FNHL News Archives - 2006 / 2005 / 2004 / 2003

12/23/03 - George has been advised by the rink that we will only have 1 slot available this Friday therefore we won't be able to run our usual FNHL schedule. I think it's due to maintenance on the Olympic ice. Please contact George asap if you want to be included in the group to skate at 10:15pm. Another week of action on the ice with a very wide range of results. In the first game the Green team scored a win over the White team. I don't have any info on that game except the unfortunate news that Chris DiCicco left the game after suffering a knee injury. We hope it is not serious and wish him a speedy recovery. The second game was an exceptional contest between the Blue and Black teams. Black went up 3-0 early in the game but that was all the scoring that goalie John Oakes would allow for the evening. Thanks to the goaltending behind them the Blue team had time to chip away at the lead and their efforts finally paid off in the third period when George Fleischmann scored from point blank range to tie the score. Dan Jervis added the game winner a few minutes later and the game ended with a 5-3 victory for Blue despite being outshot by a decent margin. Ricky also played well in the nets for Black. On the other end of the spectrum was the last game where an undermanned Red team just didn't have the Pompo to stay with an energized Yellow team. The game was close for the first period but that was it. After that it was all Yellow all the time. Enough said (although I'm sure Brian Banks could add a few thoughts here). I will post a new schedule as soon as George can confirm it with the rink and e-mail it to me. Quite a few payments are still outstanding so please get them in asap. Duane Pardee has been taking game action pictures and I will add them to the site as soon as I can. I have a few projects to catch up on during the holidays. Happy Holidays to all...!!!

12/16/03 - It's been almost a month since the last update and there has been a lot of opinions expressed in the letters column. Follow the link to see what some of your teammates and opponents think and suggest. It was good to be back on the ice last week in spite of the lousy weather. I don't have much info on the first game but I believe that the Red team scored a victory over the White. Goalie Rick Cummings played in the first of what turned out to be 3 games that night. In the second game a missing goalie snafu prematurely ended what was shaping up to be a pretty good game between the Blue and Green teams. Ricky filled in for Green as long as he could but had to leave during the second period and the game turned into more of a scrimmage. The nightcap turned out to be the game of the night as the Yellow team was shorthanded and facing a determined Black team (also shorthanded). Subs arrived at the end of the 2nd game and both teams got needed extra bodies. In the end, Mike Pardee provided the spark that the Black team needed and Ricky made the saves send the Yellow team to a rare 10-8 defeat. Black was up a few until the end when Chip led a furious rally to make it very close. It was good to see the return to action of Rich Fleischmann who is recovering from the loss of part of his finger in an off ice accident. Also we want to send continued thoughts and best wishes to John Neuberger who is still out of action due to an injury suffered back on 10/5. The latest word is that he is healing, but slowly and probably won't be back around until March. I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing from his friends here in the FNHL. George has also mentioned that it's not too early to start planning for this years FNHL Golf Tournament and he would appreciate some help in securing door prizes. Please see him when you have a chance and let's all do what we can to contribute. Last year's event was dampened a bit by the rain but we're hoping for better weather and we know it will be a great time, rain or shine. I have been given updated rosters and will post a new page with them when I can.

11/23/03 - I was out of town this week and I only got one game recap. Thanks to Mike Masello for the following update on the Blue vs White game.
Here is the information from tonight's game.  George's team won 7 to 3.  John played an exceptional game in net stopping a couple of breakaways.  George's friend Chris subbed for us tonight and scored two goals.  Cavy also subbed for us as and scored two goals also.  Dave Stage, Tom Gridley and Mike Masello scored one goal apiece to round out the scoring.  The other team scored a sweet goal off a nice pass right in front of the net, John never had a chance.  Sorry but I am not sure who scored the goals for the other team.  It was a well played game for both sides and Rob Conrad played a strong game keeping them within reach until the very end.  He stopped a point blank blast from George Fleischmann on a breakaway to keep his team in the game

The most important news this week is our upcoming break in the action due to the holidays. There will be no hockey at all this Friday 11/28. George can sometimes get the 10:15 slot for a pickup game, but the rink is running a tournament on 11/28 so it's not available. On the following Friday 12/5 there are also no regular FNHL games but the 10:15 slot should be available. Check with George if you're interested. We've gotten some good feedback in the letters column. Thanks as always for your input.

