Surprises: Simple Hockey sits atop the standings A dominant 8-0 week has seen Simple Hockey rise to the top of the ESHL standings after two weeks of play. While they may not have faced a lot of difficult opponents their highlight win so far has to be a 2-1 win over Resilience, an opponent with an 8-0 week 2 of their own. Week 3 will give them an opportunity to prove they are legit with matchups against Composure and Hidden Potential. Gaps are already forming in the playoff standings In past seasons we normally saw a 10 point gap achieved near the very end of the regular season. Often teams could swap wildly in the standings with every win and loss with several teams fighting for playoff positions. The gaps are already being established, even a 20 point gap nearly secured from 1-16. A clear playoff picture should be formed after this week. Disappointments: The CoC was not enforced this week The Code of Conduct boys were given a week 2 schedule with only 2 non-playoff teams. Sadly, it was a devastating OT loss to start the night off on Wednesday and it did not go any better. 0-7-1 removes any room for error for the rest of the season. The only good news is that they got past some of the tougher matchups on their schedule. https://twitter.com/DKuemps/status/1179960929070571520 Triumph silent on offense Any team who tallies 8 goals in 7 games (1 forfeit win) will struggle to find ways to win. Triumph only managed two wins and required shutouts for both of them (2-0, 1-0). After two weeks and only 22 goals for you know questions are starting to form. They are only 7 points away from 16th, if they can figure out ways to get the puck in the net and maintain their exceptional defense they'll be on the way up. Taco's games to keep an on: 10/9-10/10 (Ranks are based on standings, adjusted for GD tiebreaker for tied teams) *Since this is out before the GOTW announcements I will be picking my own for the Thursday matchups Wed Oct 09 - 09:00 pm #8 Heroes @ #2 Legacy Heroes kick of a week of top-caliber teams with a trip to Legacy. Watch out for McLxvinn, currently 3rd in goals and an impressive 54% shooting. Wed Oct 09 - 10:30 pm #1 Simple Hockey @ #9 Composure Simple Hockey will be looking to legitimize their #1 ranking with a longtime powerhouse in Composure. CaLL Me Jakoo is the current league leader in points (54) will be up against lHuskie who has been on fire in net with a 89.6 sv% and 1.21 GAA, leading numbers among ESHL starters. Wed Oct 09 - 10:30 pm #4 Resilience @ #13 Hidden Potential Lemelin and Doughty are going to have their hands full with the longtime Shockz/CT duo always making opportunistic plays and converting. If you're looking for a high scoring, risk taking affair tune in to this one at 10:30 Thu Oct 10 - 10:00 pm #10 Prophecy @ #15 Integrity Integrity has established themselves as a much more complete 6v6 team this season. They've been competitive against other playoff teams and this matchup against Prophecy will be one where they'll aim for much needed points. Thu Oct 10 - 10:30 pm #6 Entourage @ #7 The Underdogs A fast paced team in Entourage against a high-volume shooting squad in Underdogs. A game that could go either way and will have plenty of highlights. Thu Oct 10 - 11:00 pm #5 @ #8 Heroes Heroes will have played through a schedule containing 3 teams in the top 10 at this point. It will be interesting to see how they have a 4th and what could be their most difficult for their defensive unit. Both teams will be looking for 3 points to finish out the week.
