The sixth set of games in the Sport Corner Siam Hockey League (SHL) 2017-2018 season took place on Sunday December 3rd. The opening game saw AWARE thump Hertz 7-3, while the second match saw Expedia edge the Sukhumvit Spitfires 2-1in a thrilling closely-fought contest.

Both AWARE and Hertz were missing key players as AWARE played without captain Patrik Lundback, speedster Corry Day, star defenseman Yean Thanakroekkiat, as well as rugged forward Darius Konotopetz while Hertz was missing their captain Justin St. Denis, two of their best defensemen (Carly Hill, Peter Borjesson) plus veteran blueliner Ralf Dittmer.

But two of the best players ever to lace up skates for the Flying Farangs were on hand to substitute and they both lived up to their billing. Henrik Oloffson and Jurg Dolder played against each other with Henrik joining his brother Christian (the SHL’s driving force) on AWARE and Jurg suiting up for Hertz. Both players were first-liners on the famous Flying Farang Johnny Oduya led-team that won the Land of Smiles tourney back in 2011. And to top it off they were joined by Thai National team captain Tewin “Thor” Chartsuwan, their linemate on that famous squad, who substituted for AWARE.

AWARE’s Jouni Heinonen, with two goals and an assist, was the Rolling Stone Pizza player-of-the-game in a match that saw many momentum shifts. Devin Michael also had two goals for AWARE with David Boere, Ollie Moyse and Henrik Olofsson chipping in singles. Hertz scorers on the night were Moo Tengsakul, Alasdair Fawcett and Kim Lidberg with his second in two games.

AWARE’s Patrick Leduc stopped 25 of the 28 shots he faced while Lance Parker turned back 26 of the 33 pucks fired his way. It was Leduc’s second win of the season as earlier he had substituted for Yves Gaboriault when Expedia defeated Hertz 11-1. Lance, who had been outstanding just a few nights earlier when Hertz defeated Sukhumvit 5-2 for their first win of the season, had a rough night but a few unfortunate bounces didn’t help. Hertz defenseman Champ Supadilokluk shot one off of Jouni Heinonen’s shinpad while trying to clear the puck out from behind his net.

Game two saw a match-up of brother and sister goaltenders as Sukhumvit’s 25-year-old regular goalie Dream Ungkulpattanasuk played against his 23-year-old younger sister Pop, who was substituting for Yves Gaboriault. Pop was the first woman to play in the SHL last year: this year being joined by Carly Hill.

Mike Wilson, Jari Eerikainen, Rob Taylor and Chayutapon (First) Kulrat were missing for Expedia on the night and they picked up substitutes Stephen Sproule and Ichiro Hara, the latter having skated for Expedia in their first two games of the season. Sukhumvit was missing Michael White and Richie Jiaravanon but did not reach out for any substitute players.

Jordan Ashton continued his torrid scoring streak for Expedia netting his tenth goal of the season in the first period on a power play from Juhani Ijas. In the second period, Ernesto Bauer scored Sukhumvit’s only goal, his second of the season, and seventh point of the season, to tie up the score. In the third, two of Expedia’s young Thai national players teamed up to score the winning goal with Win Khuhakaew feeding Chap Kovitaya for the deciding marker. Win played a crucial role in preserving the win when he tied up Spitfire defenceman Brad Wilson for nearly 30 seconds in the Sukhumvit end as the game clock wore down.

This was simply a hard-earned win for Expedia, who had to hold off a late flurry by Sukhumvit when the Spitfires pulled their goalie for an extra attacker in the closing seconds.

Pop won the Rolling Stone Pizza PoG in the game, letting in one less goal than her brother: they both faced 23 shots on the night. Worried she wasn’t going to make the game on time, a back-up goalie was on call, but she did make it and played superbly. It would be unfair to say she outplayed her brother, but on this night, she played just as well.

A big shout-out to Dream and Pop’s father, Narumit: he arrived dragging both his kids’ sets of gear showing the same paternal affection and care that has made him one of the best hockey parents in Thailand. He has always been there to support both his children since they began their goaltending careers a decade ago. Cheerful and friendly, he’s a great role model for any prospective hockey mom or dad.

