The results are in - Jeremy Davis strikes again, and great job by brother Doug Davis on a strong 2nd place finish, taking Jeremy to a 5th game in a best of 5 finals.
Here is a link to the
www.NJBubbleHockey.org article about the Bubble Hockey Tournament held this past Saturday 11/3/12 in Burlington, NJ. There were 20 players from 4 states, and 2 guys who drove down from Montreal Canada - amazing stuff. And yes - that is Larry Jefford (NJ) going 4-0 and rolling his pool play bracket to a #2 seed - great job Larry. Check out the link:
www.njbubblehockey.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=146:red-hot-davis-boys-melt-the-icehouse&catid=3:newsflash&Itemid=9Thanks to all who came out and played - as I'll say to anyone who'll listen, you really can't play bubble alone! I'll keep hosting as long as guys will keep coming. Look for another tournament in the Spring (April or May 2013), and maybe another event before then if I can get the Bailey's Bar and Grill folks on board. When things get more definite I'll spread the word.
Bubble On!
John (JG)
Red Hot Davis Boys melt the IceHouse!!!
The 2012 Burlington Bubble Classic bubble hockey tournament was held on Saturday November 3, 2012, in Burlington, NJ at the "IceHouse." 20 players from 4 states and Canada (that's right, 2 guys traveled all the way from Montreal Canada!!!) made the trek to Burlington for an afternoon of bubble hockey on 3 SuperChexx bubble hockey machines. And what a day it was! An "all-Davis-brothers" A Flight final was only one of the storylines on this day, but you'll have to read on for all the lowdown and to find out which brother won the title...
20 Players were divided into 4 pools of 5 players each, separated and ranked according to the most current NJBubbleHockey.org pre-tournament player rankings (see the newly updated post-tournament rankings elsewhere on this site). Each player played the other players in their pool for a total of 4 games played each. After pool play, players were ranked first in their pool (1-5), then vs the other pools, using tiebreakers of W/L, head-to-head, goals allowed, and goals scored to get a seeded 20 player multi-elimination flight tournament. Here's how the pools shaped out:
Player Name State W L GS GA Pool Rank Touney Seed
Jeremy Davis CT 4 0 30 7 1 1
Dan Petitt PA 1 3 9 11 4 17
Kevin O'Mally PA 1 3 9 14 5 15
Anthony Gade PA 2 2 10 12 3 10
Jeff Harris Canada 0 4 8 22 2 8
Player Name State W L GS GA Pool Rank Touney Seed
John G NJ 4 0 22 10 1 3
Brian Nelson PA 3 1 16 7 2 5
Tom Spiegle PA 2 2 9 13 3 12
Carl Fulsher MI 1 3 10 13 4 14
John Vanderoest Canada 0 4 6 20 5 8
Player Name State W L GS GA Pool Rank Touney Seed
Bill Brooks NJ 1 3 15 13 4 13
Jason Truskoski CT 2 2 11 12 3 9
Larry Jefford NJ 4 0 17 7 1 2
Ken Cox CT 3 1 18 9 2 7
Greg Ginion NJ 0 4 6 26 5 20
Player Name State W L GS GA Pool Rank Touney Seed
Jimmy Schwartz NJ 2 2 15 13 3 11
Doug Davis CT 3 1 20 8 2 6
Scott Storck PA 4 0 23 12 1 4
Tom Boyle PA 1 3 14 22 4 16
Dave
CT 0 4 9 26 5 19
Some notes and observations:
OK, Jeremy Davis dominated his pool. That was to be expected. John G. went undefeated in pool #2, which was also expected. The 4th pool figured to be all out war, and it was, with Scott Storck coming out unblemished in a minor surprise. But what in the world went on on Pool #3??? That thing got turned on its head! Heavy favorite Bill Brooks went 1-3?!? World #6 player Jason Truskoski goes 2-2?!? Ken Cox showed some serious chops under the domes to the tune of a 3-1 record. But holy sh*t - Larry Jefford goes 4-0 and gives up a ridiculous 7 goals allowed in 4 games?!?!?! No one saw that coming, but give Larry his props - he had to beat Ken, Jason, and Bill to go 4-0 and he did. Well done Larry!!!
After the players were all seeded for the tournament, game play began. Each player in the A Flight played a 3 game series vs an opponent - winners advanced in A Flight, while series losers dropped to B Flight. A Flight series continued until only 4 players remained. Those 4 would remain in A flight to battle for the A Flight and Tournament title playing 5 game series. Down in B Flight, players remaining in B Flight continued playing 3 game series until only 1 player remained, the B Flight Champion. The 4 initial series losers of B Flight went down to C Flight to play in single elimination games until a C Champion was crowned.
