Starting this off with thoughts and prayers to Western North Carolina and the devastation they have faced from Hurricane Helene. While everyone is well aware by now of the numerous places to donate money and/or supplies, I’m posting a link to the Asheville Roller Hockey group’s gofund me which was WNC’s only outlet for hockey. If you have a few extra dollars, please help them out as they will have to rebuild their program: https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuild-asheville-hockey-leagues-rink
Before we hop into the game logs, let’s take a look at three events we have upcoming in the next six weeks.
CSHL EVENTS - OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
FREE YOUTH CLINIC AT WAYMER
Where: Waymer Park
When: Saturday, October 26th
Time: 9-11AM
CSHL GOLF OUTING
Registration is LIVE for our annual CSHL Golf Outing!
Where: Warrior Golf Club
When: Friday, November 1st
Time: Please arrive by 8:45 to check in and hear a few words before we start
Format: Four-man Scramble
The cost to participate is $100 per player. Included in your fees are 18 holes of golf with a cart, range balls, and a chance to win a number of prizes. Mulligans, string, and raffle tickets will be available for purchase.
We are asking everyone to arrive no later than 8:45am to check in, get warmed up, and we'll say a few words before we get started at 9:28AM.
If you have any questions, or have a specific group you would like to play with, or if you’d like to sponsor/donate a prize to the tournament, please email: Chris.Ward@charlottestreethockeyleague.org
CHARLOTTE CHECKERS STREET HOCKEY NIGHT
On Saturday, November 9th the Charlotte Checkers will be hosting their first Street Hockey Night in partnership with CSHL. CSHL will have our NHL STREET rink set up in front of their primary box office for kids to play, for the 2-3 hours before puck drop for the 4PM game. A registration link for discounted family tickets will be available in the next couple of weeks. Come tailgate, hang out with your friends and help our league grow as we start our biggest partnership yet.
Always remember, if you care about SPELLING more than you do about CELLYING, this newsletter isn’t for you. Let’s dive into the action.
GAME LOGS
A DIVISION
Huntersville Hooligans 3 at Riverbend Rapids 2
Our A division slate started off as slow as I felt Sunday morning until the end of the first period as PMart completely robbed Nick Lavella of his first goal in A after he received a dime from Carriero in the slot.
In another week without their first round pick McKenna, the Rapids struggled to generate offense and needed to capitalize on their high-danger chances even against a decimated Hooligans lineup down Forbes, Helsinki, Knego and Becht. Lavella made up for this miss as he took one off Sernus in the second and finished through PMart to make it a 1-0 game, and Danny ROBBED Prusia in the slot with a beautiful kick save.
With a minute left in the period Sernus evened this one as he danced around Evans and the Rapids goalie MacMahon to send this into the third even.
Zachowicz opened the third with a snapshot from the point off a Malmstrom pass, then Cookie scored a minute later for the Rapids as he finished the easiest rebound of his life off Jayden’s shot. With the Rapids lacking finishing ability and the Hoolies exhausted as their only sub was the borrowed Cole Helsin, this one was tight all the way through until a minute left where Sernus saw his teammate sneaking in backside and put it on a his tape as AZ finished one top bins for the Hoolies win to keep them undefeated on the season.
PMart stays hot saving 16/17 behind a tired Hoolies lineup while MacMahon had an average game turning away 16/19, even though he’d probably want that Zachowicz slapper back.
Deven Comments: The shorthanded Hoolies cement themselves as the bonafide top team this season after gaining a third period lead and holding it after a war of attrition. Nick Lavella gets his first of many in A league and Jaden continues to impress. AZ and Sernus have a great game for the Hoolies for a combined 4 points (3g-1a) in the game.
JJ’s Bombers 2 at Gilead Gladiators 1
The Gladiators have been great at jumping out ahead in the first the season only to immediately cough up the lead, and we saw that happen again in this game. Ryan Kincaid batted a Joe Marshall pass out of the air on the man advantage to give his Gladiators the lead going into the second, and Cale followed this with a great save on a ball loose behind him.
The Bombers went into the second down one, and, well you can see what happened next…
Turmenne does Turmenne things and wins a 50/50 battle on the boards, finds Campbell in the center who immediately dimes Williams back side for a wide open tap in. Great team play by the Bombers and an unfortunate goal to give up by the Gladiators who are trying to build momentum on the young season. PMart was playing his second game in a row in the young season and kept a lot of tricky shots around his feet out of the net as the opposition couldn’t get any rebounds around the net while the Bombers were unable to beat Bowman with mid rink wrist shots in the second.
