Gold Division

Last 2010_2011 blog from the Gold Conveners

Posted May 10 2011 by Gold Convenor

Last 2010 – 2011 blog from the Gold Conveners

First let us say that it’s been an honor to server as conveners in the Gold Division. As you know both of us are retiring from BOHC duties and are being replaced by excellent people that will continue to do what’s right and fair as per the rules of the BOHC.

Congratulations to the Gold team the “Gold Diggers” for the victory in the championship game. The team was lead by Phil Davie and Manny Sicard and their coach who did a fine job of keeping them under control!

Looking back over the year we had approximately 12 players move up due to an unprecedented number of Gold players signing up for full time. Over the year we had a significant number of injuries and withdrawals due to illness creating even more changes. Even with all the changes we tried to keep the teams competitive as possible, on any night the winner could have been any team.

The Black team won 1st place for the year with the Green team knocking at the door all year. This became history once the playoffs started and # 1 was yet to be determined. On what was to be the second last Round Robin game 4 teams could not play due to a rink rat forgetting to remove the safety pin as the Zamboni left the ice surface, the rink door came down and jambed. This forced the 2 games to be rescheduled for the Thursday night, for this game the Referees and timekeepers were not arranged and this forced the Green and Red teams to play again on Saturday, the day before the Championship Game Day. Did I mention that for the first game on the Friday night the Red team only had one door making it seem like nothing can go right? The stats for all the other games created a tie that need to be determined by goals for and against, Green need to win by 4 goal over RED. Saturday’s night makeup game started by a protest of pool players assigned based on an interpretation of the Round Robin rules, even the Referee did not provide much of an opinion. The game was played and the RED team fought with all their heart preventing the Green team from moving into the Championship game. There was a record crowd made up of the Black and Gold team all cheering for Red. The rule was reviewed by the Hockey VPs Sunday and later at a Board of Directors meeting confirming that the rules were not broken and the protest was not valid. An update to clarify the rule as it was intended has been submitted for correction. “No player already assigned to a team may play for more than one team during the tournament except a goaltender in cases of injury. When a pool goaltender is not available the divisional Convener will appoint the replacement goaltender from that division.” The pool players assigned were fine.

Sunday, the show…. Gold and Black played to a 0 – 0 tie, as expected controversy was created by a quick whistle while clearly the pack was still in play, 2 feet in open ice in the goal crease. The referee lost sight, most likely because he was not hanging off the cross bar watching the play. Come to think about this none of our referees have hung off the cross bar to stare into the net. But in the referee’s defense he did lose sight and made the call. In the seventh round of a shoot out the Gold team won. JR won the MVP for outstanding net minding for the Gold team. Congratulation to the entire Gold team.

A few things about other activities. Please remember to show up to the Annual General Meeting and vote for directors and anything else up for a vote on May 30th. The club has donated $8,100 to the Carpenter Hospice, $1,300 from the Ham and Turkey Roll, $5,000 from the Invitational Tournament, $600 from the referees (must have had a bad call jar), and $1,200 from unexpected Pool Contributions for 2010 – 2011. We are proud that the Gold Division supported this effort with many volunteers. Please consider putting in a few hours when asked. I understand that the BOWSER Girls had another good year collecting for the Burlington Food Bank, please give yourself a pat on the back for your support over the last 18 year and continue to support them. We currently have a member using the Carpenter Hospice facilities, and statistically speaking there is no doubt a member or a former member of the BOHC has needed the Emergency Relief from the Burlington Food Bank, please keep this in mind.

This year’s Jim MacKay Award was given to Neil Duncan. Again a outstanding choice, he joins a select club of people who understand what Hockey life is all about. The plaque reads “In appreciation for commitment and effort supporting the game of hockey this award is presented to a gold division player who best exemplifies outstanding sportsmanship, attitude, and genuine love for the game. This award is given in memory of Jim Mackay who set the standard.” We again welcomed Charlotte and some of her family to present the plaque to Neil who was acompanied by several members of his family.

Lastly a DVD of the Championship game is available to be signed out at the Club, please see Stan Ruhl. This year the Club house added several new TV’s and spruced things up, thank you to all that helped that effort.

Regards,
Bob and Ken