Team Splits for Spring Season

With so many players returning for the spring season, the Red Army, faced with a surplus of players, took a page out of Biology 301's textbook and divided into two. For now, not much is known about the details of the divide other than the fact that Mark Hendricks' message inbox on his phone is full.

Here is how the team that will be retaining the name "Red Army" looks:

Goalie: Andy Schram
Defense: Ben Breiterman, Brian "Beege" Hendricks, Scott Hoefer, Jamie Simek
Offense: Steve Hand, Mark Hendricks, Neal Hendricks, Pat King

As you can see there are a few names missing. Brad Lotocki, Brian Lynch, and Tony Horton, all of whom were members of the winter championship (with Lotocki and Horton also earning t-shirts in the fall), will be siding up with old members of Nightman (Ryan Odell's old team) to form a new team.

And the results of these changes? Anger? Frustration? Blinded, uncontrollable rage? Surprisingly, no. I was able to have a brief chat with Mark Hendricks, who negotiated the conditions of the divide, and here is what he had to say:

"We had talked about it for a few days, about becoming two teams that is. Obviously some people didn't want it, and wanted to have one big team with 12 or 13 players, and maybe that would have worked. But I got a few messages from other guys too saying they wanted back on, where the number of skaters became 14, 15, and 16, and it became obvious that we needed to divide. Plus, we took a vote among players whether to do one or two teams, and by one vote, two teams won the vote.

"The thought process behind who to put where was tough. I think everyone was afraid they were going to be put somewhere they didn't want to be put, and the texts I was getting reflected that. I didn't want to come across as the villain, so I was just throwing out ideas of picking names out of a hat, or anything where I could not be accused of stacking one team. Then people didn't like that idea, so I just made it simple. Brad and Lynch know Pete (one of the players on Nightman) and they know Ryan too, so they go to that team. Then we still had five on offense, so I just had to pick someone to join them. It wasn't anything personal, and there were no hard feelings. Both teams know they are going to compete for a championship."

Hendricks wouldn't confirm reports that he had originally offered Breiterman and King in a package deal for John Carlson, but he did say "We looked over all of our options" when presented the question.

For now, the Red Army's roster is set for the spring. Sure, allegiances to certain players will cause some divides in the fan base, but at the end of the day there is a good chance that a handful of players will three-peat. Who ya got?