The third period got chippy as Williams tripped Ewald behind the net however the Bombers killed the penalty then immediately scored on a Cole-to-Cole one timer that Bowman got most but not all of. The Gladiators looked to be on another powerplay after a second Janiga penalty however Kincaid retaliated and each team ended up with one in the box which turned into 3s where the Bombers had an advantage with Turmenne & Williams speed. They held on to this one to win and get their second dub of the season.
PMart saved 16/17 shots this game while Cale stopped 22/24, making this what we believe was our first game of the season where both goalies finished with above a 90% save percentage.
Deven Comments: Cole Williams as the difference maker continues to impress despite a first period lead by the Gladiators scored by Kincaid. PMart is able to jump in for the injured Hotch and only allow 1 goal to a high-powered Gladiator team as the battle for third place heats up.
Waymer Wieners 3 at Mighty Mullet Men 5
The Wieners were missing JP in this game along with their starting tendy Nappy and both were obviously big blows as this game moved along. In a rematch of last years’ finale, the Mullets scored more in the first as they did in the W24 championship as Ingalls put one in from the slot before substitute runner Keenan Steckler scored a soft one again from the slot. The Wieners fought back in the second to even things up as Bateman blasted one past Hickey from the red line…
…and put another one off the Mullets goalie that “third round benjamin” cleaned up as he got free in the slot.Ingalls blew past the defender on the next possession and found CSHL rookie Ryan Thomas backside for their third while he also added their fourth a minute later. Ryan Thomas is #good and his four points this game sit him at third in CSHL’s A Division, and earned him CSHL Insider’s A Division Player of the Week. The Wieners tried to capitalize on the powerplay after a Brownlow crosscheck but Jack backhanded an empty netter to seal this one. Benny’s second rebound goal of the game was too little too late for a Wieners team that is really fun when they get cooking.
The Wieners played great in front of substitute goalie Harris as they only have up 15 shots to potentially the deepest team in CSHL however 11/15 won’t cut it in our A Division. Tim faced 28 shots and stopped 25 of them as he continues a stellar season.
Deven Comments: Benny’s great showing for the Wieners is overshadowed by Jack and Ryan Thomas with a shorthanded Mighty Mullets bench. Hickey continues to be outstanding as the returning goaltender from W24’s Mullets.
The Hoolies keep rolling with a 3-2 over the Rapids with only 5 runners as PMart keeps his MVG campaign moving forward.
We have a two horse race for first in points between a 17 year old and an almost middle aged dad. This is ball hockey baby!
American PMart is back on domestic soil and had a huge win this weekend for the Hoolies as they stay undefeated.
B DIVISION
After the conclusion of the games this weekend, we’ve reached both the midway point and the end of the first meetings with these rosters.
Race City River Rats 3 at Charlottans 1
We had only two more games that the teams hadn’t faced each other yet, and this is one of them. This was a huge matchup for both teams, as the Rats wanted to stay within a weekend of the V’s, and the Charlottans want to break away from the play-in positions of 4/5. This game starts off extremely defensively as both goaltenders are tested some early. Nora Castillo plays Placido with GRIT almost drawing both a slash and crosschecking penalty in the process. Bowser is almost able to bury a Karson rebound from Drake, but Joe P is able to get there first and start a rush the other way. Heitzman takes the actual first penalty in the game against Karson with a trip. During the powerplay, we see good pressure from the Charlottans forcing the Rats to make plays that aren’t there, and Joe P gloves down a shot from the point in Warren. In the attempt to cannon one home from his own blue line, Warren is able to step in front of the shot and drop it where he stands. Haley blocks a Karson shot and sends it to the far corner where captain Warren retrieves as the penalty dwindles away. Warren has the space to get it to Rich out at the point and he blasts one home from just outside the Charlottan’s blue line.
An awkward pass looking for Joey Petrellese out front doesn’t find him as the period ends 1-0 Rats. In a wild play, the Rats win a faceoff in the Charlottans end and Rich rips one just wide where Kuveikis is walled by Drake, the rebound is found by Karson and sends a shot off the post where a Charlottan is able to come up with it. As Leshock tries to leave the zone, he’s pickpocketed by Wall and he sends another cannon towards the Charlottan netminder Drake, where he headbutts one to the corner. After winning a faceoff, Leshock blows a tire at center and JD Henderson attempts to nutmeg Rats captain Warren, but unluckily for JD, Barrier is there to get the ball back to Warren who begins a rush where Placido is able to slow the play down. Ball gets back to Barrier who tries the other side of the court where Bowser is, and Bowser feeds Karson and bury it top shelf.
