Tigers 4 Rhinos 1 In the first match of the weekend, the Tigers took on the Steve Clark-less Rhinos, who were banking heavily on substitute players and a standout performance from second-round pick John Osmar. Both Jeremy Campbell and, in particular, Jason Roy played extremely well for the basement-dwelling Rhinos, but the squad was unable to overcome a total of 24 minutes in penalties, which resulted in two of the Tigers' three goals while Osmar was between the pipes.
Bears 7 Raptors 4 Despite having supersub Ryan Lang (2G) in the lineup, the Raptors fell to the resurgent Bears 7 - 4. Despite missing three regulars, the Bears welcomed back Chris Downs, who was on the IR for 12 games, and had four players with multiple point games. John Long and Alex Whalen scored for the Raptors, who have been in a tailspin and now find themselves a single point ahead of the last-place Rhinos, with both teams being fast approached by Ryan Lang for total goals scored.
March 16th Ryan Lang...err Wolves 13 Sharks 1 After being held to a single point by the Bears last weekend, Wolves' star Ryan Lang took out his rage on the Sharks. After a slow start of one goal in the first frame, Lang's rageaholism took over and he potted four goals in the last two periods, taking roughly 35 of the Wolves' 38 shots in the game. However, keen observers noted that it was Andrei Raschenia's 3 assists, not Lang's 10 goals, that were the difference in the game. In a post-game interview, Raschenia calmly stated that he was just getting started in his quest for the CIHL MVP award, and that his higher-profile teammate should, "Watch his back."
Lions 3 Rhinos 1 The first-place Lions met the last-place Rhinos in the final game of the weekend. Missing Robin Ripley, the Lions subbed in Mal "Stick-Magnet" Turner and also enjoyed an extremely warmed-up Jeff Redl, who stepped in for the Sharks in the third period of the first game and promptly gave up Lang's 50th, claiming a spot in the sports pantheon alongside the guy who tripped Bobby Orr. Rhinos netminder John Osmar gave up another goal to Turner, who has put seven past him through their last three meetings. The Lions also enjoyed a brilliant showing from Dennis Chou, who filled the stat sheet while creating numerous scoring opportunities and dominating the faceoff circle. Turner also maintained his steady streak of being manhandled on the ice, adding a second assisted trip into the endboards to his league-leading two facesticking infractions. He was also reportedly caught backchecking, to the disgust of Beer League connoisseurs eveyrwhere. Here's a first-hand account of the game:
Sundays late game turned out to be abeauty! You had first vs seventh. Should be a one sided affairright? Not when you have Oz between the pipes. He made some jaw-dropping saves that brought the crowd of 15 or so to their feet! DennisCho did, however, find a way to beat Oz twice in one shift. But Rhinos'captain Steve Clark replied for the Rhinos! We have a 2-1 game folks!
Lions continued to press, but this guy named Oz kept making these bigsaves look easy. He stopped Dennis Cho on not one, but two breakaways tocomplete the hat trick. The Lions did finally get another, courtesy of "Iwear a visor now" Mal Turner who took a great pass from Paas (gofigure)and put it in the empty net!