In A Flight, #13 Bill played #20 Greg, #14 Carl played #19 Dave, #15 Kevin played # 18 John V, and #16 Tom B played #17 Dan, all best of 3. Bill, Carl, Kevin, and Dan all advanced, with the losers dropping to B Flight. #17 Dan got #1 Jeremy for his trouble - nice reward. But Dan sometimes plays Jeremy tough, and he came oh so close to a game 1 upset in the best of 3 before bowing in O/T. Game 2 was less of a contest - Jeremy in a sweep. #13 Bill's next opponent was long time mentor and friend #4 Scott. This was one of the best and most watched series of the night. Scott rolled Bill in a big shutout in game 1, and the series looked over for Bill. But Bill collected himself and managed to claw his way to a game 2 W. Game 3 was furious back and forth action for 3 periods, and it was Bill roaring back to advance in A Flight. #15 Kevin faced-off vs #2 and red-hot Larry, but it was Kevin in a mild 2 game upset. #14 Carl had to tangle with #3 JG, and though this series was a sweep for JG, both games were pretty evenly matched and were in doubt into the 3rd period. #8 Jeff lost in 2 games to #9 Jason, #5 Brian fell in a surprising upset to #12 Tom S. (even more surprising in that it was a 2 game sweep), #7 Ken shrugged of #10 Anthony, and #6 Doug dispatched rival #11 Jimmy "theFuture" Schwartz in a tense and taut 3-gamer that had the crowd riveted. Moving on in A Flight, #1 Jeremy got another scare, this time from #9 Jason. Jason pulled an upset and took game 1 of the series, leaving Jeremy in the unfamiliar position of a must win game. But of course he did, and did again - winning games 2 and 3 to advance to the Final 4 in A Flight. #13 Bill and #12 Tom S. played the Cinderella series - a 12 and 13 seed for the right to the Final 4. But Bill was no ordinary #13 seed. Tom S. fought real hard, losing in O/T in both games. #7 Ken and #15 Kevin played next - Ken advancing. And in what many thought would be one of the better series of the night, #3 JG and #6 Doug met in the only part of the bracket where seeds held to form. But the series didn't - Doug suffocated JG with quick strike offense and killer defense, outscoring JG 13-1, Doug in a 2 game sweep. That left a Final 4 in A Flight of #1 Jeremy vs #13 Bill, and #7 Ken vs #6 Doug. Unfortunately, neither series held much drama, as the Davis boys rolled Bill and Ken respectively to set up an all-Davis-brothers Final.
Right from the start, everyone could see this would not be the cakewalk for Jeremy that might have been expected. Every year it seems Doug gets a little closer to Jeremy in terms of talent and tenacity, and this Final was no exception. Each possession was all out warfare, with the puck moving so fast and so precisely it was both impossible to follow and beautiful to behold. The crowd gathered for all 5 games, and the whole room seemed to be rooting for Doug to finally topple the World's #1. But big bro had other plans. Though the series went the distance, Jeremy turned it on in game #5 and pulled out the series clincher - 2012 Burlington Bubble Classic A Flight and Tournament Champion Jeremy Davis.
Down in B Flight, Larry upended Tom B, Carl and Greg took a game 3 deep into O/T before Carl won out and advanced, Dan disposed of John V., and Scott swept Dave in 2 games. That sent Tom B., Greg, John V., and Dave down to the single elimination C Flight. Continuing in B Flight, Anthony eliminated Larry (ending what looked like a great day for Larry in an early B flight eliminaiton), Jimmy swept Carl, Dan ended Jeff's night, and Scott continued on with a series win over Brian. In a mild surprise, Anthony won yet again, this time eliminating Jason. Jimmy also advanced, winning a tough matchup with Tom S. Dan continued a run of strong play by taking out Kevin. JG and Scott played another one of the better series of the night and one that had a large crowd watching game #3. An evenly matched series turned on a hot right D-Man, and it was JG's - JG in 3. That left an all South Jersey Bubble Hockey League (SJBHL) B Flight of Jimmy vs Anthony and JG vs Dan. Though both series were tight, both were also sweeps - Jimmy and JG advancing. In a series that no one saw (the Davis boys were doing battle simultaneously), JG squeaked out a 3 game series win to win the B Flight title.
In C Flight, Tom B won over John V and Dave eliminated Greg. In the end, it was Tom B with the C Flight crown - way to go Tommy!
Thanks to all who played in this tournament, and congratulations again to all the trophy winners: A Flight 1st Jeremy Davis. A Flight 2nd Doug Davis, B Flight 1st JG, and C Flight 1st Tom Boyle. To see how the tournament affected the most recent NJBubbleHockey.org World Rankings, check out the Rankings Page section on this website under NEWS.
Bubble On bros - look for another Tournament in New Jersey in April or May 2013!!!
John G.
CT 0 4 9 26 5 19