Week 4 was a week of lopsided scoreboards. The Brooklyn Rats posted the biggest margin, taking Shickshinny 13-2-1 behind 22 goals and a plus-27 rating. The Dover Dipsy Doodles beat the Hanover Hung Henchmen 11-2-3 by sweeping the counting stats, including 115 shots to 59, even though Hanover won the two goalie-rate categories. The Walnutport Breadbois took the week's most interesting goaltending result, winning 11-5-0 with a 1.40 GAA and a shutout, and they were also among the busiest managers on the wire. Elsewhere, Trash Panda's Mischief beat Noxen 10-4-2 with 50 penalty minutes, Pvckin' Pranksters topped Dillsburg 11-4-1 on the power play, Hunlocks Most Wanted beat Lehigh 10-3-3, and Dover Defenestrate edged the Taylor Swift Backup Dancers 8-3-5 in a matchup full of ties.
Trash Panda's Mischief Outhit and Outpenalized Noxen
Trash Panda's Mischief won 10-4-2 and did it loudly. They collected 50 penalty minutes to Noxen's 18, out-hit them 90 to 53, and led in goals, 13 to 10, and assists, 32 to 29. The power play was a clear edge too, five goals to two. Goaltending favored Trash Panda as well, with a 2.63 GAA and .912 save percentage against Noxen's 3.48 and .872. Noxen's four category wins included plus/minus, where they finished at plus-3 against Trash Panda's minus-20, plus goalie wins, short-handed goals and blocks. Game-winning goals ended tied at two, and so did shutouts at zero.
Pranksters Win the Power-Play Argument Ten Goals to Three
Pvckin' Pranksters won 11-4-1, and the power play carried the case: ten power-play goals to three and 20 power-play points to nine. They also took goals, 21 to 15, shots, 144 to 102, hits, 72 to 60, blocks and goalie wins, 2 to 1. Dillsburg's four wins came from assists, plus/minus, GAA and save percentage, so the Dermits lost the week while winning the goaltending rate stats. Their plus-14 rating against Pranksters' minus-3 was not enough to turn the outcome. Shutouts ended tied at zero.
Dipsy Doodles Flood the Zone Against Hanover
Dover Dipsy Doodles won 11-2-3 with volume. They had 115 shots to Hanover's 59, 31 assists to 13, and 11 goals to five. They also led in power-play points, 18 to seven, plus hits, blocks and average time on ice. Hanover's two wins came in the goalie rate stats: a 3.47 GAA against 4.32, and a .885 save percentage against .878. That kept the score from being worse, but the Henchmen otherwise lost nearly every skater category on the board. Power-play goals, short-handed goals and shutouts finished tied.
Breadbois Ride the Goaltending to a Clean 11-5
Walnutport Breadbois won 11-5-0 with the week's sharpest goalie line: a 1.40 GAA, a .945 save percentage and a shutout. They also led in goals, 19 to 11, plus/minus at plus-8 against minus-14, hits, 83 to 32, and goalie wins, five to four. Sombrero Gooners took five categories, including assists, 25 to 22, power-play goals, power-play points, blocks and time on ice. Their own goaltending was also solid at 2.41 GAA and .923. The Breadbois were simply better in net and more productive in goals.
Brooklyn Rats Take Nearly Everything That Wasn't Nailed Down
The Brooklyn Rats won 13-2-1, the widest margin of the week. They scored 22 goals to Shickshinny's 10, finished plus-27 against plus-9, and led in assists, penalty minutes, power-play goals, shots, hits, blocks and goalie wins. They also posted a 3.52 GAA against 5.01 for the Stickticklers. Shickshinny's two wins came in power-play points, 12 to nine, and average time on ice. Save percentage was a near-tie on paper, .859 to .857, but it went to Brooklyn. Shutouts ended tied at zero.
Hunlocks Most Wanted Win on Offense Despite Losing in Net
Hunlocks Most Wanted won 10-3-3 by taking the skater categories. They led in goals, 14 to nine, assists, 21 to 17, plus/minus, plus-9 to minus-9, power-play points and game-winning goals, three to one. Lehigh's three wins came in GAA, 2.11 to 3.07, save percentage, .908 to .861, and blocks. That was a strong goalie week that mostly went to waste. Lehigh also processed several adds, including Jaccob Slavin and Jamie Oleksiak, but still finished well behind. Goalie wins ended tied at four, with short-handed goals and shutouts tied too.
