Bill Brooks wins SJBHL summer/fall '08!

[JG]

It is that time of year again - time for the summer/fall edition of the 2008 South Jersey Bubble Hockey League (SJBHL)!!! For those new to the board, the league is based in Burlington, NJ, and is run on three (3) Chexx tables in the "Icehouse" (JG's basement). Play is approx. 2x/month for 4 months, with a season ending playoff tournament. There are previous posts on chexxfan from prior league seasons - check them out! Or visit:
[glow=red,2,300]www.njbubblehockey.org[/glow], the league's website, for more info, stories, and pictures!

Anyone can join the league (there is no $$$ fee) - if interested, contact John at: [glow=red,2,300][e-mail][/glow]. Hope to see some new faces out this year, a return of some old ones, and all the regulars too!!! More info to follow soon...bubble on!

[JG]

We've got several new players interested in the league this time around - it promises to be another great league season! The start date is still scheduled for Thursday night August 21st in Burlington, NJ. More info will follow in the next few weeks...hope everyone is having a great summer. CHEERS!

For more info, reply to this post, or check out njbubblehockey.org

[JG]

The SJBHL summer/fall '08 season is officially a "go" for August 21st, Thursday night, in Burlington, NJ. 7:00-7:30pm start time, 9:30-10:00pm finish. 3 Chexx tables, lots of brews, hopefuly double digit turnout for opening night. Lots of league regulars are back, and some newcomers too. Hope to see you out there August 21st. For more info, check out www.njbubblehockey.org, or email me (JG) at: [e-mail]. Bubble on!

[JG]

SJBHL league season opens up in 2 days!!! If anyone is interested, email JG at [e-mail]

[JG]

Week # 1 had 6 players - JG, Dan, Brian, Larry, Jimmy S, and Matt. Matt and Jimmy S. are 2 youngins (18) who came out to the league for the 1st time. Records on the night:

JG - 15-0
Dan - 11-4
Brian - 9-6
Larry - 5-10
Jimmy S - 4-11
Matt - 1-14

For more info, check out: www.njbubblehockey.org

More stats will follow after other league nights - next league night is tomorrow August 28th. New league players are always welcome at any time during the season. No cost to join!

JG

[JG]

Week #2 results are in from 08/28/08. 5 players, each playing each other 3 x each:

Bill Brooks - 10-2
John G. - 9-3
Brian Nelson - 8-4
Joe Tornotore - 3-9
Larry Jefford - a sacreligious 0-12!

Check out www.njbubblehockey.org for all the updated records and league power rankings/standings. Next league night is slated for Thursday night Sept. 11th, '08. Reply to this post if interested in checking out the South Jersey Bubble Hockey League! Cheers!!!

[JG]

I had to cancel week #3 on 09/11/08 - the new night is this coming Thursday 09/18/08, followed by 09/25/08.

[JG]

We had week #3 of the S.J.B.H.L. summer/winter 2008 season last Thursday 09/18/08. I'll update the "power rankings" and the website (www.njbubblehockey.org) after the next league night, scheduled for this coming Thursday 09/25/08, 7:00pm start time. We had 9 guys out 09/18/08 - can we get the elusive double digit turnout 09/25/08???

Here's a quick summary of the action last week:

Bill and JG - 15-1, with losses to each other and that was it. Both of those games went deep into O/T;

Dan - very impressive 10-6, with only 40 goals allowed in 16 games?!? Reckless Adandon indeed!

Brian and Jason - both 9-7, with overall solid play on the night;

Larry - 6-10, with some real good wins and mostly consistent play overall, but he did get whacked for 10 goals on defense on 4 separate occasions!?! Yikes!

Glenn - dusted off the old bubblers and went a more than very respectible 4-12 in his season debut, including a real nice win over Jason and a sweep of Joe;

Jimmy S. and Joe - both ended up 2-14 for the evening, but Jimmy's game is improving all the time and Joe had BY FAR the worst luck of any bubbler in history!!! He lost 6 games by either 1 or 2 goals, and had pucks bouncing in off the dome, off his goalie's head, off of guy's skates, and even sideways into the goal, all on the final goal of games! Unbelievable!

Next league night is 09/25/08 - if anyone is interested in joining the league respond this post or email JG at: [e-mail]. Cheers!

[JG]

WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!!

That about covers it. Week #4 of the South Jersey Bubble Hockey League (09/25/08) had by far it's most competitive night ever! We had 7 players, each playing the others 3x/each for 18 games played on the night. There were fierce battles and upsets galore all night long! Let's get it out of the way early...

