Monday, February 3rd

Dan Fatula (Atomic Blue)

1. Nice win over Neon Yellow last night. What can you say about the overall team effort in the win? This team plays hard and never stops. I think its most evident on the defensive side. When your are up by 10 but still see your guys chase down an odd man rush or breakaway to prevent or block a shot you know they are giving it their best.

2. Were you surprised at the end result at all? Definitely. Team yellow has some outstanding skill players. I thought it would be high scoring but close.

3. New goalie in Caleb Freemer. Have you seen any progression from the first game to last night? Caleb is a promising young goalie with a high ceiling. He gave up double digit goals in game 1 but only 3 last night against some good shooters.

4. A computer put these teams together. Do you like the way your team was put together?

When I first saw our roster online I was grinning ear to ear and that has not changed. I love playing on this team. We have such a good mix of offense and defense. But most importantly, its a fun team to play on.

5. Randy Carlson tournament raised $3500. Has your body recovered from all the hockey that day? It took a few days to get back to normal because when you are 40 the sore muscles take more time to heal. The Randy is such a special event and I'm grateful for all those who helped with organizing the tourney and also those who donated time, money or both. Congrats to team black on their victory.

Jim Dennison (Neon Yellow)

1. Tough loss to blue last night. What do you think went wrong for you guys? Kline and company came at us relentlessly and never let up while Caleb did an excellent job keeping his net empty.

2. What was your impression of Atomic Blue after playing them last night? Atomic Blue is a very energetic team that didnt seem to tire out. They weren't greedy and passed a lot. Kinda sneeky also!

3. You weren’t able to find much of a groove last night. How discouraging was it for yourself? Oh my it was very discouraging! I felt I had made a few good saves but obviously not enough of them.

4. Can you take any positives out of a game like that? Not really any positives, not even from the eternal optimist that I am. ..well Jake had fun ..lol. Thats all I got for that question.

5. You put a team together last xhl season. Are you planning to do the same this season? Yes last summer was a fun season as a Chiefs and we kept our full roster throughout. But that summer heat is a bit to much for myself, I think im going to sit this summer out. I do hope they pick up another goalie and go in without me.

Clint Lingenfelter (Vegas Gold)

1. Tough loss last night. What can you say about the overall team effort in the loss?

Team effort was great!!! We just gotta stay more consistant as a team and we'll b fine!

2. This game was close throughout. Are there any goals you think you should have prevented from going in? At least a couple but one that stands out is the 5 hole goal Bob got. It wasnt the fastest shot which is why i think i miss timed it closing my legs.

3. What do you think was the difference between winning and losing that game? Probably Bob and Codys defense. Extremely hard to get into the zone with how well they force u too make a play quickly

4. What kind of game were you expecting going into it? They had Cody. Hes such a difference maker on any team he plays with. If he wasnt there..it mightve went a lil different

5. What positives can you take out of the game? Held a lead against the only undefeated team for 2 1/2 periods. We can match up against anybody as long as we stick to our game!

Luke McMinn (Cobra Kai)

1. Tough loss to Blue last night. What can you say about the overall team effort in the loss? Our effort was fine. Stamina was our problem. We’re not a team built to succeed with a short bench.

2. The game appeared to get away in the 2nd period. What do you think went wrong in that stretch? We pretty much took the 2nd period off and left Herm out to dry a lot. We came out and blew most of our energy in the 1st and forgot we had 2 more periods. My penalties certainly didn’t help either.

3. Did you think there was a play that swung the momentum in their favor? I think how well Clontzy was playing was what swung it their way. We couldn’t get much by him, which made us use up all our energy in the offensive zone. Even when we managed a goal, they seemed to answer quickly and we weren’t able to build off it.

4. You had a big week last week against team Purple. What did a win and a game like that do for your confidence and team confidence going into the rest of the season? That was the only game this season we had more than 1 guy on our bench. I think it just reassured us that we can win games when we have our full squad.

5. What positives can you take out of last night’s game? We’re all still able to walk today, at least I think so anyways, no one has reported otherwise. And it wasn’t a playoff game, so we can just forget about it and move on to next week.

Vinnie Deloia (Grey)

1. Hard fought win over Vegas Yellow last night. What can you say about the overall team effort? The team played really well last night, we have some cleaning up to do on defense sometimes, but overall it’s going well

2. The game was close throughout. What do you think made the difference for you guys last night? I think we definitely had some star power show up at the right time, and we tightened up a bit on defense towards the end.

