Season Recap

Game 1, Bad Brains 5, Avalanche 4 OT

The Bad Brains opened up the new season with a hard fought 5-4 overtime win against the Avalanche. With Matt and Brandon Grenert away on vacation and Wil Poon out for the year after surgery Hector Garcia stepped in to provide the team with a big boost. After the Bad Brains fell behind 3-0 early in the third period Hector scored two goals and assisted on Eddie Garcia's goal to tie the game with just over three minutes to play. The Avalanche took a 4-3 lead with just 18 seconds left but Hector tied the game just six seconds later. He took the face off at center ice and weaved his way through the Avs to score with 12 seconds left. The game went into overtime where Hector scored the game winner on an assist from Joey Longoria. Minoru Yoko and Chris Gronowski also had assists in the come from behind win. Although Hector Garcia obviously was a big key to the win the entire Bad Brains team played very well.

Game 2, Habaneros 5, Bad Brains 2

The Bad Brains suffered their first defeat of the season falling to the Habaneros 5-2. The Brains were very short handed playing without Matt and Brandon Grenert, Joey and Oscar Longoria and Sam Salih. Greg Russell also did not play and will not play with the team this season because he also is playing on a Level 2 team. The Brains still fought hard and kept the game close behind a pair of goals from Jeremy Menkee. Hector Garcia and Chris Gronowski chipped in with assists. Hopefully the team will be at full strength next week and get back on the winning track.

Game 3, Bad Brains 5, Redrum 4, OT

The Bad Brains finally had their full team for the first time this season and needed everyone to score a hard fought 5-4 overtime win against Redrum. After a scoreless first period Redrum took a 2-0 lead scoring an even strenght goal followed by a power play goal. Mitchi Shibata scored her first of two goals on assists from Eddie Garcia and Brandon Grenert to get the Brains on the board. Captain Chris Gronowski followed with an unassisted goal to make it 2-2 after two periods. Redrum scored the first goal of the third period before Mitchi struck again with assists from Matt and Brandon Grenert and the game was tied again at 3-3. Redrum took the lead once again with 7:40 to play but John Hutchison scored with just 1:49 to go to tie the game at 4-4. Jeremy Menkee ended things early in overtime scoring on an assist from Chris Gronowski just :25 seconds into the extra period to give the Bad Brains a thrilling 5-4 win. The Brains are now 2-1 on the season with both wins coming in overtime.

Game 4, Bad Brains 9, Blades 1

The Bad Brains recorded their biggest win of the season with a 9-1 blowout of the Blades. Eleven of the fourteen players on the ice picked up at least one point in a game that was never close. The Brains led 3-0 after the first period thanks to goals from Oscar Longoria, Jeremy Menkee and Doug Stolhand. In the second period the Bad Brains scored three more goals with Eddie Garcia, Brandon Grenert scoring and Jeremy Menkee adding his second goal. John Hutchison and Matt Grenert scored goals in the third period with Oscar Longoria adding his second of the game.  Mitchi Shibata, Sam Salih, Morgan Hagen and Taka Nakai also added assists. The Brains outshot the Blades 42 to 14 in the game. With the win the team moved into a tie for first place tie with the Habaneros.

Game 5, Bullets 5, Bad Brains 4

The Bad Brains suffered a disappointing 5-4 loss to the Bullets in the first meeting of the season between the two teams. Things started out great for the Brains with Matt Grenert scoring three goals in the first period to give the team a 3-0 lead. Things went down hill from there with the Bullets scoring two goals in the second period and three more in the third. Mamoru Hirose scored the final goal of the game to make the score 5-4. Mitchi Shibata had two assists while Eddie Garcia, Minoru Yokoshima and John Hutchison also added assists. Because of the rare Sunday game the Brains played without Jeremy Menkee, Oscar Longoria, Sam Salih and Taka Nakai. Still the Brains had 9 players to the Bullets 10 so it wasn't a big disadvantage.

Game 6, Bad Brains 2, Avalanche 1

The Bad Brains earned a hard fought 2-1 win over the Avalanche to move into first place in Level 6 of the Pacific Coast Hockey League. The Brains took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Jeremy Menkee, Morgan Hagen picked up the assist. After a scoreless second period the Brains extended their lead to 2-0 in the third on a Matt Grenert goal and looked to be in control. However, the Avalanche pushed one by goalie Jimmy Yoshida late in the third period to make things interesting. However, the Brains were able to hold on for the win and improved to 4-2 on the year and 2-0 vs. the defending champion Avalanche this season. The Bad Brains also welcomed two new players, Phil Goldner and Chris Benner who should help out a lot this season.

