With babies popping out here, there, and everywhere around the SDFHL realm, it’s fitting that the opening game of the Summer League 2026 season was another ‘gender reveal’ installment. Captain Lena Amelang, the only female captain in this draft, led Pink into battle against Captain Eli Schonbrun (the manliest man in the league) and Blue, with both sides hoping to conceive and grow a lead, and give birth to a happy and healthy first win of the season. It was the first season back in SDFHL action for Blue’s Adam Schindler since the ill-fated and VERY short-lived Spring 2020 cusp-of-the-pandemic season, and to say that the return was at least as ill-fated for Schindler as that two game dead end six years ago would be an understatement. Just a minute or so into the opening period, Schindler and Brennen Abel collided, causing the former to tumble straight back and smack his skull on the surface. While Adam sprung up rather quickly and seemed no worse for wear, the blood seeping from the back of his head on the bench told a different story. Captain Amelang’s daughter whisked Adam off to the ER, and I am happy to report that he is OK…negative CT, one staple…just a flesh wound. Still…a scary start to the season…be careful out there, everyone! Play resumed, and another long lost returning player, Scott Wieland, was first to hit the scoresheet on the season, slotting home a point shot to give Pink a lead at 1:52 (Steve Goncalo & Abel). Kyle Snyder touched off his POTW performance with the equalizer at 3:17 in the second (Shelby Shattuck), and after Abel restored Pink’s one goal edge at 2:47 (Andy Strathman), Snyder draw Blue level again with an unassisted effort at 1:40, then blasted a stunning long range post-and-in snipe at 0:02 to complete his hat trick and push Blue in front going into the second break. Andy Strathman made it 3-3 with his first of the season at 8:04 in the third (Abel & Eric Willard), and the stalemate remained in place for four minutes before Captain Schonbrun decided it was his time to shine. Eli’s first of the season came at 4:01 (Brendan Jew & Shawna Hamon), and his second followed at 2:32 (Shattuck & Snyder). Snyder would cash his second assist (completing a five point night) on Josh Tran’s empty-netter at 0:25, but Willard sneaked in a late response at 0:09 (Abel) to make the final score a bit less lopsided looking 6-4, Blue over Pink. There really wasn’t anything ‘lopsided’ about this game, actually…great action, clean hockey, strong goaltending from Blue’s super sub, Don Tran (17/21), and Pink’s Chuck Bender (24/29)…just a great game in every sense…except that early Schindler head crack, of course.
Key absences can lead to key losses, and key losses can ultimately lock a team on the wrong side of the playoff door…with no key. I mean, it is just Week One, and with eight playoff spots available for nine teams, it will take a lot of ‘missing keys’ to really matter at all. Both Captain William Teglia’s Purple and Captain Bryan Ossa’s Brown were missing some ‘keys’, leaving the remainder of the roster on both sides shifting and shuffling to find safe passage into the win column. The prevailing wisdom was that the absence of Owen Perks, Trevor Vick, and Tim Vick for Purple might outweigh the absence of Jon Zygelman and Mark Nagy for Brown, but with plenty of ‘keys’ left on both rings, it was just a matter of finding the right key at the right time. Chris Koziol was first to act, tucking home a rebound to give Brown the first lead of the game at 6:24 in the first (Josh Wirt & Greg Wirth). The goal was tinged with controversy, as it seemed to coincide with a whistle indicating that the ball was covered by goalie Will Heinl, but…the goal would stand, and Brown would carry a 1-0 lead into the first break. Brown would later have a goal sliced off with the other edge of that stoppage whistle sword, with the shrugged shouldered consensus being that ‘two half goals equal one goal’. It’s sweet to see two step brothers getting along well, but it was super sweet (for Purple, at least) to see one assisting on the other’s goal — Grant Goins’ first of the season and second career SDFHL goal came at 7:11 in the second, with the lone assist going to Captain William Teglia. Teglia wasted little time snatching the spotlight back from his ‘beloved’ bro, notching his first of the season with a nifty breakaway/finish to give Purple their first lead at 6:29 (Sadie Hellstrom). Captain Ossa showed that he too can lead by example, drawing his team level with a seeing-eye wrister from the point at 1:25 in the second (Mark DeGraffenreid & Kerri Sevenbergen), and that 2-2 tie would ALMOST hold through the remaining 11:25 of play. Purple’s Heinl (26/29) and Brown’s Mason Holcomb (19/21) were both very sharp in this one, but the former would suffer the loss after a desperate final rush from DeGraffenreid produced the 3-2 game winner with 0:31 to play (Wirth). Three of the five goals in this game were weird, bouncy, trickly numbers…sometimes you just have to get a ‘key’ bounce or two to prevail in a close game.