Defenestrate Edge a Matchup That Was Mostly Ties
Dover Defenestrate won 8-3-5, and the ties tell the story. Power-play goals, power-play points, short-handed goals, game-winning goals and shutouts all finished even. Defenestrate separated themselves with 14 goals to nine, 16 assists to ten, 99 shots to 67, and 37 blocks to 17, plus a goalie win. Their save percentage stood at .855, while the Backup Dancers' was unavailable. The Backup Dancers' three wins came in plus/minus, minus-2 against minus-14, penalty minutes, 41 to 16, and average time on ice.
Week 3 was decided by a handful of blowouts and one dead heat. The Walnutport Breadbois took down the Noxen Inbreds 11-3-2, winning by wide margins in goals, assists and power-play production while handing back the goalie categories. The Dover Dipsy Doodles beat the Dillsburg Dermits by the same 11-3-2, leaning on goals, hits and a trio of short-handed tallies. The Brooklyn Rats also went 11-3-2 over the Taylor Swift Backup Dancers, whose goalie crease produced nothing usable. At the other end of the scale, the Hunlocks Most Wanted and Pvckin' Pranksters finished 7-7-2 with no winner declared, and Shickshinny edged Trash Panda's Mischief 8-7-1 despite being outscored 20-10 in goals. Dover Defenestrate topped Hanover 9-3-4 with a feast of ties.
Dipsy Doodles Run Away With Dermits
Dover took this one 11-3-2, and the goals column told the tale: 14 to 5. Add 29 assists to 21, a +6 against a -7, and three short-handed goals to none, and the Dermits were chasing from the opening faceoff. Dillsburg did win shots on goal, 96 to 87, and took both goalie rate stats, GAA and save percentage, but volume without finish is just cardio. Dover also won hits 62 to 45 and power-play goals 2 to 0. Game-winning goals and shutouts ended in ties, which is about the only place the Dermits broke even.
Breadbois Bake the Inbreds, Lose the Goalie Battle
Walnutport won 11-3-2, and it was never close at the skater positions. The Breadbois piled up 25 goals to 13, 34 assists to 23, and a +27 against an even zero. Nine power-play goals and six game-winners drove the point home. Noxen did win three categories, all in net: goalie wins 2 to 1, GAA 2.78 to 5.11, and save percentage .909 to .830. That is a respectable defensive showing, right up until you notice the offense stopped at the border. The Inbreds took the goalie categories and little else.
Stickticklers Escape With Goalies and Block Shots
Shickshinny won 8-7-1 despite being outscored 20 goals to 10 and sitting at -4 in plus/minus against Trash Panda's +13. The Stickticklers survived on goaltending: a 2.08 GAA to 3.17, a .922 save percentage to .887, and the lone shutout. They also took assists, penalty minutes, ATOI, blocks, and a short-handed goal. Trash Panda's Mischief won the loud categories, with 72 hits to 36, 117 shots to 101, and 10 power-play points to 5. It was a win built on the quiet categories while the box score screamed the other way.
Hunlocks and Pranksters Trade Blows to a Stalemate
This one finished 7-7-2 for both sides, with no winner declared. Pvckin' Pranksters took the scoring columns: 19 goals to 17, 27 assists to 25, and a +8 against +1, plus hits 71 to 46. They also won GAA and save percentage, 2.07 and .918. Hunlocks answered with six power-play goals to two, the lone shutout, three game-winners to two, and narrow edges in shots and blocks. Goalie wins tied at 2 and power-play points tied at 11. Two teams, 16 categories, and a perfectly symmetrical shrug.
Defenestrate Win on Volume, Hanover Win Almost Nothing
Dover Defenestrate took it 9-3-4, and the four ties are the quiet story: short-handed goals, game-winners, goalie wins and shutouts all ended level. The wins came from workload. Defenestrate had 22 assists to 11, 83 shots to 58, 58 hits to 24, and 41 blocks to Hanover's 11. They also held the goalie edge with a 2.38 GAA and .922 save percentage. Hanover Hung Henchmen won goals 7 to 6, plus/minus, and power-play goals 3 to 1, but could not turn those into a winning total.
Gooners Win the Skater Fight, Brazil Nuts Win the Crease
Sombrero took it 9-5-2 by dominating the skater categories. The Gooners posted 140 shots to 89, 55 blocks to 32, 49 hits to 28, and 240-ish minutes of extra ATOI per skater, along with 14 goals to 11 and 24 assists to 18. Lehigh did take five categories: power-play goals 6 to 2, power-play points 15 to 11, goalie wins 5 to 1, GAA 3.24 to 3.76, and save percentage .876 to .865. A five-win goalie week is a real accomplishment. It just wasn't enough to offset everything else.
