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Official Newsletter of the Old-Time Hockey Over-30 League
33-Seasons and counting...
Article 532 - November 30, 2024
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| Sir Walter Scott
Nicknamed “The Great Unknown,” Scott secretly published his wildly successful “Waverley” novels and, in so doing, helped forge the genre of historical fiction.
He maintained anonymity for years, keeping his work a secret even from his own children.
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December Giveback
This month the “Season of Giving Back” continues with a Tito’s Theme Prize Pack courtesy of Timmy “Tito” Burke and Tito’s Vodka.
We don’t have details yet, but “Tito” has always generously put together Tito’s awards and giveaways for the league, jamboree’s and the season ending golf day.
There’s one thing you can bank on… it will include booze!
6:30PM Reveal
Tune in at 6:30PM for another reveal from the league.
No, it’s not us watching Lee Nogler win another Jokers Wild game…, at 6:30PM we will reveal Sean Roach’s GAA that he has to beat in the “Blind Goalie Challenge”. Sean who’s the “Second Banana” on the Dominions is having a career year in net.
Unless he has a complete meltdown…, we can’t foresee Scotty Rosato getting out of that pink shirt for next season. The question is, will Sean show up and play this week?
Playoff Picture
This year two teams had a higher level of success during the regular season… and the other 4-teams all wanted to fight for the basement…, as there was really no “middle class” this season.
Here is the 2024 Winter Season playoff picture:
The Guarantees
Dominions – Clinched the #1 seed (First round Bye)
Phoenix Rising – Clinched the #2 seed (First round Bye)
Hammertime vs Azores Express – Loser clinches the #6 seed
Barney & Friends – Officially clinches the #3 seed with a single point
We don’t see a way that M*A*S*H can climb to the #3 seed
M*A*S*H (Loss) - Barney & Friends clinches #3 seed.
M*A*S*H (Win) and a Barney & Friends (Loss) - Barney & Friends clinches #3 seed.
Tie Breaker: Barney & Friends (Less Losses)
The Variables & Tiebreakers
Unlike Moses and his 15-commandments…,
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Disclaimer: Nothing is etched in stone…, and there is a lot of variables (too many to discuss) and with just 1-point separating the bottom three teams…, Wins, Losses, Overtime Wins, Overtime Losses, and Head-to-Head, all play a role in the tiebreakers.
But if you’re trying to calculate the seedings live, remember the seedings are based on: Points, Wins, Losses (including OT), Head-to-Head, and then goals.
Unless otherwise blatantly obvious…, the “official” final standings will be calculated and announced on the website (Monday or Tuesday).
Contenders Now
Don’t look now…, but there are some new playoff contenders now:
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No… not those contenders…, we’re talking about M*A*S*H and their storybook turnaround this season after the League Director stepped in and got them some additional speed and talent.
We don’t want to say “I told you so”…, but M*A*S*H, who was once the league’s laughingstock is now one of the teams that has a legit shot at the title (if) everyone does their job.
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ALD vs Webmaster
There’s one good “off the record” battle left in the regular season that has nothing to do with the playoffs.
It’s the head-to-head battle of the ALD Mike Naczas and the Webmaster Jim Barber in a “Points vs Goals” wager for $10.
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Since Naz doesn’t score goals… and Jim scores very little goals. The summer challenge was Naz (Points) vs Jim (Goals) and currently Jim has the 3-2 advantage going into Saturdays last week of the season.
Can Naz forget about “getting that shit outta here”…. and focus more on “get me the assist” and can Jim focus less on scoring a goal for his personal gain…, but score a goal to keep his team from finishing in last place.
Double or Nothing?
Well sports fans and degenerate gamblers…. Time to pay up. Mike Naczas who for still reasons unknown decided to write the #5 on a napkin during the summer hockey breakfast meetings, as a prediction to how many goals he would score in the upcoming season.
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Now with one game left and just two assists and zero goals.., it’s time to pay up (or is it?)
Anyone looking for last minute regular season action…, How about we go double or nothing with just (5) shots “on net”… not passes or dump-ins… but (5) shots that the Goalie had to actually make a save and the statistician actually counts the shot on the game sheet?
Last minute modification to the above wager. Early rumors have M*A*S*H missing a bunch of guys this week…, since Naz definitely won’t score 5-goals (like Mike Duggan did) on his last game of the regular season…, and Naz might not even get to the proposed (5) shots on net.
So, let’s offer up an over/under wager of (3) shots “on net” (That’s just one per period)
Under 3 Shots (-73)
3-shots – Even
Over 3-shots (+73)
Top Banana
Although he tried, it wasn’t Matty Iannello that stopped Mike Duggan from receiving his 4th consecutive scoring title lucite award…, but it’s also no surprise that another 3x Leading Goal Scorer did.
With a comfortable 8-point lead, the leagues “Top Banana” Dominic DeFrancisco is on the eve of winning his 4th (but not consecutive) scoring title.
But look who’s in the #2 and #3 spot on the leader board and both tied with 28-points.
With Mike “Poopsie” Duggan (2nd) and Matty “The Great One” Iannello (3rd) and both of their teams playing a meaningless game at 6:30PM…, (if) M*A*S*H loses.
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Let’s set another betting line for the last game of the regular season.
