Hackers Dominate

The first period was tight, with the Hackers ahead with an early goal by Mike Murphy. With 20 seconds left however, the Hackers would give an indication of what was to come when Shawn Bigg added one more goal for a 2-0 lead at the break.

The Hackers would then shift into high gear in the second, scoring 4 unanswered goals, including a Lee Evans hat-trick, before the Lite-Sabres would get one back. Any hopes of a comback were dashed however, as the Hackers simply out-classed the competition, scoring two more and holding the Lite-Sabres to only 8 shots on goal.

The Lite-Sabres would go on to score only one more, as Dave Blandford opened the 3rd with a goal before Hackers goaltender Martin Kane would shut down the Sabres offense for the rest of the evening. Strangely, the 3rd period was dominated by shooters on both teams, with each goaltender facing 25+ attempts as teams desparately tried to flood each net with shots. The Hackers would see 3 of these attempts succeed, going on to finish the game with an 11-2 victory.

The loss marks the end of Lite-Sabres improbable run at the cup, reaching the final from last place in their divsion and sixth place overall. To get there, they had to knock off both division winners, the Chill and the Bulldogs, only to lose to the third of the three teams that dominated the 2008B season.

For the Hackers, a team built around All-Star goaltender Martin Kane proved to be the winning formula for captain Neil Cameron. Cameron has been at the helm of the Hackers since 2006B and until now, had no post-season wins. That changed this season as the combination of Kane's solid netminding with Cameron's scoring touch led the team to a 7-3 season, putting them 2nd in the division. Rounding out the formula were the contributions of Ryan Milligan and Lee Evans, who each averaged 4 and 5 points per game in the playoffs, respectfully.