Halifax Floor Hockey League
The Fire were facing the Slayers and looking to grab yet another win in a championship game. The Slayers were trying to cap off a dominant season with a sip of the ol’ champagne from the dingy cup.
This game was probably the best championship game we have seen in a very long time. Not one penalty…that was called…
Some massive saves, some big time goals and a back and forth battle that was deserving of a final game.
The first period saw the Slayers draw first blood when Jeff Withers buried a pass from Brett Dempsey to start the ball rolling.
Fire tower of power Nick Briggs evened it up beating Bob Strum five hole on a pass from Adam Mackenzie to even it up. Slayers captain Matt Strum then took the lead back when Eddie Briggs passed him the ball and Matt fooled everyone with a shot along the floor to beat Craig Burgoyne five hole as well. But Alex Gale made that lead short lived when he beat the senior Strum on a pass from Troy Windsor. Windsor then set Gale up again and the Fire had their first lead of the game. Alex Gale tallied his third in a row for the natural hat trick on a pass from Liam MacLeod and after the first, the Fire had jumped out to. 4-2 lead.
The second saw the Fire draw a bit more blood when Mackenzie and Briggs teamed up again, this time Adam popped the goals on a pass from Nick.
Jeff Withers then took control and grabbed two goals in a row on passes from Matt Strum and Eddie Briggs and this brought the Slayers within one headed into the third.
Well the third was set to be a classic battle between two great teams and two outstanding goalies. The Slayers tied it up early when Matt Strum scored his second of the game on a solo effort. Then Chris Inness grabbed a goal to give the Slayers their lead back on a feed from Brett Dempsey. They held on until late in the third when Cam Power scored a nice goal off a feed from Alex Gale and this one was all tied up. Both teams had some great scoring chances late in the period and the goalies were rising to the task. The horn went and we were heading into overtime.
The overtime period saw some tight play from both teams keeping chances to a minimums. The Fire had a point blank shot but Bob Strum flashed the leather and kept the game tied up.
The Fire had some pressure on the Slayers when lo and behold Jeff Withers spotted a streaking Chris Inness. Now we aren’t sure if it was because he was streaking or not, but he found himself all alone on a break away and he made no mistake beating Craig Burgoyne with a great shot glove side and the Slayers win this one 7-6 in OT.
This game had a few heros although we have to choose one to take the Knapper MVP honours.
The Knapper MVP was none other than Jeff Withers, who we felt played a big part with his hat trick and then the nice feather pass to Chris Inness to set up the winner. Jeff played an excellent game and was well deserving of this honour
Jeff received a pair of white Knapper Ball hockey gloves and a set of Knapper shin guards for his efforts.
We also want to give honourable mention to Bob Strum who stayed in his net the entire game and made some big time saves. Also to Craig Burgoyne who also made some huge saves to give his team a chance to win.
Special thanks to Rob Tyrrell and Matt Monk for giving of their time not only tonight but all season.
Well, that’s it from here. If you see something streaking by your house…don’t worry, it’s probably just Chris Inness…now known as The Sniper!
The HFHL want to give a special shout out to Knapper for their support of our league. Please make sure you go to the Knapper website for all of you all hockey needs.
This is Billy Concarney saying so long and hope you all have a very safe Summer. We will see you all in late August for preseason!
Thanks and Billy out!
