Yeah baby. Week four. Everyone’s had two weeks off, and no doubt most people forgot to take their gear out of their bags, so it’ll be smelling right toasty in the changing rooms this week. Everyone’s been hanging out for some hockey, so lets get into it.

[b:2xb6r5k8]A Grade[/b:2xb6r5k8]

A grade cycle through for the second time in their round-robin. Things are getting sorted out in an order, but no one is out yet. Stars need to pull out something serious to find themselves in the final through, and SK8 are looking pretty likely to end up playing in it already. It’s all about the maths if you’re interested in the details.

Stars vs Phantoms

This is really it for the Stars. On one point, the Phantoms are in second place on 4 points. If phantoms win they go up to 6 points, and Stars have no chance of making the final. Key for the Phantoms – who turns up on the night. They’ve already got the smallest team in the competition by two players, with Smith out, and a couple of people have been occasional no-shows. On their plus side, they did some serious damage against the Stars last time, racking up 7 goals, and they’ll be looking to repeat the feat and get their name solidly in the top two. Stars have got the talent – they’ve been the only team to not be beaten by SK8 this competition, they just need to step up and put the puck away. Kyle’s pick: Phantoms to take it 4-3. King and van Leeuwen to net for Phantom, Benda and Lamb for Stars.

Ducks vs SK8

Ducks really want a win to keep themselves in the running for a finals spot. A loss, and they really have to hope that the Phantoms have lost. SK8, on the other hand, with a win, can guarantee themselves a finals game with two weeks still to go. Ducks looked pretty rusty the first time these two met, but I’m picking a much closer game this time around. Key for the Ducks – stepping it up. SK8 play well together, and are solid all through. They’re going to need to play well as a team, and Blackett is going to need to have a good night in goal. For SK8 – keeping on trucking. If they settle down from some of the stupid stuff that came into their last game, with 6 penalties, they should be able to win this game. Kyle’s pick, SK8 4-2, van Leeuwen and both the Roth boys, and Wick for SK8, Gilchrist and Sharpe for Ducks.

B Grade

B grade continues to have several points of interest with a couple of round robin games to go. Beasts and John McGlashan are out on top, looking good for first and second. Of the remainder, Kings have had a couple of wins, and even if they lose to Johnnies tonight, as long as they can beat OBHS the week after, should settle into third. Fourth place is more difficult to pick. Bears and Bullfrogs both have a win, Bears have yet to play the top two teams though, so they might stay where they are. If Bullfrogs can beat OBHS on Wednesday, they should be good for fourth place. On the other hand, if OBHS beat Bullfrogs, all eyes will be on their game against Kings next week – a victory there should see them sweep past the other two and into the semis.

Bullfrogs vs OBHS

So a key game then. OBHS haven’t been looking like the money this season, but they had the hardest start, and they’re onto easier meat now. If they can step up, and probably most importantly for them, if their goalie can front and pick up his percentage, they could get on top of this game. Bullfrogs however are improving well, and getting more used to the game environment of the DIHL, and will want to make their claim for a final spot this week. Kyle’s pick: 4-2 to Bullfrogs.

Kings vs John McGlashan

This could be a big game. John McGlashan have been on form so far, and the Beasts were unable to trip them up. Kings look the other team that could be possible of upsetting them, but it will have to be a big game for them to do so. Johnnies will look to keep on rolling. This game will cement their first place, and set them up for an easier game in the semis against 4th. Kyle’s pick: John McGlashan 5-2.

Bears vs Beasts

Bears got their first win the other week, a good effort against OBHS, but they’re back to playing the big boys, and Beasts have looked pretty money so far. They’ve got a good goalie, some serious goal-scoring power, and a number of players who’ll be looking at playing solely in A grade next year. That being said, Bears are looking like the improvers of the competition, and Wheeler is coming a long way in goal. Their key though, will be goal scoring. Can they get enough shots on the Beasts goalie to rack up three or four goals, which they’ll need to win? Kyle’s pick: Beasts 6-1.

We’re right into the serious end of the competition now. B grade goes to semi-finals in 8 days, and tonight will most likely make things a lot clearer in the A grade come the final week.

