Viet Cong Express 12 vs. Team Angle 9
Short on bodies but the VC Express manage to clinch the series!
Friday, September 19, 2003

And so the series (and seasonal year) rang out with the final tilt between the Viet Cong Express and Team Angle... kudos to the team captains Chris Archibald, Allen Leung and Anthony Chang for leading their teams and putting up with (and fueling) some of the on-ice administration that comes with the job... and so all the pressure was seemingly on a determined Team Angle to tie the series after a big win last week... even more so with the blatant guarantee as posted by new member Travis Wong... bold words for a rookie indeed... alas, no thanks to some non-filled subs and a no-show bail-out from Jon Low, both teams were short-manned and playing nine to eight with the VC Express playing from the short end...

The game started with more playoff-like intensity but it was the VC Express that were able to solve goalie Ken Takeda early on to jump to a 3-0 lead... Team Angle decided to play the fire wagon offense and risk the blueline by putting perrenial MVP Sean Oye up on forward to go with the rest of the usual gunners... Team Angle's D-corps were left to toil with the workload, paced by Lawrence Lau and his all-out effort, which also included getting jobbed on a cheap off-side as he's pushed (or shall we say "helped") into off-side position as he was lying on the ice... and it was an intense overall effort including many a chance on both ends with no-holds-barred as exemplified by opponents (yet relatives) Chris Archibald and Fraser Stampvincent having a 'family meeting' in the corners... when all the dust settled, it was VC forward Simon Wong turning in a standout performance with six goals to pace his team's victory and seal the fate for Team Angle... with the victory no longer in doubt, a final goal highlighted by a Doug Weight 'deke the backhand go to the forehand' look-alike dinger by Jeff Ho in his swan song appearance in the MDHL...

Jeff, along with Ernie Ma, Kevin Ma, Paul Kranabetter, Clark Lim, Simon Wong and veteran netminder Mike Smith all file their retirement papers with the league as they will no longer continue into the new season... best wishes to those players and thanks to all for a great series and season! See you in October!

MDHL 3 Stars:


3 Allen Leung... rookie captain played well but came up a bit short tonight.
2 Mike Smith... great saves all around including a few off the shaft!
1 Simon Wong... six goals in the clinching game, a true money player!