Sofa Kings '07: A Royal Debut

Seventeen individuals, one team.

Only numbers could describe the Sofa Kings as they made their first foray into the Vancouver Inline Hockey League. The Sofa Kings, though inspired by the likes of Horatiu Halmaghi and Travis Chastkavich, were supremely founded by their friends' ultimate love for hockey. Together, their adoration of the game fuelled their desire to compete on a higher level. Soon enough, the Sofa Kings hockey team was born.

The team was aware the competition would be fierce but were equal to the task. With only a few scrimmages and practices under their belt and still developing team chemistry, the S-Kings journeyed into their first exhibition games of their season. The road did not begin smoothly for the team, however, as they lost both tests by a single goal and were demoted to the Iron Division. Nevertheless, the boys in navy blue were keen to prove the VIHL had made a mistake.

The Sofa Kings kicked off their regular season with a bang, beating their rival opponent Reservoir Dogz by a score of 6-1. Adversity would come their way once again as they were humbled by Tha Dogg Pound two days later by a 12-5 score, losing defenceman Shawn Jansepar for the rest of the season in the process. Though shaken by these losses, leadership began to flourish when they needed it most.

Captain Travis Chastkavich was not disheartened by the embarrassing loss and took the team by the horns and helped them ride to a 7-1 win vs. the Underdogs five nights later. But the team's winning record wouldn't last long as they suffered another disappointing defeat at the hands of the Manthers, dropping a 5-2 decision and falling back to .500.

But the recurring theme with the Sofa Kings early in the season was overcoming hurdles and adversity, strengths which made the team strong, united and motivated; they would go on to spank the Killer Bunnies 14-3 before demolishing the Reservoir Dogz again 7-4.

The turning point of the season for the Sofa Kings came on June 2nd. A rematch versus the rival Manthers was the sort of game the boys in blue badly wanted to win. The Manthers had been tiered a division higher and the Sofa Kings used this motivation to lead them to a convincing 5-2 victory, ending the Manthers' perfect season. There was no better way for the Sofa Kings to make a statement to the VIHL then to defeat a team that was deemed a skill set above the first-year Burnaby natives.

Offensive leaders Brandon Lee, Jordan Lee and Matt Chong led the way on the scoresheet for the Kings over the course of the year while a deep blueline composing of Travis Chastkavich, Matt Lee, Jay Lu, Will Yuan and Keith Arnold played beautifully in front of rock solid netminder Andy Marjuki. Things seemed to be looking up for the royally cushioned ones following a win and loss over the Underdogs and Killer Bunnies respectively.

A run which saw the Sofa Kings play seven games in 28 nights resulted in seven straight wins. The team threw more knockout punches than a young Mike Tyson in a boxing ring. Some highlights of this run were a 96:52 long shutout streak for goaltender Andy Marjuki, a knockout punch by "CroCop" Angelo Bacelic in the team's first fight and a goaltending debut for grinder Justin Lau.

The team ended its inaugural season with a 13-3-0 record, finishing first in the Iron Division by a mile. Their 119 goals scored were 45 more than the 2nd-place Killer Bunnies and their 52 goals against was tops in the league. Brandon Lee would go on to claim the scoring title, accumulating 15 goals and 38 points, finishing with five points more than teammate Jordan Lee. Bad boy Angelo Bacelic powered the way with seventeen goals, finishing in a tie for most goals in the division.

Though the offensive leaders appeared on the scoresheet, a day never went by the team didn't credit unsung heroes who did a lot of dirty work: The forechecking, the defensive play, the penalty kills and key faceoff wins ... all these small things won games. Justin Lau, Horatiu Halmaghi and Raymond Wong did a lot of cycling, deflecting and forechecking. Shutdown defencemen Matt Lee and Keith Arnold were vital in the late going of games and offensive blueliners like Jay Lu and Will Yuan fed that all-important breakout pass to the forwards. A "deadline" pickup of Chelsea Laing also proved to be important, as the feisty female skater potted two goals and nine points in only seven games.

The Sofa Kings had been crowned season champions and made a royal debut in the process, but knew the long road of the playoffs lay just ahead ...

Matt Lee, August 9th, 2007.

Team contact: team@sofakingshockey.com