Congratulations are in order to the Indians and Bears for winning the playoffs.
The Indians won the Advanced League by defeating Randaccio Builders 8 to 2 on Wednesday. Matt Oleski lead the way with a hat trick. The win represented a repeat for the Indians, who also won the playoff title last year.
In the Intermediate League, the Bears, the No. 4 seed, defeated Sam Adams to capture their first playoff title. Gene Knab scored two goals for the Bears.
Here is the schedule for the playoffs, which are single-elimination:
Intermediate League
Monday, Aug. 16, 10 pm, NHL#1 – City Honors Alumni (Seed 1) vs.Bears (Seed 4)
Monday, Aug 16, 10 p.m., Olympic – Amherst Ale House (Seed 2) vs. Sam Adams (Seed 3)
Wednesday, Aug. 18, 8 pm, NHL#1, Winners of Monday’s games play for title.
Advanced League
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 8 pm, NHL#1, O’Bannon & Davis (Seed 1) vs. Randaccio Builders (Seed 4)
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 9:30 p.m., NHL#1 – Indians (Seed 2) vs. Al Ross (Seed 3)
Wednesday, Aug, 18, 9:30 p.m. NHL#1 – Winners of Tuesday’s game play for title.
Players must have played in at least four regular season games to be eligible for the playoffs.
Winners receive custom clothing from HockeyBuff.
This is the final week of the regular season, so it’s time to talk playoffs.
In the Advanced League, O’Bannon & Davis has won the regular season title and No. 1 seed in the playoff. The Indians and Al Ross have captured playoff spots. Randaccio Builders and Alliance Insurance are battling for the final playoff spot, with Randaccio holding a two point lead. Caputi’s Pub has been eliminated.
In the Intermediate League, City Honors Alumni, Amherst Ale House and Sam Adams have secured playoff spots. Cutting Edge has a one point lead over the Bears. While Griffin’s Pub is only two points out of the final playoff spot, they would lose under the tie-breaker system described below.
In the event of a tie in the standings, the tie-breakers are as follows: first, most wins for the season, followed by head-to-head record, then goal differential for the season, and finally, fewest penalty minutes.
If Randaccio wins this week, they capture the final playoff spot in the Advanced League. If they lost and Alliance wins, they will be tied, with the same number of wins. They split their regular season games, which means it will come down to goal differential. As it now stands, Randaccio is minus 16, Alliance is minus 19.
In the Intermediate League, Cutting Edge captures the final playoff spot with a victory. The Bears are in if they win and Cutting Edge loses. In terms if head to head games, Cutting Edge and Griffin’s Pub split their games, as did the Bears and Cutting Edge and the Bears and Griffin’s Pub. In terms of goal differential, the Bears are plus two, Cutting Edge is minus three and Griffin’s Pub is minus 26.
The playoffs are single elimination. Here’s the schedule:
Intermediate League
Monday, Aug. 16, 10 pm, NHL#1 – Seed 1 vs. Seed 4
Monday, Aug 16, 10 p.m., Olympic – Seed 2 vs. Seed 3
Wednesday, Aug. 18, 8 pm, NHL#1, Winners of Monday’s games play for title.
Advanced League
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 8 pm, NHL#1, Seed 1 vs. Seed 4
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 9:30 p.m., NHL#1 – Seed 2 vs. Seed 3
Wednesday, Aug, 18, 9:30 p.m. NHL#1 – Winners of Tuesday’s game play for title.
Players must have participated in at least four regular season games to be eligible for playoffs.
The winning teams win customized HockeyBuff clothing.
The following players are suspended for the balance of the regular season and playoffs for failure to provide proof of USA Hockey insurance. If they play, their team forfeits the game and the league will hold the captain accountable.
Al Ross
Brandon Broad
Ale House
Tyler Matthews
Caputi’s
Vince Caputi
City Honors
Mark DeGiulio
Indians
Ronnie Rechan
O’Bannon & Davis
Derek Brennan
Tom Dockery
Tyler Matthews
Bears
Nick Romano
Kevin Schmitt
Jake Newton
Alliance Insurance
Pat Conti
Note: Suspensions revised Aug. 2.
Last week, the league informed captains of which players needed to obtain USA Hockey insurance, and that message was also relayed to players in locker rooms. A deadline of last Friday was imposed, which was extended to Sunday. A number of players have failed to provide proof and are therefore suspended for games this week. Those who fail to provide proof by this Friday will be suspended for the remainder of the season.
Players should not expect to show up at the rink this week with proof of insurance and expect to play. Among other things, the league must “claim” the player with USA Hockey in order for their insurance to be extended to the HockeyBuff league, and that requires the registration information to be on file with USA Hockey prior to the game.
If a suspended player plays, (1) they are expelled from the league (2) their team forfeits the game they play in and (3) the team captain is suspend the captain for allowing the player on the ice.
The following players are suspended for games this week:
Al Ross
Brandon Broad
Ale House
Tyler Matthews
Caputi’s
Vince Caputi
City Honors
Mark DeGiulio
Colin Smith
Indians
David Burkholder
Matt Oleski
Ronnie Rechan
O’Bannon & Davis
Derek Brennan
Josh Bluman
Mike Cohen
Sam Alfieri
Tom Dockery
Tyler Matthews
Randaccio Builders
Pat Kenny
Bears
Tony Galante
Chris Marotta
Nick Romano
Kevin Schmitt
Jake Newton
Captains have been alerted of these suspensions through e-mail.
There is one new player suspension for this coming week, Al Randaccio of Randaccio Builders, who must sit one game for abuse of officials.
We have one new suspension for the week, Ryan White, No. 20, of Amherst Ale House. He must sit one game.
Two players from Alliance Insurance, No. 2, Steve Cook, and No. 3, Nick Angelo, must sit the second game of their suspension.
The league has ruled on the match penalty called June 8 against Kevin Quick of O’Bannon & Davis. The penalty call involved Quick making physical contact with a referee. The league has suspended Quick for the balance of the season.
On a related front, the league has noted recurring problems with Alliance Insurance, which has had several players assessed game and 10 minute misconducts. The league will not tolerate this type of behavior and any continuing problems will result in suspensions above and beyond the minimums set by USA Hockey.
We’ve got three new suspensions. Brannon Broderick, No. 8, of Sam Adams, has a one game suspension. Two players from Alliance Insurance, No. 2, Steve Cook, and No. 3, Nick Angelo, are suspended for two games and are placed on probation for the balance of the season. Any further penalty problems or juvenile behavior will result in their expulsion from the league.
Any player who is not paid in full will not be permitted to play starting this week until he or she has settled their debt, unless his team has paid at least $1,820 of its fee. Players also must have completed applications to be eligible to continue playing.
