Halifax Floor Hockey LeagueWell good day peeps. This is Billy Concarney with the week 10 wrap up. It’s been a great season and now that the warm up is over, the real season is set to begin. Let’s take a look at how things went last night at the fish bowl.
Chill vs Hackers
The Hackers had already clinched first place last week but the Chill were trying to avoid having to face the Hackers again in the first round of the playoffs.
First period saw the Hackers draw first blood when Alex McLeod scored in a scramble on a pass from Jonathan Hunson. But the Chill stayed with it scoring their first goal when Rob “The Rhyno” Tyrrell buried a shot off a pass from Matt Strum. Then Cooper took the reins and added two goals to close the period out off passes from Hunson and McLeod. After the first it was the Hackers up by two with a 3-1 lead.
The second saw the Chill come out with some sustained pressure which forced Kane to make a few key saves. But the Chill were rewarded when Sebastian Hamel appeared to rip a slap shot past Kane off a pass from Milligan, but after further review, the ball actually went off of Matt Strum and changed direction, thus the goal was credited to Strum from Hamel. But then here comes that “C” word...Cooper, as he did in the first, closed out the period with two more goals, and yet again from Hunson and McLeod. Hackers were ahead 5-2 at this point.
Props to Bob Strum who faced some pretty good scoring chances and was still able to keep it close.
The third saw the Hackers pad their lead by adding two more goals. Cooper from Jonathan Hunson and the McLeod from Cooper. And that was all she wrote folks. Hackers take an eventful 7-2 win into the playoffs. Worth while noting the Hackers unsung heroes. Collier, Cameron, Martell, Momborquette and DeAdder. Although they don’t appear on the score sheet often, they all play crucial rolls in the Hackers wins. The Hackers have the most well rounded team this season...especially with Kane in the net...if you know what I mean. Ha!
Slayers vs Lynx
So the Slayers coming off a loss to the Hackers last week wanted to head into the playoffs with a strong outing. The Lynx just wanted to head into the play offs.
This one was all Slayers. First period scoring was same as always...Alex Gale from Joe Murphy, the Murphy scored the next two. 3 zip for the Slayers.
The second was even Stevens as the teams traded goals. Gerard “Woody” Gouthro scored unassisted followed by Shane Erb from Alex Gale. 4-1 after two.
The third saw the Slayers open it up. Joe Murphy scored the first two goals off of passes from Alex Gale and Shane Erb. The Lynx snuck one by Highmore, who seems to have not missed a step after his injury rehabilitation, when Trevor McGuigan scored off a pass from Gouthro.
Wade Mullen added a rare tally coming of the point to bury an Alex Gale rebound and the James Griffin-Allwood put one past Highmore top shelf. from here, it was all Slayers. Eric Gale went in all alone beating his defender from the outside to slide one under a sprawling Boudreau. This was followed by Erb from Murphy, Murphy from Erb and the Alex Gale from Murphy. So after the Joe Murphy show ended, it was the Slayers showing no mercy on the Lynx and thus winning this one by a score of 11-3. The Slayers wanted to serve notice that they are who we thought they were...they are who we thought they were!!!
Fire vs Sabres
This one looked to be a great match up. Both teams have been playing some strong games as of late so would be interesting to see how this one faired.
Ball drops and not to far into it, Anil Snook, last weeks HFHL Player of the week, opened up the scoring off a pass from his usual partner in crime Chris Sampson. But the Sabres didn’t back down. Newest guy Geoff Briggs scored their first of the game off a pass from Travis Bury and this one was all tied at one after the first.
The second again saw the tandem of Snook and Sampson strike again giving their team an early second period lead. But this was short lived as Matt Mitchell scored off a feed from Wayne Hardy. This was followed up by a great play which saw Hardy spin off his defender and cut to the net only to be rewarded by a super nice pass from Kyle Bradbury which he redirected over Burgoyne’s outstretched glove and the Sabres had their first lead of the game. That was short lived though as Chris Sampson, who has had a terrific season for the Fire, scored two goals to close the period out. One from Snook and the other from team captain Sean Fitz. And the Fire went into the third leading by one.
The thirst started as the first two periods did...with Anil Snook scoring, this time off a pass from Mark McGuigan. Sabres forward Alex Murphy added a goal to keep this one close, but Snook finished the night with two more goals off passes from Mcguigan and Sampson. This one was all over folks and the Fire continued their winning ways with a 7-4 victory.
Props to Sampson, who finished second in the season scoring and Snook who saw his name in the top five as well.
Both of these teams will be hard to face come the playoffs.
Speaking of which, the play offs are all set!
The league leading Hackers will be home to the last place Chill. Don’t count the Chill out yet. Strum is a play off goalie and if he can keep his team in the game early, no telling what might happen.
The power house Slayers hold the advantage going into their match up against the undermanned Lynx. They won’t stand a chance if they don’t get a full squad and a Jason Boudreaux magic game, which he has shown he can pull rabbits and whatever else out his hat,
The most interesting first round match up will be between the sabres and the fire. Although the Sabres finished higher, the Fire have finished the season very strong And this one will be a doozy.
Play off times are:
7:00 Lynx vs Slayers
8:00 Chill vs Hackers
9:00 Fire vs Sabres
With the regular season over, its time to acknowledge the seasons top performers.
Although we don’t have any money bonuses or high end prizes, there might be. A little something in the kitty...
2019 Season B top scorer goes to....
Joe Murphy...this one will have to have an asterisk beside it as we aren’t sure if he would have pulled this off without that extra game he played when the Hackers were missing all of their players, but none the less, it’s a great season for Joe, who takes his second top scorer award in as many seasons. Way to go Joe!
2019 Season B top goalie goes to....
Marty “The Party” Kane. Kane lead the league in all stats posting a .908 save percentage and with the help of his team, set the new league record for single season goals against posting a 3.46 average. At 54, that’s a pretty good season. He isn’t sure how many more he has, but only the scale will tell that tale. Great job Mr. Kane!
Note worthy are Chris Sampson, if you take Joe’s extra game away, would have won the scoring title. And that would have been thanks to Anil Snook, sawhorses has turned in a very impressive season as well. Although he didn’t place in the top three, his 4th place finish was a great showing for him.
On the goaltending side of things, it’s worth while noting Paul Highmore, who finished second, but was plagued with injuries this season. He has come back ferocious in his last two games and shows that he is still a top keeper in this league.
Unsung hero goes to Bob Strum, who easily faced more shots than anyone else this season. An average of 54 per game. He always stays positive and will never give up. Hats off to a great keeper and a great guy.
So that’s a wrap for the season. The play offs start next week and should prove to be interesting to say the least. Stay tuned for posted game times.
I’m Billy Concarney saying so long and be well folks!