The Fall 2021 Season will go down as a huge success in RSHL history. The season marked the return to Divisional play following a 16 month layoff due to Covid-19. The Return to Divisional play was not without challenges but the flexibility of Captains and Players made the season possible.

Most notable is the emergence of new talent, a reshuffling of the pecking order in each division, and new plenty of new events! These developments will propel your favorite Raleigh-based ball hockey league into the stratosphere in 2022. Let's take a look at what made the season so special and take a sneak peek at what's to come in 2022!

Emerging Talent

While a pair of draft seasons played in early 2021 allowed some RSHL players the opportunity to knock off some rust, few expected the whole League to fire our of the gate. Even fewer expected the emergence of so many new faces this fall, some with sticks and others with stripes.

In the C, only three players from the 10 Scorers in 2019 remained in the Top 10 list for 2021, veterans Ryan Coscarelli, Zach Smith, and Mark Williams. The emergence of Nick Veilleux, Dylan Simpson and James Baril took the Division by complete surprise. The Division saw a huge shakeup of the standings including the end of a dominant run by LaBatt Blues at the top of the C in favor of the upstart Storm Surge and a return to prominence for the champion Zombies.

The B saw a huge shakeup in the standings with a dominant regular season from the Street Force. When the games started to count though, the Ice Holes and their number of emerging players including Nick Magnini's (15 regular season points, including 10 goals) the title!

The A standings were as tight as always, with final seeding coming down to the final week of the season. A number of new faces added some extreme depth to the teams with 'Mare of Easttown' inspiration Mike Robinson dominating the score sheet for the Evil Empire, and a pair of Goodflieshs making their A Division debuts (Brandon and Greg) shutting down opponents for the Champion Whalers. Some old faces took giant leaps with the Evil Empire's duo of Bharat Modi and Katherine Murphy proving to be unstoppable on the court, Murphy leading the whole division in goals and Modi finishing with the 2nd most points in the division.

Finally, the season saw an emergence of a different kind of talent with Ryan Reich and Chris  Vallely joining the ranks of Referees. Slightly off the court and joining longtime scorekeeper Alice Gilliland between the benches for most of the year was noted rink rat Kyler 'Murray' Franklin with his stellar penmanship and shot counting ability. [Editor's Note: A MASSIVE Thank You to all of our refs and scorekeepers for spending their Sundays with us! It's a thankless job and one that puts our league over the top in terms of professionalism, safety, and competition. Thank you a thousand times over!]

Champs!

Huge congrats to all three of our new Champions!

C Division - Zombies

B Division - Ice Holes

A Division - Whalers

Awards!

 

Bloodwood Bowl - Regular season point leaders

Ryan Reich - (A Division)/Jack Edgecombe (B Division)/Zach Smith & Nick Veilleux (C Division)

Mesquite Bowl - Regular season goaltending leaders

Marc Camosci (A Division)/Paul Mistler (B Division)/Thomas Gidlow (C Division)

Walnut Bowl - Regular Season Defensive Leader

Gino Giangreco (A Division)/Andrew Crist (B Division)/Noah Gursslin (C Division)

Cherry Bowl - Most improved player

Bharat Modi (A Division)/Easton Riggs (B Division)/James Baril (C Division)

Purpleheart Bowl - Player that best exemplifies sportsmanship

Jim Trybus (A Division)/Mel Lewis (B Division)/Ryan Coscarelli (C Division)

Boarding!

In 2020 the RSHL restructured to include a full Board of Directors. The Board focused on a number of items for the Return to Divisional play including instituting Covid Protocols, keeping each Division competitive, expanding the regular season schedule to 12 weeks of games, and finally building committees of volunteers (with over 20 people giving their time and talent to the league) to focus on key functions. Longer term, the Board is developing a strategic plan to ensure the League will continue to serve anyone who wants to play hockey for years to come.

Programs, get your Programs!

For the first time in League history, skill development sessions were held throughout the year. The sessions, led by Colleen Murphy and Kriss Lans focused on core skills such as stickhandling, passing and shooting. Participants ran through drills during the sessions with one-on-one teaching. For the pupils who got ahead of themselves in the shooting drills Professor Lans was happy to remind them who the top-dog was with his 106 MPH slapshot.

In addition to skills programs, the RSHL held its first ever All Star Game in December. The League also added some additional goalies to the pickup rotation by acquiring an extra set of goalie gear. This will allow anyone who wants to try playing in goal the opportunity, and to the benefit of many, the chance to have a few runners to be humbled in the net.

What's Coming?

You can expect some MAJOR (MAJOR!) changes coming in 2022. A short list of developments to come:

• Merch! - You asked for it, you're getting it! Expect hats, shirts, hoodies and more in the new year. You'll be able to show off the League all around town!
• Expanded events - the Programs committee is looking to expand their offerings for you to build skills and play more! These include division specific pickups, skills sessions, continuing the Guest Goalie pickups, and other events (such as more All Star Games!)
• NBHL - Raleigh will serve as the host city for the National Ball Hockey League Carolina Division! Two Raleigh teams will be announced in the coming weeks. Games will be played later in 2022 against teams from Charlotte and LaGrange, GA. The winner of the division will play for the Mylec Cup in September.