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.
Another sub-.500 season, but this time a different result: a playoff appearance for the dogs. Down the stretch the team played it's best hockey of the season, going 2-1-1 and into the playoffs. In the first round the Bulldogs played one of their finest games as a team, winning a tough fought 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Steamers. That earned them the right to play the #1 seed, The Saints, who lost two games all summer. The doggies looked like they would make the finals for the first time since they were an expansion team, leading the Saints 4-2 in the second. Then the wheels fell off in a 1:48 span late in the second. The Saints rallied for 3 quick goals and held on to win 7-4. Some positives come out of this summer campaign: first playoff appearance since 2004, and first playoff win since the championship of 2002; and MillerTime is going "full time" with the team.
Finally, another winter league playoff game. Below .500, but in a competitive division, the 6th place finish was the highest in winter since the championship season. The dogs had the 3rd lowest goals against in CIV, but again it was lack of scoring that killed them. With a shuffle of lines the last 5 games, the team seemed to find better chemistry. With most of the team coming back for summer, they may come together nicely for winter next year. MillerTime set a team record for goals in a season with 27, and posted the third highest season point total in franchise history with 38. Doogie became the team's all-time iron man with 204 career games. Skippy was there more than he was absent. He had some good reasons for missing games this year. At least that's what the note from Epstien's mother said...
The playoff run was short-lived (one game) as the dogs got hammered by Le Metro Coronas in the quarterfinal, 7-1.
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 consistantly 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 thier presence felt with authority, whistling the dogs for 10 penalties, including two in the OT period.
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 Cheektowga's finest were called, things settled down and nobody had to take any sensativity 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.
Playoff Record: 3-6-1*