Halifax Floor Hockey LeagueI'm Billy Concarney and this is your play off recap.
The play-offs started off with two nail biters, a win by a deuce and one heck of a blow out. So let's get at it...
Slayers Touch it Out
Slayers 7 Lynx 5
The Slayers had a harder time then they expected when the Lynx came out runnin' and gunnin' to start this one off. Lynx goalie Jason Boudreau made some big saves early to give his team a chance in this one. Lynx missing link, Kevin "I'm Bad" Haddad came back from injury to score the first goal of the game but this was quickly followed by wiley old veteran Tony "RE" Joyce firing a bullet past Boudreau to tie it up.
The second period saw both teams trade off on goals and remained tie at 4 all. the third period belonged to Slayers as they took control and scored three goals to the Lynx's one to take this game by a score of 7 to 5. Slayer goalie Chris McKinnon played another solid game facing 52 shots and stopping 47. Nothing less than would be expected by arguably the best keeper in the league this year...ahem..that hurt...ahem...I seem to have something caught in my throat...feels like pride I think. anyway, enough of this game!
Sabres squeak past the Fire
Sabres 5 Fire 4
The Fire were in tough for this game as they were missing their regular keeper Blair "Wheel Chair" Hammond due to a rather serious injury he suffered during the break Everyone is wishing him a speedy and proper recovery. But back to the game. The Fire dressed one of their best forwards in Matt Clarke, who quickly proved that he is truly a jack of all trades and master of some??? Clarke, or Matt as his friends call him, stood on his head and carried a shut out into the third period and truly rose to the occasion. he made some pretty big saves with his pretty big gear and it was quite entertaining to see him do so well.
At the other end of the floor, Tom Wynn did all he could and in our opinion, gave his team the win stopping 62 shots. That's a tall order for any goalie but he was awesome. Scott Cross led the scoring with 4 goals. This was a great game.
Titans Clobber Bulldogs
Titans 17 Bulldogs 3
Well goalies can be a very important part of a team. No one knows this more than the Bulldogs who suffered a rather large loss at the hands of the mighty Titans tonight. Dave "Super" Cooper scored 9 goals and led the way for the massacre. Not fun for step up guy Rob "You Got What Was Coming To You For Bothering Goalies All Year" Francis, who despite the score apparently played a great game.
We caught up with missing keeper Shane Hartt somewhere warm and sunny. "Yea, I think that my stock just went up don't you? Yea, it did. Big raise for me when i get home...hey, what do you mean I have to go in the draft again? So I spent all this money on this trip for nothing? Crap..."
Titans keeper Pierre Joyal turned in one of his best games this season posting an .880 save percentage, or something like that. It was all good..for the Titans anyhow.Miracle on Gottigen street
Hackers 5 Chill 4
So this was supposed to be an easy win. The Chill are loaded with offense and completely blew the hackers out of the water when they played the Hackers. The one thing that the Chill forgot was duh, duh, duh, duuuuhhhhh...(loud deep voice with an echo) "The Curse Of The Small Flooooooorrrrrrrrr".
yes that's right, the curse of the small floor. This is rarely thought about and often forgotten, but it seems that when ever a team chooses to play on the small floor, they loose. Ok, well that might be just an old wives tale, well actually an old commisioner's tale, but a tale none the less.
This game started out as planned with the Chill taking a 2 nothing lead into the second. The Hackers scored first in the second but that was quickly answered with a third goal from the Chill. Still hanging around, the Hackers picked up another goal in the second to head into the third down by one.
The third period brought all the drama. The Chill scored their fourth goal early on and it looked as though it was a done deal, but wait...here comes that deep voice again!!!!
Craig Beidler was off and running and had a break away when one of the Chill players took him down. This was a penalty, but should it be a penalty shot? In a rather unusual twist, the ref, league Commish, Johaan T asked former commish and fellow ref, who happened to be on the Hackers, Richard Wannamker "Do we call penalty shots?" to which he replied yes.
Then, the call was made. The leagues first penalty shot, or at least the first one this season. Beidler went in and shifted left, right and left again before he quickly went back to the right side and tucked in into the bottom corner. This brought the game within one goal. The Hackers kept coming and with 27 seconds left, Phil Rodgers fired a shot from the point that found the bottom corner and tied the game at 4. A shoot out was looming...but here comes that deep dark voice again...
With 5 second to go, John "Finally Got Off The" Couch scored the game winner and one of the biggest upsets in modern times here in the HFHL came to fruition. The Hackers, backed by solid goal tending and a super performance by their "D" men, beat the Chill.
As a results of the above mentioned events, it has come to my attention that some might think that the conversation between the ref and the player from the Hackers should never have occurred. Maybe in a perfect world, the answer would be yes. Here we have a situation that to my knowledge we have not seen. The ingredients for a penalty shot. The question was "Do we call penalty shots here?" The answer is simple. Yes, we do. Whether or not the ref should have asked is not relevant. What is relevant is was it the right call. A player was on a break away and was tripped up. This constitutes the elements needed for a penalty shot, so one should have been called...and it was. This is a question of was the call the right call or not, and once again the answer is yes it was. Although the Chill may not like the outcome, it was the right call. You cannot in good conscience dispute the right call that was not made in your favor, no matter who you are. The ref makes the call as he sees fit and like it or not, as I have myself found that I complain when I am on the other end of the stick, it still needs to be respected, especially when the right call is made. So hats off to the ref for making the right call. Worthy to note that the only call that went against the Chill was the trip, while the Hackers had 3 called against them in the third. In the end, it was the play of the Hackers team that proved to be the deciding factor in this one not the right call. My thoughts anyhow.
So the stage is set for the HFHL Final Four, all though this si not March, it's still madness!!
The Slayers will face off against the Hackers and the Titans will face off against the Sabres. The action resumes next Monday at the Stad Arena and who knows...maybe miracles can happen twice in a season. Time will tell.
This is Billy Concarney saying so long and remember...
Sometimes you get beat for the wrong reasons and sometimes you get beat for the right reason, but one thing for sure is, if you didn't win...you got beat!
Be well folks!