Tim Herman (Team Larry)
1. Back on the court last night. How are you feeling today? Surprisingly well. After making some progress the first two weeks, I started applying heat to help it heal, and made things much worse last week to the point where I took a day off of work and actually went to the doctor last week. Driving is actually the most painful thing I do right now. Stupid bucket seats... It feels like I’m taking a kidney shot every bounce. 2. You hadn’t been around for a while. How tough was it to be away from the rink on Monday nights? I hate being away from the game. Hate letting my teammates down by not being there. As I’ve gotten older… I may have become a little bit smarter though and try to allow myself more time to heal. 3. Two wins last night. What can you say about the overall team effort in the wins? I love my guys. They blew me away last night with good hustle and forecheck. Great back check as well. We did a good job of creating turnovers, and scoring on the transition. We were smart enough to conserve some energy in the first game in the later portions of the third period. 4. Turqoise had an advantage of not having to play a game until they played you guys. Do you think that maybe the rest is overrated a bit in Reynoldsville hockey considering you guys had a game to get some chemistry together? Honestly I don’t think the team playing two games has an advantage over the team only having to play one game that night. Maybe the first minute or two of the first period our legs might be loose. If this was an Iron Man tournament where we did not have a season of playing together, I would buy the premise of that question. But overall, other team playing one has much more endurance/stamina. Especially when we haven’t played any doubleheaders all year, I absolutely believe the advantage goes to the higher seeded team. 5. Team orange awaits. What kind of series are you expecting? I expect to see the colonial box...... I expect to see tournament bob coming out... watch for him Refs.. I expect to see Llew fired up because Bob chose us. No respect..us against the world....I expect Adam to be tough, and we need to pepper him with shots and crash for rebounds. I expect to see my guys hustle back to keep the shots against me to a minimum. I expect my guys to take bob to the outside... and take away Mark sitting in Brian’s normal spot. Other than that. I have no clue. Lol
Eric Llewellyn (Team Larry)
1. 2 games, 2 wins, lots of exercise. How are you feeling today? Not good. Bear hunting and hockey do not mix. Got up at 5am walked 8 miles then played 88 out of 90 minutes. My legs are d.o.n.e. At least we got 2 W’s out of it. 2. 2 quality wins against 2 quality teams. What can you say about the overall team effort in winning each of those games? We put together a plan for each game and executed both. When we have at least 5 skaters we can control a game pretty well. We did exactly what we wanted to do both games. 3. How did you think your team matched up with red and turquoise before those games took place? I knew we had the legs to get it done. The younger guys on this team really apply the pressure and they just dont stop. We know we can score and we know we have solid goaltending. We can compete with anyone. 4. Herman was back last night. What can you say about his overall play last night? It was nice to see that he came back rust free. I thought he stepped back in and found his form quickly. He had 2 good games. 5. With the win, team orange awaits. You think your team has any chance of beating them?
If we have 5-6 people and play the way we know how then I believe we have a solid shot at it. Team white is just a lot to handle. 2 best D men in the league... cup winning goaltender. 2 more top line xhl’ers... playoff mvp at home on the couch that they dont even use and the president. I mean..... cmon.
Rob Keith (Blue)
1. You were able to record a shutout last night against team green. What can you say about the overall team effort in the win? The team played very well, keeping possession for long periods of time. Even when the other team started pressing more and more, we found a way to get in front of the ball, clear rebounds, or smother it. 2. You haven’t been able to play as much. Did a shutout against them give you some confidence going into winter league (if you are able to play)? It was nice to record a shutout - it had been a while since I posted one of those, and I appreciate the team's effort in helping preserve it in the final minutes of the game! I am not playing in the winter league this time - it's usually a bit busier than the fall, and I need to take a break 3. You elected to sit out the 2nd game. Did you consider playing at all? I have been fighting a series of small injuries, the worst of them being a right ankle sprain. I'm not sure I should have been playing at all, but I wanted to play at least one game. I definitely wanted to help the team and play game 2, but I thought I may have made the injury even worse 4. The team fell just short against team white in the 2nd game. Did you think the team had any kind of chance to win without you being in net? Oh my, yes. They played a great game in game 1, and even though they were tired, they put up a great fight in game 2. Tyler stepped in net for me, and I definitely appreciated that. 5. Team orange, white, pink and black remain. You know enough to make any predictions for who comes out on top? think it'll come down to orange and black, but the other teams can put a complete game together as well, so best of luck to the remaining teams!
