Fall News and Notes
Saturday, September 25, 2004

WEEK 10: Team NHL 11 vs. Team NHLPA 6 (+ Series Deciding Shootout)… What a series finish! To address a possible series tie in the event of a Team NHL win, the game started 10 minutes early (with only a 5 minute warmup) to allow for a series deciding shootout if needed. And so the prophecy was fulfilled as Team NHL went on to kick some butt, thanks to the rare and potent sub-ins of the Oye brothers… and paired on the same line, much damage they did do, leaving the rest of the players on both sides resolved to an imminent shootout… but other game highlights featured missing equipment galore… Lawrence Lau plays without a helmet and Jason Lai plays without a glove… whatever. And on with the league's first ever series deciding shootout! With the 2pt weighting on the final two shooters, ultimately Kenny Chiu played hero for the NHLPA lifting their side to a 3-2 victory! Other scorers included Michael Nguyen, Sherman Woo and Jason Lai but the majority of shooters were held blank while Anthony Chang (the PA's final shooter) waited in the wings not having to take a turn after the NHL ran out of shooters… and so the PA held on for a nailbiting series victory!

WEEK 9: Team NHLPA 10 vs. Team NHL 6… So the PA avenge last week's butt kicking and deliver one of their own as they roll over the NHL with spirited efforts from their marquee players, Simon Wong, Kenny Chiu and Anthony Chang… admidst a sub/tardiness debacle to start the game and trading sub players (namely Ian Chang) back and forth, the game finally got rolling and stayed close through the midway… a few defensive lapses by the NHL ended up with the puck in their net despite sub goalie Samson Chow's best efforts… the game featured five substitutes and lots of chances at both ends, but ultimately the PA get the win and can finish no worse than tied for the series… Stay tuned for next week's conclusion!

WEEK 8: Team NHL 11 vs. Team NHLPA 3… Ouch! The PA end up on the short end of the series' most lopsided game to-date, as they were missing captain Ron Pong, but were seemingly in good hands with super-sub Tom Jong in replacement… too bad they were running with only 3 defensemen and an untimely slapshot to the calf of D Lawrence Lau put added duty on the blueline corps… Unable to keep up with the waves of attack from the NHL, the score just kept creeping up slowly but surely while the PA were unable to mount any counterattack of their own… Sherman Woo scores a rare goal for the NHL by jumping up into the goal mouth for a less than pretty goal (but he'll take it)… while assistant captain Allen Leung paces the offense with five big goals… It's all tied up at four games apiece heading into the final two games…

WEEK 7: Team NHL 10 vs. Team NHLPA 8… NHL is on a roll with their second win in a row but a hard fought one at that as some super sub firepower came out on both sides… in the form of Sean Oye, Nixon Lee and the rehab'd return of Chris Archibald… Kudos to NHLPA captain Ron Pong for complying with a sub-equalizing trade in the pre-game… Both teams were flying tonight with great chances on both sides and goalies were being peppered on both sides… Anthony Chang and Sean Oye reunited on the same line for a rarity the MDHL but made for a heavily lopsided second line… in any event, it was NHLPA's balanced attack that was proving the difference as they got to goalie Michal Thibadeau early on and broke the game open with 5 unanswered goals to make it 8-4 and hung onto to win… despite a late penalty against the NHLPA which resulted in a PP goal to make it close at 10-8 but alas, time just ran out on the PA...

WEEK 6: Team NHL 11 vs. Team NHLPA 7… After the trade news with Albert Chang and Lawrence Lau switching sides, Chang promptly makes an impression with two big goals including the opener for the NHL… Lau on the other hand, subs out to lead the league in that category this series… Staying with the sub note, Jon Low also makes an impressive return of sorts with a few goals as 'Johnny on the spot'… all in a losing cause as the PA were unable to take a lead at any point although the game remained close for much of the game… other big performances came from unheralded players Jackson Chiu and Dom Kwong with big goals for the NHL in their victory… rookie goalie Michel Thibadeau gets his second straight win and remains undefeated in MDHL action!

WEEK 5: Team NHLPA 11 vs. Team NHL 10 (OT)… OT madness sets in as MDHL welcomes rookie goalie Mike Thibaudeau to the league as our lone French Canadian representative... and what a tilt to be a part of as both teams go hard all night long for the closest game in recent memory... Team NHLPA played short two members while NHL was short one... while both teams managed to gut it out... each goalie fared well but admittedly Norm Chan felt he'd had better games on a few unlucky bounces while his counterpart Mike Thibaudeau debuted in fantastic fashion with multiple save performances and gets a win to boot! Should be a great second half series from here on in...

WEEK 4: Team NHLPA 10 vs. Team NHL 8… An MDHL reunion of sorts as stalward regulars but now subs (Sean Oye, Anthony Chang and Ken Takeda) all don the pads tonight while Aaron joins big brother Sean for an all-Oye pairing for Team NHLPA… and it worked as they took it to Team NHL never giving up their lead (but never pulling away either)… no matter that both NHLPA captains were absence tonight with interim captain Derek Lowe and Stan Quan leading the way… it was a fast pace and penalty free game but in the end, Team NHLPA got the bounces and took home the win.

WEEK 3: Team NHL 14 vs. Team NHLPA 8… Finally a win for Team NHL as their captains (Jason Lai and Allen Leung) rally their squad with 4 goals apiece… thanks in part to the return of Anthony Chang from summer injury rehab as a sub… rookie debut of young goalie Colin Flett was losing one for NHLPA as he fared well in a close early half but unravelled in the latter stages… both teams traded chances early one to have a deadlock at 6 but Team NHLPA couldn't keep up the pace under NHL's aggressive forechecking… Jason Chu as debuted after two missed games and shows up big time with a highlight reel goal rush!

WEEK 2: Team NHLPA 13 vs. Team NHL 9… Team NHL picks up where they left off... on a losing cause as they never held a lead in tonight's matchup... Jason Lai takes his second penalty in as many games on the "owners" side while Stan Quan scores for the "players" to string a two game scoring streak together... sub KC Cheung leaving the game early didn't help Team NHL find any momentum but Travis Wong did show some signs of life with his two early goals... Jason Chu has yet to make his season debut with Team NHL... but stay tuned for next week…

WEEK 1: Team NHLPA 10 vs. Team NHL 7… And so another illustrious season opens in the MDHL... this time with a few new faces and a few departed mainstays from seasons past... usual team voting ensues with Ron Pong / Simon Wong leading Team NHLPA (the "players") and Jason Lai / Allen Leung leading Team NHL (the "owners")... the NHL came out swinging racking up a comfy 6-1 lead... but got a bit too comfy as the PA came back in stellar fashion to grab the victory... Kenny Chiu and Simon Wong show some on-ice chemistry while Dave Cheung opens his season with a hat trick in a losing cause!