Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our AIAHL players, family and friends!!!

Buffaloes Score 7-Lose to Hitmen. Shamrocks beat Aftermath

Buffaloes Captain Bill Ball commented "Hey we scored 7 goals tonight!" Unfortunately for his squad they still lost the game to the Hitmen by a 15-7 score. The game, which had no penalties, was enjoyed by both squads even tho the score got away from the Buffaloes. The Buffaloes were forced to use a backup netminder as goalie Pete Giordano was serving his second game of a 2 game suspension as a result of some late game hijinx during an earlier contest with the Team Red Devil.

A wild moment occurred in the first period when Hitmen player Scott Lundeen smashed into the stantion separating the players bench and the penalty box. Showing the true grit of his Michigan roots, Scott return to ice after getting some repairs in the locker room and scored a goal in the second period.

The second game of the evening saw the Aftermath come out with a quick skating attack that forced the Shamrocks to be on their heels early in the first period. The Shamrocks were able to weather the storm with some fine goaltending from Scott Paster. An end to end run by Shamrock defensman Giles started the scoring for the Shamrocks and Bill Quick ended it with a penalty shot talley to make the final score 7-1.

SEASON STANDINGS AS OF 11/15

1) TEAM RED DEVIL 8-2 16pts

2) HITMEN 7-2 14pts

3) SHAMROCKS 6-2 12pts

4) AFTERMATH 2-7 4pts

5) BUFFALOES 0-10 0pts

Hitmen and Shamrocks Crowned Champions

The New Aspen Ice Adult Hockey League was proud to crown two new champions last week. The Shamrocks took the inaugural FEDERAL (C) league championship by defeating the Predators in three games. The Hitmen were able to claim the IRON (B) league championship in stunning fashion, beating the Ice Holez in double overtime of the decidng game three contest.

The playoffs proved to be exciting throughout with numerous overtime games and sprited play. The Buffaloes were able to overtake the Buzzards in the Federal league consolation game getting their first true win of the season. Congratulations to the Buffaloes who have already said they are anxious to notch more victories in the Spring 2011 season.

The Iron League playoffs proved anything can happen in the post season as the first place Ice Devils were defeated by the rival Ice Holez in the opening round, ending their chances at the championship. And the Black Bears who impressed everyone in the end of the regular season by moving up the standings all the way to second place in the Iron League, also fell in their opening round contest against the eventual champion, Hitmen.

The rink at Aspen will soon proudly display the league champions on a new AIAHL League banner. The Hitmen and the Shamrocks will have the honor of being the first teams named on the banner. But the Spring season will also have its own champions and we are looking forward to a competive season that is set to start the week of May 2. Stay tuned to the blog for scheduling and league news and updates.

Black Bears Nip Buzzards 5-4

The Buzzards gave the Black Bears a run but fell 5-4 on Sunday missing out on a chance for the second victory of the season. With the score tied at 3 late in the third the Black Bears mustered up 2 goals 45 seconds apart in the final 1:49 of the game. A late Buzzard goal with six seconds remaining was little consolation to a Buzzard club that is fighting hard but falling short in recent Federal League contests.

Hitmen Top Ice Holez-BlackBears Bite Preds

A battle at the top of the IRON league saw the Hitmen knock out the IceHolez 6-5 in a fiercely close contest that was also a penalty free affair (which is always nice.) The teams battled it out exchanging goals throughout marked by an IceHolez three goals in 41 seconds to close out the second period and bring the game even at 5. But Hitmen netminder Rob Ibriaco closed the door despite dealing with flu like symptoms and Scott Palfreyman netted the gamewinner and third goal of the evening with 2:32 remaining.

So the Hitmen jump ahead of the Iceholez in the standings-tied for first with the IceDevils who were idle on Tuesday.

The Black Bears played the Preds in the 2nd game of the evening-their first of three meetings for the remaining schedule. The Predators scored late in the first to tie the game at one but promptly let the Black Bears score with 32 seconds remaining in the period. A goal in each of the remaining periods vaulted the Black Bears to a 4-1 victory in a matchup of Iron and Federal League teams.

Shamrocks trip up Ice Holez, Hitmen defeat Black Bears

Sunday at the AIAHL provided fans two close Iron v Federal league games including one upset. The Federal League's Shamrocks provided the surprise of the evening ,defeating the Iron League leaders, the Ice Holez, by a 4-2 score. The Shamrocks brought their A-game and full lineup in an attempt to give the Ice Holez fits. The balanced attack worked as the Shamrocks claimed the victory with goals coming from Patrick Sinclair, Mike Lombardi, Roger Gregor and Dominick Yannetta.

The late game featured two goals by Mark Simone of the Hitmen in his team's 3-1 win over the pesky Black Bears. The game had 5 penalties divided 3-2 between the two squads but the officials still took their share of ribbing from each squad for playing favorites to the opposing team. Its funny how perspective is in the eyes of the beholder. Which is good for the officials because according to the players-they had their eyes shut most of the evening!! All in good fun!