3. The team is unbeaten. How do you think team chemistry has looked? Chemistry looks good, it’s still early in the season, so things can only be improved

4. The team has won a couple one goal games in a row. Do you like playing in those kind of games? For sure, close games are much more exciting than getting crushed or beating a team by 10.

5. Has anyone contacted you about playing on their team this summer? A few offers, nothing official yet.

Larry K (Green)

1. Tough loss to team Purple last night. What can you say about the team effort in the loss? Team effort was good. Lots of hustle and winning those 50-50 battles.

2. You guys had some good chances early in the game, but could not get one past Derrian. How discouraging do you think that got as the game started going on? I wouldn't say discouraging so much as disbelief. He made some unbelievable saves especially in traffic

3. Team purple slowly pulled away. What do you think went wrong in that stretch? A couple tough bounces that led to a scramble in our zone and one guy would get open.

4. Any positives to take out of the loss? We had some real good back checks last night. We also had some really nice passing plays on the rush.

5. No Jagrbombs this season. Have you found a new team yet for summer or are you still on the lookout? I am still a free agent at this point. I would really like to fill a spot on a team to help go for a championship.

Brian Anderson (Purple)

1. Team Purple advanced to 3-1 in the fall with a 7-3 victory over Team Green last night. It was a bit of a slow start for you guys, but you were able to put the game out of reach early in the third period. What do you think was the difference last night? Derrian making those early saves definitely made the difference. Team Green could have easily had a 3 or 4 goal lead at the end of the first period, but Derrian was a big reason why we won last night. We started pushing more as the game went on and we got some (lucky) loose balls around the net. It wasn’t the most convincing win but a win is a win.

2. You guys have 4 games under your belt so far. What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of your teams at this early stage of the season? Its hard to really determine that since Austin Boyd hasn’t been able to play the last 2 games. I thought we looked really good the first 2 weeks when he was able to play. In his absence, our defense is obviously not near as good. Cobra Kai beat us pretty handily last week and Green may have too if Kevin would have been there and if Derrian wouldn’t have played as well as he did last night. Defense will probably be a weakness until Boyd gets back. He also makes a difference in generating offensive opportunities from good defense. We will hopefully be able to hang around in the standings until he comes back. With a full team, I feel like our strength is defense but I feel like we got some real good role players. I have been impressed with Jake Deberti.

3. Derrian Mathcock made some really nice saves, especially in the first period for your team. How would you assess his play so far this season? As stated above, he is the reason why we won last night. Right now, we aren’t good enough to come back from 3 or 4 goal deficits. Fortunately, he bailed us out. He has looked really good in our 3 wins. None of us looked good in the game against Cobra Kai.

4. With a month of the Winter League behind us, do you think the computer did a good job of choosing teams? Do you see any teams that stand out in one way or another and what is your take on the Cobra Kai experiment? Yea, overall, the teams look pretty balanced. Some of the results have been a little more lopsided than I expected but absences can do that and sometimes team chemistry takes a little longer to come together for those who aren’t familiar with one another’s tendancies. I didn’t expect Atomic Blue to beat Neon Yellow by 12 goals last night. Team Grey is looking really good right now. If Cody is there for the playoff games, I don’t see anyone beating them. Royal Blue and Atomic Blue look pretty strong as well. The Cobra Kai experiment has had good and bad. With a full lineup, they can hang with anyone. They proved that last week. Their biggest problem has been getting guys to show up. All in all, I like the experiment because it gives them all a chance to play alongside one another and it gives them a test to see if they can still hang with some of the younger guys in the league. Their jerseys are definitely top notch.

5. The 20th XHL season is not very far away. Do you anticipate anything new or noteworthy coming for the 2020 season? Its hard to say until we really knows who signs up and who ends up on what team. It’s pretty early yet, but early rumors are Cory going to the Knights, Phil Mace going to the Yeti, Gus Gates possibly going to the Colonials and Pat Hunter moving to North Carolina. No more Jagrbomb jerseys to look at this year unfortunately. I am not sure how much power I want to exploit, but I would really like to have balanced scheduling this year. Not just for ¾ of the games, but possibly more than that. Why have a game where you know who is going to win. There is a lot to be decided between now and April but I would like to make the 20th season a special one.