11/16/03 - It was a bad weather night in Cicero and there was plenty of bad weather on the ice as well. Some teams were prepared for it and managed to have a good outing but the others......it was a very long night. In the opener, the Blue team with Rich Fleischmann in attendance finally broke out of their close game routine and scored quite a few more goals than their opponent. Mike Masillo and George Fleischmann got some help from subs Dan Jennings and Dave Cavallaro in leading the way to a 12-5 win over the Black. Lot's of one-timer goals in this one and Ricky had a piece of most of them - but not enough to keep them out. In the second game the Yellow team with the addition of a very talented sub (just what they needed right??) were still held to a close game by the Red team. I didn't get the individual stats but I was told the score was about 10-8. Lots of controversy swirling over this latest "out of league" sub incident. We'll see what develops....George has mentioned that we may be in need of a league meeting to try to decide on a policy to deal with such situations. You can always e-mail us with your feedback at any time. In the late game things started out good for the new look White team. Herrick Teeter, Chris Baldwin and sub Steve Kokkoris scored to get them an early lead over the Green team. But then the Green team scored...and scored....and scored....and scored...and scored...etc. What had the makings of a close game fell apart into a really lopsided affair. Bill Cummings led the offense for the Green, but pretty much everyone added their share as well. Rouss allowed only one goal after the first 8 minutes to ensure that there would be no comeback. The Green team noticed afterward that they are now 3-0 without Dan Jennings in the lineup....hmmmm. I will be out of town next weekend so hopefully someone will let me know how things go. Finally, George may still have a couple of openings for the Sunday morning group (7am-8:30am) at Cicero. I will be posting a schedule for that group here in the next week or two. It's a good skate and for $5 a week you can't beat it (even if LaBarre manages to pull himself away from his young harem to attend). Talk to George asap if you're interested.

11/09/03 - We are getting closer (some teams more than others) to having the regular teams back in place and the rivalries are definitely starting to heat up. In the opener, the Red team did indeed win in their game with the Green team. Unfortunately for them they did not win the game. What they won was the respect of those involved by hanging close and making a nice comeback despite being very shorthanded (7 players I think). Tony Pompo flew solo without brother Brian and led the comeback. Ricky did a nice job filling in for Chuck in the nets. In the end, the Green team refused to lose and held on for a 6-4 (or 7-5) win. Rouss was strong in the nets and Jamie Sassenbury, Chris DiCicco, and Dave Cavallaro provided the spark they needed when it mattered. I didn't see much of the second game but I heard plenty about it later. The Black team got an excellent performance from the line of Moses Rivera, Mark Schumacher, and Ian Webber who scored three goals on a shift twice in the game to help deliver a 13-8 win for the men in black. Al Molsan earned a Molson for the White team scoring 4 goals in the loss. Herrick Teeter did not score for the White team but apparently made enough of an impression on the Black team that I was asked to mention it here. Teeter did mention that Schumacher's range is anything inside of 6 inches - beyond that, forget it. In the nightcap the Blue team reverted back to their "close but no cigar" mode and dropped a one goal game to the new look Yellow team. The final score was either 9-8 or 10-9. Dan Jervis scored 6 goals for Blue and Dave Cavallaro, filling in for Rich Fleischmann, added two. Jesse and Chip each had some nice individual efforts for the Yellow team. Unfortunately I don't know most of their roster anymore so I can't add much more than that. Finally a couple of new photos have been added to the fun photo gallery...Thanks to Nicole for her contributions!!

