Tuesday, February 28, 2006

End of regular season hockey update

Welcome to weekly Black Bears Newsletter, featuring your favorite hockey team’s latest news and events!

Game 15 (Regular Season) 2/25/06
Bears win second straight with 3-1 win
The Black Bears put together another solid team performance Saturday, winning the first of back-to-back games 3-1 over the Minutemen.
The Bears followed up a Minutemen rebound goal late in the first period with a goal the very next shift, as Phillip Mitchell scored his fourth of the year off a Kyle Burkovich rebound to tie it up. Just 45 seconds later, Burkovich converted a Jacob Geiwitz pass into a breakaway goal and a 2-1 Bears lead. Defenseman Wes White made two keys plays in the second period to keep the Bears in the lead – his diving stop on a two-on-one foiled a Minutemen scoring attempt, then his check early in the third period stopped a potential Minutemen breakaway.
Kyle Burkovich scored his second of the game off a perfect feed from Phillip Mitchell to give the Bears a 3-1 lead late in the second period, and the Bears defense and goaltender Kelsey Eglinton made that stand up for the Bears second straight win.

Game Summary
Goals: Mitchell (4), Burkovich 2 (6)
Assists: Geiwitz (10), Burkovich (3), Mitchell (8)
Penalties: Geiwitz (Tripping)
Goaltending: Eglinton 23 Shots, 22 Saves
Shots on Goal: Black Bears 22
Not Dressed: Udall

Stars of the Game
#1 Kyle Burkovich – 2 Goals, Assist
#2 Philip Mitchell – Goal, Assist
#3 Wes White – Excellent D!


Game 16 (Final- Regular Season) 2/26/06
Last (nano)second goal gives Black Bears third straight win
Sitting on a 1-1 tie with only 19 seconds left in the game, and deep in the Black Bears defensive zone, defenseman Matt Vendl poked the puck to Kyle Burkovich, who took off on a rush down the ice, sliding past and deking around defensemen, gliding over the blue line, and finally scoring into the top corner of the net just as the horn went off and time expired, giving the Bears a heart stopping 2-1 win over the Minutemen. The victory was their third straight as they finished undefeated in 4 of their final 5 games to finish the regular season on a high note.
Playing against defenseman turned goalie AJ Culp, the Bears could not find the back of the net for two periods. Luckily, goaltender Kelsey Eglinton held the fort until a bouncing rebound trickled past her for a 1-0 Minutemen lead early in the third period. But in a repeat of Saturday’s game, the Bears scored on the very next shift as Jacob Geiwitz took a pass from Jordan Helm and Charlie Allen and blasted one into the net to tie the score. The Bears defense, led by Matt Vendl, Jacob Geiwitz, Wes White and Nathan Lawson continued to impress, shutting down the middle of the ice and forcing the Minutemen to play and shoot from the perimeter, where Kelsey Eglinton gobbled up shots and frustrated the Minutemen shooters. This set the stage for Burkovitch’s last second heroics.

Game Summary
Goals: Geiwitz (1), Burkovich (7)
Assists: Helm (5), Allen (2), Vendl (4)
Penalties: Burkovich (Slashing); Geiwitz (Roughing); Woodruff (Roughing)
Goaltending: Eglinton 14 Shots, 13 Saves
Shots on Goal: Black Bears 22
Not Dressed: Udall, Applebach, DeForest, Caravella, Smith

The BLACK BEARS Next Two

We will play our first playoff game on Sunday, March 11 at 11:30 a.m. against the Eagles

written by Coach James Miroslaw (published in the weekly Black Bears News)

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Feb news

Well, it's February. End of the hockey season looming (doesn't that seem quick?), the Super Bowl XL has been played, and believe it or not, the puppies are turning one. That also means it has been a year since our beloved Toosox left us for the Bridge.

Hockey has been going well. Kyle had a hat trick (3 goals in one game for you non-hockey people) during their game on 1/28, however, the Black Bears still managed to lose that one, 7-5. He is having fun, nonetheless, and getting pretty good at checking. And kudos to Kyle for nary a penalty in his first 7 games back.

Joe is set to finish another training session tomorrow night. Unfortunately, though, we have already been informed that he will not be progressing on to level 3. All dogs must be completely off-leash trained for advancement to the next level. So Joe & I will be continuing in level two for a while yet.

Snoopy has recovered quite well from his surgery. He's just about ready to go back into training, but that will have to wait until Joe moves up to level 3. They can't both go to training on the same night. So it is likely that Noo will wait until spring to start. It's probably just as well, because right now, he doesn't seem any too enthusiastic to listen!

The boys will turn one on February 21st. Unbelievable. In some ways it seems as though they've always been here, and in others, I can't believe how quickly they've grown. I miss my little bitty soft puppies, but I'm so glad to be through the housebreaking stage!

February 23rd marks one year since Toosox left us for the Bridge. There's not a day that goes by that we don't miss her sweet face or wonderful disposition. She was such a blessing in our lives and brought us so much joy over the almost 13 years she was with us. We love you little girl. You can go to this link to learn about the Rainbow Bridge. http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.htm

Kim has spent most of January setting up a family website. More for my own enjoyment (and frustration) than anyone else's. But if you're so inclined, you can visit www.burkovich.com and see the results. This will still be kept up and running for my pithy musings.

In closing, here in Maricopa County, we've now gone 109 days without any measurable precipitation. If any of you have any connections to the rain gods, could you please ask them to send us some? We're turning to dust down here.