CIII League Champions (Como Park Inn). After disaster 0-4 start in B league and CII, we find a home in lower division and compile 15-5-1 record in CIII. The expansion CPI Sharks surprise everyone and take the (mini) trophy home, defeating the Steelheads in a two game series.

The roof of CPI collapsed during first season. We were homeless. Changed our name to Sharks. The team split in two as most of the scorers went to MMS at the Pepsi Center. The Sharks were never the same after the bar went down (and lost 3 of top 4 scorers). Missed playoffs on tie-breaker.

Team tries to change luck and image with red jerseys (supplied by DJ's Jersey World). New color, still sucked. Missed playoffs by one point. Goalie Jeff says he hates the road trips to Leisure tells team "trade me right f$#@ing now!"

Swanky new jerseys with the dog logo couldn't prevent a bad 3-5-1start. Then the dogs got rolling, going 9-4 through the middle portion of the schedule. In a tough division, a 14-11-1 record was only good for 7th place and a playoff game with Edge Memory. The dogs spotted them a 3-0 lead in the first and were eliminated 4-1. The story of the season was playing up or down to the level of competition. The team also got it's own beat reporter to cover the team, Mr. Mooseknuckle.

 

The dogs won their first division title ever, but a BIG asterisk goes with this one. First of all, it was summer league. Second of all, due to a horrible 1-5 start the dogs ended up in a newly created CIII "B" division when the entire CIII league was split. Further embarrassment was added when the league supplied the dogs with first place trophies for attaining a stellar 5-7-2 record the night of the semifinal playoff game against PJ Bottoms (a 6-2 loss).

 

For the first time in winter league play the dogs did not reach double digits in wins. Scoring, or lack of it, plagued them all season. Many close games were lost, and many "winable" games slipped by them. When Reg is the leading scorer that is all you need to know about the teams power outage. Even with the losses piling up, it took a losing streak down the stretch to take the Bulldogs out of the running for the sixth and final playoff spot. (Insert comment about poor team management here).

 

Even the addition of Sin-Bin Sinclair and Kevin MillerTime could not change the dogs summer blues. After a 7-2 start, the team wilted down the stretch. Scoring was again the problem. After recording at least 7 goals in each of the first four games, the dogs settled back into a pattern of not cashing in when it counted. Once again, the Bulldogs missed the playoffs on a tie breaker. Three losses to the hated Cherry's Boys (including a final game for playoff spot showdown) didn't help either. The only positives to come out of summer league were a winning record, and Stiffy Wood & Sin-Bin moving into regular spots for the upcoming winter league.

 

It was a rough season for the dogs, as the summer league slump continued into the winter season. After an 0-5 start, the team could not put two wins together until games 24 and 25. Losing streaks of 5, 4, and 4 games doomed the team to their worst record and finish (11th) in franchise history. The Bulldogs did finish up strong with a 3-3-2 record the last eight games. This final stretch was evidence of the positive effect of line changes that produced a balanced team. Spicoli moved back to the blue line and was effective. Greg Wicks, Super Dave, and Reg did everything except score boat-loads of goals. Doogie moved to center between Alvis and Stiffy Wood and that line saw all three elevate their game. And of course, we had the Meat Line put together and became the surprise of the season. Team cookouts early and late in the season became more regular as well. Although bonfires will no longer accompany the hotdogs and beer.

Yet another summer league with no playoffs as the team lost too many 1 and 2 goal games. Slow starts seem to be the main reason for poor records, as once again the dogs could not string together a winning streak until the end of the season, finishing 2-0-1. Scoring was less of a problem as the team scored 5 or more goals in six summer league games. Tim Smokevetchkin set a team record for goals in summer league with 24, just three shy of the overall team record of 27 set by MillerTime in the 2006-2007 winter league campaign. As it happens every fall, changes will hopefully give the Bulldogs a record over .500 for 2007-2008. Spicoli will be leaving the team after three seasons. DJ Hornedog will once again be "super-sub" filling whenever the team is a paw down. Tex Penn is back, and on the blueline, and will be joined by MillerTime back there. Up front, Smokevetchkin will be full-time for winter league for the first time, keeping the line of Super Dave, Reg, and Smoke together.

 

After four seasons of sub-.500 hockey, the 2007-2008 Bulldogs tied the team record for wins in a season. Fifteen wins was only good for 5th place. After sprinting to a 7-1-1 start, the dogs cruised to the record, winning close games that they used to consistently lose. Many members of the team learned to skate the puck up the ice with authority. The season also featured the debut of new black dog's head jerseys and an appearance in the 2008 Greater Buffalo Senior Open. Smokevetchkin took a flamethrower to team scoring records, setting the marks for most goals (45), assists (35), and points (80). Super Dave also had a career year posting 17 G, 25 A for 42 Pts. Slob Corrigan missed most of the season with an upper-lower body injury, but came back in time to pass the 100 career point mark. Another team record fell when Joe Goomba Express spent 43 minutes in the penalty box. Bad dog. Smiley Reilly (13 pts) and DJ Hornedog (14 pts) also had career seasons.