Brooklyn Rats Win Behind a Goalie Who Showed Up
The Brooklyn Rats won 11-3-2. Their margin came from shots (117 to 81), blocks (52 to 15), hits (56 to 33), goalie wins (3 to 0), and a .922 save percentage. The Taylor Swift Backup Dancers have no usable save percentage, and the Rats were awarded that category and goalie wins without a contest. The Dancers took plus/minus, 21 to -10, penalty minutes, and ATOI, which is a strange cluster of wins to carry into a loss. Goals went to Brooklyn 13 to 11, assists 25 to 22.
The Shickshinny Stickticklers and the Lehigh Brazil Nuts have swung a one-for-one trade, and it is already done.
Shickshinny sends winger Kyle Connor to Lehigh. In return, the Stickticklers get defenseman Erik Karlsson, who moves from the Brazil Nuts' blue line to Shickshinny's.
ESPN lists the trade as processed, with the deal going through on October 13.
No motive has been offered by either side, so we'll leave the psychoanalysis to the group chat. What we can say is that Lehigh now has a goal scorer, Shickshinny has a blueliner, and both managers presumably have a spreadsheet that says they won.
The Brazil Nuts will find out quickly whether Connor cracks the lineup. The Stickticklers will see whether Karlsson's points justify the trade. Check back in the standings.
Week 2 was a week of lopsided scoreboards. The Dover Dipsy Doodles took Dover Defenestrate 14-1-1, built on 32 assists to 16 and a power-play points edge of 18 to 7. The Brooklyn Rats beat the Hanover Hung Henchmen 13-1-2, outshooting them 117 to 37. Hunlocks Most Wanted beat Dillsburg 11-4-1 behind five goalie wins, two shutouts and a 1.48 GAA. Trash Panda's Mischief beat the Taylor Swift Backup Dancers 11-2-3, with a 29-6 assist gap. The tight ones: Walnutport edged Shickshinny 10-5-1, the Noxen Inbreds beat Lehigh 8-5-3, and the Pvckin' Pranksters beat the Sombrero Gooners 8-5-3, despite a goose egg in power-play goals.
Breadbois Win on Hits and Goals
Walnutport beat Shickshinny 10-5-1, and the box score looks like a wrestling card. The Breadbois won goals 25 to 10, hits 90 to 33, penalty minutes 51 to 22 and shots 139 to 103, while also taking power-play goals, power-play points, short-handed goals, game-winning goals, blocks and goalie wins. Shickshinny's five wins came in assists, plus/minus, average time on ice, GAA and save percentage. Walnutport's goalies posted a 4.37 GAA and still won the week, which tells you what 25 goals will do for a team's confidence.
Hunlocks Goalies Bury Dillsburg
Hunlocks Most Wanted won 11-4-1, and the goaltending decided it. Their netminders collected five wins and two shutouts, with a 1.48 GAA and .923 save percentage against Dillsburg's 3.87 and .867. They also won goals, 17 to 12, power-play goals, 9 to 5, and blocks, 48 to 26. Dillsburg took assists, plus/minus, game-winning goals and hits, so the Dermits did not show up empty-handed. They just showed up to a net that kept filling. A shared short-handed goal each produced the lone tie.
Dipsy Doodles Pass Their Way to 14-1-1
Dover Dipsy Doodles beat Dover Defenestrate 14-1-1 in the all-Dover derby. The Doodles piled up 32 assists to 16, 18 power-play points to 7 and 62 hits to 25. Their goalies were stronger too, with a 2.68 GAA and .900 save percentage against 4.21 and .823. Defenestrate's lone category win came in plus/minus, 8 to 4. Shutouts were tied at zero, the only other category not claimed by the Doodles. A busy week of waiver pickups for Defenestrate did not change the outcome.
Noxen Edge Lehigh Despite a Minus-21
Noxen beat Lehigh 8-5-3 even though their plus/minus was a ghastly -21 against Lehigh's -8. What carried them was volume: 116 shots to 85, 75 hits to 37 and 49 blocks to 38, plus wins in goals, power-play points and game-winning goals. They also took GAA, 2.67 to 2.85, while save percentage was a statistical dead heat at roughly .897. Lehigh won assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes, power-play goals and average time on ice. Three ties, including goalie wins at 3-3, kept it close.
Trash Panda Overwhelms Backup Dancers
Trash Panda's Mischief took Taylor Swift Backup Dancers 11-2-3. The decisive number is assists: 29 to 6. Add 13 plus/minus to -11, 12 power-play points to 2, 87 hits to 28 and 53 blocks to 22, and the picture is complete. The Backup Dancers' two wins came in average time on ice and GAA, where their 1.85 beat Trash Panda's 3.04. Save percentage stayed tight at .910 to .900 in Trash Panda's favor, and goalie wins went 2 to 0. Three ties rounded out a comfortable week.
