November 12-14

The new week started with some terrible news: our dear friend Mazi lost her mother over the weekend. She suffered a stroke on Friday morning and passed away early Saturday morning. She was in her 80s and had her share of health problems but that doesn't soften the blow at all, we had just seen her when we visited Mazi in Pennsville last August. Mazi has had a rough time lately, her older brother (who I never met) passed away in early October. We don't get to see her very often since she moved from our area but we talk frequently via internet, she's a wonderful woman and a dear friend. Street hockey playoffs are well underway, on Monday the East Division championship was decided. The West Division wrapped up on Tuesday so all that remains is the Midwest, we could be done before the holiday weekend if we're lucky. On Wednesday night we were at the Sovereign Center as the Royals hosted the Elmira Jackals. After winning just once in their first seven games the club posted its seventh straight victory with a 2-1 overtime win. Elmira struck first and carried that lead into the second period, the Royals tied it on Jesse Todd's first goal as a pro (he played at Merrimack College in '11-12). It stayed 1-1 into OT, the game was decided when Ian O'Connor tipped home a shot by defenseman Brett Flemming for the GWG. O'Connor earned the game's number-one star for his effort, winning goalie Philipp Grubauer was #2 star. The club improves to 8-5-1, after two road games over the weekend the boys are back home on Wednesday the 21st. Take care, thanks for reading.