11/02/03 - I would have liked to open this weeks news with the story of a close win by the Blue team but unfortunately that is now but a footnote. Sunday afternoon Rich Fleischmann was injured while moving to his new house. Apparently the injury is quite serious and cost him part of one of his fingers. This is obviously terrible news for Rich and his family and I know I speak for the entire FNHL in wishing him a speedy recovery. As a fellow Blue team member and friend and line-mate of Rich's the news is especially tough to hear. Rich is a class act and easily one of the most improved players in the league. Hopefully he will return to the ice at some point, but it will be a long road back...Anyway we did play the games this week and as noted the Blue team finally won one of the close games they have been playing 6-5 over the Red team. Rich had one of his best games of the season scoring three goals including the game winner with just over a minute to play. Brad Beran also scored again for Blue and John Oakes was outstanding in the nets. In the second game on the NHL ice the Yellow team was simply too much for a small collection of regular White team players and an assortment of subs. I'd like to list the scorers but let's just say it was pretty much everyone. I don't know what the final score was, but it was not pretty. On the Olympic ice the parade of Halloween subs continued. Jesse and Chip (making a rare special guest appearance) helped get the Black team off to a big lead over the Green, before joining their regular team, and then the few remaining Black players led by Greg Sniffen and Ron Niemier scored just enough to hold off a determined Green squad. Dave Cavallaro, Chris Mills and John Albanese sparked the Green comeback. The final score was about 13-12.

10/29/03 - Due to Halloween, the early game (4 vs 5) on the NHL ice for this Friday has been moved to 10:15 so it now becomes the late game. Teams 6 and 3 will start on the NHL ice at 9:15 instead of 9:30. Please make a note of it and remind your players of the change. Thanks

10/26/03 - "How the hell did we wind up like this and why weren't we able, to see the signs that we missed and try to turn the tables." (Nicklelback, 2003). The above quote pretty much sums up the week for the "primary color" teams of Red, Green and Blue...In the opener, the White team was hitting on all cylinders and out-gunned the Green team by a score of about 12-7. Chris Baldwin had four goals and Tom Ferrara added a nice breakaway goal while Bill Hopkins and Dave Cornell anchored the defense. The Green team skated hard but had a little too much Christmas spirit turning the puck over several times in their own zone and White made them pay....The pre-Halloween horror continued into the next game where the Blue team, facing the Black, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and squandered a nice effort by goalie John Oakes in the process. It was an excellent game, very even throughout. Black jumped out to an early lead, Blue answered with goals by Brad Beran and Dan Jervis and took a 5-4 lead into the last two minutes of the game. But it was not to be. Black's captain Greg Sniffen tied the game with a great individual effort skating around the defender and beating Oakes on the ice off the far post. Then Moses Rivera broke the hearts of Blue fans everywhere (yes, both of them) by scoring the game winner about 40 seconds later. Rick Cummings secured the victory by stopping Dan Jervis on a semi-breakaway with 15 seconds left....In the late game, the Red team had been on a roll lately and held the Yellow team to a 3-3 tie in the first period but it was all downhill from there. Jesse was not in the house for the Yellow team but Andre, Chip, Derek, Pete, Len and Mike were more than able to pick up the slack. I'm pretty sure that all of them scored at least once in the final two periods (at least it seemed that way). The final score was around 11-5, enough said....

10/18/03 - I have heard that at least some of the people who were blocked from our site are able to get to the alternate location www.dailygripe.com . The schedule for the next six weeks should be posted soon. This weeks big story happened in the late game as the Blue and Green teams squared off. Green got off to a quick start when John Albanese and John Koninos each took advantage of bad clearing attempts by the Blue team and just like that it was 2-0. Chris Dicicco added another goal in the second for a 3-0 lead while Rouss was outstanding in the nets stopping several point blank Blue opportunities. But the game was far from over. Blue goalie John Oakes shut the door on Green time after time giving Blue a chance to recover. In the 3rd period, Dan Jervis, Steve Kokkoris, and Tom Gridley scored for Blue and George Fleischmann had two assists and suddenly the score was tied. The game went back and forth until there were about 4 minutes left. Then Dave Cavallaro threaded a sweet pass to Chris Dicicco who made no mistake on his one-timer and Green was back in the lead 4-3. Rouss made sure that the lead would hold up from there despite several excellent chances for Blue and an empty net goal with 13 seconds left sealed the deal. The Green team did what the Red Sox and Cubs could not - they found a way to win and finally put an end to the "slumping Green team" curse. All in all it was an excellent game and a great example of why we come out and play here each week. In the second game the Red Team continued to win, topping the White team by a score of about 12-4. Nick Smith and Moses (?) were among the scorers for the White team. Nick Julian Sr. returned to action and scored for Red and Frank Wilson scored his second career FNHL goal. Mike Tully and the Pompo brothers also scored for Red and Brian Banks was solid on D. Chuck Austin had a strong game on the nets from start to finish  Thanks to Mike Tully who e-mailed me with the highlights. In the early game I know that the Jessie's absence could not prevent the Yellow team from winning as they beat the Black team by an unknown score. If anyone wants to e-mail me with the highlights I will add them later this week.