The season resumes Thursday December 14th with Hertz playing Expedia at 8:30pm and the Spitfires playing AWARE at 9:30. Admission is free and all games take place at the Rink, 7th floor, Central Grand Rama IX (Photography by Tadamasa Nagayama).

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The fifth set of games in the Sport Corner Siam Hockey League (SHL) 2017-2018 season took place on Sunday November 26th. The first contest saw Expedia beat AWARE 5-1, while the second match saw Hertz knock a huge monkey off its back by beating the Sukhumvit Spitfires 5-2 for their first victory of the season.

AWARE was missing speedster Corry Day and slick playmaker Jouni Heinonen, while Expedia was missing stellar defenseman Jari Eerikainen but neither team elected to reach out for substitute players.

John Schachnovsky, the defending SHL scoring champion, had two goals (his third and fourth of the season) and an assist on the night while Jordan Ashton, who scored six times in the last game (five in one period), continued his scoring tear with a goal giving him a league-leading nine on the season. Remo Nyffenegger and captain Mike Wilson added singles for Expedia, their second and third of the season, respectively, while AWARE’s lone tally came from Ryan Yaden, his first of the year.

AWARE’s Gabor Toth stopped 28 of the 33 shots he faced while Expedia’s Yves Gaboriault, was selected the Rolling Stone Pizza player of the game as he turned back 34 of the 35 shots he faced during the game, making a number of key saves at crucial times throughout the contest.

While the shots in the game were almost even it’s become obvious that Expedia’s snipers don’t miss when they get the chance. No team boasts a set of marksmen like’s Expedia’s Schachnovsky, Wilson, Ashton and Juhani Ijas. And when those four are on the ice together, they just control the play. Future Expedia opponents are going to have to bear down and capitalize on their chances, because Expedia will waste no time capitalizing on theirs. Ashton and Ijas sit tied for first place in the scoring race with nine points each.

Game two saw Hertz finally win their first game of the season, much to the relief of SHL administration. Rumours abounded about a major trade prior to puck drop as Hertz had lost four straight games. But it looks like all the team was missing were their two Swedish players, Peter Borgesson and Kim Lidberg, who due to work and travel commitments had yet to play a single game this season.

From the outset, Hertz did not look like a team that hadn’t won a game. They came out flying, were hungry and took advantage of the scoring opportunities they earned. Brandon Vick, the third leading scorer in the SHL last year when he was with AWARE, broke out and scored his first two goals of the season; Bill Bredesen scored his fourth of the season; captain Justin St. Denis nailed his second goal of the season and Lidberg, in his SHL debut, scored a goal and an assist.

Tan Limpinphet (his second of the year) and Harrison Oztemel (5th of the season) scored for Sukhumvit who were missing Michael White, Dave McBurney and Jason Bitter. Spitfire veteran Scott Murray delivered a horrible drop pass that Hertz intercepted and turned into a goal, giving them an early 2-0 lead as Sukhumvit was trying to sway the momentum away from Hertz.

Even though Thai National team captain Tewin “Thor” Chartsuwan did notch two assists, he lost his first game of the season. He had won the previous three times he had subbed with Sukhumvit as well as the one game he had substituted for AWARE, ironically against Sukhumvit.

Hertz’s Lance Parker won the Rolling Stone Pizza player of the game in the evening’s second contest and deservedly so. After being shell-shocked in an 11-1 loss to Expedia just a few days earlier, Lance stood on his head and made a number of terrific saves. This was all the more remarkable because he was throwing up repeatedly before the game due to stomach flu. Lance stopped 24 shots on the night, while his counterpart in the Sukhumvit net stopped 25 of the shots fired his way.

The season resumes Sunday December 3rd with AWARE going against Hertz at 8:30pm and the Spitfires playing Expedia at 9:30. Admission is free and all games take place at the Rink, 7th floor, Central Grand Rama IX (Photography by Tadamasa Nagayma).

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The third set of games in the Sport Corner Siam Hockey League (SHL) 2017-2018 season took place on Sunday November 19th. Both games were decided by one goal with the Sukhumvit Spitfires edging Expedia 4-3 in the first match, and AWARE holding on to defeat Hertz 3-2 in the evening’s second game.