Game 7, Bad Brains 6, Habaneros 3

The Bad Brains played perhaps their best game of the season in beating up on the Habaneros 6-3.  Jeremy Menkee got the team off to a good start scoring an unassisted power play goal in the first period to give the Brains a 1-0 lead. It was the seventh goal of the season for Jeremy who is tied for the league lead. Phil Goldner followed with his first goal as a member of the Bad Brains with assists from Joey Longoria and Doug Stolhand to give the Brains a 2-0 lead at the first intermission. Eddie Garcia scored an unassisted goal to open the second period and make the score 3-0. After a Habaneros goal, Phil Goldner scored unassisted for his second goal of the game to make it 4-1. The Habaneros scored again before the end of the second period to make the score 4-2. Eddie Garcia scored his second goal of the game on assists from Joey Longoria and Matt Grenert to open up the third period and make the score 5-2. The Habaneros found the net one last time in the third period before Chris Benner scored his first goal as a member of the Bad Brains into an empty net with just two second to play making the final score 6-3. The Brains are in first place one point in front of the Avalanche and two points up on both the Habaneros and the Bullets.

Game 8, Bad Brains 6, Blades 4

The Bad Brains didn't play great but still played well enough to extend their winning streak to three in a row by beating the last place Blades 6-4. Chris Benner started off the scoring for the Brains with a big slap shot for a goal. Phil Goldner had the assist as the Brains took a 1-0 first period lead. The Blades scored a quick goal to tie things up before Matt Grenert gave the Brains the lead back with an unassisted goal to end the period at 2-1.  Matt started the second period with another goal with an assist from Mitchi Shibata making the score 3-1. The Blades scored the next goal to make the score 3-2 but Matt Grenert struck again with an assist from Eddie Garcia to make the score 4-2. Chris Gronowski closed out the scoring in the period with another assist from Phil Goldner and the Brains had a 5-2 lead after two. The Blades tried to make it close with a pair of third period goals but Matt Grenert's fourth goal of the game on the power play wrapped up a 6-4 win. With his big game Matt has unofficially moved to the top of the PCHL scoring list with nine goals on the season. The Brains are currently in first place in Level 6 of the PCHL, two points up on the Habaneros. 

Game 9, Bad Brains 6, Redrum 4

After a two week layoff the first placed Bad Brains returned to the ice with a 6-4 win over Redrum. The team had an explosive first period with five goals, three scored by Brandon Grenert. Phil Goldner and Matt Grenert also scored in the first period with Mitchi Shibata, Morgan Hagen, John Hutchison, Sam Salih, Oscar Longoria and Eddie Garcia all assisting on the goals. Redrum scored two goals in the second period to make things interesting but Chris Benner scored unassisted to give the Brains some breathing room heading into the third period. Unfortunately with about four minutes to go in the game Dennis Cook of Redrum was involved in a collision with Matt Grenert and hit his head on the ice. He had to be helped off the ice and was taken to the hospital. The officials decided to call the game and the final score was 6-4.

Game 10, Bad Brains 4, Bullets 3

The Bad Brains winning streak continues after a 4-3 win over the Bullets. The Brains reach the half way point of the season with an 8-2 record, a five game winning streak and sole possesion of first place. John Hutchison started the scoring in the first period with a nice individual effort to give the Brains a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal. The Bullets came back to tie the game mid way through the first period before Mike Levonowski, filling in for leading scorer Matt Grenert, scored with :35 second to go on a nice pass from Phil Goldner and the Bad Brains held a 2-1 lead after one period. Doug Stolhand scored the only goal of the second period on the power play with assists from Chris Gronowski and Phil Goldner and the Brains had a 3-1 lead with one period to go. The Bullets made it a game with 2 goals in the third period but Yokoshima Minoru's goal in the third period, assisted by Brandon Grenert, was the difference in the Brains 4-3 victory. 

Game 11, Avalanche 4, Bad Brains 0

The Bad Brains five game winning streak was snapped after a 4-0 loss to the Avalanche. Give credit to Avs goalie Joseph Danna who was spectacular in the shutout win. The Bad Brains were also hurt by penalties giving up three power play goals. That helped the Avalanche out shoot the Brains 33-26. With the loss the Brains fall into a first place tie with the Habaneros as the second half of the season gets underway.

Game 12, Blades 2, Bad Brains 0

After a five game winning streak the Bad Brains lost their second game in a row to the Blades 2-0. For the second game in a row the Brains failed to score a goal. After a scoreless first and second period the Blades scored the first goal of the game on a two man advantage midway through the third period. The four minutes to play the Blades sealed the win with a second goal to cap a 2-0 win. The lose drops the Brains into second place in the standings, two points behind the first placed Habaneros and one point up on the third place Avalanche.