Joe P is able to sneak to forward alongside Jasinski with Gourdie and Placido behind them and the Rats give him just too much space. Warren clears one down where Placido clears it to center where Joe P rips one home from between the red line and the Rats blue line where the period ends. 2-1 Rats.
Rich has the time and space for two shots from the Charlottan blue line where JD is able to make a great hand eye play and backhand clear the rebound from his netminder to Warren gets the ball back to Rich and this one finds the back of the net as a dribbler. Late period goal with an early period goal to answer. 3-1 Rats.
The Rats take an unfortunate too-many-men penalty as Gourdie’s clear lands directly in front of the doors for the Rats where Warren is coming on before Barrier is able to get off. I believe the Charlottans take their timeout here and pull Drake off for the 5-on-3 powerplay. Rich takes one up high from JD but has the stone-cold non reaction and plays on. Jasinski rips one off the crossbar and a Leshock backhand is blocked by Rich. Karson blocks a Joe P bomb and he looks for a wraparound attempt off the deflection. The Rats kill the powerplay and clock while winning the game 3-1 after a great effort from the Charlottans.
⭐️ Rich Wall 2-0-2
⭐️⭐️ Mike Warren 0-2-2
⭐️⭐️⭐️ James Borruso (G)
HM: Joe Petrellese scoring at forward
Chris Comments: Love Rich Wall letting it fly as he is clearly taking advantage of the extra time he has in B Division. The Rats defensive core is really strong which allows Karson to float freely up top.
High Voltage 1 at Latta Raptors 0
A defensive battle from the start, both of these teams put their bodies on the line from ball drop to the final whistle as this is the grindy, hard-nosed Waymer hockey the fans have come to love. Latta Raptors captain Nick Harris was a wall in net as it took four chances and a Voltage player with two feet in the crease to get one past Hockey Jesus^™.
That was the only goal of the first and it looked like we would have a nice, clean game except for a scuffle to start the second period. Leading Raptors scorer Jonathon Beachy ran Voltage netminder Amigo Cummings slightly after the whistle which drew the attention of Brandon Rios who received an unsportsmanlike penalty for shoving Beachy into the near-side camera fence (that’s why there’s no footage of this, the SD card broke), calling him a “redneck bitch” and to “drop the pin anytime”. In the ensuing 4v3, Chetta was open on the break but decided to drop it off to Marques Guia who missed his first of four WIDE open chances this game as he just absolutely could not buy a goal in this one. Noticing the refs were watching a loose ball in the crease, Wayne Witzigman took his chance to take a shot (first of many on the day, TYFYS Jenny) at Rios as he was heading to the bench and we saw another shoving match ensue while the refs were busy waiving off goal-line goal.
Things settled down in the third and Chetta had a chance to tie this game with a last second flip over Josh Cummings who just barely got a glove on it and it was falling into the net until JASON DErOSA CAME FLYING OUT OF NOWHERE to save the game and deliver a win for High Voltage. Cummings was a wall all game as they couldn’t buy a goal here, looks like Rios’ team is gaining steam & Dennis returns for the rest of the season next weekend.
⭐️ Marques Guia 4-0-4 GWG & CSHL INSIDER B DIVISION PLAYER OF THE WEEK
⭐️⭐️ Nick Harris (G)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jonathan Beachy 0-2-2
HM: Glove save by Jason DeRosa
Chris Comments: Holy shit I’ve never seen a game like this. High Voltage are a fucking WAGON and I don’t know how they would ever give up a goal with guys like DeRosa back there. Rios had an amazing draft, what an elite GM.
Flying V’s 3 at Charlottans 3
This game begins exactly how you’d think: faceoff win and fast for the V’s. That’s not exactly what happened, but it wasn’t far off. After a block on Brownlow in the Charlottan’s end, AJ Leshock digs hard to carry the ball into the V’s end. He tries to find JD, but is stopped by captain Brownlow and finds Stecher at the red line. Leshock battles the ball from both Stecher and an attacking Brownlow, looking for JD again, but juuuuuust can’t complete the pass. Joe P is able to retrieve from just inside his blue line beating Stecher while attempting to walk in and score on V’s netminder Mahoski, but can’t hit the net. Brownlow is able to find the speedy Rudolph off the boards and he walks in with all the time in the world and just rips one far side on Drake with LaFond out front.
