Only two things can be said about the Canadian expat community in Chiayi: They know how to crash scooters and they live for hockey. The uncountable Saturday afternoons of ball hockey that come second only to a Ronan Wilson (rumored to be the long lost illegitimate offspring of Beach Boy Brian Wilson) gig, have set a solid foundation for the franchise that dominated the league and captured last year’s championship title.

Sunday morning saw the Sharks ready for attack on a short-benched version of the Taipei-based Wolves, who were without core players John Long, Jeremy Campbell, Joe Henley and Sean Bourassa. This would prove their undoing, as the Wolves came out competitive in the first, but lacked the legs to stay in the game through the second and third.

The Sharks opened the scoring in the twelfth minute of the first with Matt Stever taking a pass from surprise up-and-comer, Hubert Lee, to find the back of the twine for the first of what would be a four-point game for the Sharks lethal centerman. Credit to the Sharks for doing their scouting at the beginning of the season, because Lee, and his posse of local teammates, commonly referred to as “the Shark Nation 5”, have made solid contributions both offensively and defensively, to what looked to be, but has been anything but, a rebuilding year for the Chiayi squad.

To their credit, the Wolves looked set to make a game of it, getting a goal from Robin Chung (assist: Kevin Chang) barely a minute later, then another from Roger Needham (assists: Dylan Liu, Anthony Dendyuf) at just past the thirteen minute mark for a 2-1 lead. Not willing to start the second in the hole, the Sharks rallied late in the period on unassisted efforts by Chris “See Me Live At Spring Scream” Robinson and captain Kevin Kennedy.

That seemed to be all the wake-up call the Kid (Kennedy) needed this Sunday morning, as the bus-lag faded and the double espresso finally kicked in. He opened scoring in the second off a blue-line rush in the offensive zone to one-time a Matt “Soft Hands” Stever feed for his second of the game. The Sharks added their fifth at the eleven-minute mark when Stever went top-shelf on Wolves goalie, Andrew “Wish I’d Stayed In Bed This Morning” Lunman, on a feed from defenseman Steve Mossing. Young Hubert Lee decided he wanted in on the action and netted the team’s sixth at just past the seventeen-minute mark (assist: Peter Wu).

With a 6-2 lead going into the third, one would think that the Sharks game plan for the third would have been to ease-up, play conservative, defensive hockey and save their reserves for their second match-up of the day later that night, but Kevin “Who Holds the CIHL Record for Most Points in One Game, Buddy?” Kennedy was not letting that idea cross the Sharks’ bench for the final stanza. Kennedy netted his third (assists: Ronan Wilson, Matt Stever) and fourth (assist: Matt Stever) for what would prove to be a big Sunday morning the young lad. One thing’s for sure, we all know what the sports section headlines will read in this month’s edition of the Chiayi Planet: “Editor and chief is a Hockey God!” Kudos to the Sharks for a well-earned victory!

Three Stars:

Kevin Kennedy (4 goals)

Matt Stever (2 goals, 3 assists)