Halifax Floor Hockey League
[ Lynx 23 Slayers 13 ]
First up was the 3rd place Lynx against the last place Slayers. Many observers had predicted that the Lynx would run away with this one, but this game turned out to be quite interesting. The Slayers made their intentions known early on, jumping out to a 3-1 lead, capped by Richard Wannamaker's first goal of the playoffs. However the Lynx tandem of Greg Foran and Blaise MacPhee ended the period with 6 straight goals giving the Lynx a 7-3 lead. In fact they had 14 out of the Lynx' 14 points in the first period alone.
The Slayers came out swinging in the second period however, outshooting the Lynx 20-16. The Slayers, led by 5 second period goals by Kenzie Royal and 2 by David Watson cut the lead to 11-10 late in the stanza. However, Lynx forward Jay Allison scored twice in the dying seconds of the period to regain the momentum for the Lynx entering the third. The Lynx would ride that momentum, outscoring the single-subbed Slayers 10-3 in the final frame, to make the final 22-13. McPhee smashed various playoff scoring records with his 10 goals and 7 assists, as did linemate Foran with 8 goals and 8 assists. The high-flying Lynx advance to the semis to face the defensively stingy Lite-Sabres, which will be the most highly anticipated showdown thus far this year.
[ Chill 16 Fire 9 ]
Both the Keane Chill and the Keane Fire entered their semi-final game with the knowledge that a victory would award them with the daunting task of facing the unbeaten LAN Hackers in the semi-final. With that in mind, both teams showed up ready to rumble. The Fire, however, were missing two of their superstars: Spiro Bokolas -- the 5th leading assist-getter this season, and Don Abbott -- the 7th all-time leading scorer.
It was the Chill who have been plagued by injuries and absences this season, so team captain and goalie Michael Griffiths dug deep into his farm system, and called up two key forwards: Gordie Matheson and Peter "Little Elvis" Bezanson. Matheson and Bezanson had only combined for 4 total games played for the Chill during the regular season.
The first period was a tightly fought affair with the Fire closing to within one goal at 4-3 late in the first on a goal by league goon Harvey Snelgrove. Snelgrove, who had 4 more goals than penalty minutes in the regular season, exploded for 2 goals and 3 assists by the time the game was over. "I've turned over a new leaf," said Snelgrove, "gone are the days of the cheap-shots, the foul language, and the old stick-up-between-the-legs trick." "I'm going to be a scorer from now on," he promised.
The difference in this game was the second period in which the Chill outscored the Lynx 7-1, led by a hat-trick from Matheson. Matheson, who would end the game with a game-high 5 goals was looking ahead to the Hackers after the game. "I'm proud to say that I've never ever lost to the Hackers," proclaimed Matheson after the game. Well Gordie, we at Stats Central looked it up. You've never played the Hackers.