League News

The Winter 2020 regular season has reached its climax and the playoffs are ready to begin. The Red Army played strong all season posting an impressive 7-1-1-0 record, with goaltender Chris Childress leading the league in shutouts (3). Following right behind them with six wins and no shootout losses were the defending DCEHL champion Black Knights, who said "ni" when it came to losing several close contests, finishing with a solid 6-2-1-0 record.

A few dark horse teams fought their way up from the bottom of the standings to claim spots in the northern division, including NHMS (4-0-4-1) and Dover Gold (5-1-2-1). The Purple Pain brought their hard-nosed play to every opponent, jockeying for a top spot all season long. The Grey Squirrels, Green, and the Blue Roosters spent most of the season in the southern division, but had double digit goals for and against. They all played the spoiler more than once against several northern division teams.

With a three-way tie in the northern division in points, tie-breaker rules take effect resulting in the following end-of-season standings:

1. Red (Red Army)

2. Black (Black Knights)

3. White (NHMS)

4. Gold (Dover Gold)

5. Purple (Purple Pain)

6. Blue (Blue Roosters)

7. Grey (Grey Squirrels)

8. Green

Here is a preview of the semi-final matchups:

Northern Division, Game 1 - March 8 @ 7:00 PM

#1 Red (Red Amy) vs #4 Gold (Dover Gold)

Dover Gold has the unenviable task of taking on the nearly unbeatable Red Army in the first round; a team that they have yet to beat this season. In the two teams’ first and only meeting during the Winter 2020 campaign, the Red Army took it to Dover Gold, winning in a decisive 3-0 shutout. Since then, Gold has picked up the pace with ample scoring and two wins in their last three games. Forward Brett Ricci leads the league in goals (10) and points (14). He’s accompanied by top Gold forwards Jeff Duquette who has 10 points on the season (7 goals, 3 assists), Sam Raynor with 6 points (6 goals), and Tim Carlin with 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists).

Not to be outdone, Red holds a similar record in their last three contests, and are back-stopped by the season’s top goaltender, Chris Childress, who leads the league in shutouts (3) and goals allowed per game (1.4). He has a strong supporting cast with forwards Mike Sinkewich having recorded 8 points (6 goals, 2 assists), and Cody Oimet with 5 points on the season (3 goals, 2 assists). With only one regulation loss all season, Red is poised to march to their second championship in three seasons.

When asked about the post season, the Red Army's captain Phil Saltmarsh said, "Going into the final couple of weeks, seeing the tight grouping at the top, we were just looking to make sure we didn't get bumped out of the top four, but are quite happy with the top finish.  Now we're looking to carry that momentum and bring home another cup!"

With a tall order, Dover Gold’s captain Jameson Savage had this to say: “Red is a great team, their record speaks for itself, but we earned our spot too. We have to play our game, get pucks in deep, and have fun.”

Northern Division, Game 2 - March 8 @ 8:15 PM

#2 Black (Black Knights) vs #3 White (NHMS)

The wily Black Knights fiercely chased the top of the standings all season long, only missing out on a first place finish by two points. With goaltender Ed Gontarz holding down the fort in net, they have been getting solid offense from forwards Jon Harwood with 7 points (7 goals), Tony Martuscello with 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists), and Greg Allen with 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists).

To say that NHMS are the underdogs is an understatement. But, it’s also worth noting that the two teams only faced off once, and the White team - who didn’t lose in regulation all season - held on to force a shootout. Though they didn’t come out on top, they sent a message; this isn’t the same White team from last season. They’re clicking and playing some of their best hockey yet with several of their veteran players stepping up, including forward Shawn Glidden, whose having a career season with 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists), forward Jordan Ferguson whose been lighting it up with 8 points (5 goals, 3 assists), and forward Brian Carloni with 3 points (3 goals).

When asked about their post-season strategy, White’s captain Jeff Cole responded, "We have had an unprecedented season this year. Crawling up from the basement to have a top three finish is no small feat, it took a team effort to get there. Black is a great team, they’ll be a tough opponent, and we have a ton of respect for them."