[glow=red,2,300]- Larry 6, Bill 5[/glow]

That's right, Larry put a beat down on Bill, and the score wasn't that close (Larry insists on scoring goals into his OWN net as well as the opponents). A great win for Larry indeed! What could possibly overshadow that?!? Oh, I don't know, how about...

[glow=red,2,300]- Jason 3, Bill 2!!! Jason 2, Bill 0!!! Jason 5, Bill 3!!![/glow]

Not a misprint! Jason beat Bill all 3 games on the night! None were flukes - he just played great "d" and "o." Bill said he was on his game, Jason just played better.

Here's a summary of everyone else:

John - 16-2 (only 2 losses were to Bill, don't know how I survived all the upsets...)
Jason - 12-6 (with the sweep of Bill and very solid play all evening long...)
Bill - 12-6 (hard to knock a guy at 12-6, but we've all seen Bill's record over the years and this is by far the toughest night he has had. That being said, I think it says more about everyone else's play that guys are able to compete with this guy now. Having said that, I expect him to come out with a vengeance next week!)
Dan and Brian - 8-10 (sub .500 for these guys?!? Hard to believe, but again that speaks to everyone else raising their games)
Larry - 5-13 (with a sweep of Jimmy and wins over Dan and Bill - good going by our lord and savior...)
Jimmy S. - 2-14 (but those wins were HUGE - upsets of both Dan and Jason! His game got better as the night went on and more "w's" are sure to follow)

I will update the www.njbubblehockey.org website this week with the new power rankings. The next league night is next Thursday 10/09/08, 7:00pm start time. Jimmy Bernard is slated to make an appearance, and as always all are welcome to come out on any league night, even just to check it out. Everyone is getting better and better all the time, and that just comes from playing more. So come out and join us! CHEERS!!!

[JG]

10/09/08 we played out week #5 in the South Jersey Bubble Hockey League (S.J.B.H.L.). We only had 5 players on the night, but considering that the Philadelphia Phillies opened game #1 of the league championship series at home 10/09/08, 5 is a pretty good #. Here's how the night broke down:

- all 5 guys played each other 3 times for a total of 12 games played on the night:

John - 10-2 - losses to Brian and Jason, but no complaints there. Pretty steady most of the night, giving up the fewest total goals on the night.

Brian - 9-3 - 2 losses to JG and 1 to Jason, and a couple of real close calls with Larry and Joe (single goal O/T wins vs each), but Brian was otherwise in top form all night, scoring 61 goals and only giving up 38 in 12 games.

Jason - 7-5 - another pretty solid league showing by Jason that will keep him near the top part of the league standings. In Jason's wins he scored no fewer than 5 goals in every game, but in his 5 losses he only totaled 10 goals, so he was living and dying at the offensive side of the bubble all night long.

Larry - 2-10 - 2 and 1 vs Joe, but no wins against JG, Brian, or Jason. Larry did get the offense in gear a little bit in week #5 (no shutouts, 30 goals scored in 12 games), but his "D" let him down too often to keep the offense in the game.

Joe - 2-10, with 1 win vs Larry but a real impressive 2-1 victory over Jason. He was victimized again by bad luck, losing to Brian after leading by a goal in O/T and losing to John in O/T on a shot that hit the back of the dome by John's goal, then bounced off the scoreboard, and finally trickled in Joe's net. Not even close to being fair...

The next league night is this coming Thursday 10/16/08, start time 7:00pm. Hope to see you all there.

JG

[JG]

We had week #6 of the 2008 summer/fall SJBHL season Thursday 10/16/08. 6 guys came out, playing each other 3 times each for a total of 15 games played. Everyone won at least 2 games and everyone lost at least 2 games, so it was another real competitive evening under the bubble. Lots of real good games. Before the summary, one thing I have to add - Jimmy S. laid it on the line with this email prior to the league night 10/16/08:

"I am gonna get 6 wins next time mark my words....I want them in quotes"


Did he do it??? Well...



John - 13-2 - back to back losses to Brian and Dan in round #2 marred and otherwise real good evening for JG. 98 goals scored, only 38 allowed - I'll take it!



Brian - 11-4 - Brian started 9-1 through the 1st 2 rounds and was on his way to the best record on the night. But rd #3 saw B-Dawg derailed - a 2-3 finish, including a 5-3 beat down by Larry in the last game of the night.



Dan - 10-5 - another solid evening from "RecklessAdanDon" - his frenetic play gave everyone fits all night. He had 2 losses against JG and Brian, and another loss to his new nemesis Jimmy S., but otherwise he was on his game all evening. Must have been the Old Chubs...



