Good afternoon SSBHL Community!

It was great seeing everyone back Sunday! Some great games and lots of action! Great parity in every game as well! With week 1 in the books, Its time again to start up our weekly top preforming players of the week! Lets dive right into it!

Offensive power houses:

1^st) Off to his usual hot start, Matt Swan the Capt of Smokey Joes was dynamite in his season opener against the New and improved Pitbull’s. With his team behind him, Swan was able to go on a blazing scoring run in the 3^rd period to force Overtime and come from 3 down! And impressive performance and just shows the absolute tenacity and resilience of Swan and the Joes. A leader must lead by example and no better way to do that then to pick up your team when your down and carry them to victory. Swan ended the day with 4 goals and 1 assist and was also responsible for the lone goal in the shootout to get the Win. Excellent work all in all!

2^nd) Coming in at the 2^nd slot is no other than the Stone Hands Capt Steve Wilde. Steve Had a terrific match against the Spiders and was able to find holes in the defense and get to the soft spots to gain points time and time again. Steve Was able to jump on rebounds and collect the trash for quick and effective goals. His new Line mates were extremely effective in setting the table for Steve and he was able to convert on multiple one timers and also dished it out to gain an assist as well! Steve ended the day with 4 goals and 1 assist totaling up 5 points. Excellent leadership and composure and smart offensive awareness gave him and his team the edge. Well done!

3^rd) The 3^rd slot is yet another Captain, Gianni Sciola of the Beavers was highly productive in the points department in a very messy but fun game to watch! Gianni was involved in the game with 4 assists and 1 goal as well gaining 5 points total! G was directing the offense with precision and accuracy, knowing exactly where to put the ball and at the perfect time! He also absolutely hammered home a blistering slap shot to help maintain the lead! His defense was also on point, and was able to breakup multiple dangerous moments!

Demoralizing Defense:

1^st) Our Defensive Player of the week belongs to Matt Connolly, Who was putting out the fires defensively! Matt was also responsible for 3 points in the game! With 2 assists and 1 goal from the point but nearly had 2 goals ringing one of the post in the 2^nd period! Connolly is typically a forward but was filling in the holes in the Stone hands and did a fantastic jobwhile at it! He was able to read the plays brilliantly both offensively and defensively! All and all did great and looks to keep the ball rolling into the next match! Awesome work buddy!

2^nd) In second the next Best D man up was non other then Aaron Gerstel of the Joes! Aaron was very involved in the defensive scheme, blocking shots from various angles, Breaking up plays in his zone, and just helping out on the forecheck. Aaron is one of Swans most critical defensemen he always drafts and for good reason. Reliable, rugged, and sturdy on the blue line, nothing is easy to do when this guy is on the hunt!

3^rd) In Number 3 we have the defending champions capt, Matt Leary who despite not picking up the win, still had a an amazing game and play fantastic defense! Leary was all over the defensive zone and was an absolute pest to the opposition! Breaking up multiple high danger scoring chances, and contributing to scoring with 2 goals from the point! Leary was a force as always and will look to do more of the same next week!

Resplendent Goaltending:

1^st) Our Number one high preforming Goalie of week 1 would easily be The Smokey Joes Nick Bonofiglio! Nick was a very busy man Sunday and was tested by the new Pitbulls squad! Nick was hammered with 56 shots on net and held the opposition to only 5 goals! Holding and collecting a .911 % with a GAA of 4.55! Nick was also tested in a shootout and slammed the door shut firmly on the top scorers of the PitBulls and secured the win! In General, Nick was a superstar and gave his team a chance to win and the rest his history. Nick has also yet to lose a shootout in his SSBHL career so far! Incredible work game one good sir!

2^nd) Coming in at 2^nd is the Rookie in the SSBHL Matt Arsenault, who played a very commendable 1^st game! Matt faced 48 shots, stopping 43 of them and managed to hold a .896% with a GAA of 4.55! Matt also went to the shootout and only gave up one goal and manage to get the point in the shootout L. great game though and a solid effort!

3^rd) in 3^rd we have the Manny DeBettencourt back at it in the drivers seat! Manny had an overall solid game putting up some good numbers. Facing in total 27 shots, stopped 23 of them and held on to get the win! Manny currently holds the best GAA average at 4.0! great way to start off the season Manny and good to see you back as a Stone Hand! Great work!

Fantastic Flex of the week!

1^st) Though our seasons, we see many flex players come and fill in to help out, This week I’m awarding this shot out to Dave Norton who flexed in for the Beavers this Sunday. Dave went on a tear! Gaining 8 points in the game with 4 goals and 4 assists! And was the major reason his team walked away with the 2 points! Dave was cutting though the defense like a hot knife though butter all game long and was up and down the rink wreaking havoc on the Hooligans defense. Just an absolute stellar performance all though out! Great work Dave! 10/10!

Standings so far…

1^st) Beavers: 1-0-0 / 2 points / GF 11 / GA 7 / GD 4

2^nd) Stone hands: 1-0-0 / 2 Points / GF 6 / GA 4 / GD 2

3^rd) Smokey Joes: 1-0-0 / 2 Points / GF 6 / GA 5 / GD 1

4^th) PitBulls: 0-0-1 / 1 Point / GF 5 / GA 6 / GD -1

5^th) Spiders: 0-1-0 / 0 Points / GF 4 / GA 6 / GD -2

6^th) Hooligans: 0-1-0 / 0 Points / GF 7 / GA 11 / GD -4

Upcoming games…

3/23/25 – Hooligans vs Stone Hands (9:00am) (Key Matchup: Aiden vs J-Mac)

3/23/25 – Beavers vs Smokey Joes (10:30am) (Key Matchup: Tim S vs Ryan D)

3/23/25 – Spiders vs Pitbulls (12:00pm) (Key Matchup: Brad Wall Vs Matt Arsenault)

See you all next week! should be fun!

-DJH