together from some juniors and other jumbled players, but this is a good team. Watch for Stampede player Duncan Sykes, juniors Roth and Squire, and MacDonald on attack. Aaron Bryant also an imposing barrier between the pipes, he’s sharing prems duty with Schuck this year, so he’ll be looking to show that he’s top-shelf. Parr, Sykes, Handcock are going to form a fairly effective defense in front of him. For this team, coming together will be the important question – sometimes it’s hard with the DIHL when you’re thrown into a team and it takes a few weeks to sort out who’s playing with who and how your teammates work. If they get that sorted early, look for them to be dangerous.

Alright, game on. Who’s playing who?

First up, Phantoms are taking on Johnnies OB.It’s a big challenge for the new Johnnies outfit, taking on the defending champions first up. The Phantoms have got a few players who have been playing together in Prems, where as most of the Johnnies players don’t play regularly with each other. Johnnies will be looking to Bode and some of the other senior players to sort things out quickly and get that defense up and running fast to prevent the Phantoms running away with it. There’s scorers on the JOB team, but they won’t want to be chasing three goals by the end of the first period. I suspect Phantoms are going to put up a forward line with King, Christos, and possibly Aitken. That’s really dangerous, as they’re all good goal scorers, but if Johnnies can shut that down, they’re in with a chance. Metzger isn’t yet back in Dunedin, so Phantoms will have Sam Smith between the posts. If they can get a good number of shots in on him, they could push for the win. Kyle’s pick: Phantoms 5-3. King, Christos, Knyvett and Sales to net for Phantoms, Mannerswood and Bode for Johnnies.

Bullfrogs vs Sharks. This game will be interesting. Both teams have got prem level goalies, so I’m picking it’ll stay fairly low scoring. Because of the importance of goalies when making up the teams, they’re not quite as strong in skaters, but there’s some nice players here all the same. I’m a Bullfrog, so I’m biased all the way. Bullfrogs will probably be sending out a line with Sanford and Bulling on it. Both these players have been suiting up for Prems practice this year, so they’re taking their hockey seriously and Bullfrogs will be looking for some good scoring from them. Kibbelwhite won’t be playing every game, what with the trip from Roxburgh, but he’ll be there tonight and he’s a reliable defender that should help keep shots down. There’s some Beasts players playing up into the grade however, so their ability to do well in this competition might depend on those players stepping up their speed and skill to match some good opposition. Sharks have a bunch of good attacking players – some of the juniors have been working hard this season and their pace and aggression has picked up a notch. As long as they don’t get caught trying to carry the puck up by themselves, there’s potential goals from a number of players – Roth, Squire, Sykes, King (a late addition to the roster), MacDonald. My pick, it’s going to be tough, but I’ve got to back my ‘frogs. Bullfrogs 3-2 in a close match. Sanford, Gilchrist and Honore to net for the froggies, Roth and King for the Sharks. Schuck to make some big saves to keep his team ahead.

Yeah. The Johnnies team picked it up a lot in the 3rd period, and you were winning that period 1-0 for quite a while before Phantoms got back on top in the last five minutes or so. I thought some of your team were suffering a bit of ‘shock and awe’ in the first part of the game to use a military term, and once they were out there going hell for leather, they looked a lot better. It’s also the first game for a new team.

We’ve picked up a bit of help for them for the rest of the DIHL, in the form of Steve Jackson, possibly job-sharing with Mike Sam. We’ll slot them in place of Dwayne Cleugh who has had to pull out.

Still working on the goalie, if we can get that sorted your team will have a much healthier look about it. and my Bullfrogs will be in for a good game against them next week.