Pranksters Win Without a Single Power-Play Goal
Pvckin' Pranksters beat Sombrero 8-5-3 with zero power-play goals, against five for Sombrero. Their edge came in goaltending and physical play: a 1.48 GAA, a .941 save percentage, three goalie wins to none, plus 93 hits to 48 and 59 blocks to 44. Sombrero won goals 16 to 11, shots 140 to 116 and plus/minus, so the offense was theirs. But shots at that rate only matter if they get past the goalie. Penalty minutes tied at 18 and short-handed goals and shutouts were also level.
Rats Shoot Hung Henchmen Out of the Building
The Brooklyn Rats beat Hanover 13-1-2. The shot count says it: 117 to 37. Brooklyn won goals 16 to 4, power-play goals 6 to 0, hits 70 to 24 and blocks 43 to 14, and even took assists and goalie wins. Hanover's lone category win was save percentage, .910 to .884, a small consolation when you barely face shooting. The Henchmen's total of 4 goals for the week is the number that tells the story. Short-handed goals and shutouts were tied at zero, giving the two ties.
Lehigh Brazil Nuts and the Shickshinny Stickticklers have shaken hands on a one-for-one swap, ESPN transactions show.
Erik Karlsson heads to Shickshinny from Lehigh. Kyle Connor travels the other way, giving the Brazil Nuts a winger in exchange for a blueliner.
The deal was struck on October 11. The trade is accepted, with ESPN's schedule calling for it to be processed on October 13.
No motives have been offered by either side, so we're left to admire the arithmetic: two teams, two players, zero loose change. As trades go, it's refreshingly tidy. Nobody has asked for a draft pick, a sandwich, or a future favor, at least not publicly.
Whether Lehigh is chasing goals or Shickshinny is chasing points from the back end, the standings will eventually have their say. Until then, the Stickticklers get their defenseman, the Brazil Nuts get their sniper, and everyone gets to pretend they won.
The Noxen Inbreds and Dillsburg Dermits finalized a one-for-one trade on October 6, with goaltender Dan Vladar heading to Dillsburg and winger Anthony Mantha moving to Noxen.
Dillsburg sends out Mantha, a scoring forward, and takes back Vladar, a goalie. Noxen gets the skater and gives up the netminder, which means somebody in this league just decided they'd rather have goals than saves, and somebody else decided the exact opposite. Both are confident. Only one can be right.
ESPN lists the transaction as processed, so the players are already on their new rosters and the lineup tinkering can begin.
No motives or reasoning have been offered by either side. Until they say otherwise, we'll assume both managers believe they fleeced the other. That is, after all, the only acceptable feeling to have after a trade.
Opening week produced one near-sweep and a pile of lopsided scores. Dover Dipsy Doodles took the biggest result, 13-3-0 over The Brooklyn Rats, riding a goals gap of 14 to 7 and a blocks gap of 53 to 30. Walnutport Breadbois beat the Lehigh Brazil Nuts 10-1-5, with Walnutport's 1.01 GAA and .965 save percentage doing the heavy lifting. Hunlocks Most Wanted and Shickshinny Stickticklers each won 11-3-2, while Pvckin' Pranksters beat Noxen 10-5-1 despite a 5.02 GAA. The tightest result was Sombrero Gooners over Dillsburg 8-6-2. Goalie wins were a recurring sore spot for several winners, including Hunlocks, who dropped that category 1-3 and still cruised.
Hunlocks Cruise Past Dover Defenestrate
Hunlocks Most Wanted won 11-3-2 by owning the volume categories. They out-assisted Dover 27 to 9, finished plus-13 against Dover's minus-4, and won hits 66 to 37 and shots 81 to 63. Three game-winning goals to none sealed the picture. Dover answered with two power-play goals to none, more penalty minutes and a 3-1 edge in goalie wins, but that was about the extent of the rebellion. Hunlocks even took GAA, 2.61 to 3.59, while save percentage was a razor-thin .886 to .882. Two categories, shorthanded goals and shutouts, ended 0-0 ties.
Walnutport Breadbois Stuff the Brazil Nuts
Walnutport won 10-1-5, and the goaltending told the story: a 1.01 GAA and .965 save percentage against Lehigh's 1.61 and .933. Lehigh's goalies were good, which is a bleak sign for the rest of the roster. Walnutport scored 13 goals to 6, finished plus-10 to minus-4, and took hits 85 to 49 and shots 115 to 93. Lehigh's lone win came in penalty minutes, 30 to 25, a category nobody has ever celebrated. Five ties, including goalie wins at 3-3 and blocks at 40-40, kept the margin from looking even worse.
