Last week was HUGE for the Vikings. After several long trips down south, WHITE won their first ever game in the DPL 5, against the Lightnings Wiesloch, with a dramatic 3rd period comeback. Down 1-4 after 2 periods, the Vikes charged to score 4 goals in the 3rd. The final goal started with capped a ringer off the post by Captain Beemer and finished off when Chris ” Michael Phelps” Hartnett picked up the rebound, scoring the game-winner and getting a well deserved hat-trick! Steve Meyer described his captain as “…going full beast mode”. Beemer had something to say about that; “…When we scored the first goal in the 3rd it was like the whole team switched on Berserk Mode!! Everyone pushed the team and the team pushed everyone! Coming back like this shows what great mentality this team has. I can’t be more proud!
Friday night was the 3rd installment of the Wiesbaden Pond Hockey League (WPHL) and again it was a big hit! 30 skaters enjoyed another great evening of friendly pond hockey under the Henkell lights. You can feel the excitement growing more and more each week! Most teams designed their own logos and ordered jerseys and as the season progresses, you can start seeing all of the new jerseys being proudly worn by the teams.
On Saturday the GRAY team opened up their first inaugural season game against the Stuttgart Mustangs. It was a great morning for hockey! The Vikings team came out strong dominating the Mustang’s defensive zone but with a lucky break, the Mustangs struck first. The Vikings answered back quickly. Fernando “Fern” Collado held his own as the Mustang’s attempted to savagely take him out of the game, causing a distraction in front of their net allowing Strouth to even the score and close the first period at 1:1!
The Vikings came out strong in the second period with great puck possession and movement. This allowed the Mustangs to be out of position and a beautiful goal by Jannick “Pauly” Paluschtik followed by another snipe from Pauly increasing the lead to 3:1 at the end of the second.
The third period proved to be a period of adjustments for the Vikings. Early in the period, Fern suffered an injury causing a quick shuffle in the line up; however, he was able to return and play through the pain. The Vikings also received a penalty later in the period on a very weak call from the refs but Michelle ‘Bullet Train’ Grecco led the penalty kill team to hold the Mustangs from scoring. The Mustangs were able to get another lucky bounce and score bringing the count to 3:2 Vikings. Will was able to end the Mustang’s chances by firing the puck in the back of the net bringing the game to 4:2. The Vikings held the lead by strong defensive plays from their Captain Frank ‘Caramel Beauty’ Moncada and Segi, and of course Joe “the picket fence” White. Great and exciting win for the GRAY team. Huge thanks to Jeffrey “goalie cut” Barrish for proving us wrong and showing us that he actually can tell time! Scorekeeper of the year award goes to….
To finish off the week, Vikings RED drove to Mannheim on Sunday to face the Tower Warriors II at the SAP arena and WHITE drove to Waldbronn to battle the Huskies III. Before the game, the Tower Warriors II and Vikings Red were the only two undefeated teams in.
The game started at a really high pace with both teams trying to get on the score sheet early. Only 3 minutes in, the Viking’s captain scored the first goal. Even Though the Vikings were up a goal the game the game was pretty even played. After the second period, the score was 2:1. Whatever happened between period two and three really sparked the Vikings. Even though they were short-handed for five minutes in the third period, they scored four consecutive goals and secured the 6:1 win, overcoming the early, and 1 hour drive to stay undefeated in DPL 4 with a record of 3-0. WHITE had a few too many gluhweins on Saturday and were a bit sluggish, falling 1-6 and enduring that long ride home!
Another great week in the books!
GVG!!
