The first place team has 8 wins...the last place team has 6 wins...the difference between 2nd place and 8th place is 4 points...one win separates 3rd place from the basement...it seems on any given night, any team can beat another...only two teams have a record above .500...it's extremely difficult to state who the favourite is in a game and we can hardly call an "upset" win anymore...it's just that close!

The GM's have done a terrific job drafting equal teams...and the care that's gone into balancing the spare list to ensure "like for like" replacement also lends to the parity seen this year over prior seasons...kudos to the GM's and the Executive for their efforts.

And while Valley Metal has a nice 3-point cushion atop the standings with only three games remaining, they'll have to stay sharp to ensure they nab the league championship.

Pete's chances at the title took a bit of a blow as they dropped a close 3-2 decision to Sound Insurance...with Valley Metal coming back from a 4-1 deficit to tie ReMax, that extra point may come in very handy in three weeks time.

Anyway, onto the results from week 17...

Mike Capone bounced back from allowing 10 goals against last week to posting a shutout this week...Capone turned aside all pucks as Cleanol blanked Stylex 4-0 in the opener...Randy Cooper and Dale Lamb comined for the first three goals with Coop picking up a pair and Lamb with the single...father and son Giasson combined for the final tally with Senior notching the fourth goal.

Queensville snapped their 9-game winless streak with a solid 5-1 win over Rotomould to create a 3-way log jam at the bottom of the standings...yet, as said, all 3 teams are only 2 points out of 3rd place...Mike Marchand scored the first two goals of the game including the winner and that was followed up by a pair of goals from Eric Hobor to give Queensville a 4-1 lead at the break...Dave Mundy had the lone tally on the PP for Rotomould...only one goal in the second as Jack Boonstra scored for Queensville.

Sound Insurance hung on to win as they edged Pete's 3-2...the only goal in the first period was a short-handed marker by Steve Woolridge...the teams traded goals in the second with Randy Farr and Travis Agresti scoring for Sound and Ed Gladding and Ben Sangster replying for Pete's.

And in the late game, Valley Metal bounced back after trailing 4-1 at the break to tie ReMax 4-4 with three unanswered goals in the second including two while short-handed...Dale Shaw got things going for ReMax and added a second goal in the first period...John Stewart and Dan Lampert, each with 3 points on the night, also scored in the first for ReMax...Paul Lawlor had the lone Valley Metal goal in the first, but he added two more in the second to notch the 'trick including the game tying goal...Rod Auld scored the other Valley Metal goal and added two assists to cushion his lead atop the league leaders with 47 points in 17 games.