The early game saw the Cattle Barons climb back to just one point away from first place by beating the Stars 6-5.
The Stars led 2-1 after the first period, but the Cattle Barons took control of the game by scoring three goals in the second.
Early in the third period, the Cattle Barons scored two more goals and stretched their lead to 6-3. The Cattle Barons looked like they were going to cruise to victory, but when the Stars scored with five minutes left, they pushed for another comeback. The Stars scored one more goal in the dying seconds of the period, but it proved to be too late.
Dale Moesker of the Stars & Andrew Noorloos of the Cattle Barons each had a three point game. Chris Helps had another four point game for the Stars, but we'll give the Player of the Game to Trevor Benjamins. Trevor had four points for the Cattle Barons, including scoring the game winning goal.

The middle game between the Flyers & Omegas was another great game. This time, the Flyers came back to win it 5-3.
The teams went into the second period with a 1-1 tie. The Omegas scored twice in the second, and went into the third holding a 3-1 lead. The Flyers came back to tie the game up at 3-3 in the first seven minutes of the third. The score stayed at 3-3 until the last 40 seconds of the third period, when the Flyers scored. The Omegas pulled the goalie and made a push to tie it up again, but when the Flyers scored into the empty net, the game was over.
We'll have Darryl Poort & Ryan Cross share the Player of the Game honours. Darryl scored two goals for the Flyers, including the last minute game winner. Ryan had a four point game for the Flyers.

The late game between the Hawks & Ice Dogs was also a great game that ended in a 3-3 tie.
The Hawks were up 1-0 after the first period, and 2-1 going into the third. The Ice Dogs came back in the third period by scoring two quick goals. With just under three minutes to go in the third, the Hawks tied it up again. Thanks to some great goaltending on both ends of the rink, nobody was able to score any more goals.
Clint Schenk, Jordan Nydam, & Pat Dam all had two points each for the Hawks, but the two goaltenders deserve to share the Player of the Game in this one. Josh Tamminga & Steve Minten (filling in as the Hawks goaltender) were both stellar.

Steve Minten is the Player of the Week. He was just the second goalie in our league's history to play in all three games in a night. And to top it off - he nearly won all three games! Two wins and a tie is not bad for a night's work. Way to go, Steve!

In the early game this past Friday, Chris Losier, of the Cattle Barons, received three minor penalties and was ejected from the game for doing so. In the process, Chris also received a "game" misconduct.
This was the second game this season that Chris was ejected for receiving three minors, so he will not be suspended for this. However, if this happens a third time this season, then he will receive a two game suspension.
Since Chris received a "game" misconduct, he has been suspended for one game (Jan.23).
In this game, Chris also passed the 30 minute mark in accumulated penalty minutes. For this, he will need to sit out one additional game (Feb.6).
The next game that Chris will be eligible to play again is on Saturday, February 7th.

The early game saw the Cattle Barons beat the Ice Dogs 3-1.
The Cattle barons scored the lone goal in the first period. They scored again halfway through the second period to stretch their lead to 2-0, but the Ice Dogs scored later in the period to bring it to 2-1.
Early in the third, the Cattle Barons scored again, and held off the Ice Dogs for the rest of the game.
We'll give the Player of the Game to Steve Minten, who played great in net for the Cattle Barons.

The middle game between the Flyers & Stars was sort of a wild one. The game ended in an 8-8 tie.
The Flyers seemed to be in complete control of the game for the most part. They held a 4-1 lead after the first period, and a 5-2 lead after the second period. The third period is where it really got wild.
In the first minute and a half of the third period, both teams had scored another goal, making it 6-3 in favour of the Flyers. By the half-way point of the third period, the Flyers stretched their lead to 8-3, and the game appeared to be over.
With six minutes to go in the period, the Stars scored a goal and seemed to get fired up. Within the next two minutes, the Stars had stormed back with three more goals, and the Flyers saw their lead dwindle to 8-7.
The Stars pulled their goalie in the last minute of the third, and were able to complete the comeback. Overtime solved nothing, so the teams settled for the tie.
Darryl Poort had three points for the Flyers. Brandon Wilpstra, Chris Helps, & Corey Moesker all had three points for the Stars. Tyler Poort, of the Stars, had four points in the game and is the Player of the Game.

In the late game, the Hawks beat the Omegas 7-4.
The Hawks held a 3-2 lead after the first period, but the teams were all tied up at 3-3 going into the third period. The Hawks dominated most of the third and sealed the deal with an empty netter.
Jordan Nydam had three points for the Hawks. Scott Barneveld had five points, but we'll give the Player of the Game to Devon Deboer. He scored a hat-trick for the Hawks, and added two assists.

Two more players have reached the 30 minute plateau in penalties for the season.
Andrew Noorloos of the Cattle Barons & Sid VanReenen of the Omegas will both need to sit out the next game (Jan.9) for doing so. Both of these players are okay to return to play on January 23rd.

The Flyers have been hot as of late, and they continued on this role by beating the Ice Dogs 8-4 in the early game.
The first period was wide open and the Flyers held a 4-2 lead going into the second. Each team scored one goal in the second period, but the Flyers sealed the deal by scoring three more goals in the third.
Joe DeBoer had two goals and an assist for the Ice Dogs, and everyone on the ice got a chance to see how well Matt DeBoer's deodorant works when he matched brother Joe's game stats. Matt VanMarum & Steve Capelle each had three points for the Flyers, but we'll give the Player of the Game to Kev Karelsen. Kev led the way for the Flyers by getting three goals & three assists.

The middle game between the Hawks & Cattle Barons was definitely the best game of the night. The game ended in a 3-3 tie.
The Cattle Barons got on the scoreboard first and held a 1-0 lead going into the second period. The Hawks tied it up early in the second, but the Cattle Barons regained the lead by the end of the period.
Early in the third period, Scott Barneveld scored twice in one shift for the Hawks. This gave the Hawks a 3-2 lead.
With less than eight minutes to go in the third, the Cattle Barons tied it up again at 3-3. Although there was lots of chances for both teams for the rest of the period and in overtime, the teams settled for the tie.
We'll let Scott Barneveld of the Hawks, and Kris Tenhage of the Cattle Barons share the Player of the Game in this one. As mentioned before, Scott scored twice for the Hawks, while Kris played a strong game on the blue line for the Cattle Barons. He scored a goal and assisted on the game tying goal.

The late game saw the Stars beat the Omegas 9-2.
The Stars held a 3-1 lead after the first period, and a 6-2 lead after two. Thanks to some outstanding saves by Duncan Vanderwal (who filled in as a substitute goalie for the Stars in this game), the Stars never looked back.
The scoring was pretty spread out through the Stars lineup. Jason Hotke had three points. Chris Helps had another strong game -tallying six more points, but the Player of the Game is Chris "Risser" Wierenga. He had two goals and three assists while on the blue line for the Stars.