In the last weekend of January, AWARE stretched its win streak to nine, with a 7-4 victory over Expedia, thereby clinching first place overall in the 2017-18 Sport Corner Siam Hockey League season.

But prior to that game, the Sukhumvit Spitfires claimed second place overall with a 6-3 victory over Hertz. In that contest, Hertz came out looking to build on last game’s win with a pair of goals in the first period from Brandon Vick, but they just weren’t able to capitalize on the early lead.

In the second period, we saw Hertz slow down as the Sukhumvit Spitfires started to soar. Substitute player Tim Suphankomut scored Spitfires first goal just two minutes into the second period after he received a pass from Adrian Meyers. With five minutes left in the second period, the Spitfires scored three quick goals: first, an unassisted tally by Chanokchon “Tan” Limpinphet; second, Araya “Ith” Vatanapanyakul scored assisted by Suphankomut; and third, Michael White scored with just 15 seconds left in the period assisted by Limpinphet and Gary Cosby.

The third period saw Hertz try to mount a comeback two-and-a-half minutes into the third period when Jantaphong “Moo” Tengsakul broke out of Hertz’s zone, passed the puck to Chanchit “Champ” Supadilokluk who relayed it to Mike Triacca who beat Pattarapol “Dream” Ungkulpattanasuk. Just over two minutes later, things fizzled out for Hertz when Harrison Oztemel let a laser beam of a shot go, finding the back of the net after receiving a pass from Ernesto Bauer. With two minutes left in the game, Hertz again tried to mount a last-minute comeback by pulling Lance Parker from the net to give themselves an extra attacker, but they just couldn’t get it done. With five seconds left in the game, Spitfires captain, Brad Wilson broke up a play breaking out of the Hertz’s zone and skated in to tap in an empty netter. Hertz had the edge in shots in the game 44-37.

A lot of key players were missing for both squads in the second tilt of the evening between AWARE and Expedia. Most notably Expedia’s stellar defenseman Juhani Iljas and speedy forward Corry Day for league-leading AWARE.

Before the game, AWARE Captain Patrik Lundback urged his team to get a quick lead to build on, and he led by example scoring just one minute into the game on a nice pass by Jouni Heinonen from behind the Expedia net. Smooth skating and hard shooting Yean Thanakroekkiat made it 2-0 a minute later before Jordan Ashton got Expedia back within one, with a nice move on a breakaway. Yean would add his second goal of the night before the first period was over to extend the lead to 3-1 at the first intermission.

The second period ended in a tie with goals scored by Christian Olofsson and David Boere for AWARE, David had a strong middle frame that eventually led to him picking up the Rolling Stone Pizza Player of the game. John Schachnovsky and Jordan Ashton replied for Expedia. The tally from Jordan came in the dying seconds of the period to make the score 5-3, providing momentum to the Expedia team.

The third period saw AWARE take three straight penalties and being partially outshot by a hungry Expedia team trying to rally back. But they could not find a way to put the puck behind outstanding goalie Patrick Leduc, who made several key saves, especially in-tight in the final minutes of the game. Ollie Moyse finalized the scoring with an empty-netter in the final minute, extending AWARE’s record win streak to nine games.

AWARE fired 27 shots towards Expedia goalie Yves Gaboriault most of them coming in the opening two periods. Expedia mustered 26 shots on Leduc who has yet to lose a game in the SHL.

The SHL standings have AWARE atop the table with a 12-2 record; the Sukhumvit Spitfires are in second spot at 8-6; while Expedia and Hertz stay tied for third with a 4- 10 record.

Hertz’s Andy Brine continues to sits atop the SHL stats race with 20 points; followed by Expedia’s Juhani Ijas with 19. AWARE’s Devin Michael is in third spot followed by AWARE teammates Yean Thanakroekkiat and Jouni Heinonen, with 15 points apiece.

The SHL continues play on Sunday February 4th with Expedia playing Sukhumvit at 8:30pm and Hertz playing AWARE at 9:30. Admission is free and all games take place at the Rink, 7th floor, Central Grand Rama IX.

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As the SHL calendar, turned into the final third of the season, the second match on January 25th saw AWARE continue their hot streak with a 7-4 victory over the Sukhumvit Spitfires. The two top teams in the standings battled back and forward, with AWARE taking a commanding 4-1 lead in the first. The team in red got two goals from Devin Michael and singles by Corry Day and David Boere to put them ahead going into the first intermission.

The second period saw an offensive outburst by Spitfires that helped them climb back into the game, constantly buzzing in front of solid AWARE goaltender Patrick Leduc. Adrian Myers scored on a pretty passing play just 50 seconds into the period and sniper Michael White danced into the offensive zone and fired a well-placed shot, far side, just a minute later. A controversial quick whistle as well as a goal-crease violation had the Spitfire squad losing their cool and potentially also their momentum going into the final act.

Hard working forward Ollie Moyse pulled AWARE ahead early in the third to make it 6-4 and give his side a bit of breathing room. Veteran Corry Day, a big reason for AWARE’s recent success, finished off the scoring when he knocked down a clearing attempt and potted his third of the night with 7 minutes to go, deservingly earning the Rolling Stone Pizza Player-of-the-Game honours in the process.