Larry - 5-10 - though Larry was disappointed in 5-10, he played very well all night and 5-10 is nothing to sneeze at with the crew who came out in week #6. He handled Glenn and Jimmy 2 out of 3, and beat Brian.



Jimmy S. - 4-11 - D'oh! After being 4-6 after the first 10 games and looking like he was well on his way to 6 W's, Jimmy took an 0-5 bagel in the last 5 games of the night to come up just short of his goal. However, he is now learning new moves tutoring with Bill Brooks between league nights, so watch out in the very near future for some W's from this guy...



Glenn - 2-13 - Glenn started 0-9, but went 2-4 in his last 6 games. His defense was very good most of the night (he gave up the 4th fewest total goals) and he lost 4 games by a gut-wrenching score of 3-2 each time, and 2 other games by only 2 goals, so he was real close to a breakout evening. If Glenn gets his "O" on board with his "D" he will cause trouble in the playoffs.



Check out www.njbubblehockey.org for the updated Power Rankings.



***The next league night is not until 11/06/08 - the last 3 regular season league nights of the season are 11/06, 11/13, and 11/20, with the season ending playoff tournament slated for 12/04/08. All are Thursdays, with a start time of 7:00pm. The playoff chase is on!!!

[glow=red,2,300]***And don't forget the big tournament coming up 11/08/08!!! [/glow]

[JG]

Last night the South Jersey Bubble Hockey League (S.J.B.H.L.) had 7 bubblers out, each playing the other players 3x for 18 games played on the night:

John - 15 wins, 3 losses - opened with a 7-5 loss to youngster Jimmy Schwartz (not a fluke - he flat out outplayed me), and losses to Bill and Scott in the first meetings. But after almost "dropping a nut," and downing a growler of homebrew, responded nicely with a 12 wins straight flurry to close out the evening and finish 15 and 3. Against the level of player we had out last night, that may have been one of my best nights ever. No explanation for it - things started clicking at one point and just kept clicking. Might have been the homebrew...

Scott - 14-4 record - the always tough Scott Storck was impressive as always in his first bubble action of the league season. He had 1 loss each to Bill and Brian and 2 losses to John, but otherwise he dominated all night. He even put up 17 goals in one game on Larry - YIKES! His defense was stellar as always, only 47 goals allowed in 18 games, best on the night.

Bill - 14-4 record, but was beaten 2 out of 3 by Scott to give Scott the edge on the night. Bill's other 2 losses were to John. Otherwise he, too, was dominant all night and won most of his games handily. d**n that Bill Brooks - he is just flat out good!

Dan - 8-10 record - 9 of his 10 losses were to John, Scott, and Bill, so Dan went 8-1 in the rest of his games vs Brian, Jimmy, and Larry. Reck-Less-A-Dan-Don was in full force and effect most of the evening, and a near .500 record all in all not a bad effort considering the players who came out last night.

Brian - 7-11 record - an 0-3 mark against Dan sealed Brian's fate to a 5th place finish on the evening. Brian's usually solid defense was more porous than usual on the night, and the offense came and went. He also had a run of really bad luck, with seemingly every bounce in the bubble going against him throughout the night.

Jimmy S. - 3-15 record - big win over JG, and took 2 out of 3 with Larry. Jimmy also had a staggering 5 games in which he lost by 1 goal, and another 3 in which he lost by only 2 goals, so his night could have been vastly different. He has been tutoring with Bill Brooks between league nights, and it shows - he is improving every week, and his right d-man slapper and long stick "Storck pass" back to the right d-man can be wicked.

Larry - 2-16 record - tough showing for Larry, who won 2 of his first 4 games, then went on a brutal 14 game losing streak the rest of the night. Larry gave up a whopping 111 goals in 18 games (though to be fair 17 were in 1 game to Scott!) and only scored 40 (that's only about 2 goals per game). He'll need to get the offense in gear come playoff time.

The next League night is next Thursday Nov 13th, 7:00pm. And stay tuned for an email to see how our League guys fair in the upcoming "IceHouse Invitational Challenge" tournament tomorrow Nov 8th. Bubble On! Cheers!!!

***The League Power Rankings will be updated after 11/13/08 - check out [glow=red,2,300]www.njbubblehockey.org[/glow] for all the league and tournament details!