He continued, "However, we elevate game against the tougher opponents, our record reflects that. We are going out there to play our game, play as a team, play good positional two way hockey and give it 100% every shift. That’s been the key to our success this season and it doesn’t change in the playoffs."

The Black Knight’s goaltender Ed Gontarz is excited about facing NHMS in the post-season saying, "Their team has really grown over the last couple of sessions.  Andrew, their goalie, had an incredible regular season and we were fortunate to earn the extra point in our one matchup with them this session.  They also seem to have added a bit more scoring depth to help Steve Barrasso and Jeff Cole and they’ve improved defensively, too, as their team goals against shows.  Rob Horton and I are friends off the ice but, on Sunday, it’s personal..."

"We won the Inflatable Cup last session after a 5 year (15 session) drought and we're excited to finish in the North Division and have a chance to defend the title.  We're at our best when we play solid team defense and have a knack for keeping offensive zone puck possession and capitalizing on our opponents' mistakes.  Our defense pairings are quick and agile, often creating offense, and they make my job much easier.  Our forward lines are a great mix of youthful talent and veteran know-how and our scoring is well-balanced.  Team White is very good but we're confident that our game and team approach will make us an extremely difficult opponent to defeat."

Southern Division, Game 1 - March 8 @ 9:30 PM

#5 Purple (Purple Pain) vs #8 Green

Having only met once during the regular season - where the Purple Pain secured a 4-2 victory - this is anyone's series. If the Grey Squirrels have shown anything, it's that they won't go quietly into the off-season. Meanwhile, the Purple Pain's brand of gritty, heavy hockey is tough for any opponent to endure. Their goaltender Todd Holway was second in shutouts on the season (2), and is always a challenging tendy to sneak the puck past. Todd’s got plenty of offensive firepower backing him up with forward Benedict Christen and his 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists), forward Kevin Dalton with 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists), and forward Brian West’s 6 points (3, goals, 3 assists) on the season. If they can come out on top during the playoffs, this will be their second consecutive Southern Division Championship.

Despite finishing in 8th place, Green has been a thorn in other team’s sides all season long. They had big contributions from forwards Dennis Pelletier with 5 points (5 goals), forward Joe Kewley’s 4 points (3 goals, 1 assist), and Ryan Sargent’s 4 points (4 goals).

Purple Defenseman Bear Kirkpatrick had this to say about the matchup: "I like playing against Green either during the regular season or in the playoffs. I like being on the ice against Adam Kelley--the first time I saw him I thought for sure he would only be able to speak Quebecois. He has that old time Canadians look about him, so it can feel like playing against an original 6 team with all that history. I know Purple was part of the expansion, and I think we are slowly creating our own legacy (we're starting with penalty minutes and building from there), but I love that old time hockey feel and Green brings that. I can't wait for Sunday's game.”

Green's captain and goaltender Vinny Kasabian spoke about the impending battle, "We always look forward to the challenge of playing Purple and we are ready to capture the Southern Division Championship."

Southern Division, Game 2 - March 9 @ 8:30 PM

#6 Blue (Blue Roosters) vs #7 Grey (Grey Squirrels)

The Blue Roosters and Grey Squirrels only met once during the regular season and the result was a 3-1 victory, propelled by goals and assists from Kevin Rash and Brianna Rash.

In talking about the matchup, Grey Squirrels captain Tom Chase said, "Once again we've got the Southern Division right where they want us. No one told us we didn't get draft picks based on coming in last. I consider myself the Belichick of losing hockey. If it can be done, we'll find the way."

The Blue Roosters' captain Troy Slowik commented, "Never look past the game you’re in... In this league anyone can win. That being said, I’ve got friends on every team. It is fun and competitive. We all want to win. We’re looking at grey now, nothing exists until we get through them."

The playoff excitement kicks off in a few days on Sunday, March 8th at 7pm at Dover Ice Arena.