8/23/03 - Next week's games on the NHL rink will be delayed due to a junior tournament. We expect to start at 8:45pm with the second game at 10:15pm. Some good games this week, depending on which bench you occupied. The Black team with several subs was too much for the definitely slumping Green team winning by a score of about 14-4. Ron Schlicht, Moses (??) and Andre in his final FNHL game of the season led the offense. Ricky played his third strong game in a row. In the middle game, the White team with subs Andre and Charlie Chamberlain and Moses posted a big win over the Yellow team 11-6. Hopefully we will get some more detailed commentary to post from the players as several mentioned that they would like to contribute to the site. In the nightcap, an undermanned Red team held tough and skated away from the Blue team in the final period. The score was about 10-5. It was tied for most of the way until the Pompo brothers helped break it open. Blue had several chances but just couldn't get the puck past Chuck often enough to hang on. Brian Banks anchored the defense for the win.

8/20/03 - Finally had a chance to revise the website and post the game photos that I have. Last week's action was pretty good. In the first game, the Blue team hung tough for 2 1/2 periods before falling to the attack of the Yellow team. Ricky played well in net subbing in for Blue. In the middle game it was reported that the Red team won a close one over the (slumping??) Green team. Finally in the nightcap the Black team played very well and earned a victory over Bill Hopkin's group and some pretty good subs. Ricky turned in his second good game of the night including a "highlight reel" glove save to keep the victory secure. But it was definitely a team effort as Ian, Sniffen, Needles (aka Rob Niedermayer) and Moses and Mike Pardee all played well...On a serious note, George asked me to post a brief reminder to everyone that the whole point of the FNHL is to be a place where we can skate, socialize and have fun. Things usually go well, but every so often the competitive side can cause tempers to flare and create a bad situation. Please try to keep things in perspective when you're out on the ice....Remember that Friday's games will start at 8:00 not 8:15.

8/15/03 - Two very important announcements to pass along. I spoke to George this afternoon and he advised that the rink has power and tonight's games will go on as scheduled. Also, it appears that there was a slight error in the last printed schedule. It stated that the games on the NHL rink would start at 8:15pm. That was incorrect, the games on the NHL rink will start at 8:00 and 9:30 as usual. If you happen to see this before then, please make a couple of phone calls to remind the affected team mebers. Thanks!!

7/30/03 - FNHL games continue to look like an episode of "The Replacements" as teams scramble to fill the spots. But this can also make for some interesting games. Last week's late game was a prime example as the Green team scored a come from behind overtime win against a tough Black (white?? yellow?? I need a roster sheet George!!) team with Jesse, Derek Crowley, Moses (??) and others as subs. Add that group to Ian, "Needles" (what the heck is your real name anyway??) and Ricky in the nets and you've got a pretty tough team to beat. But the Green team was up to the challenge. Throughout the game, Green stayed close and a nice shot by John Albanese tied the game with little time left on the clock. The overtime was short-lived as Green sub Dan Jervis' shot from the high slot somehow found a way to trickle through Ricky's pads and just over the goal line. Rouss was solid in net as usual as was the Green team defense including Brett, Dan Jennings and Chris DiCicco. On the NHL rink, the Red team gained a bit of revenge on the Blue with a convincing 12-7 win. The Fleischmann brothers were away as were several other Blue regulars. Chuck Austin played well in goal for the Red team and I think it's safe to say if Blue never sees Andre again it will be too soon. No report on the early game but I'll go out on a limb and say it went something like this....Jesse and Chip score, Derek anchors the D and their team wins by a touchdown....Pretty close???

