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Stonewall hangs em' up

It's a sad day for Arrowhawk fans and CAHL fans in general. Dan 'Stonewall' Barnhart, a 10 year veteran and original Arrowhawk, has decided to hang up his goalie pads.

Recently, Barnhart has been handling the netminding for the struggling Junior-B Arrowhawks – comprised of several former Hawks and a few new players. It's been a difficult session. The Hawks finished a meager 2-10 only scoring 14 goals on the season. They played tenacious defense but Barnhart often faced 3 on 1 odd man rushes due to an overly-aggressive Hawk offensive attack. Barnhart was scored on often but made many highlight-real saves. His defense was proud of him and refused to call him bad names in public.

Barnhart finished the year 2-10, with a 3.86 GAA and a .902 save percentage. Not bad considering he played with only one leg.

"I just don't get the urge to play like I used to," said a frustrated Barnhart.

For his career, Barnhart was 48-47-2, with a 3.13 GAA and a .918 save percentage. He faced 3,840 shots in his tenure as the Arrowhawk's #1 goaltender, saving 3,525 of them. Now that's a Stonewall.

Teammates chime in:

"Supposedly he's pretty good at coed softball." - Henri Foucher, D

“Danny has always been there for his team. He’s a world class goaltender and an even better dad.” - Rick Titus, C/D

“He may be going into a Michael Jordan-like retirement, he might try

another sport, might come back to own the team and play more hockey, who

knows. We wish him well. His heart just ain't in it no more. When

his water bottle was retired by a wild puck and shattered onto the ice,

he figured its time to hang up the pads.” - Dave Mustafaga, D

"Can't really keep up in drinking. Two-can (Toucan) Dan." - Henri Foucher, #24 D

"Likes the Penguins, hates Buckeyes, loves black olives....he's probably

a liberal." - Henri Foucher, #24 D

Jensen having great session

Some may be surprised to see Arrowhawks netminder Jason 'The Warden' Jensen leading the league with a stunning 1.36 goals against average, but those who know him best expected it.

"We always knew he'd be an excellent goal tender," said Jensen's father from his Manatoba home. "I recall many instances where I attempted to throw various household objects at him -- mostly out of frustration and anger from his always defeating me at Jeapordy -- and I never hit him once."

"He's always had a great glove hand," added Mrs. Jensen. "He'd help me in the kitchen as a 4 year old. I'd have a hot pan and he'd snatch it and move it along before I could even ask. I think that's where he learned his quick release skills."

Jensen's teammates have been impressed with Jensen's consistent can-do demeanor.

"He get's bored sometimes. Rather than doing yoga, like he used to in his Junior B days, he stays in the game," Jeff Augenstein proclaimed while attempting to assemble a 500 piece Little House on the Prairie puzzle. "I always had a thing for Laura Olson."

Perhaps the most impressed person within the Hawks organization is Jason himself. "I didn't expect our defense to be this good," said Jensen. "I've let a few get in that I'd like back, but considering some of the strong offensive players in this league, I'm happy with my performance so far."

At 9-2 and a league low 15 goals, the Hawks are happy indeed.

Eskimos final regular season opponent

The 7th place Eskimos will be the Hawks final opponent of the fall session. “They are a gritty group,” said Jeff Augenstein. “They don’t give up much. They are good skaters and play a disciplined brand of hockey. We’ll have to work hard for everything.”

More than likely, the #7 seeded Eskimos and #2 seeded Arrowhawks will meet again for the first playoff game.

Junior B Hawks tough on big ice

Playing in front the largest crowd ever, probably 100 fans including the security folks and the Zambonie driver, goalie Dan Barnhart stated “it was like the Bad News Bears playing in the Houston Astrodome.” Well it was a close game, the lone goal was scored by coach/team physician Neil “Rocket” Richard who smashed it in during a scrum in front of the net.The goal was scored on a mad rush by the usually docile defensemen. We are pretty certain he was not interested in getting a closer look at the Baron’s female goalie. The roaring forwards exclaimed “we had a gazillon shots on her but couldn’t get it in.”Bill “soft spot” Miller was spotted playing for the Barons. Of course he was shut out, and harassed by his former team-mates the entire game. Does the big league know “soft spot” is moonlighting in D league outside the organization??? Stay tuned.

Hawks win, remain undefeated

Friday’s CAHL game of the week pitted 2 undefeated teams, The 4-0 Arrowhawks -vs - the 3-0-1 Blades. It was apparent from the opening face off that the two teams were evenly matched. The Blades, consistently one of the leagues best teams, displayed consistent offensive pressure from the first shift. The Blades led 1-0 early in the first when the Captain Tom Morgan tied it.