LaFond tries to draw Joe P into taking a one sided penalty in front of the sprawled out Charlottan netminder, but both of them go to the sin bin for unsportsmanlike and we stay 4-on-4. Taking the best player on the opposing team out of the game for at least 2 minutes while being one of the three best players on your team is definitely a good trade to make. Just hope your team can win faceoffs like you… Mahoski makes a disgusting stop against Jasinski’s wraparound attempt after an awkward exchange from the Charlottans dump to save his team’s 1-0 lead to end the first.
Trotmann takes a toe-down hooking penalty early in the second, but there’s equal chances for either team during the Charlottan’s PP, however nothing comes from it on either side. Making (I believe) his season debut, Joey Petrellese has some good looks with his speed, but remains off the scoresheet as of now. Jasinski battles with Jenny in the Charlottans corner and wins the ball to his captain Joe P. With three (3) V’s at his team’s faceoff dots in his end, Joe P is able to get the ball to Jasinski and join the rush for a 3-on-1 in favor of the Charlottans. Ray sends it back to Joe P who slap passes it back to Ray and buries it, tying this one at 1 AND giving Joe P his first assist of the season.
Mahoski is able to deny both JD and Joe P in succession before a Trotmann block sends one out of play The V’s are able to play keep-away from the Charlottans in their end where Brownlow and Brainard momentarily play catch behind the Charlottan cage, and Brownlow is able to find LaFond in the slot to bury one and reclaim their lead 2-1 V’s. The Charlottans aren’t behind long, as an O-zone faceoff win from Jasinski finds a cutting Joe P to rip one past the V’s netminder to tie this one again at the end of the period. A Brownlow penalty sets up the Charlottans on the PP yet again, where Joe P seems to have this slap pass thing down, this time to AJ Leshock who buries the PPG reclaiming the lead.
Brownlow doesn’t let them have the lead long, as the next shift he is able to battle Joey Petrellese and has the space to walk in and bury one past Drake and tie the game (again).
This game ends in a tie where Drake pulls himself thinking it wasn’t a tie game while the Charlottans have their time spent in the V’s zone.
⭐️ Joe Petrellese 1-2-3
⭐️⭐️Brandon Brownlow 1-2-3
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hayden Drake (G)
HM: Andrew Mahoski
Chris Comments: Of all the teams in our B Division I think the Charlottans possess the worst overall matchup for the Flying V’s. Joe P and Ray are a physical defensive duo and they have a little more speed than advertised once Joey and JD get their legs under them. This one usually comes down to goaltending.
Race City River Rats 4 at High Voltage 4
This game starts with Voltage sending one of their defensemen into the Rats zone for probably too long before they retreat back to their blue line just to cut again leaving the Rats forward in the dust at their blue line. An overzealous Voltage continues to keep only one back, where a rebound (clear?) finds a way to Karson who is able to beat both DeRosa and Cummings giving the Rats an early 1-0 lead. Voltage is able to spend some time in the Rats end and Rosentreter picks it up from the corner, walks in, and beats Warren and Borruso quickly after the Rats goal to tie this at 1.
After a stoppage due to injury, a play between the Rats defensemen Warren and Wall, they find Karson who shoots from just inside the Voltage blue line and scores, giving the Rats the lead again 2-1 Rats to end the first. DeRosa gives Bowser just enough space in the high slot where Karson sends a no-look pass to him and he buries one past a team-screened Cummings extending their lead to 2. Kaltschnee has a sexy hand-eye play to elevate the ball, where DeRosa is able to put it home past Borruso to narrow the gap to 1 where the period ends 3-2.
Kaltschnee has the time and patience to walk in front of the Rats netminder where the ball rolls directly to his stick and he backhand lifts it past Borruso to tie this game again at 3. After Rios and Bowser tie each other up following a faceoff, Rios is able to get the ball to their sub Nick Carey who one times it home between the red and blue line to give the Voltage their first lead of the game in the third 4-3 Voltage. The Rats don’t take too kindly to that or the Voltage posts, but a Karson post finds Bowser on the rebound, and Bowser buries his second of the game to tie this game at 4. A few stopped attempts both ways had this game end 4-4 draw.
⭐️ Karson Steckler 2-2-4
⭐️⭐️ Mark Kaltschnee 1-1-2
⭐️⭐️⭐️ James Borruso / Josh Cummings (G)
HM: Voltage posts
Chris Comments: Gonna need Rich to dig deep in that bag of medicine and find something for Deven’s knee because the Rats need his length on the back end. I’m excited for Dennis to come back as the Voltage are trending the right way and now need their star to take them to another level.
