Post Info TOPIC: 10-7-14: PHANTOMS PLAYING ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER ON GONG SHOW
Phantom Press Release

Date:
10-7-14: PHANTOMS PLAYING ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER ON GONG SHOW
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From Ice Hockey to Inline Hockey, several members of the West Michigan hockey community have again united and returned to being active teammates with each other as players from around the community begin another busy season of hockey. Many of these members will continue to wear their yellow jerseys of the West Michigan Phantoms and black jerseys of the Zombies back in their Grand Rapids recreational leagues, but have also added black and blue jerseys of the West Michigan Gong Show to their collection for this winter 2014 season. Since 2010, the West Michigan Gong Show, under the leadership of Matt Myers, have been involved in the MIHA (Midwest Inline Hockey Association) and have been active in multiple tournaments around the Midwest region. This 2014-2015 season for the MIHA is no different and in fact, marks the first time in the four year history of the Gong Show that two separate Gong Show teams are playing side-by-side (T2 and T4 teams). (T2 is the division that MIHA considers as the Bronze level based on skill, which currently in the highest active division in the league the past two seasons. T4 is the division that MIHA considers as the recreational level and is the lowest in the MIHA.)

With many players playing ice hockey with the Phantoms and/or Zombies also playing inline hockey with either the T2 or T4 Gong Show, these players are balancing their hockey skills between blades and wheels. In the opening month of the MIHA season, Gong Show has already left a mark on the MIHA season. The T2 team opened its season in early September and suffered a disappointing loss in the championship game during the Buffalo tourney to the home-favored Buffalo City Hawks. The T2 team roared back during the second tourney of the season in Grand Rapids to capture the T2 Grand Rapids Championship. Through the first two tourneys of the season for the T2 squad, they have recorded a 6-2 overall record. For the organizer and captain of the T2 team Matt Myers, he is very pleased with his T2's success and credits the team's focus, respect and history to their great start.  "You'll rarely see Gong Show fighting amongst ourselves and keeping it simple and having fun with it definitely helps us as a team," Myers said. "Having our core of original players sticking together, along with some additions that fit right in has helped our success greatly," Myers added.  

As mentioned, Gong Show this season is also supported by a lower T4 team which is piloted by Mike Whelpley. Unlike their T2 counterparts, T4 was been involved in just one tournament thus far this season, in which they took the extended path from the bottom of the standings to advance all the way to the championship game in Grand Rapids, only to fall to the Windy City Syndicate in overtime. Dropping the first two games of the T4 tournament was a hard blow for the newly formed Gong Show T4 team, but it redeemed itself the following day to capture two straight wins to surprise the skeptics. "I am very happy with the way we came together after the first day," Whelpley said. "We could have just folded up shop after Saturday's games but we didn't," Whelpley added. T4 Gong Show completed their initial tournament with a 2-1-2 overall record. The development of a T4 team has been in the eyes of both Mike Whelpley and Matt Myers for some time, but took longer than expected to unleash the double-dose of Gong Show Hockey.  "I have been wanting to start a T4 team for the last three years but haven't been able to get a whole squad together, it worked out very well this year." said Whelpley.

Both the Gong Show T2 and T4 will continue to grow and practice and will return to the floor on November 8 when the fourth tournament of the overall MIHA season rolls back into Grand Rapids. Excitement is high on both Gong Show squads and based on the early starts, Gong Show is headed in the correct direction. "I feel real confident with what both teams will accomplish this year," Myers said. T2's first tourney brought them to the championship game and in their second tourney, won it; while in T4's very first MIHA showing, they lost in overtime of the championship game. "I believe both teams have a good season ahead of them," Myers said.



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