Sporočila za javnost

Caught in a race with HC Kolsice1 for a better seed in the playoffs and fifth place money in the league, the Homeless Dads knew they would do well to get a win against a very difficult Buffalo Lasers team. Earlier in the year, the Homeless Dads stunned the Lasers 4-1 on the Homeless Dads' home ice. Another brilliant outcome wasn't to be, as the Lasers got on top early and responded when needed.

The Lasers' top centre, Benjamín Bodorík, got the scoring started just 29 seconds into the match. The score remained one-nil into the second off of some top notch goalkeeping by the Lasers' Allan Glass stopping all 9 shots faced, and the Homeless Dads' Lawrence Sykes with 9 saves on 10 shots. Top winger, Mike Watson, of the Homeless Dads, managed to beat Glass 9:14 into the second period to level the score. The tie game was short lived, as Ivan Kocian put the Lasers ahead, just 36 seconds later.

Lawrence Sykes was notably disappointed after the game: "I had to make that save. Kocian made a great move, but I simply had to make that save. Both teams were playing a good offensive game and both keepers were having to keep them in it. Once we got the equalizer, I should've gotten more into the game and dug in. But Kocian beat me, I guess these things happen. And then we just fell apart in the final ten minutes." Sykes let in 3 more goalsin the final ten minutes, including two 40 seconds apart by defenseman Brent Jefferson, to finish with 27 saves on 32 shots.

"While it's easy to say Larry is to blame for a 5 goal outing, he was having a fantastic game," Coach Tuomo Riihihuhta added. "Our team defense fell apart in the last ten minutes. That is on our team, not Larry. He stood on his head for the duration of the game, and the Lasers offense didn't let up. We did."

"It's as if we realised we were overmatched," team captain, Bobby England said. "Mike may have gotten our lone goal, but the top three lines were outworked by our fourth line for the third straight league game. We all need to play with their tenacity to advance in the playoffs."

Speaking of playoffs, the Homeless Dads have an inferior opponent on their final league day, but so do third place BHK Posavina, fourth place American Rangers, and fifth place HC Kolsice1. So barring a huge upset, the playoff matchups are expected to be (1) Manville Raiders vs. (8) gorodec, (2) Buffalo Lasers vs. (7) Belford Snipers (which will also play each other on their league finale as a playoff preview), (3) BHK Posavina vs. (6) Homeless Dads, and (4) American Rangers vs. (5) HC Kolsice.

"Obviously in my last interview, I said a matchup with the Rangers would be more preferable," coach Riihihuhta commented on the playoffs, "But we lost against the Lasers, and now are facing Posavina on the road. We've definitely got a shot, and anyone can beat anyone in this league. But it'll be an uphill battle. Should we lose in the first series, I like our chances in taking the fifth spot in the playoffs."

"This has been a good first year for us," architect and GM of the Homeless Dads, Stefan Stanka commented. "This loss was tough, but we beat them earlier in the year and that was a very good result for us. Our 12 game winning streak midseason can attest to that. Sure we could've done better than sixth, but it's a learning year. The late season loss against GUTZZZ took the wind out of our sails, but there are a few other results that were just as important. A tie at home against the new team vinci on game day 12, an 8-3 loss on day 15, again at home, against the now defunct FENERBAHÇE ÜLKER, and another home tie on game day 27 against the expansion Penguins. Add that with the GUTZZZ game, and we sacrificed 10 points. That would put us tied for second place and with an outside shot at the league crown."

"However," Mr. Stanka continued, "we have to be proud of our strides this year. Next season as an established team we should be able to shore up some of those loose ends and not have as many missed points. I would be very surprised if we're not up for promotion next season. And even though we lost on aggregate to Posavina 13-8 and Manville 10-5, we can always get on a run in these playoffs. As I've said anything can happen in this league."

It should be an exciting playoffs, with the top 7 teams being separated by just 15 points and the top three teams being separated by just 5 points.

"League III.9 has been exciting. Any if of the top teams could've finished at virtually any position if they got different bounces," team captain England commented. He continued with a smile, "Hopefully we get all the right bounces come playoff time."

---

---