2014 November Phoenix NCHL Draft Tournament


Sat 8th, (Game #1) 2 Goals & 1 Assist
@ 9:40am, Scottsdale Ice Den Arena - Doc Hollidays vs. Jesse James (W 8-5) My first goal I was standing at the side of the net and the puck came loose and I swiped at the puck a couple times going against their player and I used persistence. My second goal was the same thing only I was standing in front of the net and lots of sticks were going for the puck only I came through. My assist I passed it over to out winger who made a nice move to score. Our team was down by three goals after the first period. We Played really well in the second and even better in the third period. The pace was fairly quick.

Sat 8th, (Game #2)
@ 12:00pm, Scottsdale Ice Den Arena - Doc Hollidays vs. The Wyatt Earps (L 2-1) Not a word of a lie I won all but two face offs in the game as I was in the zone. The first period it was pretty even. The second and third period I would say we had the better of the play. Our defence was great. We had a lot of great scoring chances but their goalie was the difference in the game, a young 18 year old from Junior A now living in Phoenix for college, he was filling in for their normal goalie for just Saturday.

Sat 8th, (Game #3) 3 Assists
@ 2:20pm, Scottsdale Ice Den Arena - Doc Hollidays vs. The Billy The Kids (W 10-5) My first assist I passed it around my own zone and it went to our winger and they got it to the other winger on our line and he scored. My second assist I passed it to our winger and he scored. My third assist I won the face off in their zone straight back to our Defence Men who took a big slap shot. The big difference in this game was how our Defence either carried the puck into their zone or made a good outlet pass to a streaking forward. We out played them.

Sun 9th, (Game #4) (Semi Finals)
@ 8:00am, Scottsdale Ice Den Arena - Doc Hollidays vs. Jesse James (W 2-1) We were the second place team and they were the third place team. This was a fast paced game. It was very evenly matched as there was some good end to end plays resulting in good chances. The stage belonged to both goalies as they made some great saves along the way. I was head to head against their player and a former WHL one at that, he beat me on most face offs and in the third period with fifteen seconds left I tied him up on the draw as I dug in deep and used all my power.

Sun 9th, (Game #5) (A Finals) 3 Goals
@ 10:45am, Scottsdale Ice Den Arena - Doc Hollidays vs. The Billy The Kids (W 8-3) This was the winner's of the Semi Finals. My first goal I got a perfect pass out front from my winger and I tipped it in. My second and the Game Winning Goal the puck was cleared by their defence men from behind the net and it hit a player along the boards and bounced to me, we were all skating back and then I spun around and took a one time slap shot off the turn over and it went top corner as I fell to the ice, It was a perfect shot. My third goal was a easy tap in as my winger gave a pass to me. We jumped out to a four nothing lead and looked like we were going to run away with it. The second period they came back and played really hard and their goalie made great saves. By the time the third period rolled around we were just too much for them as our entire team played so hard to win. We won the championship. Prompting us to play our theme song we played in the dressing room every time we won "All I Do Is Win"   

Recap of the Tournament
This was my first ever hockey tournament. I had 5 games played finished with 5 Goals and 4 assists for 9 points Scoring leaders, I was 9th It was put on by the Non Contact Hockey League and league I play in Edmonton (This was a much faster pace of hockey than my current division for this winter season). The way it works, they do a draft party the night before to pick the teams (I did not go because I was coming down with a cold and wanted to sleep) They look at each players skill set and make it as even as they can based on what the player entered their skill level at, so every team had two to three players that played as high as WHL or Junior A, Then guys that played house league and down to players such as myself that just started to play organized hockey as an adult. You don't have to play in the NCHL as it is open to any player from anywhere and any league they play in. They use NCHL rules. The registration fee included two nights at the Scottsdale Marriott at Mcdowell Mountains and I was able to walk to the rink each day as it was a twenty minute walk. It also included a ticket to the Arizona Coyotes vs. New York Islanders game, Arizona lost 1-0. The rink was modern and really nice. The beer was in 710ml cans. After the game some fans stay for two hours to shop as the arena is open and outside they have live music and things to do. It was great to see this along with the young kids on the ice after our games. I went with my best friend Howard C and I played against him in Game #1 and #4. I played lots of soccer tournaments when I was younger and had fun but wow as an adult I had such a great time and it reminded me of all those times as a kid. The team I played on was a great group of guys just out to play hockey and have fun. The camaraderie between players was great. The only bad thing was when I left there it was 28 deg c and when I got home it was -14 deg c and snowing. I would recommend this or one of the other tournaments they put on and they can be found here Draft Tournament Thanks to the guys at the NCHL that organized this and most of all made it happen.