[JG]

We had 6 players out this past Thursday (11/13/08) for week #8 of the 2008 summer/fall league season. Everyone played everyone else 3 times each for 15 games on the night. Here's the results:

Bill - 13-2 - dominating as always, he had a tough O/T loss to John and a 3-1 loss to young protege Jimmy Schwartz, but took care of business the rest of the night;

John - 10-5 - bizarre night for yours truly. 2 bad losses to Bill, 2 tough losses to Brian (4-3 in O/T each time), and a loss to Dan, but somehow only gave up 38 goals in 15 games (tied with Bill for the fewest on the night). Couldn't quite get everything clicking on all cylinders, but it should be said that everyone else is getting better all the time, so "W's" are getting tougher and tougher to come by...

Brian - 7-8 - he and Jimmy had the same record, but Brian won the head-to-head series 2 games to 1. Beat JG twice, went 2-1 vs Jimmy and Dan, but went 0-3 against Bill and 1-2 vs Joe to fall under .500 on the night;

Jimmy S. - 7-8 - quality wins over Bill and Brian, 2-1 vs Dan, 3-0 vs Joe. His best night in his rookie league season, and he was very disappointed not to do better! This guy's game takes leaps forward every league night and he will be a hand-full come playoff time. We have renamed the long-stick man back pass to the right d-man the "Schwartz" in honor of him - he does it often, he does it well, and you better be ready for it...

Dan - 6-9 - very uneven night for "Reck-less-a-Dan-don" - good wins over John and Brian, 3-0 vs Joe, but 0-3 against Bill and only 1-2 vs league rookie Jimmy. However, after many Old Chubs late in the evening, he may have finally convinced himself to use the dreaded "p*ssy pass" as a weapon - he lumped up me and Jimmy in practice games using his "p-pass" - we'll see next week if he unleashes his new toy...

Joe - 2-13, but those 2 "W's" were quality wins over Brian (6-4 and 6-3). He may have found a new wrinkle with his right d-man shot by going "Monkey-style" - we'll see come playoff time if he can pull off some upsets like he did last league season.

The final regular season league night is this coming Thursday 11/20/08 - 7:00pm start time. The Playoff Tournament is Thursday 12/04/08, 7:00pm start. Here is who is eligible for the playoffs (minimum 3 league appearances this season):

John, Brian, Bill, Dan, Jimmy, Jason, Joe, and Larry. Glenn (2 appearances to date), you are eligible if you make it out this coming Thursday 11/20, so try to make it. Scott and Matt didn't qualify (only 1 appearance each).

Having said that, anyone is welcome at any time in the league, even just to check it out for a night. So come on out this Thursday 11/20 at 7:00pm!!! See you then!

[JG]

The 2008 summer/fall S.J.B.H.L. (South Jersey Bubble Hockey League) closed out regular season play Thursday night 11/20/08. 8 bubblers took part in the league action, playing each other 2x each for a total of 14 games on the night. Here's how it ended:

John - 13-1 - Real strong showing by the regular season leader. 85 goals scored, only 26 allowed. Only a couple of close calls on the night, and a 3-2 loss to upstart Jimmy Scwartz. Regular season leader in wins, winning percentage, goals scored per game, and goals allowed per game. But will that success translate into playoff wins??? We'll find out in the playoffs 12/04/08...

Dan and Brian - both 11-3, both only lost to John and each other, both were dominating most of the night, scoring almost 2x as many goals per game as they allowed. That sounds like gearing up for the playoffs to me!!!

Jimmy Bernard Jr. - This pre-teen came out for his first league night of the season and what a debut! 7-7 record, scored a bunch of goals (he's got a real good right d-man slapshot!), didn't allow too many - with some more dome experience, he could be a strong player in the years to come...

Jimmy Schwartz - also a solid 7-7 record, his best showing on a league night all year. He also upset league leader John with a strong defensive showing (3-2). Watch out in the playoffs for Schwartz!!!

Jim Bernard - 4-10 - in the season debut for this long time league member. 7 of his 10 losses were by 2 goals or less. so his record could have been an entirely different story. Perils of the bubble indeed...

Glenn - 3-11 - a good showing by Glenn, as he only been out 3 times on the season. He had 5 losses by 1 or 2 goals, so his record also could have been dramatically different with a little luck. His right d-man slapper showed signs of coming alive, so watch out for Glenn in a playoff series - his defense is always strong, so if he gets some offense going...

Matt - 0-14 - tough night for Matt. Had some trouble scoring early on but ramped us his game on the offensive end as the evening wore on. 3 losses in O/T.