AWARE had 39 shots on goal on the night, with Thai National team goalie Dream Ungkulpattanasuk making 32 saves for Spitfires. Patrik Leduc has yet to lose a game in the SHL as he turned aside 23 of the 27 shots fired his way. It was AWARE’s eighth straight win – a new SHL record.

Our first game of the night saw Expedia facing off against Hertz. The series between these two teams stood at two games apiece, heading into this contest. Expedia came out in this one all fired up, scoring two goals in the first ten minutes of the game, one by Juhani Ijas and the second by Peravit “Chap” Kovitaya. Hertz finally got on the board with just under four minutes left in the first period with a goal by Brandon Vick.

Hertz captain Justin St. Denis, scored his first goal of the night just over a minute into the second period when Hertz was on a power play when Expedia’s Chayutapon “First” Kulrat’s was penalized for holding. Just three minutes later saw Expedia take the lead again when Ijas scored an unassisted goal and the period ended 3-2 in Expedia’s favour.

The third period saw a flurry of action with Hertz getting early goals from St. Denis and Sebastien Ranger to take a 4-3 lead, then SHL president John Schachnovsky scored for Expedia to tie it at 4. Hertz’s Moo Tengsakul scored to put Hertz ahead 5-4 but Ijas replied with his third of the night to tie it at 5. Then Hertz’s Mike Triacca scored the winner, and final goal of the night, with just under four minutes left in the game, making it a 6-5 final for Hertz with Expedia outshooting Hertz, 37-29. The Rolling Stone Pizza Player of the Game went to St. Denis for his two goals and great offensive and defensive play all night long.

The SHL standings have AWARE atop the table with a 11-2 record; the Sukhumvit Spitfires are in second spot at 7-6; Expedia and Hertz are now tied for third with a 4- 9 record.

Hertz’s Andy Brine sits atop the SHL’s stats race with 16 points; Expedia’s Juhani Ijas is in second spot with 15 points: AWARE’s Devin Michael is in third spot with 14 points and AWARE’s Darius Konotopetz and Phu Suwachirat are tied for fourth with 11 points each.

The SHL continues play on Sunday January 28th with Hertz playing AWARE at 8:30pm and Expedia playing Sukhumvit at 9:30. Admission is free and all games take place at the Rink, 7th floor, Central Grand Rama IX.

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Reporting from Dom Dumais & John Schachnovsky

The twelve set of games in the Sport Corner Siam Hockey League (SHL) saw both AWARE and Sukhumvit win again, though the latter’s two-game winning streak pales in comparison to the former’s seven-game tear, which ties Sukhumvit’s all-time win mark set last season.

In game one, Hertz came out ready to play, and they were able to hold the top- Aware team to only one goal by the end of the first period, when Rakchai (Mongkorn) Sukwiboon let a quick wrist shot go to find the space between Lance Parker’s leg pads.

The first goal of the second period saw Aware’s dazzling power play prowess go to work when Yutaka Kariya was called for holding, and 30 seconds later Aware stretched out Hertz’s penalty kill unit with some precision passing, which allowed Corry Day to find the back of the net. Hertz continued to remain strong throughout the rest of the second period only allowing one more goal.

Hertz tried to mount a last period comeback with goals from Bill Bredesen and Mike Triacca, but a pair of goals from Jouni Heinonen as well as a goal from Phanuruj (Phu) Suwachirat and one from Papan (Yean) Tanakroekkiat took the wind out of Hertz’s sails. The final score of the game was 7-2 for Aware with Ollie Moyse being awarded the Rolling Stone Pizza Player of the Game for his goal and assist in this one.

Lance Parker faced 35 shots on net in the Hertz goal while 29 pucks fired at AWARE’s Patrick Leduc.

The second game saw the Sukhumvit Spitfires playing Expedia, with Expedia trying to end a season’s long losing streak. For this game, Expedia was missing team captain Mike Wilson and league-leading scorer Juhani Ijas, amongst others. While they had some quality substitutes, including super-sub Tewin (Thor) Chartsuwan, the lack of chemistry showed as the Spitfires pulled out the victory 4-2. Sukhumvit captain Brad Wilson did his best Connor McDavid impression when he skated through the entire Expedia team and finished with a backhand snipe over Expedia goalie Yves Gaboriault’s left shoulder. Before the end of the first period, Finnish superstar defenseman Jari Eerikainen made a similar full-ice rush and calmly deposited the puck past Spitfire goalie Dream Ungkulpattanasuk to tie the game at one, going into the first intermission.

The second period seemed to be all Spitfires. With Eerikainen in the box for tripping, Sukhumvit needed very little time to capitalize. Jason Bitter showed great hand-eye coordination as he deflected in a point shot from Tommi Hakkinen to restore the lead for Sukhumvit. Late in the second period substitute Stephen Sproule showed more amazing hand-eye coordination when he batted a Tan Limpinphet feed into the net. The third period saw both teams scoring, with Limpinphet getting the fourth Spitfires goal to give him a two-point night, securing him Rolling Stone Pizza Player of the Game honors. With the game well out of reach, Expedia scored a late goal to make the final a respectable 4-2.

