Halifax Floor Hockey League
The Hackers forward line of John Price and Donnie Bailey was nearly unstoppable, especially in the first half of the game. Price finished the game with 4 goals and 2 assists, while Bailey had 2 goals and 4 assists. Bailey's 4 assists tied him for the 8th best playoff performance in history. Hacker goalie John Dulong was awarded the game's first star for his 87% save percentage.
Rob Tyrrell led Slayer scorers with three goals, which placed him atop of the league's playoff scoring list with 9 points.
Adding salt to the Slayers wounds was the highly speculated retirement of captain Paul Chui after the game. When asked if he planned to come out of retirement this time, Chui said "maybe in three years". Chui and his wife are expecting their second child, which Chui cites as the reason for his retirement. Chui said he's had few regrets about his time with the Slayers, with the biggest being the absence of a trip to a championship game. Chui retires holding several goaltender records, including most saves in a playoff game, 65, a whopping 9 more than the next best mark.
Darren Derocher Defends Chris Griffin
Hackers Celebrate After the Game
Earlier in the evening, the Keane Fire and the ADC Lynx squared off in the second quarterfinal match-up. Both teams played the game missing key personnel: the Lynx were missing Blaise MacPhee and Jason Fitzgerald while the Fire were missing their Caper Connection, Steve Chiasson and Trevor Murphy.
After an early Kevin Haddad goal got the Fire off on the right foot, the Lynx took control, scoring the next four goals. The Lynx showed more jump than the Fire, led by the tireless Craig Mercer, who finished with 3 goals and an assist. Mercer also became the first person in league history to score a powerplay goal, take a penalty, and score the game-winning goal all in the same game.
The Fire never managed to muster any semblance of an attack, as the Lynx rolled to a comfortable 12-4 victory. A playoff record four penalties were called in the chippy affair that left Fire forward Ian Scott with a bloody knee. Scott did manage to score three of the four Fire goals for his troubles.
 Ian Scott Shows Off his Bloodied Knee |
 Peter Rankin Makes a Save |
The Lynx advance to play the Sabres in the second semi-final, while the Fire fail to advance to the semi-finals for the 5th straight season.