Game played Sunday night, 1/27 at Face-Off Circle. Here are the rosters:

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5748/allstarrostersot6.jpg

Final score was 10-3, Suburban.

Was anyone at this game? It was a great game, lots of good saves and goals, but there were a few problems, at least on the Eastern end. First of all, we didn't even have the right times. The Eastern League thought the Varsity played at 8 and the JV at 6:30. The Suburban League thought the Varsity played at 6:30, and the JV at 8:00. There were only two games. How could we have possibly made that mix up? The Eastern JV was there and suited up to play the Suburban Varsity, believe it or not, it almost happened!

Probably in part due to the time mix up, but there was no pre-game ceremony what so ever. No name announcement, no National Anthem, nothing. I believe last year's game had name calls at the blue line, though I could be wrong.

Next, we (Eastern) didn't even have enough jerseys for everyone on the team. I won't complain about the jerseys themselves, it's not too big of a deal but the Suburban All Stars had some nice Atlanta Thrashers jerseys with their last names on the back... and we had blue practice jerseys with the Eastern shield on them. Again, like I said, All Star jerseys not a big deal but you can't help but feel a little envious. As for the jersey shortage, I don't know how that happens, especially since the boys from O'hara (with the exception of Banes) didn't even show up. Not to mention I'm pretty sure we didn't get replacements for them either.

Lastly, and I mean no disrespect to the St. Joes goalie, I am sure he is having a great year but the Eastern League chose a freshmen AAA goalie for this game who allowed 8 goals in the second half of the game (it was 2-2 when I left with 10 minutes to go in the second). Now, Sjostrom definitely seemed like a good goalie, he made some great saves, but he was only a freshmen. He has 3 more years to play in this game. What about Evan Taxin? He is a senior, having a great year and one of the key reasons for Marple's success. Zach Killgore of Bonner is another senior having a good season, and then there's the obvious choice of Cedric Brown from Haverford School. Jason Hazelton of Haverford High is another senior goalie from the Eastern League who has put up good numbers and plays a key role in the continued success of his team.

I'm no one to question who the Eastern Board selected for this game, I was flattered myself to be chosen, but I just wish some better decisions were made both at the game and before it. I, and most of the players, still had a good time despite the beating we took. Better luck to the Eastern All Stars of next year.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Boraske33,

Believe 2 or 3 of the kids playing defense for the Eastern League were also forwards playing defense. Was there a shortage of defensemen to pick from?

That may be the case, trim, I'm not sure of some of the players' native positions.

Any thoughts/comments on any of the points I brought up or about the game in general?

Boraske,

I think you hit it right on. The first thing I said after the game wsa that the game would have been much closer if the Eastern league didn't switch goalies. Was a great game for a period and a half. Seemed like after the 4th goal went in for the SHSHL, that the Eastern lost a little jump. Was absolutely a great game for until that point. Very fast from the beginning. The first 2 periods were played with 20 minutes on the game clock. I believe that there were exactly 5 stoppages of play in the 1st period. Was very fun to watch up to that point

All star games are meant to be fun for everyone. I was dissapointed that the league did not provide enough jerseys for both (JV & Varsity Teams), but other than the Bonner kids everyone recieved a jersey. I also thought the two leagues obviously did a poor job communicating game times. Compound that with the lack of jerseys, player announcements and the like and I would give both league an "F" As for player selections, I thought everyone deserved to be there and also that everyone deserved a chance to play. Boraske played tremendously well in his 1.5 periods. Sjostrom struggled a little bit. It is always tough coming into a game in a relief role; especially in such a cold rink. I thought everyone did their best, I thought everyone had fun and I thought all the players represented the Eastern League with class and good sportmanship. perhaps the league board will follow suit.

there were tons of defenseman to get, but I think the eastern league did a very poor job and primarily picked most of the kids from the AAA teams. poor choice!

quote:

Originally posted by Harks:
Boraske played tremendously well in his 1.5 periods. Sjostrom struggled a little bit. It is always tough coming into a game in a relief role; especially in such a cold rink.

This is a great point. I personally hate coming into the middle of games, especially when it's a 2-2 contest. Considering every single player on both rosters was older than Sjostrom, he probably felt tremendous pressure to keep it close... like many things (open hockey, 3 on 3 league comes to mind) certain games are a lot more fun for players than they are for goaltenders, but that's another issue for another day.

On the other hand, Harks, 8022, all of our posts pretty much say the same thing. Hopefully the Eastern Board takes notice of the problems from this year, and works to correct them for next year. Thanks for the replies.

How would anyone know this game was to take place ? What a joke.

lol i also would give the EHSHL an "F" from the number/quiality of jerseys to the number of players per position and the time confusion they need 2 do a better job