“That first goal was a thing of beauty. Tommy is really coming into his own this session,” said linemate Mark Monahan.

The Blades returned the favor midway thru the second period when one of their players went coast to coast and roofed one high glove side. At the end of two periods, the score was 2-1 Blades.

The game was riddled with minor penalties. Thankfully, more were handed out to the Blades then the Arrowhawks. Jason Torsok seemed to take the game into his own hands when he inidvertantly planted one of the larger Blades at open ice. He took a 5 minute major penalty but the Hawks killed it. The Blades were 1-4 on the power play, the Hawks were 1-6, including a 5-3.

The third period was back and forth as both teams excelled with crisp passes and stingy defense. Both goaltenders played well, but the Warden Jason Jensen locked the door by saving 7 shots and frustrating the Blade offense.

Tom Morgan scored a terrific wrister and Kevin DesRoches had the game winner.

Mike Gauthier, Terry Walker and Mac Lawless were terrific defensively. Bill Miller skated the entire game without being told he smelled. Now that’s improvement!

Hawks survive poor 2nd period, win again

What a great word to depict Friday's game. Survival.

The Arrowhawks lept to an early 3-0 lead thru the first period of play. Bryce 'Palmolive' Griffith was electric with his soft hands -- pass left, pass right, under the skate, PAP! over to Bryan -- in a moments notice he'd netted the first goal of the night.

"I wasn't sure if it was truly a goal," said older brother and 1st line center Bryan 'Espy' Griffith. "The netminder thru his leg over and appeared to knock the net off." Regardless, the goal was counted by the league's best referee tandem.

Bryce wasn't done. He netted the second goal on a blistering snapper from the high slot. His brother Kevin assisted both goals with precise passes. Not to be outdone, Bryan the oldest of the trio, played keep away from the defense long enough to evoke mindless frustration.

The highly-skilled Maple Leafs appeared to be rattled by the opening period. Having just tied the Blades, arguably the league's best team 5-5 the week before, the Leafs were riding high -- but they were caught flat-footed for the next 6 minutes of the first. Like magnets, the Griffith brothers controlled the puck in the offensive zone. Providing excellent support were Terry 'Watkins' Walker and Kevin 'DeBomb!' Deroche. Every time the Leafs appeared to clear one of the two defenders would maintain the zone.

Apparently on cruise control, the Hawks sailed through the first 4 minutes of the second period. Everyone except Captain Tom Morgan that is. He seemed to skate like his rum depended on it. Balls to the wall as he'd later say. You see, its as if he knew this one play would define his season -- more later.

Althought the first period was dominated by the Arrowhawks, the Leafs persevered and proved to be a difficult opponent. The game changed when #63 of the Leafs arrived 4:25 seconds into the second period.

He scored the Leafs first goal in :50 seconds, 4-1. 8 minutes in, goal 4-2 -- #97 this time. The Hawks were frustrated. :59 second left in the 2nd period, another goal by #63 -- 4-3.

"No big deal," said a relaxed Mark Monahan after the game. "We knew he had to settle down so we did."

Mark's skating was as consistent as always -- especially after having been reunited with his former left wing Tom Morgan. Remember the key moment? More later...

The third period began with the score 4-3 Hawks. Flawless Mac Lawless had been temporarily removed from the game due to excessively feminine shoulders. Mike Gauthier was angry on the bench. Rick Titus decided to go buy a slushy. The Hawks needed a playmaker to regain the momentum. Minutes passed... Enter the now robustly shoulder endowed Mac Lawless with an angry stick and BAMMO! the game was now a 5-3 lead for the Hawks. Nice assist from John Kenyon!

The Hawks would never look back. Determined to regain the momentum from the first, Joe Factor and the rest of the Hawk defense stymied the Leaf attack for the remainder of the game. "We were diving everywhere," said RW Jason 'Hefty' Torsok. "I dive, I die. So I dove and crawled to the bench."

Jeff Augenstein and Kevin DeRoche also added goals on the night. Each dazzled with fine stick-handling and divine luck.

Jason Jensen was stellar in goal again -- although if you asked he'd say he was average. "I wasn't on tonight. The posts weren't talking so I ignored them back," said a solemn Jensen. "Just don't ignore me," said his fiance after the game.

Ignore? Nope we won't ignore the best goal of the night -- Tom Morgan with an unassisted offensive zone steal and top-shelf, glove-side snapdragon that proved to be the game winner in the 2nd period. His effort? A thing of beauty; much like that kid that always kept you in doubt, until it mattered.