Game 13, Bad Brains 6, Habaneros 6

The Bad Brains snapped their two game losing streak with a hard fought 6-6 tie vs. the Habaneros. The game started off with Eddie Garcia and Matt Grenert both getting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after complaining about missed calls by the referee. The rest of the Brains did a good job of killing off the penalties with Sam Salih scoring unassisted to make the score 1-0. The Habaneros countered with a goal and after a wild, physical first period the score was 1-1. The Habaneros opened the second period with a goal to make the score 2-1 but Phil Goldner answered with a power play goal on assists from Doug Stolhand and Brandon Grenert to even the score. The back and forth game continued with the Habaneros taking a 3-2 lead but the Brains struck back on a beautiful Matt Grenert break away goal on an assist from Eddie Garcia and the score was 3-3. A wild third period started with the Brains taking a 4-3 lead on a power play goal from Eddie Garcia with Brandon Grenert assisting. Then the Brains took a two goal lead on an unassisted goal from Brandon Grenert. The game was far from over with the Habaneros stunning the Brains with three unanswered goals to take a 6-5 lead with 3:10 to play. However, Eddie Garcia scored his second goal of the game with 1:34 to play and the third period ended with the score tied. Neither team scored in the extra period to make the final score 6-6. Each team skated off with a hard earned point in a game that felt like a playoff game.

Game 14, Redrum 6, Bad Brains 0

The Bad Brains winless streak reached three in a row after a 6-0 loss to Redrum. The Brains were shorthanded missing six players, most notably leading scorers Matt and Brandon Grenert. Making matters worse Chris Benner quit the game after receiving a roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct penelty on the same play leaving the team even more shorthanded. Redrum outshot the Brains 40-11 in an ugly, frustrating loss.

Game 15, Bullets 5, Bad Brains 2

For the second straight week the Bad Brains were very shorthanded and for the second straight week the team lost. Again, Matt and Brandon Grenert missed the game as the Brains skated with only NINE players! John Hutchison and Chris Benner scored goals to make it respectable but the Brains were outshot 39-11 in the loss. After a five game winning streak the Bad Brains are winless in their last five games and have been shutout three times.

Game 16, Bad Brains 3, Blades 2

The Bad Brains picked up a much needed win over the Blades to snap a 5 game winless streak. The team welcomed back Matt and Brandon Grenert as well as Oscar Longoria who missed the last 2 games. Jeremy Menkee also returned from injury after missing the last 8 games. With 15 skaters the Brains jumped out to a big lead. Jeremy Menkee started the scoring with a first period goal with assists from John Hutchison and Mamoru Hirose and it was 1-0 Bad Brains. Matt Grenert followed it up with a goal to make it 2-0 with Chris Gronowski on the assist. After a scoreless second period the Brains made it 3-0 on a Chris Benner goal with Phil Goldner assisting. The Blades fought back in the third period to make it close but the game ended 3-2 with the Bad Brains getting the win. Jon Harkey, filling in for goalie Jimmy Yoshida, played very well with 41 saves.

Game 17, Bad Brains 2, Avalanche 2

Good news, bad news in a 2-2 tie vs. the Avalanche. The good news was that we had most of our full team there especially Matt and Brandon Grenert. The bad news they were in the penelty box for almost the entire game. Matt took five penelties before getting a game misconduct and Brandon, Chris Benner and Chris Gronowski each took two penelties. That's right eleven penelties in one game. We were on the penelty kill almost the entire game and still was able to pull out a 2-2 tie. Phil Goldner scored a goal and had an assist. Brandon Grenert also scored a goal.

Game 18, Habaneros 8, Bad Brains 0

Not much positive to say about this game. Same old story, if we don't have our full team show up, especially if we have two or three of our top players out, we have no shot to win. Matt and Brandon Grenert, our top two scorers, could not make the game and Chris Benner, another top player was out injured. The Habaneros scored 3 goals in the first period, 2 more in the second and then 3 more in the third period before it was all over. Goalie Jimmy Yoshida did all he could stopping 47 of 55 shots on goal!  * (The Bad Brains were later awarded a win in this game because the Habaneros used an ineligible player.)

Game 19, Redrum 5, Bad Brains 4

The Bad Brains lost a hard fought game despite getting goals from unexpected places. Redrum jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period before Morgan Hagen scored his first goal in four seasons with the Bad Brains to cut the deficit in half. Matt Grenert and Doug Stolhand followed with goals to give the Brains a 3-2 lead after two periods. Redrum came right back with a pair of goals in the third period to recapture the lead at 4-3 before Matt Grenert scored again to tie the game 4-4. With 3:07 to play Redrum scored to make it 5-4 and held on for the win.

Game 20, Bullets 12, Bad Brains 4

Even though the score was bad the game was actually very well played by the Bad Brains. The team had only nine skaters for the regular season finale and NO GOALIE. Despite that the Bad Brains trailed ONLY 2-1 after the first period thanks to a Minoru Yokoshima goal. Brandon Grenert had the natural hat trick in the second period with three straight goals, Mitchi Shibata and Chris Gronowski assisted. However, shooting at an empty net the Bullets added four goals in the second period to take a 6-4 lead. In the final period the Brains ran out of gas and the Bullets turned it on for a 12-4 win. Still everyone on the Bad Brains played very hard to keep the game competitive without a goalie into the third period.