Thursday April 20 (Semi finals)

Discipline issues hurt Brew Crew

(3)Brew Crew vs Van Doos Hc(5) S.O Game 2

One too many visits to the penalty box didn’t help the Brew Crew in their shootout loss to the Van Doos Hc. Although killing off penalties is apart of the game that any team has to go through at times, the Brew Crew weren’t able to do a good enough job to keeping the Van Doos Hc in check. All three goals came on the three attempts with O.Valiquette saving the Van Doos Hc playoff hopes by riffling his second very late in the game. The Brew Crew saw their three slight leads get answered every time. M.Pace scored twice, M.Nardi was involved on all three goals for the Brew Crew and D.Verta helped set up two tallies. After playing through a scoreless overtime period, the Van Doos Hc were now obliged to try and win the shootout. A.Papazian along with N.Kokovidis came through in their attempts along with J.Liopoulos stopping both Brew Crew’s shooters. The Van Doos Hc were able to even things up and force a third and deciding game three.

G.Nehme strikes early, Brew Crew able to hold off defending champs

(1)Brew Crew vs Van Doos Hc(0) Game 3

Entering a shorter game three fifteen minute game, both sides understood the importance of getting that first goal. For the Brew Crew, they barely wasted anytime when G.Nehme struck just twenty seconds in. You never want to fall behind with so much on the line, but the Van Doos Hc had more than enough time to battle back since it was a very early goal. The problem was that the Brew Crew were able to kill off their lone penalty this time, and made sure to play to their identity by suffocating the Van Doos Hc’s attack. The Brew Crews defence was solid in holding off the looks-from the Van Doos Hc high producers. That’s all attributed to their man coverage along with C.Muccino being the last line of defense. The net minder was sharp-from the start, and denied all seven shots he faced to earn a huge shutout win. Throughout both games, the Van Doos Hc never had the luxury of playing in front despite tying the game on three occasions. They just couldn’t find a way to get that one break they needed in a series that was extremely close. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way no matter how well you play. Credit to the Brew Crew for doing a lot of the little things right maybe with the exception of their penalty kill. In the end, they got it done, and will now move on to the big stage.

Armadillos heat up late in second period, pull away by the third

(2)Fatal Demons vs Armadillos(9) Game 2

The final result doesn’t suggest that this was a close knitted battle-from two teams that went to a shootout only a week ago. For nearly two full periods, it was close and the Fatal Demons were still in it despite being down 3-1. Then, a power play goal by S.Athanasopoulos late in the second period spelled the end for the Fatal Demons as they were nowhere to be seen in the final stanza. It was all and only Armadillos throughout the final stretch . It showed how one team fuelled off the situation of playing in front while the Fatal Demons felt that their season was coming to an end. Goals just kept coming in with efforts-from different players. The Armadillos scored three of their nine goals with the man advantage on their three attempts. After having an impactful game only a week ago, G.Bouchard reminded the Fatal Demons that he wasn’t done yet. The skilled defenseman started-from where he left off by providing the Armadillos their first two goals of the contest. Even if that happened early in the game, the Armadillos knew that it was their night as they managed to blow past the Fatal Demons leaving them in their rear view mirror.

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Carmen Muccino of the Brew Crew. Look to your goaltender when reaching this stage of the season. In both wins vs the Van Doos Hc, C.Muccino delivered again like he has done in the past winning two straight games that included a nice shutout.

The E Thursday division will  now feature the Brew Crew taking on the top seed Armadillos. Expect this final to be a very grinding series. Neither side will be giving up much space out there. It will be up to the players to be creative with the ball to try and find the open lanes and gaps needed to generate offense. The Armadillos will get that-from their back line which will force the Brew Crew to pay close attention to those threats. Special teams may play a factor depending on if the two side remain disciplined or not. Difficult to predict, this could go the distance for how well structured both sides are.