Week 22 - Playoff Report
HEADLINES
HB Versus Collective In The Finals
Troy Doyle Has 2 Hattricks Against Flames
Playoff Goaltending, Darryl, Paul and Scott 3 GAA
Game 1 - Collective vs. Predators
The first game was game #4 of the semi-finals between the Collective and the Predators. The Preds were facing elimination, down 1-2 in games, and Yvon Mayer opened the scoring to put the Preds up 1-0. Shortly after, Rick Haines scored to tie it. It was a close game back and forth with excellent goaltending from Paul Richard and Scott Sheppard. Evan Bartlett finally scored to break the tie and put the Collective up 2-1. Late in the game, the Predators fighting for their playoff lives, got the tying goal from Kevin Stafford. Overtime was looming, when Grant Donovan scored in the last minute to give the Collective the 3-2 win and put them into the finals.
Game 2 - HB vs. Flames
In the second game, the Flames were also facing elimination against the Hung and the Breastless. The HB boys came out strong and built a 5-0 lead with 2 goals a piece from Dan LeBlanc and Ian Stevens and a goal from Peter Wolters, until Terry McFadzen (***editor's note***, actually it was "Big Sexy" that scored on his own net)scored for the Flames late in the game to spoil Darryl Moorcraft's shutout bid. Troy MacDonald scored a 2nd goal late for the Flames but it was too little too late as HB heads to the finals to face the Collective after a 3 games to 1 semi-final series win.
Game 3 - Predators vs. Flames
The third game started the battle for 3rd place. The Preds came out flying with a hattrick from Troy Doyle, two goals from Yvon, and single goals from Art McCoy and Mark Cress, to win the first game of the series 7-3 over the Flames. Jim Taylor with a couple of goals and Phil Cronkite with a single goal, made up the scoring for the Flames, which wasn't enough to overcome the game Troy D. and Yvon had, each tallying 7 points on the Preds 7 goals.
Game 4 - HB vs. Collective
The fourth game started the finals between the Hung and Breastless and the Collective. Dan scored the first goal to give HB the 1-0 lead, but then Paul shut the door, and the Collective scored 4 unanswered goals for a 4-1 win to take the series lead. Mike Moore had 2 goals and Rick Bartlett and Larry Condly scored singles for the Collective. Grant played the role of the set up man with 3 first assists in the game.
Game 5 - Predators vs. Flames
The fifth game was game #2 for 3rd place and again, the Preds came out flying. Troy Doyle had another hattrick to lead their way to a 10-2 victory and a 2-0 series lead. The Preds also got a pair of goals each from Art, Kevin, and Vince MacDonald, and a single goal from Mark. Dennis Moffitt and Scott Praught scored the Flames goals. The Flames will try to regroup next week. First order of business is to avoid being swept in the series.
Game 6 - HB vs. Collective
The sixth game was game #2 of the finals, and a back and forth battle. HB scored 2 quick goals to break a 2-2 tie, midway through the game. The Collective battled back with 3 quick goals to go up 5-4 late in the game. HB got the tying goal before the end of regulation to send the game to overtime. Only 45 seconds into overtime, James McKinnon scored on a partially blocked shot that took a funny bounce and fooled Paul to even the finals series 1-1. The overtime goal was James 2nd goal of the game. Doug Taylor had a pair of goals and Peter and Ian each had a goal for the winning side. Mike, Grant, Larry, Rick H. and Rick B. had the Collective's goals.