LA Hockey falls to Leafs at Paramount 11-2

In a penalty filled game, the Leafs used a bunch of penalties to full advantage, turning them into short-handed goals! Most all of the forwards took a penalty, and the LA Hockey team did not capitalize except in one instance. The LA Hockey club was a able to get on the board first, with an early shorthander that stunned the home crowd, and made the visitor parents think they could actually challenge us! Not the case, as we righted the ship and in a physical battle, full of power plays and hits galore, cruised to an 11-2 win. Noah(2 goals in his fresh new Leafs uniform!) and Sean(awesome hat trick 44!) combined for five goals, as balanced scoring was the order of the day. Danny also banged in three, so efficiently I thought he had just the two in the 2nd period--my apologies and congrats young man!

(Editor's Note: My cool new camera is in the shop--so had to go the backup! Should be back and working for next game..apologies!)

First Period Action

Surprised by an early shorthanded goal, the Leafs took command with three first period goals. LA Hockey got just one other goal,  a power play marker when we had a chance to clear and could not..you'll see it shortly..

Second period recap

Four goals from the PW Leafs, including late ones by Chris and Sean, and two from Danny on exquisite setup passes from Steven--watch and behold the glorious skill on display! Gotta clear that puck on the PK when we get a chance--eventually we will face some tougher opponents...be ready!

 Third Period Mayhem

Just another third period, two hat trick goals, too many penalties, and some comments from the peanut gallery! 

PW Leafs bury Riptide in Rink by Ghost Town

This was an interesting experience, playing at the rink by the lovely defunct town of Wagon Wheel (now a small community by us in South OC..FYI!), as Hayden and the Maple Leafs cruised to a second straight shutout. I was given the tip by the Zamboni dude that there was a fine little wooden platform behind one of the goals, and I could film from there. Wow, I figured I would be styling, on the brink of doing my finest film job ever, making the coaches, parents and boys oh so proud and impressed.

Not so much....

The ledge was suspended about 4 feet up, with no steps. After attempting to sort of scale it, I found a small rickety ladder. Hoisted the gear up, and then got in position. Could work, except the glass looked like it was washed with dirty pond water and left to dry. Perhaps not since the days of the covered wagon was any sort of maintenance done on the glass. The first couple goals were fortunately scored just in front of my lofty, hallowed perch, but between the two foot wide ledge and the glass from hell, I moved quickly to my more typical side of the goal-line spot. Enough about me -- the Leafs played a solid road game, capitalizing on opportunities, and stifling the chances and making it possible for Hayden to control anything that came his way.

Here are some game highlights--enjoy!

Riptide Rolled by Leafs

Meteoric Rise of young Leafs--A Closer Look

Think of going to see a band you have loved for years. Maybe you have seen them four or five times. You settle in and the opening act comes one, a yodeling woman who plays the sitar with her feet, she does her four songs and she is done. Then, the second act, not the headliner comes on. First song, okay, but the guitar is too loud, can't tell if the singer can even carry a tune. After each song, polite clapping and screaming from girlfriends/boyfriends/parents. Then, out of nowhere, a song that suits them, very catchy, singer sounds good, drummer right on time, and guitar comes through just right. WOW--who are these guys? Next couple songs, a couple clunker notes, and just not anything special.

A year later, they come to town again, and this time, a new album, a nice review, and people are talking--there is a BUZZ about them. Still playing smaller concert halls, no arenas, but you can see they are ready for the big time. THAT IS THIS LEAFS TEAM! Everywhere we go, people comment on the way the team is coached, how efficiently they move the puck, keep pressuring, hustling. And now, we are seeing a team in control, ready for bigger challenges, like the tournament, like the playoffs. Gone are the bad penalties, checking from behind, almost never a 2-on-1 or breakaway, and if some poor kid comes into our zone, at least three kids smother him, clobber him and take the puck away and turn up ice. We play with class, too, not needing to show anyone up, just drop the puck, play our style, and shake hands and get ready for the next one.

For me, it is like a rock show every time we take the ice. Who will give the biggest WOW? A great save by Hayden or Johnathan, Andrew going end to end when he sees the opening, Danny delivering the big hit, much improved Aaron holding the puck in at the point, and finding a way to get a shot through, Kevin becoming a force to deal with, driving the net, Chris leaving kids mercilessly in his wake with his skillful moves, oh so steady Steven on the forecheck, forcing turnovers--and on and on!

Look at the latest standings, and note how short of the Lady Reign and and the Jr Ducks(2), we have given up just 1 goal or less! In the last nine games, just 8 goals allowed, under one per game. After the Lady Reign outing, just two goals in the last four games--

My friends, it is truly good to be a Pee Wee Pasadena Maple Leafs fan, parent, player or coach. This is a team on the rise, a joy to be a part of it! Sit back, hang on, and enjoy the ride!