[b:3e0uysca]Phantoms vs SK8[/b:3e0uysca]

Phantoms were their own worst enemy last week – a bunch of penalties, and the team simply not being ready when the puck was dropped – they’ll be feeling that last week was a game they should have won, cementing themselves a finals spot. They’ll be looking to make amends this week, but they struggled to get the puck in the back of the SK8 net first time around, and Tony Pasco really has been the goalie of the competition to date, so they’re going to have to front up. SK8 really just need to keep on trucking. Wick, van Leeuwen, Roth brothers, they look dangerous all over, and as long as that defense holds the goals will come. Kyle’s pick: I can’t pick against my own team, but it’s going to be tight if we get it. Phantoms 3-2. Matthews to net to celebrate the birth of his daughter last Thursday (photos![/url:3e0uysca]). Wick and van Leeuwen for SK8.

That would see finals qualification, in order, for JMs, Beasts, Kings, and Bullfrogs sneaking in at 4th.

Always good to get criticism from anonymous sources! Encourages people to continue to volunteer their time to organising hockey tournaments for you to play in, honest.

Anyway, in answer to your question – I’ve been asking the referees to enforce the helmet rule for several weeks now, and they said that they would do this, and we discussed how players could simply get legal helmets from the gear room if they didn’t have one available. There’s no ‘last week it was going to be let go’. Players were emailed after game three and reminded about helmet rules, and the referees were asked to chase up players during game four who still weren’t complying.

The referees hadn’t done this, so I approached them in the intermission and asked them to enforce the rule. I asked them to tell the other team of this, and said that I was happy for us to pause the game so that the people affected could go get helmets – a referees time out.

Anyway, the referees indicated that they weren’t going to tell the SK8 team (and as it turned out weren’t going to enforce the rule, but that’s another issue). So I went over the SK8 huddle and told James that I had asked the referees to enforce the wearing of visors. It wasn’t (and still isn’t) my preference for players to have minor penalties assessed against them, I just want players to be wearing proper safety equipment. If the referees weren’t going to give the other team time to do this, I wanted to give them the time to do so. Anyway, James and the SK8 team chose not to do anything about it, and the referees chose not to enforce it last week, so it’s a moot point.

As to why I’m pushing for the helmet rule to be enforced. There’s two reasons. I (along with other people) run a tournament in a sport in which people can get seriously hurt. Sometimes that’s just the nature of ice hockey. However I don’t want to see someone get a puck or a stick in the eye, when they should have been wearing a visor. Almost all the serious, permanent injuries which arise from hockey (affecting the brain, eyes etc) arise from hits in the area covered by the helmet and visor. Legs, shoulders, ribs etc, all heal fine. Eyes and brain often don’t. I would feel personally responsible for having run a tournament at which the players weren’t wearing the correct equipment, and they suffered a serious injury.

Secondly, the equipment rules under which we operate are there for good reason. They provide a framework (both national and international) at which other players, referees, tournament organisers, the Dunedin Ice Hockey Association, and the Dunedin Ice Rink can point and say ‘here is what is ‘safe’ for playing ice hockey’. This is the basis on which ice hockey players qualify for Accident Compensation, and the basis on which the various people and organisations listed above can be considered to have been acting responsibly.

A few years ago the organisers of a bike race in Christchurch faced criminal charges because they had failed to do enough to ensure the safety of participants in the sport – one of the riders was killed by an oncoming car. While the chances of something like that happening are pretty slim, the risk is still there. If someone suffered a serious injury during a game, and the crown pursued legal action against the club then the club would most likely have to close, and there just wouldn’t be any ice hockey in Dunedin. I don’t want to think about what would happen if they pursued action against an individual such as the referee or a tournament organiser. Players could also face problems getting ACC because they weren’t wearing the correct protective equipment for their sport, etc.

I’m not really sure how approaching James in the intermission and telling him that I’d asked the referees to enforce the visors, would in any way help us win the game. But y’know, whatever. I don’t really see it as an issue between the two teams, as I was continuing a discussion that I’ve been having with the head referee as coordinator of the A grade tournament. I understand there’s also a Star player who is non-compliant. When the referees decided not to do anything about it, I left it as an off-ice problem, and took it up with the head referee the next day.

I believe the referees are going to be stricter on the equipment rules from tonight onwards, so I’d recommend all players bring correct helmets, mouthguards etc.