7/21/03 - Pete's FNHL debut was a success as the Blue team defeated Black by a wide margin. Unfortunately Bob LaBarre injured his shoulder and has been out of action ever since. We wish him a speedy recovery. Just for the record, Pete had nothing to do with it......or did he??? Thanks to vacations and injuries it's been hard to tell the players without a scorecard but the games have continued. Last week Andre made another guest appearance and Bill Hopkins team gained some revenge on Blue with a 9-6 (?) victory. We're still looking for a couple of people to volunteer to e-mail a more complete recap of their games each week. Please let George or Dan Jervis know if you are interested. We also now have some real (un-edited) FNHL photos and will be posting a gallery as soon as time permits. Thanks to Chuck Austin for volunteering to take a few pictures. The Blue-Green rematch is scheduled for August 8th, should be interesting.

6/23/03 - First and most importantly, congratulations and best wishes to Rich Fleischmann who was married this past Saturday. We wish you a lifetime of success and happiness (and of course hockey!!!). Rich also had quite a week on the ice. He netted a hat trick in leading the Blue team to an impressive 7-2 victory over their arch rival, the Green team. Dan Jervis, Mike Masillo and Tom Gridley also scored for the Blue team and John (last name??) had an excellent night in goal, pitching a shutout until late in the 3rd period. Rouss played well in net for the Green's but it was just not their night. Wearing the green uniforms was a nice touch, but no substitute for putting the puck in the net. In other games last week, Bill Hopkins team (with a special guest appearance by Andre) came through with a huge offensive outburst and rolled over the Red team. I'm not sure of the final score, but it was rumored to be about 15-8. Oh and here's a big surprise....Jessie and Chip score a ton of goals helping their team to a 2 touchdown win over the Black team.....the final score was somewhere around 24-12. Next week, Pete Jervis makes his FNHL debut for the Blue team in the 9:30 game vs Black. He's heard that Bob LaBarre's been talking trash for weeks now and will be out to make sure that Bob remembers the evening.

6/1/03 - Despite the weather, which was lousy, our first annual golf tournament was a success. We had a great turnout and quite a few teams managed to finish the course in spite of the rain. Congratulations to Chris DiCicco,  Dan Jennings and their partners on being the inaugural champions!! It was a nice opportunity to get together and socialize and meet the friends and family members of our teammates (and opponents) on the ice. Special thanks to George for putting the tournament together. It took a lot of hard work to get everything in place and I know it was appreciated by all!!! As promised, there were plenty of prizes for everyone, check with George if you had to leave early because I think there may be some prizes reserved for those people. We're already looking forward to next years tournament and a warm sunny day!! 

5/10/03 - If only the rest of the tournament had gone as well......Despite a great effort by all, it was not to be as Team Jacksonville/FNHL couldn't get past a team of college and junior players from Lewiston ME. In the last game of the round robin bracket a late comeback fell just short. The final score was 7-6. Dan Jervis scored two goals and Mike Tully added one in the near comeback. The two teams met again in the finals and surprisingly they shut down our usually high scoring attack. The score was 1-1 until late in the 3rd period when our opponents exploded and won the game 5-1. Chuck Austin was outstanding throughout the game and Bob LaBarre and George Fleischmann were solid on D. All in all it was a great experience and we hope to be able to put more FNHL tournament teams together in the future. Let us know if you're interested.

5/3/03 - We are happy to report that our FNHL representatives on "Team Jacksonville" are having a good time and holding our own in the tournaments top division. Last night we beat a team from Montreal 8-6. Chuck Austin came up with some big saves late in the game to secure the win. Dan Jervis added a goal in the victory as well. After a night of celebration that ran to about 6am we were back at the rink by noon to face a team from Ontario and managed to win another one 10 - 5. Mike Tully had a goal and Dan Jervis had a goal and an assist. Once again Chuck made the key saves. George and Bob LaBarre have been solid on D in both games. Today was tough because one of our "ringers" from Jacksonville had to leave so we were down to 3 defenseman. We play again tonight at 6:45 and are already assured of being in the championship game tomorrow at 10:15am. It's been a great time so far and the opportunity to join up with the Jacksonville group has been a pleasure. Those guys are awesome and move the puck to the net with amazing speed and skill. Many thanks to our new friends. So that's the story. Win or lose from here on, it's been great.