Thanks to all who came out for the regular season. 9 players qualified for the playoffs (players needed a minimum of 3 league appearances during the season to be in the playoffs). In ranking order:

John - 4.22

Brian - 12.00

Bill - 13.00

Dan - 16.42

Jason - 21.33 (head to head vs Jimmy - 4-1 Jason)

Jimmy S. - 22.57

Larry - 25.14

Glenn - 34.67 (head to head vs Joe - 2-0 Glenn)

Joe - 35.00

***The playoff tournament is scheduled Thursday night, 7:00pm, 12/04/08. Check back here or at www.njbubblehockey.org in December to find out who the league champion will be...

[JG]

The S.J.B.H.L. held it's 2008 summer/fall league season ending tournament this past Thursday night 12/04/08. The format was triple elimination, with each match-up being played out as a 3 game series. Higher seeded players got to pick their opponents (unique to the SJBHL), with the lower seeded players getting to pick the table to play the series on. Due to some unforeseen events, we only had 6 out of a possible 9 playoff participants in the tournament. Here is how it shook out in the end:

Winners flight:

1st round (#1 John and #2 Brian had byes):

#3 Bill over #7 Larry, 2-0 (4-2, 4-2) - this was a real good battle that no one saw coming. Larry played great defense on Bill and almost had enough offense to pull off a major upset.

#4 Dan over #6 Jimmy, 2-0 (8-2, 4-2) - all the hype, all the hoopla, all the trash talking all week resulted in one of the most lackluster series of the nights. Dan cranked out the offense in game #1 and never looked back. Would they meet again later in the tourney???

2nd round:

#1 John over #2 Brian, 2-1 (4-5, 5-3, 4-3) - #1 John almost made a severe tactical blunder picking #2 Brian in the opening series for both. Brian played his usual solid defense all series and even stole game #1, but John held on in the this tight encounter. 3 great games, 2 deep into O/T.

#3 Bill over #4 Dan, 2-0 (5-3, 5-2) - Bill Brooks was too much for Reck-Less-A-Dan-Don and he cruised in 2 easy games.

3rd round:

#1 John over #3 Bill, 2-0 (6-5, 4-1) - John assured himself no worse than a 3rd place finish with this convincing "w" over Bill. The first game was a tense battle the whole way that John squeaked out in O/T. Game #2 saw John in control the whole way. Think Bill would come back later in the tourney? d**n straight he would! Who's idea was it to make this a multiple elimination event???

Loser's flight (1st):

Brian chose Larry, and it nearly cost him! The series went 3 games before Brian escaped with a 2-1 series win (7-1, 3-4, 5-4). Larry had a 2 goal lead late in the 3rd period of game #3, but a crazy bounce off the side of the bubble brought Brian right back in it, and the veteran closed the door from there in O/T. Great games in games #2 and #3 of this series!

Jimmy and Dan battled again, and this time Jimmy totally dominated in a 2 game sweep - (5-3, 5-3). The trash talking came out in this one - would they face each other a 3rd time???

Brian upended Jimmy in a 2 game sweep (8-1, 5-4) to earn a matchup with Bill in the 1st loser's finals. That series went 3 tough games, with Bill prevailing 2-1 (6-2, 1-3, 4-2).

Bill and John met in the 2nd finals, and this time Bill got revenge with a 2 game sweep (5-4 and 5-4). Both games were close throughout and saw great defense from both players, but Bill's offense was just too much in this one and he advanced on...who's idea was it again for multiple elimination events

Loser's flight (2nd):

Jimmy and Larry clawed at each other in the triple elim portion of the tourney, with Jimmy escaping in 2 games (7-1, 3-2), ending Larry's playoffs. Brian and Dan engaged in a bitter struggle, with Brian coming out on top in a 2-1 series "w" (5-4, 3-11, 3-2), ending Dan's playoff run. Brian next eliminated young buck Jimmy in 2 close games (4-2 and 4-3) to earn anther matchup with John. That series went 3 games before John staged a comeback from 2 goals down late in game #3 to win the clincher 6-5 in O/T. Great games between Brian and John all night.

That pitted Bill vs John in the 3rd finals, and Bill won again in a 2 game sweep (6-3, 4-3) to earn the 1st place playoff trophy. John ended up in 2nd place, and Brian took home 3rd.

The final league standings after the playoffs:

#1 Bill, #2 John, #3 Brian, #4 Jimmy, #5 Dan, #6 Larry, #7 Jason, #8 Glenn, #9 Joe

Thanks again to everyone who came out this league season - it was a blast as always for me to host. Congratulations to the winners! Next league season starts up in January, so look for all the details in another post soon. The league always welcomes new members (and old ones back into the fold!!!), so hopefully we'll see some new faces in 2009. Cheers to all, and BUBBLE ON!

JG