The Spitfires fired 23 pucks at Expedia’s Yves Gaboriault on the night, while Sukhumvit’s Ungkulpattanasuk saw 22 shots directed at him by Expedia’s snipers.

The SHL standings have AWARE atop the table with a 10-2 record; the Sukhumvit Spitfires are in second spot at 7-5; Expedia is in third with a 4-8 mark, and Hertz is in last with a 3- 9 record.

Hertz’s Andy Brine sits atop the SHL’s stats race with 16 points; Expedia’s Juhani Ijas is in second place with 15 points: AWARE’s Devin Michael is in third spot with 14 points and AWARE’s Darius Konotopetz and Phu Suwachirat are tied for fourth with 11 points each.

The SHL continues play on Thursday January 25th with Hertz playing Expedia at 8:30pm and AWARE playing Sukhumvit at 9:30. Admission is free and all games take place at the Rink, 7th floor, Central Grand Rama IX.

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Thursday January 18th saw the eleventh set of games played in the Sport Corner Siam Hockey League. The opening contest saw AWARE continue its dominance beating Expedia 7-3, while the Sukhumvit Spitfires hung on to defeat Hertz 7-6 in the thrilling second match of the night.

AWARE continues to look like a juggernaut, winning its sixth straight game, as we head towards the SHL championship on March 17th. Switching back to Patrick Leduc, who had yet to lose a game in the SHL, AWARE jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a goal by captain Patrik Lundback and two nice markers by Darius Konotopetz, the second being a nifty rush in from the blue line with a sweet top-shelf finish.

Expedia’s Juhani Ijas then scored the first of his two goals on the night but AWARE’s Corry Day quickly countered using his Roadrunner-like speed to mystify Expedia keeper Yves Gaboriault, making it 4-1. It was Gaboriault’s first start in 2018, and he looked a tad shaky, but the talented Quebecois goalie should soon regain the form that saw him garner SHL goalie-of-the-year honors last season.

AWARE’s Ollie Moyse made it 5-1 but Ijas then scored his second of the night, so at end of the second period the score was 5-2 for AWARE. Yean Thanakroekkiat scored two goals in the third, lengthening AWARE’s lead to 7-2, then sub Stephen Sproule scored for Expedia with 90 seconds to go to make it a 7-3 final in AWARE’s favour: Ijas assisted on the play, giving him three points on the night.

The game was chippy at times but referee Jeremy Hutchins did a good job of keeping it under control. Midway through the second period, Expedia defenseman Remo Remo Nyffenegger took his second hooking penalty of the night. Objecting to the call, he pounded his stick first off the glass in front of the penalty box and then off-the-glass inside the penalty box drawing first a ten-minute and then a game misconduct.

Then as the second period ended Expedia captain Mike Wilson earned a roughing penalty. Irate, he mimicked Nyffenegger’s actions drawing his own 10-minute misconduct.

Yean, who also had two assists on the night, earned the Rolling Stone Pizza player-of-the-game honours for his four-point performance. AWARE had 25 shots on goal on the night, while Expedia had 21.

The second game was a succession of momentum shifts with Hertz jumping out to a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period: Sukhumvit came back to lead 7-4 late in the third and Hertz put on a furious finish in the final minute, scoring twice and almost tying it as Andy Brine set up Hertz captain Justin St Denis with 53 seconds left and then scored himself with 23 seconds left. Brine, who had three points on the night (1G, 2A), was a force to be reckoned with every time he touched the puck. Justin St. Denis also had a big night (2g, 1A) and deserves a lot of credit for rallying his troops in the final second as Hertz fought for the equalizer.

Harrison Oztemel had two goals and an assist for Sukhumvit, turning in another strong game, and Michael White continued his stellar play, turning in three assists. White has been exceptional in the short time he had been with Sukhumvit, generating scoring play after scoring play in each game he has played.

Substitute Patrick Forstner won the Rolling Stone Pizza player-of-the-game honours for his hat-trick performance, as his line with White and veteran Scott Murray did a good job of playing tic-tac-toe with the puck. Sukhumvit outshot Hertz 34-27 on the night.

The SHL standings have AWARE atop the table with an 9-2 record; the Sukhumvit Spitfires are in second spot at 6-5; Expedia is in third with a 4-7 mark; and Hertz is in last with a 3- 8 record.

Expedia’s Juhani Ijas and Hertz’s Andy Brine lead the stats race with 15 points each; AWARE’s Devin Michael is in second spot with 12 points and Expedia’s Jordan Ashton and Hertz’s Bill Bredesen are tied for third with 10 points each.
The SHL continues play on Sunday January 21st with Hertz playing AWARE at 8:30pm and Expedia playing Sukhumvit at 9:30. Admission is free and all games take place at the Rink, 7th floor, Central Grand Rama IX.

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