Halifax Floor Hockey League
On paper, Tuesday night's affair promised to be the closest game of the three. The Lynx met the Keane Fire in a rematch of week seven's grudge match in which the Lynx won 14-7. The Fire played missing the services of journeyman forward Don Abbott, who was a healthy scratch. Rumors suggest that Abbott got in team captain Steve Barriault's doghouse by not hustling as much as Barriault would have liked in practice. Abbott was in the midst of completing his punishment of "2 laps of Halifax" when game time rolled around.
Although the Fire managed to stay close to the Lynx, coming within one goal at 8-7 early in the second, the Lynx' depth proved to be the difference as they won going away 28-11. In one span, late in the second period and early in the third, the Lynx outscored the Fire 11-0. A disheartened Fire forward Steven Uchacz was inconsolable after the game. "Wah wah, <sniff> wah, wah," blubbered a teary Uchacz after the game.
The Lynx were led by rookie standout Jay Allison, who at one point leveraged his pterodactyl-like reach to stick-handle around three Fire players without moving his feet, before potting one of his 7 goals. "I would have scored 10 if I would have been able to stop laughing at referee Vanilla's hair", quipped Allison.
Wednesday's early game pitted first versus worst, as the LAN Hackers squared off against the Sunnydale Slayers. This game was never in doubt as the Hackers led wire-to-wire in a 25-8 rout. Most notable in this game was the pin-point precision passing of Hackers' forward Steve Schumph. Schumph's play-making puissance was repeatedly demonstrated, and resulted in the new single-game assist record of 11 assists.
Wednesday's finale saw the Sabres pound the Keane Chill 30-7 in the week's biggest crushing. To the Chill's credit, key personnel were unavailable, including league brute Randall Leard, who is tied for the league's lead in penalty minutes. A notable game statistic for the Sabres was the 11 goals for Chad Griffin versus 0 assists. Although Griffin is leading the Sabres in assists, team captain Chris McMaster questioned Griffin's uncharitable play after the game. "We don't have any room on our team for ball-hogs," lashed out McMaster at Griffin. "Except for (Steve) Chiasson," qualified McMaster, "he doesn't want to play if he has to pass."
First round playoff match-ups are almost set. The Lynx will almost certainly play the Slayers in the quarterfinals and the Chill will probably play the Fire. For the Slayers to move ahead of the Chill into 5th place, they would have to beat the Sabres in the last regular season game, hope the Chill loses to the Keane Fire, and make up a -17 plus/minus ratio to the Chill in the process. The Hackers and Sabres have secured first round byes.