Stickticklers Win Despite Taking Almost No Penalties
Shickshinny won 11-3-2 over the Taylor Swift Backup Dancers, scoring 11 goals to 8 and taking power-play goals, power-play points, game-winning goals, shots and ATOI. The Backup Dancers won assists 10 to 8, plus/minus at 6 to minus-4, and penalty minutes by 31 to 2. The goaltending gap was stark: Shickshinny took goalie wins 2-0, and the Backup Dancers' save percentage came back unavailable, with Shickshinny awarded the category at .906. The Stickticklers spent the week nearly penalty-free and still found a way to collect the win.
Sombrero Gooners Edge Dillsburg in a Close One
The week's tightest result: Sombrero Gooners won 8-6-2. They did the work in assists (27 to 14), plus/minus (6 to minus-10), power-play points, shots, hits and ATOI, and added the only shutout and shorthanded goal. Dillsburg won more of the counting categories than the final suggests: goals (13 to 12), game-winning goals (3 to 1), goalie wins (2 to 1), GAA (3.36 to 3.63) and save percentage (.890 to .869). Power-play goals tied at 4 and blocks tied at 41. Dillsburg lost the assist and plus/minus gaps by wide margins, and that decided it.
Dover Dipsy Doodles Hand Brooklyn a 13-3 Loss
Dover Dipsy Doodles won 13-3-0, the most lopsided result of the week. They scored 14 goals to 7, added seven power-play goals to two, and held a 53-30 blocks edge. Their 1.52 GAA and .917 save percentage beat Brooklyn's 2.78 and .893, and they took the lone shutout. Brooklyn won assists (21 to 17), game-winning goals (3 to 0) and goalie wins (3 to 1), but that was the full list. Brooklyn also churned its roster, dropping Jake Guentzel for Easton Cowan, then reclaiming Guentzel off waivers two days later.
Pvckin' Pranksters Win Despite a 5.02 GAA
Pvckin' Pranksters won 10-5-1 on skater volume. They scored 18 goals to 9, finished plus-19 against minus-3, and led in power-play goals (8 to 3), power-play points (17 to 8), shots (118 to 84) and blocks (50 to 26). The goaltending was ugly: a 5.02 GAA and .828 save percentage, with Noxen's goalies winning goalie wins 4-1, shutouts 1-0, GAA and save percentage. Noxen also took game-winning goals 3 to 2. The Pranksters' skaters piled up enough categories to absorb all four goalie losses. Both teams made waiver pickups during the week.
Trash Panda's Mischief Win by Hitting Everything
Trash Panda's Mischief won 9-4-3 with a hits total of 95 to 24 and a shots edge of 77 to 44. They also took goals (9 to 7), assists (14 to 7), penalty minutes, blocks, GAA (3.47 to 4.03) and save percentage (.891 to .784). Hanover's wins came in plus/minus, power-play goals (3 to 0), power-play points and one shorthanded goal. Goalie wins (1-1), game-winning goals (1-1) and shutouts (0-0) were ties. Hanover's .784 save percentage was the weakest in the league this week, which left its offense with too much to cover.
The Dillsburg Dermits wanted a starting goalie, and they got one. Dan Vladar heads to Dillsburg, while Anthony Mantha goes to the Noxen Inbreds, according to ESPN's transaction log from October 4.
GWEC's ice-side reporter, relaying word through the commissioner, calls it the first trade in league history. The same reporter says Dillsburg went shopping for a starter and proposed what the reporter described as a "grimey meatball of a player" to Noxen. Noxen, the reporter added, is a fine home for grimey meatballs, and both sides are said to be happy.
No word on whether the meatball comes with a side of Mantha's goal totals, but Noxen appears to have ordered it anyway.
The deal is accepted, with processing scheduled for October 6.
The Dermits fill their crease. The Inbreds get a skater with a reputation for finding the net. Everybody eats.
ESPN transactions · trade accepted · Ice-side reporter, GWEC Discord (shared by the commissioner)
Updated
Around the league
Recent activity collected from ESPN. Accepted trades may still be awaiting processing.
Walnutport Breadbois dropped William Karlsson; Walnutport Breadbois added Jack McBain.
Walnutport Breadbois dropped Simon Edvinsson.
Walnutport Breadbois added Zack Bolduc.
Walnutport Breadbois dropped Joey Daccord; Walnutport Breadbois added Jacob Fowler.