Heritage Silverbacks

Posted By: Matthew Farley on Sunday Nov 02, 2008

There isn't much to say about our game against the Bombers. We didn't come to play, and Trinity did. Of course, it didn't help not having our #1 goaltender available for the game. We had to pick up someone to step in for Glen, and it happened to be the rookie net minder that the Bombers cut during their training camp this season. I figured if there was any game that he would get jacked up to play in, it would be against the team that let him go...

Mike did all he could do to keep the puck out of our net, but it wasn't enough. With the boys in teal constantly floating to the puck and not playing positional hockey, the Bombers were at liberty to walk into whatever portion of ice they wanted to untouched, and unhindered. It wasn't a very fun game to play in or watch from the bench.

The final score was 8-0 in favor of the Bombers, and the Silverbacks suffered their 4th loss of the season. Next week pits us against the Southgate Cyclones, who have gone through a lot of preseason roster changes. If we plan on making the playoffs this year, now would be the time to get a few more much needed wins under our belt. Hopefully our game against Southgate will provide one of those wins.

Until next time...

~ El Captitan

Posted By: Matthew Farley on Friday Oct 17, 2008

Game #4 pit us against the CAC Warriors, who like ourselves are participating in their second year of CMCHL play. Last year, the Warriors made a remarkable comeback in the second half of the season to come up from the celler and make the playoffs. The Silverbacks, did not make the playoffs, obviously. But a new season has begun, and with a remodeled roster, the Backs look to compete every game.

Our #1 netminder Glen MacDonald missed his connecting bus from the Skytrain, so we convinced the Bombers goalie to stand in for us for a period until Glen showed up. From what I knew of Marc Ragusin, he was said to be a pretty good goalie. Whoever told me that is full of it. Marc let in 7 goals in the first 12 minutes of the opening period. He didn't drop down into the butterfly to cover the ice once, and all 7 goals never left the playing surface, and just trickled in. My mom could have had a hat trick against this guy.

The Backs managed to battle back in put in 5 goals before it was over, but gave up an additional 7 to cap off a disappointing team performance. 14-5 was the final. Captain Matt Farley had his most productive night in his 2 year CMCHL career, scoring a goal and adding an assist to his season totals.

The Backs look to battle back against 3 time defending champs Trinity Bombers next week. Hopefully somebody shows up to play goal for us... if you know what I mean. Until next time.

~ El Capitan

Posted By: Matthew Farley on Tuesday Oct 07, 2008

Our third week of the season marked our third win in franchise history! Coincidence? I think not!

The Backs hosted the visiting Cougars, whose roster changed substantially in the off-season. KCC went from being a power house contender to a middle of the road team. By no means a push over, but with the loss of Nathan Aspenlind (who set CMCHL points records as a defensemen last year), and a few other big names, the Cougars are looking at a growing year ahead of them, much like we had to endure last year. They did however pick up Luc Brandon off waivers from the boys in silver and teal.

We were short handed again this weekend, which seems to be becoming a habit for our squad. We managed to pick up a few spares (who would prove to make a huge difference on the score board). We drew first blood, as rookie defensemen Dan O'Reilly went top shelf from the point less than 1 minute into the game. And it was all Backs from there. Colin Willems contributed his team leading 3rd goal, and our spares combined for 5 goals and 4 assists between them. Andreas Miller scored his first of the year on a shorthanded coast-to-coast beauty, and Glen MacDonald played great between the pipes, allowing only one shot to get by him early in the 2nd period.

Next week we run up against the CAC Warriors, who like us are making a name for themselves in their second year of CMCHL action. Its going to be a good one. Stay tuned. Until next time...

~ El Capitan

Posted By: Matthew Farley on Wednesday Oct 01, 2008

Our second game of the season had us pitted against the CLA Canucks. With a disappointing loss behind us in week 1, we were looking to post a higher offensive total, and hopefully pull out our first win of the year. With our regular goaltender Glen MacDonald out for the night (due to his first baby being born: CONGRATS!!!), a lot of pressure fell on the shoulders of our replacement goalie, who had previously been cut from the TWU Bombers roster. At least we had somebody between the pipes, or things might have gotten real ugly, real fast.

We got off to a slow start, but stayed with the Canucks for the first period and a half. The game was tight and the intensity high. A few defensive lapses gave CLA a 2 goal lead midway through the second period, but once they found out our goalie couldn't handle top shelf shots, they went upstairs for 4 consecutive goals, giving them a commanding 7 to 1 lead. As we neared the end of the game, we managed to connect for 2 goals, one of which was a great defelction by Brendyn McKillup off a point shot from Scott Gordon.

The Silverbacks drop to 0-2, but the season is early, and there are a lot of games left. With a by in week 3, we look forward to our next game against the KCC Cougars.

Until next time...

~ El Capitan

Posted By: Matthew Farley on Sunday Sep 14, 2008

The season is finally here! After 5 months of waiting, our second season as a team in the C.M.C.H.L. opened on Saturday the 6th against the Willingdon Avalanche.

With a few newly acquired forwards and defensemen, the Silverbacks looked to pick up where they left off with a win, following a previous season closing win against the PCC Desert Dogs.

Our first game out of the blocks was a bit discouraging, as we apparently build a reputation last year for being a fairly aggressive team. The refs were all over us all night. We spent what has to be a C.M.C.H.L. record of 36 total minutes in the penalty box (20 of which were tallied by 2 game misconducts).

The offense never got going, as our only goal was scored by newcomer Colin Willems. We had few opportunities to put some more numbers up on the score board, but failed to capitalize on any of them. Defensively, we played a solid game, headed up by fantastic goaltending by returner Glen McDonald. But precision passing by the Avalanche and lapses in positioning on our part helped them pull away, eventually leading to a 1-4 loss.

We head into week # 2 with an 0-1 record, hoping to improve our record against the CLA Canucks. Until next week...

~ El Capitan