There was a sub-plot in game one as Thai National team captain Tewin “Thor” Chartsuwan, subbing for Sukhumvit, was going up against Thai national team coach Juhani Ijas. 

Jordan Ashton on a nice pass from Iljas staked Expedia to an early 1-0 lead, but with just over a minute left in the first period, Gary Cosby led a nice rush out of the Sukhumvit end, resulting in Ernesto Bauer setting up Sukhumvit captain Brad Wilson for Sukhumvit’s tying goal. A dangerous elbow by Pratch Siridhara to Adrian Meyers’ head gave Sukhumit a man advantage early in the second stanza. As Expedia was killing the penalty to Pratch, defenseman Remo Nyffenegger drew a delayed tripping call. Harrison Oztemel scored the first of two quick goals to negate Pratch’s penalty, then Remo went to the penalty box, and Harrison scored again, his fourth of the season, both assisted by Ernesto, who had three assists on the night. 

Expedia fought back and late in the second period Mike Wilson scored with John Schachnovsky and sub Alex Dushin collecting assists on the tally. Then midway through the third the fleet Iljas scored to tie it up from one of his proteges on the Thai national team, Win Khuhakaew. But with less than two minutes to go, Thor dipped into his bag of magical tricks and scored the game-winning goal for Sukhumvit. Expedia pulled their goalie and rushed the Sukhumvit net, but the Spitfires prevailed to win their third straight game.   

Sukhumvit goalie Pattarapol “Dream” Ungkulpattanasuk was again sensational in net stopping 23 shots and making many dramatic saves. His opposite tender Yves Gaboriault, also played well, turning back 19 shots minding the twines for Expedia.     

Adrian Meyers was all over the ice for Sukhumvit making a number of dazzling end-to-end rushes, earning him the Rolling Stone Pizza player of the game. Meyers kickstarted Sukhumvit’s dramatic comeback over Hertz a few days earlier; he seems to have a power pack on his back that he ignites, sending him soaring thru the opposition’s zone.       

Game two, saw Hertz jump out to a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Bill Bredesen, his third of the season. AWARE’s Oliver Moyse jumped on an errant pass midway through a Hertz power play in the second period,  cruised in alone on Hertz keeper Lance Parker, picked the corner and tied the game at one apiece. Early in the third, Devin Michael then put AWARE in front with assists going to Ryan Yaden and Phu Suwachirat. Hertz fought back to tie it with Mike Triacca scoring an unassisted goal. Then AWARE’s Yean Thanakroekkiat put his team in front to stay with an unassisted goal. The closing seconds were tense as Hertz buzzed all around AWARE keeper Gabor Toth, and twice had the chance to win it, but couldn’t lift the loose puck over Gabor’s outstretched pads.          

AWARE was missing captain Patrik Lundback, plus speedster Corry Day, steady defenseman Christian Olofsson and slick playmaker Jouni Heinonen, while Hertz was missing captain Justin St Denis, stellar D-man Peter Borjesson, speedster Alasdair Fawcett and playmaker Kim Lidberg. With both teams missing four players they each grabbed a sub to avoid forfeiting with AWARE grabbing Thai national team member Arthit “Beer” Thamwongsin and Hertz snagging Stephen Sproule for the second time this year.  

Three of Hertz’s players (Bredesen, Brandon Vick & Champ Supadilokluk) played for AWARE last year, so it must have been a tad strange for them. Ironically, the three players who took their spots on the AWARE roster (Oliver Moyse, Ryan Yaden and Darius Konotopetz) all played for OT Interdrug in the Bangkok Ice Hockey League (BIHL).        

AWARE’s Gabor Toth won the Rolling Stone Pizza player of the game—eloquently telling everyone how well he played on Dom Dumais’ player-of-the-game video. Gabor stopped 24 shots, while Lance Parker made 20 saves during the game.  As Hertz keeper Lance Parker pointed out, almost a year ago exactly Toth and Meyers also were players-of-the-game in their respective matches.  

The season resumes Thursday November 23rd with the first-place Spitfires playing AWARE at 8:30pm while Hertz is looking for its first victory of the season against Expedia at 9:30pm. Admission is free and all games take place at the Rink, 7^th floor, Central Grand Rama IX (Photography by Tadamasa Nagayma).

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