Ryan,

The web page (temptingly) says that rounds 5 and 6 A grade stats are available. And yet the file is just the old round four pdf file.

Yay for the stats, for the A grade at least. Lets see how Kyle picked in week 5.

[quote:1d0diny8][b:1d0diny8]Phantoms vs SK8[/b:1d0diny8]: 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:1d0diny8]). Wick and van Leeuwen for SK8.[/quote:1d0diny8]

Another draw, 4-4. Stars spread them all around, while Ducks top dog Sam nets two for his team. Stars working hard at spending an entire season never winning a game!

Yeah that’s right Stefan. I know you’ve been sitting there at the shop hitting refresh all afternoon waiting for ’em!

It’s finals week. Yes, 7 weeks of competition, bits of paper, money, gear, referees, every second of ice time, penalties, goals, face offs, comes down to two games. SK8 takes on the Phantoms tonight (with Channel 9 there filming it for their news!). Beasts take on John McGlashan tomorrow. For both grades, the teams that have been looking the business all DIHL are playing each other for the trophy. Let’s pause a moment and check out the teams.

Phantoms

Phantoms started with a hiss and a roar, two big victories, but also a 3-0 loss to SK8 first time around when they just couldn’t find the back of the net. Since then a couple of draws and a tight victory last week has seen them skate into the finals in second place on eight points. Last time they played SK8 it was a 2-2 draw, but heartbreakingly close to being a Phantoms victory with the puck finding the back of the SK8 net just as the buzzer went.

Phantoms have been hit hard by a loss of players. Sam Smith only turned up for one game, so they’ve been short since then. Ryan Hellyer’s out with a broken ankle, and after last week they’ve lost top player Steve Jackson and hard working Kim Hellyer, who are out of the country. No commitment I tell ya. Rostered goalie Nick Metzger has been absent more than he’s been present, and tonight they’ll have backup goalie Mark Dudley between the sticks for them. They’ll be well short on two lines however, and are probably looking at eight plus goalie for the final.

On the positive side of the ledger, they’re looking to draft in Larry Wheeler tonight just so that they have some subs. Larry’s getting on a little, but he’s a solid defender, and they’ll be needing him as Steve Jackson leaves a big hole in their defensive line. And a couple of players have been racking up some big points so far this DIHL. Stefan King has 9 goals and 2 assists, Brent Hodge has 8 goals and 5 assists (top point scorer for the DIHL, despite missing a couple of games). Look for the two of them to continue to work hard on the same line, causing all sorts of problems for the defense, and watch out for Hodge’s fake to get around a defender, it’s really good.

Key for the Phantoms, picking up their defense, which looked weak against the Sykes brothers last week, and shutting down those SK8 players and stopping them getting to the Phantoms goalie. Mark Dudley is coming along in leaps and bounds, but he’s only been playing goal on ice for a few months now, so Phantoms need to keep the shots far out, to the sides, and stop the SK8 players getting through to shoot at the goalie.

SK8

SK8 managed to kick clear of Phantoms last week with a draw against the Stars. SK8 have looked dangerous all competition, with a solid base made out of the Dunedin Juniors team, but with a couple of senior players stacked on top to harden them up. There’s no big weak points in this team, they’re fairly solid all the way through. The star undoubtably is James van Leeuwen, on 8 goals and 2 assists in the competition so far, he’s a complete player. Big slap shot from the blue line, strong defense, and causes all sorts of problems on the rush taking it to the net. Phantoms are going to have to work hard to shut him down and keep down his shots, because otherwise he will score.

There’s other dangerous players in the lineup however. Ryan Wick is fairly aggressive, but does good work in front of the net, putting away rebounds. Paris Hey and Liam and Jesse Roth are all dangerous junior players, probably only weakened by their lack of a passing game. And SK8 will have Tony Pasco in net, who’s been putting up the best numbers all DIHL, yet to lose a game. He’s really good down low on the pads, and Phantoms are going to have to put on heaps of good shots to rack up big numbers of goals.

Key for SK8. Phantoms can probably field the best forward line in the competition, with Hodge, King, and A. van Leeuwen all big goal scorers. They’re all capable of scoring 1 on 1 on the goalie, or working together and notching up assists to go with their goals. If SK8 can keep their shots down, and stop the breakaways, then they’re in with a big shot at this.

Kyle’s pick. I think this game is going to go to the wire, it’ll be tied up 3-3 at the end of regulation, and then I’m picking Phantoms to take it in extra time, shortly after the puck drops. Hodge to get the gamewinner, but King, van Leeuwen, and Honore to score the early goals. For SK8 van Leewen, Wick, and Hey to net.

John McGlashan

Johnnies have looked the form team of the B grade competition since the get-go, including a 3-1 victory over the Beasts in the round-robin. Johnnies have some good players in their lineup, including what looks like the two top goal scorers in the competition (Robert McLean, 11 goals after four rounds, Mark Kliegl, 9 goals after four rounds). The 3-1 victory over Beasts was the closest that anyone has come to toppling them, and they’re certainly coming into Wednesday as the favourites. There’s weaknesses though. Their goalie has never really been tested by more than a dozen shots in a game, and if Beasts put up pressure on net, it’ll be interesting to see how many go in.

Beasts

Beasts are a solid team, with a big lineup, and some players there that can put the puck in the back of the net. Mitchell, Li, Sedgwick are all players capable of playing A grade, and they’ll really be wanting to use their speed and skills to put good shots on the Johnnies goalie, work hard for rebounds, and try and rack up some points. Probably their real strength though is their goalie. Mark Dudley comes to us from field hockey, and he’s still making the transition, but learning fast. He’s got a top glove, and he’s gotten better as the competition has progressed. He’s playing for two teams in the A grade competition on Tuesday night as the backup goalie, and Beasts will be looking for him to keep out Johnnies as much as possible. Besides, the 3-1 loss in the round robin, two of those goals were right near the end of the game, so it was all tied up after 40 minutes.

Kyle’s pick. I’m sticking with the favourites, but close. 4-3 by the final whistle to Johnnies.

Other Games

Those aren’t the only two games going on this week, just the only game in which a trophy is being given out.

At 8pm the Ducks take on the Stars in the playoff for 3-4 in the A grade. Neither have had the happiest season this DIHL, Stars have 2 losses and 4 draws (surely a record!), and Ducks have 1 win, 4 losses, 1 draw. Stars will be pumping for a win – a couple of well-placed goals in those drawn games would have seen them playing in the final. And Ducks certainly have the talent, but while they’ve been playing well as a team, it hasn’t seemed to work out for them this season. Kyle’s pick: Stars to grab it, 4-3.

And in the B Grade, at 6pm Bullfrogs take on the Bears, in what should be a friendly game. Bears have come close a couple of times this DIHL, but haven’t really had it to mix it up with the big boys. Bullfrogs are probably going to struggle unless they find a replacement for Hellyer. I’m picking Bears to get a second win, 4-2.

OBHS take on Kings, who are backing up from what sounded like a pretty rough game last week, after a bit of a scrap broke out after the final whistle. OBHS haven’t had a happy season at all, and I’m picking that to continue to Kings roll over on them a bit, taking it 6-1.

Best of luck everyone.

Kyle
Phantoms