Latta Raptors 1 at Flying V’s 1
Low scoring games suck to write about. Nothing much happens in the first aside from the Raptors flipping the script on the V’s spending a ton of time in their end for a nice change.
In the second period, Chetta takes the second toe-down hooking penalty of the day in B. Terjesen for the Raptors is tripped by the blue line on a change but nothing comes of it as the V’s set up in the zone. LaFond receives a Stecher pass and rips one home past Harris for the opening goal of this tilt, a PPG. LaFond goes against his usual celly and shushes the crowd ? announcers ? Raptors bench ?
Terjesen receives a cross crease pass from Narach, where Mahoski stacks the pads and kills the shot. On the back check, Terjesen trips Trotmann giving the V’s another PP this period, but they kill it. Not much else happens to end the second other than great goaltending from both ends of the court. With less than 3 minutes remaining in this one-goal game, Chetta blocks a Stecher pass and gains possession with time and space. He finds Beachy in the slot with a backchecking Rudolph, but his efforts are in vain. The Raptors tie this game with little time remaining.
⭐️ Nick Harris (G)
⭐️⭐️Andrew Mahoski (G)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mike LaFond 1-0-1 (one million faceoff wins)
HM: Beachy <1 min remaining tying goal
Editor's Note: Beachy getting snubbed for a picture AND a star is NASTY work by the content committee
Chris Comments: Beachy is a DAWG. Need the Flying V’s to score more than one goal especially since I have LaFond and Brownlow in fantasy.
The Raptors secure their first win in franchise history behind a four goal game from Marques Guia against High Voltage as we see the three way battle for third tighten up.
This man (kid) can’t be stopped. Karson Steckler paces the division with fifteen followed by two elite veteran defenseman in Brownlow & Joe P each having double digits (Joe P had a stat correction & currently has two assists).
Free my boy Beachy who may not be on these graphics but is always in our hearts.
Mahoski is as consistent as they come for the V’s while Raptors Captain Nick Harris holds steady as his team attempts to figure out their offense. First overall pick Borusso flashes greatness and inconsistency.
Both High Voltage and the Charlottans have a less than desirable finish to the weekend with only one point each, where the Raptors leapfrog them both with a huge four point day. The River Rats make a bid to solidify themselves as a top-2 team, where they and the Flying V’s are double the third place team’s points in the Raptors. We all know very well the almighty Waymer bounce gives and taketh away, and one weekend for either (or both) the Rats and V’s is all it takes to bring the bottom three teams back into contention for the Mayor’s Trophy in B division.
The Rats were able to contain Joe P to a single goal in their opening matchup of the day where Rich and Warren had a great game. Matt Bowser quietly had a good day (2g-1a-3p) while paired with Karson. Speaking of Karson, he opens the gap to second in total points scoring (4), and goals (2). Are the other captains kicking themselves to allow him to fall to the end of the second round?
Joe Petrellese had 100% points share this weekend while scoring 4 points (2-2-4 @ 2gp) and his team was able to squeeze a tie with the Flying V’s, which in itself ending in a 1-1 tie was shocking. The V’s matchup was their first game where they didn’t score exactly three goals. Ways to beat the Charlottans: score more than three goals and/or shut down Joe P.
Great goaltending and team defense from the Raptors gives them the second-best GAA and best GA through 5 games where they jump from 5th to 3rd in the standings where they went 1-0-1 for 4 points. Marques Guia had a productive day (4g-0a-4p) with Beachy quietly following (1g-2a-3p). Can they continue to stonewall other teams and have their offense show up? Chetta scored his first goal of the season, so do the floodgates open?
High Voltage tumble to the bottom of the standings but have flashes of greatness in their tie against the Rats. Two amazing hand eye goals along with great play from their captain should give them hope in the coming weeks regardless of this weekend’s outcome of 0-1-1.
The V’s had a less-than-stellar weekend finishing with 2 points coming from ties in both of their games. The Big Three™ were the only points producers (save a lone Matthew Stecher assist) this weekend (4g-2a-6p), and I think that could cause some room for concern. There is a good spread of goals through TBT (17g-8a-25p @ 18gp), and (5g-10a-15p @ 35gp) for the other six runners through 5 games this season.
All CSHL Adult Ball content is organized HERE.
- Official CSHL Announcer Side Camera
- GoPro Videos
- Newsletter Articles
- Pictures
Good luck to everyone competing on Saturday in Greensboro in the FFH 3v3 tournament!