In an exciting weekend of games as has ever been played at Le Rinque, it was three heavy underdogs who shone brightly defying the odds and reaching the finals of their Respective divison.

After a scoring first and then dropping a 4-1 decision to the first place Grinders win in game one, the Huskies came out flying in game two despite playing with only an 8 player bench. After Zach Lazar put the Grinders up 1 in a evenly played first period with a heavy shot from the right faceoff circle, The Huskies really took over the momentum towards the end of the first and going into the second with some big saves from Justin Menassa. After Jeremy Frohlich scored a pretty goal on a backhand that just beat Corey Karls to his left. Hard work and grinding from the Huskies provided them with a full 1:30 two man advantage shortly thereafter as they drew two different penalties by different players in the offensive zone in the same play. However this is where Grinders netminder Karls stepped up making counltess saves including big ones on Daniel Sohmer in front as well as on shots from the point from Matthew Jacobson and Jordan Topor. Jeremy Heitner and Ryan Hops were instrumental to killing off this powerplay. Despite the ability to kill of the penalty, the Grinders relied heavily on Karls as the Huskies continued to pour it on, and Karls was up to the task, right up until Adam Bercovitch scored back to back goals early in the third period. Hops got rewarded for his penalty killing with two big assists on each of the goals especially the second where he did the majority of the work in the corners leaving it to Bercovitch to put it home. 2 goals down and needing 3 to force a mini game the Huskies started going all offence as their defensemen started to pinch up. The risky offense paid off as Alex Cohen partially blocked a Lee Schacter shot and both Huskies defenseman on at the time, Jacobson and Topor stepped up to put a goal home, as Jacobson beat two Grinders forwards to the loose ball and took a quick shot on goal where Topor buried the rebound. But it was too little, too late, as Karls held down the fort for the Remainder of the game along with some strong defensive play from the team, allowing the Grinders to reach their third Final in three seasons at Le Rinque.

In the what went down as the arguably the most exciting hour and a half in Le Rinque history, the underdog FW Legends defeated the Fall 08 Champion Ducks in the race to three points. But it certainly wasn't easy. Needing only a tie to advance to the Finals, FW had to first overcome a 2-0 first period lead by the Ducks. The Ducks came out with all the intensity in the world, and were rewarded for their efforts with two first period goals. After FW scored three straight to open the second, things got interesting, but the Ducks efforts never faltered as they constantly were buzzing around the FW net and Andrew Shapiro tied the game midway through the second and then making an even better effort to get a shot on goal from the right side allowing Sam Bick to put home the loose rebound. Both teams had numberous chances and the action was fast paced going both ways, and once David Rothstein scored midway through the third it appeared the game was destined for some Mini Game action. Not so fast as the Ducks indiscipline allowed FW to crawl back into the game as Jason Novack scored a powerplay goal on a wristshot just inside the left point. When the Ducks took yet another penalty with less than three minutes to play, for the first time the Race To Three Points setting came to full force, as FW needed to only tie the game to win the series. Presented with a powerplay late in the game the Legends set up in the Ducks zone on the powerplay. Aaron Blauer, who has won two championships in the Elite Level, made an incredible series saving save on a perfectly set up play by FW. Lee Galetti got a perfect cross ice feed on the right side of the net and he one timed it only to have Blauer block it with his shoulder diving cross-crease in desperation. 

With all the momentum in the Ducks favor, the scoreboard reset for a 10 minute game, and the Ducks struck first with Zack Frenkiel scoring from the left faceoff circle on nice feed from Robbie Greenberg. However, The Ducks gave FW a golden oppurtunity as Ducks forward Brandon Feiden took two hardworking penalties in the same play to save a goal, and FW found themselves with a full 3-minute powerplay to tie the game. With the Ducks appeared headed to kill off another late penalty just like in Game Two, Mike Hamou struck the back of the mesh with a big slapshot from the point sending the game to a sudden death overtime.

In overtime, the Ducks were again guilty of taking too many penalties, Rich Shapiro was nailed for tripping off a faceoff in the defensive zone. After making a great play to clear the zone, Stu Reider even managed to draw a penalty after getting hauled down in the corner, but the Ducks captain's emotions got the best of him as he got sat down for a retaliation penalty, and FW instantly took care of business, still on the powerplay, as Steven Clement scored top shelf on Blauer on a wrist shot from the left side boards.  

 

Roadrunners (4) defeats Decepticon (1) in 2 Games.

After a monumental upset in game one, which saw the Roadrunners take down the Heavily Favored First Place Decepticon squad, Game two brought forth another possibility for a Winner Take All Mini Game as Decepticon remained heavy favorites and sure enough Les Boys came out hard taking a two goal lead in the first period thanks to Julien Morrissette. Decepticon had a clear game plan, which included creating heavy traffic in front of the Roadrunner net, and the plan as showing some signs of success against the smaller Red squad. Despite that, an Abe Sebag slapshot made it a one goal game and early in the third, Sebag tied it up with a second goal. While Decepticon conitnued to send all sorts of players into Josh Feder's crease, after another Morrissette brother goal, this time Mathieu, Feder closed the door and held his own against the bigger opponents allowing the Roadrunners the chance to complete the upset. Ryan Riback created a turnover at centre ice and set up Michael Zell with a breakway, and Zell made no mistake tieing the score by going five-hole. Shortly thereafter it was Roadrunner captain Sammy Feder who scored what proved to be the winning goal sending the youngest team to the finals with a monstrous upset. These Roadrunners aren't to be messed with, despite being a smaller team, they can hold their own, as they showed at the end of the game with Decepticon where the Roadrunner Bash Greenberg brothers took care of business defending their goalie in a scrum.

 

Mini Game: Kryptonite 3 Northstars 1