Zach Smith (Team Brian)
1. 10-8 win over team blue last night. What can you say about the overall team effort in the win? It was alright I would say. We kind of fell off into some bad habits that we had earlier in the season. Seeing as dave is our only true defensemen, we need to play a team defense in order for us to win going forward 2. They went ahead 7-6 midway thru the 3rd period, then you were quickly able to tie it at 7. It stayed tied with 3 minutes to go. What was going thru your mind at that point? I was thinking that this is a bad time to play some bad hockey. I know that we can score lots of goals if need be, but we haven't showed that we can win a 4-3 game or a 3-2 game if it comes to that 3. You assisted on what would be the game winning goal. Did you think at all about shooting it before you passed it? If I remember correctly dave had the ball on the rush with me on his right and Brian on his left. As soon as I saw blues player play dave instead of one of us, I knew dave would pass it. So I looked to see where Brian was and I knew there was no way the other player could get back to defend him for a one time shot. I then saw dave look my way and knew he was going to pass to me and he got it through the defender to my stick. I tried to look the goalie off to try and make him think i would shoot and then I just slid a pass to Brian knowing he would bury it. But to answer your question, not at all. 4. With the win, the team will get a shot at team pink next week. What kind of series are you expecting from them? All games will be tough going forward. I think we match up well with them. Hopefully having cody will tip the scales our way 5. Orange and Black will face off in the other series. Got any predictions for that series? Both teams have a good structure of game that they thrive with. Llew and bob will have a big say in who wins between them but I believe the it factor will be the goalies. Herm has been playing very well and adam is adam. I think whoever can make the bigger saves will come out on top. I dont like betting against a bob led winter league team but I like black to pull off an upset in 3.
Adam McKinley (This was following his team's 6-5 loss in the final regular season game)
1. Tough 6-5 loss to Jake’s team last night. What can you say about the overall team effort despite the loss? It's tough to say being that half the team wasn't our team. So I guess no comment, lol 2. What did you think was the difference between winning and losing that game? Kinda the same answer. Half the guys don't normally play with us so the chemistry just wasn't quite there. 3. What kind of game were you expecting going into it? I was expecting a better outcome. I was seemingly fighting the ball all night. 4. Despite the loss, your team will still be the #1 seed and wont have to worry about playing next week. Do you like getting the bye or are you concerned that it could make the team rusty come December 2nd? I've always hated byes but I have to accept it. There could be a little rust but hopefully we will shake it off quickly. This also gives Fred another week to get healthy. 5. It’s possible you will be playing Jake’s team again in two weeks. How do you think you match up with them and some of the other teams that may come out of the elimination round next week? I think we match up pretty well against any of the teams. If we're on our game, I think we'll be ok.
Dan Fatula (Team Blue - Dan Fatula)
1. Two games last night. Hows your body feeling today? Except for being a little under the weather I feel good. Ask me after the Randy Carlson Tourney and I might have a different answer.
2. Rob shut team Green out in the first game. What did you think of Tyler’s performance for you guys in the 2nd game? Tyler did a great job stepping in for Rob. A lot of the goals scored were just great shots that most goalies wouldn't have stopped.
3. The 2nd game was tied with 3 minutes to go. What do you think went wrong those final 3 minutes? They were able to score quickly. That felt like the theme all game long. We work and work for 3-5 minutes to score and they would come right back and score in 5 seconds.
4. Despite the loss, what can you say about the overall team effort in that game against team white? The guys never quit. Several times in the game we fought back. Everybody was playing hard.
5. You elected to call a time out with 3 minutes to go. What was your speech to the team? That time out may have backfired. I told the guys to keep fighting and try to keep 2 guys back on defense. Well, I'm guessing Team Whites speech was better because they scored shortly after play resumed
Bob Anderson (Team Orange- Bob Anderson)
1. You got to ref 4 games last night. What was your favorite game to watch of the 4?
When I ref I typically enjoy the games that are closer. It helps you stay alert and sharp. Any call or missed call could really affect the outcome.
With that being the case, the only close game last night was the White vs. Blue game. It was tied with 3 minutes left when a timeout was called. I felt like the team that got the next goal would win. Team White came right out of that timeout and took the lead on a really nice passing sequence. That gave them the lead and was quickly followed by two more goals to give them a nice cushion.
2. What game surprised you the most and what did you observe from some of the action last night?
Not to sound like a broken record, but that White v. Blue game was probably the most surprising. I didn't expect that game to be tied with 3 minutes left and go down to the wire. I was also a bit surprised by the 9:00 game with Black and Teal. I expected that game to be a barn burner, but Black was pretty dominant and took the drama out of the equation fairly early in the contest.
3. With the results, you guys got your opponent for the next round. What kind of series are you expecting from team black?
There's no secret that team Black is playing very good hockey. I was really impressed with Tim Herman's goaltending last night. I thought he may be a bit rusty after not playing for about a month, but he was a big reason why they were able to roll to big wins in both games last night. And of course, everyone knows Llew is a threat offensively, but he's not their only threat. Vinnie is dangerous and shoots from everywhere. I wouldn't doubt he's tempted to shoot from the parking lot. So we have to be ready for that. Trenton Bembenic is also becoming a good offensive player. To make a long story short, I'm expecting a very close series.
4. If your team has any weaknesses, it may be lack of depth. Is that a concern going into the series against them?
There's no perfect team in the fall and winter leagues, though team white is close (no pressure haha). Every team has to overcome certain obstacles. We've dealt with a short bench all season so that's no problem. But I think your question is talking about scoring depth. We've had different guys step up for us during the course of 10 games. You have to get that in the playoffs too. I'm expecting no different.
5. Got a prediction for the white-pink series?
Both teams are really good. I don't think there's any question that team White is the deepest team left though with Cody there. I think Pink can win, but they have to play a really tight, conservative style. They won't be able to exchange chances with them. Should be fun to watch!