Ortiz, McCarthy Help Chill Advance to Semis

To pull off an upset of the 4th-seeded Slayers in Thursday’s FHL quarter-final, the Chill knew they would need contributions from unlikely sources. But few would have predicted the offensive star of their 6-4 victory would be Odin Ortiz, the journeyman forward who finished 9th on the team in scoring this season. Ortiz score twice from close in late in the second period to put the Chill up 5-1, then after the Slayers had mounted a comeback and closed to within 5-4, he put the game away when he converted a 2-on-1 feed from Andrew Mercer for an insurance marker.

After the game, Ortiz explained his performance this way: “I just needed a ‘Clear Picture’ of what my role in this game would be”, he said, referring to the regular shift given him by Captain Mike Griffiths, “I got the floor time I needed”.

The game began with the Slayers without anybody in their net, as goalie Joe Robson was nowhere to be found when the ball was dropped. There were unconfirmed reports that a Toyota transporting Robson to the gym had broken down. Whatever the reason, Robson arrived with the contest still scoreless, Captain Gian Scalet holding the fort in front of his team’s crease. (“Do I get a shutout for that?” a statistically-obsessed Scalet asked later). The Chill led 2-1 after one, then the two teams played a remarkable 10 minutes of the second period with the same score before a Mercer tally was followed by Ortiz’ first two goals. Tony Joyce scored all four goals for the Slayers, including a natural hat trick in the third to bring his club to within a goal.

In the other quarter-final, Donnie Bailey scored 8 times and Matt Wheeler had 7 points to lead the Hackers to a 20-8 drubbing of the Fire. The Hackers, who thrived all season on a balanced attack, had six players score at least twice and every skater in the lineup record a point. The most noteworthy story may have been backup netminder Adam Pettigrew, who was subbing for the injured regular Jim Bain (upper body injury). Though he only faced 29 shots, Pettigrew bravely hung in despite nearly having his leg amputated following an incident in the final game of the regular season.

The semi-final matchups are set for next Thursday, the Chill taking on the Lynx and the Hackers facing the defending champion Lite-Sabres.

Notes

Chill goalie Jeff McCarthy’s 61 saves are the most ever in a meaningful playoff game, trailing only Paul Chui’s 65 in the 2002A Consolation game…Tony Joyce’s 5 goals (he scored once for the Fire) moved him into second place in all-time playoff scoring, with 68 points. John Price leads with 101…The win was the Chill’s fourth all-time in the playoffs, all against the Fire and Slayers…The Fire and Hackers played for only the second time in the post-season, the other being the 2000A Final…The Fire are now 1-11 in the playoffs…The Chill and Lynx will meet for only the second time, the other a 2001B semifinal won by the Lynx in a shootout…The Sabres and Hackers have had 7 previous playoff battles, 5 of those in the Finals. The Hackers hold a 4-3 edge