Commentary by Mark "Gunner" Guarnieri

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GRINDER HOCKEY 5 VS HONEY BADGERS 0

Eight minutes of play had elapsed when the SRO crowd at the Badger Cove Arena were stunned. Grinder Hockey deposited three pucks in the Honey Badger net before the buzzer would sound ending the first period. Craig DiPaola opened the barrage with contributions from John Skolas and Dominic Magnie. Keith Leduc followed quickly aided by James Knight and sub, Ray Babisch. Craig DiPaola scored again this time engineered by John Skolas and Tom Darling. Striking while the iron was hot Grinder Hockey needed only 39 seconds to run the deficit to four goals when James Knight combined with Keith Leduc and Mark Rodgers. As the crowd was getting restless waiting for the vaunted Honey Badgers offense to break out and put some goals up on the scoreboard, Goalie Mike Higbie was brilliant in turning aside all the shots directed at him in spinning his first shutout of the season. Grinder Hockey got one last tally in the latter stages of the contest as Craig DiPaola completed his hat trick helped by James Knight and John Skolas.

PENGUINS 6 VS ACCIDENTS 3

The Accidents took the early lead when sub, Dave Power maneuvered the puck to Randy Kazdan. The Penguins knotted the score late in the frame on Brett Bowyer’s first of five goals in the game. Brian Quarters was the main set up guy. Before the first minute of the middle stanza had been played the Penguins took the lead as Brett Bowyer teamed up with Lee Klott and Brian Quarters. The lead would double later in the frame when Brian Quarters made good use of the hard work of Bob Kinney and Dane Foucher. The Accidents inched closer as Bill Tucker located an open Don Roser with a pass. Brett Bowyer and Lee Klott combined for a pair of goals before the second intermission. Brian Quarters lent a hand on the first marker. Randy Kazdan drew the Accidents closer with his second goal of the game aided by Bill Tucker. The Accidents could get no closer and surrendered an empty net goal to Brett Bowyer to end the scoring.

VIGNASTY 7 VS STARS 1

Dan Smolinske scored the only goal of the opening period giving Vignasty a lead they would not relinquish. With the second stanza only 20 seconds old Dan Stevens scored what would prove to be the winning goal putting Vignasty up by a pair of goals. The lone bright spot for the Stars occurred a couple minutes later as sub, Don Turner and Jay Stanczak worked the puck to Steve Gottschalk to put the Stars on the board. Vignasty got the offense in gear scoring five times in the last half of the game. Sub, Dave Kissel, teamed with Dan Stevens and Dave Szlezyngier to start the flood. This was followed by a pair of goals from Brandon Kane. Joe Moceri set up the first one and Dave Szlezyngier dished the puck on the second. Dan Smolinske accepted a pass from Joe Moceri for his second of the game. Brandon Kane completed his hat trick thanks to Dave Szlezyngier and Clay Barker. The loss saw both top seeds go down to defeat in the first week of the playoffs.

COBRAS 5 VS RED WINGS 2

With seven minutes of play having transpired the Cobras jumped into the lead on the strength of a goal from sub, Adam Lipski, helped by Steve Gentilcore and Jon Schwandt. The Red Wings would only trail for 32 seconds when Shawn Schmidt turned the work of Dave Badaszewski and Ray Babisch into gold. Jon Schwandt gave the Cobras another lead with help from Steve Gentilcore and Adam Lipski 2 minutes into the middle stanza. This lead would last 2 minutes as Rob Visingardi dished the puck to Joe Holder. The third period belonged to the Cobras as they continued to press the attack and scored a trio of goals the Red Wings had no answer for. Starting the goal explosion was Steve Gentilcore set up by sub, Dave Rosso. Adam Lipski scored the other pair of goals. Mike Muszynski was the architect on both goals and sub, Brad Constant helped on the first. The loss was the first for the Red Wings in 2026. Interim coach Mike Nardone kept his record spotless since being put on the shelf due to a lower body injury.