Just outside the Scottsdale Ice Den Arena





Top Row L to R - Arnie M, Tiff M, Matt D, Me, Sammy S.
Bottom Row L to R - Roman L, Chris N, TJ C, Mike K, Eric R and the goalie.




 Me post game.





 Arizona Coyotes vs. New York Islanders

 

November 2014/2015 Non Contact Hockey League


Sat 29th, (Game #13) 1 Goal
@ 10:45pm, Terwillegar Arena Rangers vs. Admirals (L 5-2) For my goal Javan M made a nice drop pass to me close to the blue line and I took a quick wrist shot and it hit off their defence men and went in. They have two really good skating defence men and they made a big difference in the game. We had stretches where we carried the play in their zone. Both goalies were good. Javan M 2A. Ryan S 1G. James S 1A.




Wed 19th, (Game #12) 1 Assist
@ 10:45pm, Kinsmen Arena Rangers vs. Puckaneers (L 4-1) My assist Javan M sent the puck in between the defence men and I got through and took a shot on the goalie and then dove over top of him and Javan M got the rebound with a wide open net. Last game against this team we won 11-1. This game was a lot different as they played way better. I'm not sure if they had different players for this game. Scott I made some good saves in the first period and that I think calmed us down a bit. We just were not in sink tonight but we did bring effort.

Thu 13th, (Game #11) 3 Assists
@ 10:45pm, Castle Downs Arena Rangers vs. Wolverines II (L 5-3) My first assist I stole the puck away from their player in my own zone and poked it free to Ryan S who then got it over to Bruce C who scored. My second assist I had the puck in my own zone and I skated out with it to our blue line and I passed it up to Jason L who took a good shot. My third assist I carried the puck in behind their net and passed it out in front to Cam B. We went down 4-0 early in the game. We battled back hard and found ourselves trailing 4-3 after the second period. In the end they just capitalized on their chances better than we did in the third period. Bruce C 1G & 1A.  

Wed 12th, (Game #10) 1 Assist
@ 10:45pm, Kinsmen Arena Rangers vs. Voodoo (W 12-1) For my assist I lost the puck in their zone and it went to the trailing Javan M who shot it in. Tonight we out played and skated them. They only had six shots according to our goalie and I think we had well over forty shots. Javan M 2G. Dallas H 2G. James S 2G & 2A. Jason L 2G. Ryan S 1G & 1A. Cam B 1G & 2A. Blaise F 3A. Rob S 1G & 2A. 

Wed 5th, (Game #9) 2 Goals 
@ 10:45pm, Kinsmen Arena Rangers vs. Bandits (W 8-5) My first goal I got a pass from Alex H at centre ice, I skated in with it to the corner and walked out in front of the net, I had a player open in front so I faked the pass and the goalie moved off the post so then I took a quick shot. My second goal I was behind the net and I was trying to pass it out front and it hit their goalie's skate and went in. The first couple minutes we started slow and Mike G held us in with big saves. Then we got our game going. We got a lot of down low play in their zone and we also had some good chances off the rush. My favorite part of the game was the win and seeing our captain Harry A score his second ever goal and in back to back games. Ryan S 3G & 2A. Javan M 2G & 2A. James S 4A.