Halifax Floor Hockey LeagueFirs vs Hackers
Well this was set to be a huge game between two huge teams. The Fire have lived up to their name big time as they have been one of the hottest teams these past few weeks. The Hackers have been true to Dave Coopers past teams and have been fast, hard on the ball and looking like the winners they have been. However, they were missing their rookie sensation Jonathan Hudson who was not able to make it this week.
Ball drops and first team to draw blood is the Hackers, who see big D man Alex McLeod rip one past Adam Larder off a pass from Cooper and it’s one zip early. Then Gill Momborquette scored from a pass from Dave Martell. Hackers have the early two goal lead, but the Fire are not going to go away. Team captain Sean Fitzgerald received a pass from Aaron Brown and took a slapper that got tipped by a Hacker and found its way through a Boomer Cavanaugh screen to beat Hacker goalie Marty Kane and folks....we got a game going on here. 2-1 Hackers after the first.
The second saw some tight D and some stingy goal tending. Cooper scored to take the two goal lead off a pass from Momborquette but Chris Sampson shovelled a shot past Kane to stay with in one. 3-2 after the second.
The third was set to be an entertaining period and it did not disappoint. The Fire had some major pressure on the Hackers as the pesky line of Sampson and Snook kept sustained pressure. In one exchange, Kane made four saves but Sampson finally beat him with a shot top corner while on his knees! This one is all even.
Enter Dave Cooper, who is not one to watch his team go down. He single handedly fought off two defenders and beat Larder to take a late period lead. This one could be all over, but wait, here comes that Fitz guy and again off another scramble, he buries an Anil Snook rebound to tie it up and this one is headed to overtime!
The extra frame would settle nothing and so we head into a shoot out. Each team sends five shooters to the line.
First up Alex McLeod...save Larder
Fire send Jordan Castilloux...save Kane
Hackers send Gil Momborguette...Larder big save
Fires send Fitz...Save Kane
Dave Cooper makes a move...goal for the Hackers
Chris Sampson shoots for the Fire, and Beats Kane, but I’m pretty sure if we had replay... ??
Hackers send Collier...goal low trapper side
Fire send Anil Snook...hits the post
Hackers send Blair Cameron...save Larder
Fire send Myles Raymond who dekes Kane and scores low trapper
Now we are sudden death in the shoot out
Hackers send Alex McLeod...scores
Fire send Jordan Castilloux..,poke check Kane...it’s all over
The Hackers survive a hard fought game and move on by a score of 5-4
Special mention to Adam Larder who played arguably his best game of his HFHL career which gave his team a chance to be in this one. Great job Adam!
Sabres vs Slayers
So the Hackers were now waiting to see who they were going to play in the finals. The Sabres have had a pretty good season. The Slayers have been an offensive beast, but tonight they only have four players. Amongst the missing team captain Alex Gale.
The first period was pretty even. The Slayers opened the scoring when Joe Murphy grabbed his first of the night off a pass fromWade Mullen. The Sabres responded quickly though as rookies Travis Bury scored on a pass from Wayne Hardy. It’s all even...for a little bit, then Joe Murphy scored his second off a pass from Shane Erb.
This one was 2-1 Slayers after the first.
The second saw the Sabres tie things up when Travis Burt scored a power play goals from Kyle Bradbury. But then the tables tilted a bit and the Slayers scored three unanswered goals, Joe from Shane, Wade from Shane and Shane from Joe and just like that the Slayers were in the drivers seat headed into the third with a 5-2 lead.
The third started and the Slayers kept coming. Shane Erb scored two more goals early one from Jow Murphy and one all on his lonesome giving the Slayers an insurmountable lead of 7-2. The Sabres kept trying but Slayes keeper Paul Highmore made some remarkable saves to give his team the chance to win. He turned aside 36 of 39 this night.
The Sabres closed out the game with a late goal by Geoff Briggs from Matt “Dad of Spider-Man” Mitchell, but too little too late. Slayers move into the big dance with a convincing 7-3 win.
So we are all set for the finals. The 1st place Hackers will host the 2nd place Slayers in what should prove to be a great matchup. The Hackers won both meetings this season but we all know that means nothing once you hit the playoffs. The Slayers have two of the top three scorers in the league with Alex Gale and Joe Murphy combining for 75% of their teams offence. The Hackers have their own duo in Cooper and Hunson . The top two keepers play for these teams as well. They are about as evenly matched as you can find. We are looking forward to this one.
Finals will be next Monday, December the 16th at the Fishbowl. See you then!
Well this is Billy Concarney saying so long and be well folks!