Brahmas go to the second round

Looks like Tarrant County is going to host the only post-season pro hockey in the Metroplex. Congrats Brahmas! Here's the second round schedule, take note that there is a Brahmas game on Saturday so arrive in enough time to deal with the parking if you have a Bronze League game.

Sat, Mar. 28 RGV @ TEX NYTEX Sports Centre 7:05 PM
Sun, Mar. 29 RGV @ TEX NYTEX Sports Centre 3:05 PM
Wed, Apr. 1 TEX @ RGV Dodge Arena 7:35 PM
Fri, Apr. 3 TEX @ RGV Dodge Arena 7:35 PM
*Sat, Apr. 4 TEX @ RGV Dodge Arena 7:35 PM
*Tue, Apr. 7 RGV @ TEX NYTEX Sports Centre 7:05 PM
*Wed, Apr. 8 RGV @ TEX NTYEX Sports Centre 7:05 PM

Thursday Hockey (results)

Week 10
Thursday, Mar 26

Ice Gators @ Arl. Capitals
8:15pm Parks Mall
RESULT: Ice Gators leave the Parks Sauna with no points as the Capitals win 5-3. 28 PIM! And one broken ankle, as Ice Gators will have to play on Saturday without number 7, "Tits McGee."

Arl. Bolts @ Arl. Sens
9:45pm Parks Mall
RESULT: Tragically the Bolts couldn't out score the Sens, losing 3-2, to go winless for their season. The Bolts played with a lot of heart, with the Game star going to Don Patton, who took a stick in the face (no face guard, old time hockey, we love it Don.) early in the game, but then scored a goal the very next period. Don is a new skater and is to be commended for his spirit.

Drop-In Hockey
Thursday 3/26
08:45 PM to 10:00 PM
NYTEX Brahmas rink

Tweaks to the Blog

Just a couple of Housekeeping things to point out. I rearranged a few things here on the blog, added some things I think will be helpful.

First thing to point out would be that the upcoming game and practice schedules for the week are always going to be over there to the right.

Also added a schedule of open hockey and stick & puck opportunities at NYTEX, maybe will add other rinks around town as well a little bit further down. Because hey, none of us is exempt from needing a little more ice time and practice, and I've always found it hard to know at a glance exactly when the available ice time is.

Just trying to add a little more value to the blog. What can I say, I'm a giver.

-Dickie Dunn

Standings after Week 9

Standings audited by the independent accounting firm Arthur Anderson.

Dallas Lady Stars (7-3-2) - The ladies have already finished their season, by their own doing. They requested a second matchup against the Stingers and were granted one by the league on Saturday, coming up short vs the defending league champs. Currently the DLS (aka Van Buren Girls) are sitting on top of the points right now but have no more control of their destiny, since they've played all 10 of their regular season games. With all the other top teams having at least one more game to play, and holding only a one point lead, DLS aren't guaranteed even a 2 seed to play for the championship, but mathematically they have chance. Taking two of their three losses into overtime helped tremendously. Next Opponent - None

The Stingers (7-2) - Stingers went through a rough patch recently, after starting the season 6-0, but even their 6 wins didn’t come easily. They allowed some opponents to go to a fourth frame and pick up a point before putting them away. One of those overtime wins came against the DLS. The Stingers were challenged by DLS for a rematch, and some schedule juggling allowed that to happen. After two straight losses in weeks 7 and 8, to the Ice Gators and Keller Indians, some closed door come-to-jeebus meetings and a tough practice brought the team together and beat the DLS to save their chances to defend Lord Stanley’s Keg. The run is not over, however – Stingers must win vs Silver Bullets in order to keep championship hopes alive. Next Opponent – Silver Bullets (3-5-2).

Arlington Rangers (7-2) – The Rangers are right in the mix for the playoffs due to their stellar record against their Parks Mall divisional rivals. Their only two losses come against the cream of the NYTEX crop. With one more game to play at NYTEX to end the season, versus the red hot Arc Angels, the Arlington Rangers stand a chance to make their Parks Mall comrades proud by finishing strong. Next Opponent - Arc Angels (6-3)

Indians (7-2) – Always in the hunt season after season, these boys from Keller know how to take care of bidness. The Indians’ only losses come against 2 formidable teams, Dallas Lady Stars and the Ice Gators. But they better “check six”, those Mid-Air collision flyboys could bring the hurt in the final game of the season and knock the Indians out of playoff contention.

Ice Gators (6-2) – Ice Gators have a long week ahead of them to finish out the regular season. They’ve got two games to play before their regular season is over, one on the road at the Parks Mall Thursday vs. Arl. Caps, and one back at NYTEX on Saturday against the Spider Monkeys. But if they are able to win out, they’ll be in the playoff mix. The Uniform Czar loves their safety-orange threads.

Arlington Sens (6-3) – The Sens don’t have a goal scoring problem, but they let an early-season game slip through their fingers vs the Caps, and despite beating the Caps twice since, the Sens’ 3 losses mathematically eliminate them from playing for the Keg. The Sens face the Arl. Bolts this weekend, who appear to be winless.

