slapshot [Updated October 2004]  

2004 WBC Report    

 2005 Status: pending 2005 GM commitment

Devin Flawd, PA

2004 Champion

2nd: Rebecca Hebner, CO

3rd: Derek Landel, NJ

4th: Brandan Bernard, PA

5th: Mark Mitchell, GA

6th: John Kerr, VA

Event History
1993    Andy Lewis        24
1994    Luke Kratz        39
1995    Peter Staab        74
1996    Leonard Omolecki        75
1997    Dan Metzger      106
1998    Dennis Nicholson      116
1999    Derek Landel     131
2000    Leonard Omolecki     133
2001    Kaarin Engelmann     108
2002    Richard Curtin     140
2003    Mark Guttag     141
2004    Devin Flawd     122


Offsite links:

AREA Ratings

boardgamegeek

 Laurels
Rank Name

From

Last
Total
 1. Kaarin Engelmann

VA

03
48
 2.  Derek Landel

NJ

04
32
 3. Devin Flawd

PA

04
30
 4. Mark Guttag

VA

03
30
 5. Richard Curtin

NY

02
30
 6. Leonard Omolecki

PA

00
30
 7. Eebecca Hebner

CO

04
18
 8. Mike Stachowski

NY

02
18
 9. Gordon Elgart

CA

01
18
10. Ken Keller

AZ

00
18
11. John Poniske Jr

PA

00
17
12. John Emery

SC

01
16
13. Doug Galullo

FL

03
12
14. Tim Dolan

NJ

02
12
15. Andy Lewis

DE

00
12
16. Ben Goldstein

SC

99
12
17. Branden Bernard

PA

04
  9
18. Ray Stakenas II

MI

03
  9
19. Jason Levine

NY

02
  9
20. Paul Saunders

VA

01
  9
21. Mark Mitchell

GA

04
  6
22. Josh Githens

SC

03
  6
23. Dan Lawall

VA

02
  6
24. John Ellsworth

IL

01
  6
25. Harry Flawd

PA

00
  6
26. Luke Koleszar

VA

99
  6
27. John Kerr

VA

04
  3
28. David Vereb

PA

03
  3
29. Michael Zorrer

DE

02
  3
30. Steve Scott

AZ

01
  3
31. Steve Crenshaw

VA

00
  3
32. Brian Kirchner

KY

99
  2

Past Winners

Andy Lewis - DE
1993

Luke Kratz - ID
1994

Peter Staab - PA
1995

Leonard Omolecki - PA
1996, 2000

Dan Metzger - PA
1997

Dennis Nicholson - NY
1998

Derek Landel - NJ
1999

Kaarin Engelmann - VA
2001


Rich Curtin - NY
2002


Mark Guttag - VA
2003
   
 


Join the Crowd ...

This year's competition started off on a somber note, as the perennial voice of Slapshot Keith Hunsinger was summoned to be with his ailing wife. Sadly, Karen succombed to a long bout with cancer not long after the convention. It wasn't the same without him, and we were all thinking of him as we were playing.

When the pucks were dropped, we had 22 full tables of action throughout the ballroom. We had the usual late-night fun, topped by the arm-wrestling match between Nate "Auction Security" Hoam, and "tire tossin" Becky from LBG games.

Highlights of the first round included our defending champion, Mark Guttag, getting the attention he deserved and having his superstar stolen from him. That's life in the age of free agency. We also had Bill Crenshaw leading the crowd in a chorus of "Happy Birthday" for his son. Someone may have switched his cards when he wasn't looking, because proceeded to lose 12 straight games with no player higher than a 4. The MVP of the first round was Scott Buckwalter's Tiny Tim, who scored six goals in his first eight games, sending Scott into the semi-finals.

We then had our semi-final "lightning round", which advanced six finalists. In what is rapidly becoming a Slapshot tradition, each player brought their own custom playing piece to the final table. The lineup was:

Devin Flawd, playing the Mariners pin
Derek Landel, playing the Snapple cap
Rebecca Hebner, playing the earring
Brandon Bernard, playing the penny
John Kerr, playing the Prezcon badge
Mark Mitchell, playing the cell phone

The earring was very small, and was easily hidden by the larger pins. She made up for it with trash-talking, including calling Devin "the kid", even though she is actually younger than Devin.

The final began with a rarity in Slapshot - negotiation. Derek announced that he had a bruiser, and wanted to engage in a bruiser war to improve his team. John immediately jumped on this idea, permanently destroying his team. John went the entire finals without winning a single game. His final hand was Tiny Tim, two 2's, two 3's, and a 5.Perhaps next year, he will try a WBC badge to try to improve his luck!

Elsewhere around the table, Mark had bad luck trying to advance, playing four tie games. Derek's team benefited from the bruiser war, and qualified for the finals in first place. Devin quietly built his team into an unstoppable powerhouse. First up for Devin in the semi-finals was Brandon, who got swept. In the other semi-final, Derek's #1 seeded team went up against Rebecca's fragile high-number team. Rebecca survived, winning the series 3 games to 2, but had to limp into the finals with several weak players.

The consolation 3-4 game was won by Derek, and then the plaque was brought out for the championship series. Devin's unstoppable powerhouse was too much for Rebecca, and Devin swept the series to bring home his third plaque of the week.



 27 junior players turned out to start a Saturday afternoon version of this adult Saturday night tradition. The kids were each presented with a hockey puck with a picture of one of the players from the Slapshot deck attached to it, courtesy of assistant GM Mark Yoshikawa. The kids then divided into four boards of seven players each, with the top two from every table advancing to the finals.

Katie Dougherty dominated the finals from the start, as she put together a good team early through judicious drafts and a smart trade, then proceeded to win game after game until final victory was secured. The other junior sports entrepreneurs finalists were:

2nd: Mary Beth Mitchell

3rd: David Pack

4th: Michael Schoose

5th: Heather Lange

6th: Megan McCorry

Many thanks to Mark Yoshikawa for donating use of his game, for arriving in full referee attire to add atmosphere to the event, and for providing the hockey puck souvenirs for the kids. His giving of time he could have used for himself was invaluable in keeping the event running relatively smoothly and for which I will be forever grateful.

 GM     Sean McCulloch [2nd year]  NA
   stmmccull@owu.edu  NA 

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