Halifax Floor Hockey LeagueIt's Tuesday night...and this is your week10 recap!
First game of the night was the Sabres and the Fire. The Fire were the proverbial basement dwellers with no room for advancement. but the Sabres had the Hackers breathing down their necks and needed to win if they wanted to finish first and have the court and seed advantage heading into the Real Season.
This game saw the sabres continue to dominate as they have all season, but two players in particular stole the show.
League New Guy JD Crossley took his game to a new level on Monday when he notched 8 goals and recorded an assist. His team mate and captain Keven Pittman also dominated as he recorded 7 unselfish passes and one goal. Alone these guys lit it up and int was no contest.
I'm not going to get into the meat and potatoes of the game, but it ended up 12-6 for the Sabres as they wrapped up first place and top seed headed into the play offs.
JD Crossley's performance has earned him this week's Eastside Mario's Player of the Week honours.
Way to go JD!
Next up were the Chill and the Slayers who were battling for 3rd
Who ever won this game would finish in 3rd so lots at stake
the Slayers came out quickly as Defensive star Jenna Briggs jumped into the rush and took a feed from Wade Mullen to beat Kane high on the blocker side. She was later heard taunting Kane with "I'm getting two more baby".
Well the Chill answered back when big John Kedy buried a rebound past Adam Larder to even it up, but the Slayers kept coming. After a couple of lack lustre plays, the Slayers found themselves up by two after the first. Score was 3-1
Kane called for a time out and began to gently coax his teammates to step it up and start playing with some heart...or something to that affect.
So start the second and kane looked like a genius because the Chill came out on fire. They grabbed 5 goals in the second and added two more in the third wheel the Slayers couldn't get out from under the Chill's blanket of covereage and as a result ended up losing this one by a score of 8-3.
A great performance going into the playoffs for the Chill, while the Slayers will have to regroup and hope that their captains return will lift their game up in the first round.
Out next game saw the Lynx taking on the Bulldogs. Nothing better than a battle between dogs and cats. So lets see which one takes the honours tonight!
the lynx started it off taking a quick one goal lead but the Dogs answered back and so the traded goals again and with time dwindling down in the first, Wes cook broke the deadlock and gave his team a 3-2 lead headed into the second.
The second saw the Lynx grab a two goal lead quickly but the Dogs weren't laying down for no one as they scored three unanswered goals to take a 5-4 lead into the final frame.
The Lynx once again scored first in the period and then added two more while the Dogs kept it close with a goal of their own. With a one goal lead late in the game, the Lynx had to fend off the barrage from the Dogs but they kept their cool and ended up winning this one 7-6.
Mention to both keepers for a great game and also to Good martell of the Dogs and Wes Cook of the Lynx as they both scored two gaols and added a helper to their teams cause.
Last game of the night saw the surging Titans, who finally had a full roster and sporting their controversial late season pick up one Chris Sampson, and the Hackers who have been the most dominant team the second half of the season.
The Hackers came out strong grabbing the first three gaols of the game and it wasn't until late in the first that the Titans struck when Scott Cross ripped a slap shot past a pretty good tender in Bob Strum. Score was 3-1 after the first.
The second saw the goalies get stingy and the only goal scored was a blast from Fitzgerald off a feed from Pettigrew and the Hackers had a 4-1 lead after two.
the third saw the Titans start to mount a come back as they tied it up with two quick goals. But the Hackers would have none of that and they took control and grabbed three in the second half of the period to solidify their win and second place for the season.
the Hackers take this one 7-3.
So that was the night, but let's see what news we have for the play offs.
First lets look at some regular season awards:
The scoring title came down to the very last night and it was Dave Coopers 2 goals and one assist that gave him a one point lead and thus the title edging out Kyle Bayers who deserves mention for his great first full season in the league.
Cooper had a total of 38 point scoring 23 gaols and adding 15 assists. Congrats Dave!
The top goal tender awards goes to rookie Bob Strum, who jumped in to a great situation that worked out well for him and the Hackers. Strum posted a 2.80 GAA and a .915 save % in 5 games. Strum will be joining the league as a regular going forward. Great half season and thanks for filling the shoes!
Honourable mention goes to Craig Burgoyne when played a full season and apart from Strum had the best stats for the full season. Great season Craig!
So now we get ready for the Real Season. lets take a look where teams finished:
1st Sabres
2nd Hackers
3rd Chill
4th Slayers
5th Lynx
6th Titans
7th Bulldogs
8th Fire
The Sabres have earned home court/time selection advantage through out the playoffs and will always face the lowest seed left. Great job Keven Pittman and the Sabres.
As we all know, starnge things can happen in the playoffs. It's a one game do or die situation every night and no one is safe. History has proven time and time again that regular season looks good...but the playoffs have seen many of our top teams fall in the first round. As they say "on any given night". I'm sure this year will have a few surprises popping up as always.
The first round match ups are as follows:
Fire vs Sabres
Bulldogs vs Hackers
Titans vs Chill
Lynx vs Slayers
Our prediction?
Not saying, but look for the two top seeds to meet in the finals...oops did I just do that?
Just as a side note, I know we all like to chat it up and take our time getting things done after the last game of the night, but we need to be diligent in trying to clear the gym quickly. We do a good job most weeks, but catch some flack when we dont and so it is important for everyone to keep in mind that this is a great venue for us to play in and we want to keep it going. So lets try and get our stuff together and head out quickly after the last game. Thanks in advance for your cooperation!
So there you have it folks. The regular season is all said and done and a new one begins. This is Billy Concarney saying so long and best of luck to you all in the Playoffs!
Be well folks