Arc Angels (6-3) – And now we have for your consideration, the attention starved Arc Angels. You can all thank the Arc Angels for snapping your pal Dickie Dunn back into line, hopefully this will do them proud. How about a little numerology. The Arc Angels have been on a freaking tear over the last 4, count em FOUR games. You know what else there are four of? Only four goals scored by the Arc Angels opponents in the last 4 games. Whoa! But avert yout eyes from the other number four; the Arc Angels four losses put them squarely out of Keg contention. They still can, however, impact the playoff picture by preventing the Rangers from scoring points. It's also worth mentioning that The Uniform Czar, who cares nothing of wins and losses, is still dubious of the Arc Angels’ lack of effort toward obtaining a uniform which befits a team of their experience in the league. P.S. See readers, you comment, we listen!

We'll take a closer look at the rest of the league next week - It's not that there's a lack of stories to report on the rest of the teams, but I have totally run out of time this week. And I can't get all this sand out of my vajine.

-Dickie Dunn

Playoff Tie Breakers?

Projecting out who might be eligible to skate the Keg is going to be really interesting. As the Swami was pondering the state of affairs going into the final week, he pointed out the following.

There are potentially 5 teams that could be sitting at a 5-way tie with 16 points by the end of the regular season on Saturday, if these all these teams win their games.

Dallas Lady Stars: Currently 16 points, no more games to play
Indians: Currently 14 points, 1 game left vs Mid-Air Collision
Stingers: Currently 14 points, 1 game left vs Silver Bullets
Ice Gators: Currently 12 points, 2 games left vs Arlington Caps, and Spider Monkeys
Arlington Rangers: Currently 14 points, 1 game left vs Arc Angels

I am no expert in Bracketology or Tie Breakers, so what would the tie breakers be? League offices, I am looking in your direction... Here's the breakdown of who has beaten who this year, of the top 5 teams.

Dallas Lady Stars
Wins vs top 5 seeds: Ice Gators, Indians, Arlington Rangers
Losses vs top 5 seeds: Stingers, Stingers (2 different games)

Indians -
Wins vs top 5 seeds: Stingers
Losses vs top 5 seeds: DLS, Ice Gators

Stingers -
Wins vs top 5 seeds: Arlington Rangers, DLS, DLS
Losses vs top 5 seeds: Indians, Ice Gators

Arlington Rangers
Wins vs top 5 seeds: n/a
Losses vs top 5 seeds: Stingers, DLS

Ice Gators
Wins vs to 5 seeds: Indians, Stingers
Losses vs top 5 seeds: DLS

I don't know if these wins are relevant, and while all these teams should win their remaining games, nothing is guaranteed and so the picture may look very different.

But we will see what the league office tells us.

Little Hockey Team That Could...

There was a nice little article last Friday in the Fort Worth Star Telegram featuring the Brahmas. Good to see these boys getting some pub...

Texas Brahmas are succeeding against all odds
By JIM REEVES

Don’t look now, folks, but as we speak, the most successful professional sports franchise in the Metroplex lies, oh, maybe 13 miles north and east of downtown Fort Worth.

That’s where you’ll find the Little Hockey Team That Could.

Or we could just call it the Team That Refused to Die.

Either description fits just fine.

Say hello, again, to your Texas Brahmas, and if you like your hockey teams playoff-bound, you’ll find one next weekend at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills.
I know, some folks still think the Brahmas simply dried up and blew away a couple of years ago, when they butted heads with the City of Fort Worth over playing dates at the Convention Center and ultimately suspended operations for a year.

That’s what makes the Brahmas’ resurgence such a special kind of story, because it goes against all odds.

Click this link to read the full article...

Playoff Date Announced

The powers that be are meeting today to discuss playoff logistics, information is scarce today but we should have more info very soon.

Here's what we DO have from the league:

Winter Season 2009Winter Season playoffs are tentively scheduled for April 4, 2009. If the Texas Brahmas playoff schedule effects this weekend, information will be posted on the League Lineup site by March 27, 2009

Updates as soon as the scores get uploaded

Lately there has been a looong lag time in getting the scores posted from League Lineup, and Dickie's day job has forced him to work through lunch quite a bit lately, but we promise to have complete updates this week as soon as we can get updates from all the missing games. We can't see every game with our own eyes so we rely on League Lineup for the details.

We also heard there might have been a change in top leadership in the league offices, which comes as a bit of a surprise, but until more details come out we will avoid commenting for the moment. Maybe that's part of the recent disruption in getting timely updates. I know the NYTEX Hockey folks read this, please email me so we can discuss how I can help get the scores posted in a more timely manner, especially as we approach the playoffs and everyone wants to know how things are playing out!

To everyone who checks this blog daily for updates, thanks for living up to your end of the deal by reading, and I'll work as hard as I can to get the updates written and posted.

-DD