Week 2

Week 2 (Oct. 12-Oct. 18)

The Good Sir Gazette

Written by Cole Thompson

October 12, 2009

The first week is behind us and while there were definitely some surprises, overall I feel things went as expected. Probably the biggest shock was Five Knuckle Shuffle beating perennial powerhouse (and last year's runner up) Team Shake 'n Bake. Maybe Five Knuckle will be able to surprise a few other teams this year as he attempts to push forward into the playoffs for the first time. Before we get into this week's match-ups, let's take a look at how my predictions from last week turned out.

Looking Back:

Mesex over The Phenoms 6-4-1.	WRONG!	Phenoms (10-0-1)
Team Shake 'n Bake over Five Knuckle 7-3-1.	WRONG!	Five Knuckle Shuffle (8-2-1)
No Boundaries over Co-Jisms 8-2-1.	RIGHT!	No Boundaries (8-3)
My Goodies over Old School 8-3.	RIGHT!	My Goodies (6-3-2)
Gorilla Warfare over The Good Sirs' 6-4-1.	WRONG!	The Good Sirs' (6-4-1)
Minority Report over MVB All-Stars 7-4.	WRONG!	MVB All-Stars (7-3-1)

Week Total:

2-4

Season Total:

2-4

Dead On Prediction:

(5) My Goodies vs. (12) MesEx
All-Time (2-2-0) – For the second straight week two former champions are going head to head. Welcome to the Match-up of the Week. My Goodies got off to a great start as he defeated Old School in the first week. As is always expected, My Goodies was led by stellar goaltending as he put up 4W, a 2.41GAA, and a .910Sv%, thanks in large part to R. Miller. What makes My Goodies even more dangerous this year is that his offense seems to be his strongest yet, as he put up the third highest point total with 53 points. MesEx on the other hand had a horrendous week. Not only did he have to face off against the reining champ, but it seemed as if his team took the first week off. He scored only 31 points (good for 11th in the league), and had a GAA of 3.69 with a Sv% of .891. Things will have to change quickly if he wants to compete yet again for the championship. Prediction: My Goodies 6-4-1.

(1) The Phenoms vs (6) The Good Sirs'
All-Time (5-2-0) – Two long time friends, two long time rivals, this very well could be a great match-up What can be said about The Phenoms? This team boasts more talent than most teams could dream of. Ovechkin, Malkin, Crosby, Kopitar, Fleury, Mason. With talent like that, The Phenoms should have no problem putting up the points (2nd last week with 58), as well as keeping them out. Coming off a huge statement victory over MesEx, The Phenoms will look to carry that momentum against The Good Sirs' this week. The Good Sirs' got a victory last week, but much more is expected from this team. Of their 46 points last week, 21.7% (10 pts) of them were scored by N. Backstrom. That's great but it will take much more than one player to knock off the unstoppable force that is The Phenoms. Prediction: The Phenoms 9-1-1.

(2) Five Knuckle Shuffle vs. (9) Minority
Report All-Time (1-1-0) – Five Knuckle Shuffle really turned heads this past week as he not only knocked off last year's runner-up, but he also led the league in scoring with 61 points. Led by A. Semin (9 pts), R. Smyth (7 pts), and R. Bourque (7 pts), Five Knuckle Shuffle is showing he has the offensive prowess to not only compete in this league, but to be a real offensive powerhouse. Minority Report is coming off a very close losing effort against MVB All-Stars. The strength of Minority Report's team is once again goaltending, proven by his 5W, 2.34GAA, and .927Sv% with 1 Shutout this past week. Look for it to be a battle of offense vs. goaltending this week. Prediction: Minority Report 7-3-1.

(3) No Boundaries vs. (7) Gorilla Warfare
All-Time (1-0-0) – No Boundaries is coming off a fantastic showing in his first week, one where he dominated Co-Jisms. No Boundaries really relied heavily on J. Carter (8pts, 24 shots) and D. Heatley (10 pts, 2 GWs, 16 shots) this past week to carry him to victory. On the other hand he'll need his goaltending to step up if he really wants to compete in the league; 3.21GAA and .898 Sv% just won't cut it. Gorilla Warfare lost an extremely close battle to The Good Sirs' but overall should feel good about the direction his team is heading. He is getting more scoring (7th in league with 44 pts), but really needs more out of his goaltending. This battle will be won by whoever gets the more consistent goaltending, as their offense is more or less equal in terms of talent. Prediction: No Boundaries 6-4-1.

(4) MVB All-Stars vs. (8) Old School
All-Time (2-0-0) – Two teams in their sophomore seasons in the TOFHL. One team, MVB is coming off a big win, while the other, Old School, is looking to turn his fortunes around after a loss to My Goodies in week one. Going by the previous week's stats, MVB has a significant edge in offense (21G, 33A, 54Pts, +21) compared to Old School (15G, 28A, 43Pts, -3). Old does hold a slight edge in goaltending however led by J. Hiller, and surprisingly P. Leclaire. Here's hoping this is a very close match-up, although my money is still on MVB All-Stars to push his record to 2-0. Prediction: MVB All-Stars 6-4-1.

(10) Team Shake 'n Bake vs. (11) Co-Jisms
All-Time (0-0-0) – Team Shake 'n Bake is coming off a huge upset loss at the hands of Five Knuckle Shuffle. This is not the way he wanted to build on his second place finish last year. It's not that Team Shake 'n Bake had a bad first week (51 pts, 24 PPP, 147 SOG), it's just he ran into a really hot team. Although, like a lot of teams I've spoken about, he'll need to get a lot more out of his goaltending (3.10GAA, .884 Sv%) to survive in this league. Co-Jisms are also coming off of a loss, one of many I'm sorry to predict this year. The future looks bright for this team though, led by young superstars J. Tavares, M. Duchene, and JVR. Look for Team Shake 'n Bake to rebound this week. Prediction: Team Shake 'n Bake 7-2-2.

- Cole “The Good Sir” Thompson