Hawks win close one

The Arrowhawks took a 2 game winning streak into the Dispatch IceHaus last Friday when they faced the stingy 0-1-1 Eskimos. Roster issues surrounded the team as Bryan ‘ESPY’ Griffith and his brother Bryce didn’t make the trip downtown. ‘Flawless’ Mac Lawless wasn’t available nor were stellar offensive snipers Henri ‘I’m not French, damnit’ Foucher and Tim ‘Anyone know a good dentist?’ Irwin.

Who would step in to bury the biscuit?

Enter Billy Miller. From the drop of the puck in the first, Miller was a man on a mission. “I was just trying to be in the right place,” said an exhausted and stinky Miller from his locker room stall. “I figured god might take over and make my stick actually hit the puck rather than just air, and I may get a goal or two.”

Well God wasn’t listening in the first 2 periods. Miller has parked on the doorstep 3 times and whiffed time and again. “Shucks!” Miller was heard yelling. “Darnit, darnit, darnit.” Miller has cleaned up his act for the fall, having claimed to have been cleansed by a near death experience. “I was hunting in the mountains in August. A porcupine surprised me and shot his quills into my Hummer. It scratched the paint so I ran him over. Splat! It was scary.”

The Hawks weren’t able to run over the Eskimos. The Eskimos took an early 1-0 lead on a terrific power play goal past a sliding Jason Jensen. It was the first scored on Jensen in two games. “They were in perfect position,” said Jensen after the game. “My defense played well, as usual but sometimes the other team makes a nice play.” Jensen’s GAA is .0333 thru 3 games. Enough said.

The score remained 1-0 until 2:30 in the 2nd when God finally listened to Bill and guided his stick toward the puck. “Kevin dug the puck from the corner and made a tape-to-tape pass,” said linemate Tom ‘Captain’ Morgan. Miller was happy. So was the Hawk bench.

The third period was riddled with penalties. Chris Carpenter and Mike Gauthier were terrific with penalty killing. Jason Torsok and Joe Factor provided tenacious board work and nice passing. Rick Titus fell asleep on the bench. Mark Monahan was frustrated by a stingy Eskimo defense. Kevin DeRoche was tired of waiting for Bill to score again so he notched the game winner off a deflected shot.

The Hawks prevailed 3-1 in a hard fought game.

Hawks Handle Harmonizers, Move to 2-0

Friday’s game against the Mamas and the Papas had more subplots than a season of Melrose Place. How would Jason Jensen handle the pressure of facing his former squad? Did Tom “Captain” Morgan make it back from Austin in one piece? How about those Griffith brothers? Would the league finally approve the trade that brings them from the Uxbridge Otters for former #1 draft pick Dave Cameron? Could Gooch’s helmet make it through the game in one piece? Ahh, the intrigue of an early game on a Friday night.

Early first period play was back and forth with each team getting some good looks and both goalies standing their ground. Midway through the first, Kevin Griffith buried a rebound to give the Hawks the lead. Kevin netted his second of the period just few minutes later to wrap up the scoring in the first stanza. “I figured I better score early, since I’m not sure how long my legs are gonna hold out” said a breathless Kevin between periods. “Maybe my brothers will start to pull their weight out there and give me some help.” Brian and Bryce were seen shaking their heads as they headed over the boards to start the second period.

The Hawks controlled most of the play in the second period and popped in two more goals. Unfortunately, only Mark’s goal (from Tom) counted on the scoreboard. The on-ice officials determined that Kevin’s third tally didn’t make a loud enough “clunk” when it hit the rear support beam of the goal, so they waved it off. Even the ref following the play was busting on the ref that missed the call. “He must have been distracted by all the teeny-boppers that wandered over from open skate,” said the man in stripes.

As the third period rolled around, Arrowhawk legs were starting to drag and the M&P’s deeper bench smelled opportunity. Jason snuffed out a clear breakaway early and played a number of odd-man rushes perfectly. As always, Terry was in great defensive position all night and played a smart, solid game along the blue line. Gooch and new sub Mac Lawless got involved in the offense, and Joe Factor was solid in his emergency role as a defenseman. With about 6 minutes to go, one of the Papas took a nifty 4-minute double minor and the AH would make it count. With the man advantage the Griffith Brothers combined for yet another goal (Bryce this time, I think) and Billy “Hey Mark, does my gear stink?” Miller capped the scoring on an assist from Mark “Yeah Bill, it stinks” Monahan.

Again, the Hawks looked solid in all three zones. “I would have been more of a factor in this one, but I forgot to tie my skates until halfway through the second period” said a still energetic Shayne Boyd after the win. Next week, the team heads downtown to try to continue their streak. “Can we wear our gear to Frog-Boar for happy hour?” Bill wondered allowed. We’ll see, Billy. We’ll see.