The playoffs were exciting, but the dogs were one and done again, losing a heartbreaker to Affordable Chiropractic 5-4 in overtime. The officiating made their presence felt with authority, whistling the dogs for 10 penalties, including two in the OT period.

 

Summer 2008

 

A 10th place finish was good enough for the last playoff spot, as the league expanded the playoffs by one round. After a sluggish start, the team got on a roll but then backed into the playoffs with some help from other teams. Not a very glorious finish. The main problem may have been a lack of cookouts at the end of the summer season, which dragged on until fall! Craig Aichinger and Doug Rose stepped in as first-time doggies and were solid. The season was marred by one incident with Louie's Texas Hots. A bench brawl nearly broke out, even though they were playing on opposite rinks. After Cheektowaga's finest were called, things settled down and nobody had to take any sensitivity training classes.

The playoffs ended in the usual manner for the doggies, as they stuck close to Dangerous Animal until early in the third. The final was a 6-3 loss, officially ending summer for Team Fleabag.

 

The team entered the 2008-2009 season with high hopes of contending for a title after last winter's success. But cracks began to show over the summer, giving the signs that this year would not be what was expected. Teams focused on stopping Smoke, and the bounces just were not there for the Bulldogs. A frustrated team began to have some "internal conflicts" which just made things worse. Everyone suffered from "inconsistent-itis" as the record settled just below .500 for the season.

Even with lackluster play, the team got a gift when the league expanded playoff spots to 15 teams. With a 14th place finish, the dogs got a first round match against Terry's Bikes. Although a mismatch on paper, the dogs bolted out to a 2-0 lead in the first. By the end of the 2nd, Terry's had taken a 3-2 lead. Two goals in the first two minutes of the 3rd sank the dogs, even though they had three power play chances in the last frame. Final score: Terry's Bikes 6   Bulldogs 2.

 

A slow start, and spotty play left the dogs out of the playoffs for summer league. The team struggled and were at their lowest point ever with a 2-7 record by mid-summer. They did right the ship down the stretch with a 4-0-1 streak to end the season, including a win over Ramparts in the last game.

Changes are in order, as with every new winter season. Alvis decided to retire from full time play, and Kentucky decided to come back and move to defense. Slob will move up to forward in Kentucky's place, and Finch Formato steps into a full time role at LW for Alvis. Tommy Boy becomes "super sub" and is next in line for a permanent place on the roster.

 

2009-2010

Another season of ups and downs. For every solid Bulldogs win, the team suffered a good old fashioned ass-whipping. Several games against inferior teams got away from the dogs and sank their playoff hopes. With the CIV division split in two for the first time, the team finished 10th. At the season's half-way point, the dogs were in good shape at 7-4. A woeful 2-7-2 finish was a disappointing end to a promising season.

Highlights include The Mule stepping in full time between the pipes and posting the best single season goals against average in team history. The big problem, as usual, was lack of scoring. Not much finish (eeeuuuuuugh) for the pound puppies this year. The highlight of the year was the Pepsi Senior tournament. The team went 3-0, and even though got screwed out of a spot in the championship, still had a great tournament.

 

Summer 2010

 

This was the best summer season ever, despite the 2nd place finish. At 9-4-1, the dogs had most franchise wins ever in summer league. The team continued to struggle scoring goals, but had the best goals against average (2.71) ever as a team. Danny Cole , Owen Herne, Leetch Evanco, and Alfie Santora stepped into the lineup for the first time as regulars. The season ended with a thud as once again the team could not win in the playoffs, losing to NY Speed 4-2 in the quarter-finals. It was especially disappointing since they had beaten NY Speed twice during the regular season.

Highlights: Mule played the day he had five teeth pulled; Smoke and his mouth got a three game suspension; Sin Bin gooned it up more than ever, racking up penalty minutes; and only one cookout all summer. Smoke also set a new single season record for penalty minutes with 56.

As always, there are changes in the fall. Rick Granata and Alfie Santora will stay on as full time dogs in the kennel. Tommy Boy will also step up into a full time job as well. Danny Cole, Kentucky, Finch, and Leetch Evanco will be the super subs. Skippy will also get back between the pipes this year for a few games.

 

Summer 2011