Captain Jeremy Copp sat at the draft table on the eve of the Wing League 2026 Final, still filled with hope that Captain Nick Meglich’s Sand would rise up and snatch the Cup from rival Black with a back to back smack. With that grand Sand plan having turned to dust like, say, half the population after a Thanos snap (to pick a completely random analogy), Captain Copp looked to forge his own fate under the summer sun with Orange. Meglich would now guard the net opposite Copp & Company, with Captain Rob Gaudio hoping that his fortunes with Red would (greatly) improve after missing the playoffs as part of Captain Brennen Abel’s White the season prior. A scoreless first saw Orange hold a slim 6-5 edge in shots, and the second period was very nearly a carbon copy in all ways. Orange outshot Red 7-5 in the middle frame, but Captain Gaudio finally made a shot count for Red at 0:47 (Darin Cerasuolo & Mostafa Azab). It is safe to say that Orange ‘flipped a switch’ in the third, and even safer to say that one player in particular switched into ‘beast mode’…Christopher Fiore. Fiore led a third period Orange charge that saw them outshoot their opponent THIRTEEN to ONE, with Fiore accounting for the unassisted equalizer at 8:51, and the game-winner at 7:18 (Justin Hepler). It was more opening night goal controversy on Fiore’s second, with some confusion as to if/when/how the ball found a home behind Meglich, but the officials deliberated and confirmed a good goal. If your reading comprehension is even adequate, you know that this would stand as the game-winner in Orange’s 2-1 win over Red. Meglich (24/26), fresh of a deflating OT loss in the Wing League Final, would be saddled with another tough L, while Matt Henderson (10/11) and Orange rode a late wave of fury and Fiore to a Week One win.
The Week One nightcap saw Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green taking on Captain Zach Siemer’s Grey. Whether by design or coincidence, Siemer managed to secure four players from Captain Kalen Hunter’s Cup champion Black…Kalen Hunter himself, Papa Kevin Hunter, John Kushneryk, and Sean ‘Not A Goalie This Season’ Kelly. Kushneryk was out of the lineup with an injury, but Kalen kept his BCE (big Cup energy) flowing, and Sean proved a perfect linemate, with the former notching his first of the season at 6:32 in the first (Kelly & Captain Siemer), and his second at 2:46 (Kelly & Steve Linke). There would be no scoring in the second, but Green’s push to close the cap had the shot total in their favor by a 12-7 margin through twenty minutes of play. Green pushed even harder in the third, holding a 9-3 edge in shots, but it was once again Kalen with a ‘shot that counts’, completing his hat trick at 8:47 (Kelly & Elyse Shattuck) to build Grey’s lead to three. Chris Tran finally solved a red hot Jon Cima (20/21), cutting the lead to two at 2:36, with the primary assist credited to newcomer, Alex Rockoff. CONGRATULATIONS on your first career SDFHL point, Alex! Jackson Tomaszewski provided the second helper on the Tran goal, and while breaking the season scoring seal does provide a unique boost, an empty-net icer from Kevin Hunter at 1:18 removed any hope of a late Green rally. Gabe Davenport (6/9) ‘got Kalened’ in the 4-1 loss, but Green can hope for/expect less heroics from the opposing goalie (great game, Jon!) and improved production with the return of Jenna Chercoe and Jordan Pynn to the lineup as they turn to host the debut of Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon in Week Two.