10/31/10	4:15p	2032	Jr. Ducks(1)	1	Maple Leafs	1	Paramount Iceland	Reg
11/07/10	4:15p	2035	Jr. Ducks(2)	2	Maple Leafs	1	Paramount Iceland	Reg
11/14/10	7:15a	2048	Maple Leafs	8	Bears	1	Pickwick	Reg
12/05/10	6:00p	2058	Jr. Reign	0	Maple Leafs	6	Paramount Iceland	Reg
12/12/10	4:15p	2072	Lady Reign	2	Maple Leafs	10	Paramount Iceland	Exh
12/19/10	9:15a	2077	Maple Leafs	4	OC Hockey	1	Aliso Viejo Ice Palace	Reg
01/09/11	4:15p	2088	Mariners	1	Maple Leafs	6	Paramount Iceland	Reg
01/16/11	7:00a	2093	Maple Leafs	9	Lightning	0	KHS	Reg
01/23/11	11:00a	2103	Maple Leafs	4	Riptide	0	Channel Islands	Reg

Funk, Kroo and Leafs bring the thunder to defeat Lightning

In a Sunday morning battle at KHS Ice Arena in Anaheim, the PW Leafs road into town and shutout the Beach City Lightning team. The home goalie was strong, or it could have been well into double digits. Here are some telling photos from the festivities! Everyone was all smiles after this one, as the boys were solid wire to wire.

Hayden Funk was flawless in goal, turning aside all that came his way!

Kroo was tough all game, including this sweet goal!

Shutout in hand, Hayden grabbed the puck!

Coach Peter shows his appreciation for the effort

In usual Teddy style, he celebrated the win with a post-game cross country ski lap--until the ref asked him to get off the ice before he got run over by the zamboni!

Here are some video highlights of the action. 


I counted 6 shots in the first period alone--yet the scoresheet showed less than that for the whole game! The shutout gets better by the minute! Nice hit on the ref--when the coaches say body, you're to avoid the big ones in stripes!


Period 1 in review

Period two saw just one shot on goal against Hayden, and it came from center ice..according to my unofficial eye, as I was on the far end. We saw a nice one timer by Danny, Noah picking the puck out of the air above the net, Kevin driving the net and crowding the netminder in the crease, and scoring on a nice backhander. Toma scored on a rocket and also an end to end rush as he does seemingly every game. Chris won puck battles with hits and body positioning as well, as about 95% of the period was spent in our offensive end passing and shooting at will.


Second period pressure

Just one more shot on Hayden in the 3rd, total of 8 in my book, and all were turned aside. Solid defense, puck control, few turnovers, maybe one or two penalties, and the Leafs had a shutout victory. At the end, the Hayden cam was on, showing the moment he began to celebrate with his team. Also, the debut of the Teddy-cam, as we isolated on him during a shift in the 3rd. Thank you Anaheim--and farewell!


Goalie cam, Teddy-cam, and .....

Leafs give Mariners unfriendly welcome at Paramount

The Pee Wee Leafs took the Mariners 6-1, and moved firmly into 3rd place in the standings. Notice below that in our Reg season games, the Eagles game saw us give up half of our 18 goals allowed in our nine games. Throwing out the exhibition game with the girls, we have given up 2 goals or less in all of our games, including a shutout of the Jr Reign, with only the first place Jr Ducks (2) and the Express back in mid October getting more than 1! That wins games!

10/10/10	11:00a	2004	Maple Leafs	8	Jr. Gulls	1	Iceoplex Escondido	Reg
10/17/10	4:15p	2016	Express	2	Maple Leafs	6	Paramount Iceland	Reg
10/24/10	11:00a	2021	Maple Leafs	7	Eagles	9	Ontario Ice Center	Reg
10/31/10	4:15p	2032	Jr. Ducks(1)	1	Maple Leafs	1	Paramount Iceland	Reg
11/07/10	4:15p	2035	Jr. Ducks(2)	2	Maple Leafs	1	Paramount Iceland	Reg
11/14/10	7:15a	2048	Maple Leafs	8	Bears	1	Pickwick	Reg
12/05/10	6:00p	2058	Jr. Reign	0	Maple Leafs	6	Paramount Iceland	Reg
12/12/10	4:15p	2072	Lady Reign	2	Maple Leafs	10	Paramount Iceland	Exh
12/19/10	9:15a	2077	Maple Leafs	4	OC Hockey	1	Aliso Viejo Ice Palace	Reg
01/09/11	4:15p	2088	Mariners	1	Maple Leafs	6	Paramount Iceland	Reg

With Jack and Noah out of the lineup, and no Hayden to back up Johnathan, it was more ice time for the forwards, but the Mariners did not have the guns to take us on! I can't decide if my favorite moment from the 1st period was the great back-checking by Danny and Sean, or the big finish Kevin put on their big boy!

Hits, Hustle, and Hard Work in the 1st

Second period..magic and stuff!

Third period action

Tough Break to start 2011 for Jackson

Young Jack Michelle has been diagnosed initially with a proximal radius fracture or some such thing, and is in a soft cast until we can get referred to an orthopedic specialist. Then Jack will likely get a hard cast, and we will have a timeline for recovery. Jack missed baseball tryouts today in Mission Viejo, and we are pretty bummed at the timing as Jack was really starting to figure how to play with the big boys, and was looking forward to the upcoming games with the Mariners and Lightning.

As soon as we have some new status to pass along, we sure will. Jack will still bring his dad to all the games, and yes, Kenny, we will try and bring the camera as well!

Here's hoping the 2011 part of the schedule makes the PW Leafs even stronger as they head to tournament and playoffs in Feb and March.

New Technology Update - Trailers for DVD's

David's Father Vince asked me to crank out a DVD of the game against the Wildcats. Over the holidays, we updated the Mac with a new operating system and some new software. One of the new capabilities in the software is the ability to create a trailer as like a preview--this is just a quick one..imagine the possibilities when time permits??

Check it out..
Preview of DVD of Leafs vs Cats from Westminster Ice