Wednesday April 12(Semi finals)

J.Provost-Blais and Altius knock out Legacy, punch ticket to final

(3)Legacy vs Altius(4) Game 2

With seven seconds left in the game, Altius forward J.Provost-Blais not only secured the hat trick, but also sealed the series to send his team to the final. Legacy understood the threat Provost-Blais posed after last weeks result. And even if you are aware of it by paying extra attention, sometimes it doesn’t matter on how you try and play a certain player. The highly skilled forward was simply that good, and uncontainable throughout the entire two games. You almost have to rely on your high end players to produce and out gun the Altius if you are Legacy. If not for some unfortunate bounces or bad timing, they could have extended the series for how close it was. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t there night. While many factors are involved in how a game is decided, one area that Legacy didn’t fair well was the special teams department. D.Provost-Jarry used a big shorthanded goal to tie things up early in the third period, and J.Provost-Blais eventually followed up with a power play marker to put the Altius in front.  As unsettling as that sequence was, M.Tvaronas wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the season by evening the score. Ten minutes was all that was left over for the two sides to see who would prevail. It really became a question of who would get there first. Rather then heading into the sudden death frame, J.Provot-Blais was able to avoid it by rattling off his second hat trick in only two games. The end result may be devastating at the moment, but Legacy did what they needed to do by putting it all out there. Sometimes, its just not meant to be for one team in as series that’s very evenly matched.

Punishers out gun Azzuri in final stretch to hit familiar territory

(3)Azzuri vs Punishers(7) Game 2

Maybe for many, the end result was to be expected. For the Azzuri, they still felt they had something to prove and felt confident in their capabilities of causing an upset. And why not when you have the quality and experience to bring you a long way. For well over two periods, nothing was close to being decided. The Azzuri pressed hard, defended well on the large part but couldn’t keep it going long enough as the Punishers eventually took over. All it took was some nice clicking plays that saw C.Genest and T.Therrien score two remarkable goals. That sequence of beauty occurred in only a three minute gap of the third period that essentially put the final dagger in this series. The Punishers looked like the fresher side in the final frame while the Azzuri appeared to be a step behind. If you cant match that pace long enough against a very skilled team, expect to be on the losing end. C.Gingras made sure to close it out on two late goals that included a dirty one that he even felt bad doing. The Punishers have heavy artillery with perhaps no week links throughout their roster. It is why they were able to edge out a strong opponent by using it to their advantage. What’s remarkable is that M.Mavroudis has been dry and they still got it done. If the power forward doesn’t shape up for the final, the Punishers will get on his case. Time will tell as two very skilled teams will square off against each other in next weeks competition. The final between the Punishers and the Altius has the making of an incredible series. The two sides are loaded up front, defend well while having the goaltenders to deliver. It seems like it will come down to who can defend better as the defence will have their hands full trying to contain high end talent.

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Joel Provost-Blais of the Altius. For however read this a week ago, this ISNT a carbon copy . J.Provost-Blais scored another hat trick that included a heartbreaker with only seven seconds to decide the outcome of this series.