“Poopsie” (-191)
“The Great One” (+277)
Tune in a 6:30 to see who finishes in second…, That is if Mike shows up to play and doesn’t have to stay home and do his chores and “Honey-Do” list from Mrs. “Doo-gan”
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Season in Review
With the last game of the season and still some positions in the standings up for grabs…, and this being the last forum edition of the 2024 Winter Season…, instead of recapping last week’s storylines…, we are going to spotlight 3-players from each team in the final edidtion of the season.
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Dominic DeFrancisco is 2-points shy of his personal best 37-points…, with 1st place locked up and a meaningless game from the team that has his name in it…, It’s “Dom”inion time, so go chase your new personal best of 38-points.
Sean Roach is another unexpected Cinderella story this season. Sean is on the top of the goalie leaderboard with an impressive 2.08 GAA…, which makes you wonder, is it the goalie that makes the team, or does the team make the goalie?
Tony Medeiros is also another Dominion who’s just 2-points shy of his personal best. Tony last scored 27-points back in 2014. Can the new “Director of Fundraising and Special Events” score 3-points in the last game of the season for a new personal best 28-points?
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Matty Iannello is the biggest storyline of the season with his triumphant return to the Over-30 League. Matty, who put his pre-season prediction for a successful return at 15-points, can double that with just 2-points this week. Plus, “The Great One” started a new 1400-points Club (Members - 1)
Eddie “The Chin” Chin is having a “career” season, and we use that term loosely as this is only his second team. But Eddie is setting the bar high for future seasons and another example of the success of “Playing with Greatness”
Mike O’Neill failed to “come for records”…, but he did come to score goals with 14-goals (one shy of the lead) and 6-more than his previous personal best of 8-goals. Just imagine what he could have done with 14-games instead of the 8-games he played this season.
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Mike Duggan fails to win his 4th consecutive scoring title in part by losing a game to getting married (during the season) and getting suspended for 1-game. Let’s hope that doesn't taint the Mylec Player of the Year voting in 2025
Leo “Getz” Trombley should win the first ever Over-30 “Milk Carton Award” as Leo has more missed scoring opportunities than any other player in the leagues 32-year history and “Leo’s Shot” should be on a carton of milk.
“Jersey” Joe Carlton is the leagues new poster boy for ensuring you get your 2025-2026 player confirmation email reply confirmed. Joe’s missed confirmation for the 2023-2024 season has led to sweeping changes in the player confirmation process. Joe can be credited for the change in policy.
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Tommy Gallagher is “Leading” by example this season. Leading M*A*S*H with 13-points and leading the forwards with leadership. Tommy is the new Mark Stickney of the faceoffs, as he has the quickest draw this side of the Mississippi. Short stick
Dave Giusti is playing like a championship goalie once again, as he is the defending goalie champion from the 2024 Spring Season. Stats don’t lie, and (his) aren’t that impressive, but they don’t tell the whole story. Dave is a goalie that can steal playoff games (or he can get mugged) – We’ll see which happens in the coming weeks.
Tim “Tito” Burke has been the Lou Merloni of M*A*S*H all season.., playing wherever his captain needed him to play (forward or defense) and after their 0-7 start there was talk of trying to see what he can do in net.
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Rob Sheridan is the single biggest loss for Hammertime’s 2024 Winter Season. Hopefully in January we can replace Rob’s 0-0-0-0-0 stats line with a Hammertime championship, or just a more competitive season.
Lee Nogler is now 1-point ahead of his previous personal best of 25-points. Lee had to help fill the void left by his Assistant Captain Rob Sheridan and his season long IR. Lee provided stability and “unlettered” leadership to a team missing their #1 Draft pick.
Patrick Spencer is another player who’s only playing for his second team of his young Over-30 career, but he too is setting the bar high as Pat leads all players with 15-goals. Can he hold on to the lead for one more week?
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Mike Luise celebrated his 500th goal in his 59-seasons of playing in the league. Mike is also the 3rd player in the 1000-point club. Not bad for a guy that once lead the league is referee debates and arguments.
Dave Costa is in unfamiliar scoring waters with just 3-points (1g-2a) and in his previous 25-seasons, he has only scored single digit totals in (4) of them. Which makes us wonder is the sophomore Captain and his freshman championship hangover (over?). Good news for Dave, the playoffs is an entirely new season.
Jake Deehan is in a tough position this year, coming off post-surgery and long-term IR. Every team is hoping to play Azores Express in the first round, but Jake this is where you need to prove your critics wrong…, the anesthesia has worn off and it’s time to wake up for the playoffs. It’s never too late to turn it around!
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The following looks like a most wanted lineup..., but the olnly thing this cast of characters wants is a single goal.
This is it, last chance of the 2024 Winter Season to light the lamp.
Will anyone here score today... and who's your pick?
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Signing Off
It’s that time again, another last forum edition before the playoffs.
For those new players, this is the point of the season when the forum goes dark, and the focus becomes the playoffs. We let players focus on the games and their playing, without the fear of being publicly ridiculed in the media.
As always, we want to thank the players who helped “the forum write itself”.
If you didn’t see your name in any of the previous 12-editions..., then do something noteworthy, get noticed, or as the League Director likes to say “Do Something”
Until January 2025…. Good luck in the playoffs..., Merry Christmas.., and Happy New Year!!
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