Defending Champs Have No Answer for Aces
May 14th, 2021 The defending CIHL Champions AsiaXpat Kowloon Warriors have not been able to come up with any answers for the Manulife Macau Aces this year as they lost for the fourth time last night, this time by the count of 6-2. Aces Whitney Olsen increased his league lead for the most goals by netting a hat trick, Whitney now has 22 goals on the season, 6 more than Tycoons rookie Nicholas Weberg. All eyes were on Aces U16 forward Owen Kwok, Owen playing in his second CIHL game as a call-up had two assists on the night. No doubt he will be a high draft pick next year in the annual CIHL draft held in September. Next Week CIHL Games: Game 1: AsiaXpat Kowloon Warriors vs HKBN Hong Kong Tycoons 8:30pm on May 20th @ Mega Ice Game 2: Manulife Macau Aces vs Scotiabank South China Sharks 10:00pm on May 20th @ Mega Ice
CIHL Game of the Week
May 11th, 2021 The CIHL Game of the Week features the first place Manulife Macau Aces taking on the second place AsiaXpat Kowloon Warriors. A win for the Warriors would move them within one point of the Aces for first place in the standings. First place is golden as it also means an automatic birth to the CIHL Championship Game which will be held at the new rink in Discovery Bay on Saturday, July 3rd at 7:30pm. The return of Aces defensemen Tyler Doherty to the line-up will certainly go a long way to help the Aces cut down their shots on goal which is well above 40 per game. Warriors will have to dig deep and play a full three periods if they want to capture their first win against the Aces this year - so far they have gone 0-3-1. Game time is 9:45pm on May 13th @ Mega Ice
Sharks Officially Eliminated from Playoffs with Loss to Warriors
May 7th, 2021 For the first time under the new CIHL playoff format, the Scotiabank South China Sharks will not be part of the post season play as they were eliminated by the AsiaXpat Kowloon Warriors last night. After falling behind 4-0 in the first period, the Sharks fought back as 'Sharks' should do and tied the game 5-5 early in the third period. Unfortunately Warriors captain and CIHL all-time leading scorer Gregory Smyth notched his third goal of the evening with just over six minutes left in the game to put the Warriors back on top for good. With the win, the Warriors climbed into second spot of the standings, both the Warriors and HKBN Hong Kong Tycoons have 15 points and identical records but the Warriors have the edge on head-to-head meetings. Next week CIHL Game of the week has the 1st place Manulife Macau Aces taking on the 2nd place AsiaXpat Kowloon Warriors. Game Time is 9:45pm on May 13th @ Mega Ice
Tycoons Win Fourth Straight to Claim Sole Possession of Second
May 6th, 2021 Last week's game was a bit of a change from the 12-8 game the Tycoons played the previous week. This game finished with a total of seven goals scored compared to the massive 20 from their game versus the Sharks. This match was a lot more defensive with goalies going back and forth, both making tough saves at their respective ends. It took a while for the first goal to find the back of the net in the opening frame. Whitney Olsen broke into the zone for the Aces and fed it to team-leading point-getter Jesse Lussier behind the net. Lussier made a nice pass through the legs of a Tycoons player that landed on the stick of Oliver Tedja who puck home five-hole on Emerson Keung. This proved to be the only goal in the first period of play. The second opened with a bang. Preston Kwok found Lucas Eshleman on the point, then Eshleman dished it to a wide-open Jonathan Szychta in the slot. Szychta wasted no time firing a high wrister that beat Liam Moorfield-Yee on the blocker side. This goal tied the game at one goal apiece and ended up being the only one in the second period of play. Eshleman opened the scoring in the third with a quick goal on a scramble out front that had assists going to Nicholas Weberg and Szychta. Shortly after, Mathew Lee, the league-lead in penalty minutes threw a dirty elbow at points man Nicholas Weberg that saw Lee getting kicked out of the game with a 2 and a 10 for checking to the head. The momentum shift allowed Eshleman to get his second of the game assisted by Weberg and Elliot Steele. Olsen snapped back to close the gap on an unassisted effort less than a minute later. Despite many chances, neither team scored until Steele put one home in the empty net from Weberg. It was a little too late but goaltender Moorfield-Yee passed one up the boards to a streaking Tom Allen who sniped one just over the pad of Keung. The game ended at a score of 4-3 Tycoons in this hard-fought battle by both teams. Aces Moorfield-Yee stopped 32 of 35 for a save percentage of .914, while Keung at the other end saved 22 of 25 against for a .880 at the other end. Both teams will have a buy week next week while the Sharks take on the Warriors. 3 Stars of the Game: 1. Tycoons - Lucas Eshleman, 2G +1A 2. Tycoons - Nicholas Weberg, 3A 3. Aces - Whitney Olsen, 1G + 1A
CIHL Game of the Week
May 4th, 2021 A must win game for the Scotiabank South China Sharks this week as they take on the AsiaXpat Kowloon Warriors for the CIHL Game of the Week!@ With five games left to play and trailing the Warriors by eight points, a loss will officially eliminate the Sharks from post season play. The Warriors meanwhile need the win to stay even with the surging HKBN Hong Kong Tycoons who are two points ahead of them for 2nd place in the CIHL standings. Game time is 10:00pm on May 6th @ Mega Ice.