President's Update December 31st, 2012

Our first game after Christmas was played on Friday evening in Lumsden. The Bethune Bulldogs defeated the Monarchs 7-2. The Monarchs scored just seventeen seconds into the game on a goal by Jon Kress. Tyler Riche (PPG) and Mike Reich would score fourteen seconds apart before the five minute mark to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead going into the second period. In the second period it was all Bulldogs as Dustin McAngus would score twice (one SHG) while Joel Kot and Jacob Ulmer (PPG) would also score to give Bethune a 6-2 lead going into the third period. In the third period Mike Reich would score his second goal of the game while Bethune was shorthanded. Ryan Seibel picked up his sixth win of the year in net while Jordan Wiest was in net for the Monarchs. Bethune had three minor penalties and Lumsden had four minor penalties.

On Saturday evening the Wynyard Monarchs were in Avonlea to play the Arrows. Goals by Derek Halldorson and Donovan Hall in the first period and then a pair of goals (one SHG) from Brett Leffler in the second period gave the Monarchs a 4-0 lead going into the third period. Stuart Holland (PPG) and Cal Filson would score in the third period to get the Arrows to within two but Leffler would complete the natural hat trick to put the Monarchs up 5-3 with just over ten minutes to go in the game. Shay Neufeld would score with less than a minute left in the game to get the Arrows to within one goal but an empty net goal from Mike Kesserling would make the final 6-4 for the visiting Monarchs. Jeremy Kwasny picked up his third win of the year in net for the Monarchs while Justin Mrazek was in net for the Arrows. Avonlea had two minor penalties, a fighting major and a game misconduct. Wynyard had four minor penalties, a fighting major and a game misconduct. There were two suspensions that came out of this game. James Dombowsky from the Arrows is suspended one game for taking a game misconduct in the last ten minutes of the game and Joey MacDonald from the Monarchs is suspended for two games. He receives one game suspension for taking a game misconduct in the last ten minutes of the game and receives another game suspension for an Instigator penalty.

All roster changes must be completed by December 31^st. Local players may be added up to January 10^th but there must be room for that addition without making a change. Southey Marlins have added local Joseph Bergen. Wynyard has added local Ryan Peterson and have dropped local Devon Lamb.

We are now halfway through the regular season. Brett Leffler from Wynyard leads all scorers with 30 points, 15 goals and 15 assists. Dustin McAngus from Bethune is next with 27 points. He is followed by Bryan Kauk from Wynyard who has 26 points and following him are Lucas Ulmer from Bethune with 24 points and Kyle Ross from Cupar with 22 points. Dustin McAngus from Bethune leads all scorers with 4 power play goals. Kyle Ross from Cupar and Brett Leffler from Wynyard have each scored 3 game winning goals. Jeremy Kwasny from Wynyard (3-0-0) and Colby Miller from Cupar (2-0-0) lead all goalies with an identical 3.00 GAA. Close behind is Nathan Fischl from Raymore (3-2-0) at 3.05 GAA. Jamie Wutke from Cupar leads all goalies with 8 wins and Justin Mrazek from Avonlea leads all goalies with 605 minutes played.

In team statistics, the Wynyard Monarchs continue to lead the way on the power play with a 29.9% success rate. They are followed by the Cupar Canucks at 28.6% and by the Avonlea Arrows at 26.8%. Wynyard leads all penalty killing units with an 88.1% success rate. They are followed by Cupar at 80.7% and the Raymore Rockets at 79.6%. There have been 23 shorthanded goals so far this year. The Wynyard Monarchs have scored 6 of those goals. The Bethune Bulldogs and the Strasbourg Maroons have each allowed 5 shorthanded goals against. The Southey Marlins are the only team that has not allowed a shorthanded goal against. The Raymore Rockets are the only team that has not scored a shorthanded goal. The Wynyard Monarchs and the Cupar Canucks have not lost a game in which they have scored first. The Avonlea Arrows and Lumsden Monarchs have not won a game in which they have been scored on first. Home teams are 22-17-2 so far this year and away teams are 18-19-2 so far this year.

We are now showing all time leaders in our Archive section and we have put more pages up to make searching a little easier. These are statistics that Barry has kept since 1990. Did you know that Cory Haines from Cupar leads all players with 18 seasons played…now in his 19^th and final season and 431 games played? Did you know Derek Halldorson from Wynyard leads all scorers with 67 goals in the playoffs? Did you know Kirk Degelman leads all scorers with 282 goals all time in regular season and playoffs and played in 373 games? Did you know Murray Cranch had 359 assists all time, just two more than Degelman? Who has the most points all time including playoffs….Kirk Degelman with 638 points and number two is now Derek Halldorson from Wynyard who moved past Warren Fry and Bob Inman this year. Who has the most penalty minutes….Marty Gerrard or Bryan Drescher? Please go take a look at these interesting pages.

This Friday evening we have three games on the schedule. The sixth place Avonlea Arrows (3-6-1) are in Strasbourg to meet the third place Maroons (6-2-1). This is the second and final meeting of the season between last year’s finalists. The Maroons defeated the Arrows 5-4 in a shootout in Avonlea earlier this season. The first place Cupar Canucks (10-1-0) are in Lumsden to play the last place Monarchs (0-11-0) and the fifth place Raymore Rockets (4-5-0) are in Southey to play the seventh place Marlins (2-6-1). On Saturday evening we have a full slate of games.  The highlight of the evening should be in Cupar where the second place Wynyard Monarchs (9-1-1) play the first place Canucks. Also on Saturday, the fourth place Bethune Bulldogs (6-4-0) host the Avonlea Arrows, the Raymore Rockets are in Strasbourg and the Lumsden Monarchs are in Southey.

I will be sending tweets from two accounts on game nights and when there is HHL news to share…..as long as I keep getting updates….

http://twitter.com/GeraldT and from our new account http://twitter.com/highwayhockey

January is a busy month for the Highway Hockey League. While teams play the second half of their schedule they also start Provincials toward the end of the month. For the best in senior hockey please get out to a game near you. We appreciate the support of our fans and volunteers throughout the league and on behalf of the HHL executive, the member teams and their players, coaches and managers….a very Happy New Year!

Gerry Tomkins

President - HHL