Wednesday August 24(Finals)

(3)Tropics vs Punishers(2) Game 1

Battle of special teams favors Tropics in game 1

The total of all five goals combined from both teams all came with the special teams. The Tropics used two first period power play goals by V.Crivello and J.Nardolillo to jump start the series. Then, it was the Punishers returning the favor, at least slightly winning the second period 2-1.M.Gagnon and C.Piro got the Punishers both goals with the man advantage. With the power plays working for both sides, the Punishers may have dropped the ball when they gave up a shorthanded marker putting the Tropics up 3-1.It was the captain spoiling the moment as J.Crivello showed his skills by patiently keeping the ball long enough before finding the opportunity to strike. The Punishers always kept battling from behind, and despite creating valuable chances, A.Boulieri held the fort long enough to protect the lead.

(5)Punishers vs Tropics(3) Game 2

Desperation kicks in, Punishers save their best by third period

The Punishers season looked gloomy when the men in black saw a 3-2 score in favor of the Tropics after two periods. Knowing that it took at least two goals in regulation time, the Punishers saved their best hockey for last. The comeback began when A.Dayan tied the game with a power play marker. The biggest tally came six minutes after that with the captain stepping up to the plate. J.Fidrilis gave his club their first lead of the game and the Punishers had just over five minutes to kill. The Punishers avoided playing with fire by capitalizing once more with the power play courtesy of a late marker by N.Pitsikoulis. In addition to the necessary win, P.Karvouriaris played a major role once again by collecting three big points.

(2)Tropics vs Punishers(3) Game 3 S.O

Punishers shine in shootout drama, lift E Wednesday trophy

Unable to get any scoring done in a 15 minute game and in a five minute sudden death frame, both sides had only one way to settle the score, a dreaded shootout. Once both sides got to that point, conventional wisdom would have you believe that a shootout is a lottery. But with plenty of skill still involved along with stellar goaltending, the shootout still requires hockey techniques. For this particular case, each side scored once in their first three attempts. From there, teams had to send one player at a time until there was a winner. The Punishers grabbed the advantage when T.Karvouriaris scored to force the Tropics to respond. With their season on the line, the Tropics failed to beat N.Mackeen who denied T.Costopoulos. After it was all said and done, the Punishers emerged as winners in what was an epic final. J.Crivello and the Tropics did a fine job to getting this far and won’t be putting their heads down knowing that they fell short to a very good hockey team. On behalf of Hockeyballe.com, congratulations go out to John Fidrilis and the Punishers for winning the E Wednesday championship.

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Nikita Mackeen of the Punishers. After a grueling three games of intense goaltending, the young talent was very prepared and extremely sharp to capture a difficult championship.