Season One, in the books

What a season! A hard fought second half of the regular season set the stage for the first annual MRHA Playoff Tournament where teams were matched up against each other based on their positions in the regular season standings. After a three game round robin the teams were split into two championship divisions, the top six teams played for the Platinum title while seeds seven through twelve played for the Gold title. While the tournament was taking place we also had No Regretzkys and the Penguins playing in a best of five series to determine the 2009 MRHA Silver division Champions.

The turnaround story of the season has to be the Road Dawgs, led by team rep Shawn Irwin and go to scoring threats Harry Zolnierczk and Ryan Bernardi. The Road Dawgs had a rough start to the season going 0-3 in what was most of the players’ first ever season of roller hockey. As the games were played the Dawgs got stronger and didn’t look back. They finished the regular season going an intimidating 8-0 which catapulted them out of the basement and into third place after the regular season.  As the number three seed the Dawgs would face the tough number nine Donkey Punchers, the number eight Rattlers who were in the middle of a late season slide down the standings having finished the season with a lowly 1-5 record in their final six games and the ninth seeded Richview team who nobody wanted in the playoffs as they seemed to be clicking towards the end of the regular season going 4-0-1 in their final five games. After losing a tight game to the Rattlers the Road Dawgs walked out of the round robin at 2-1 and secured themselves a ticket to the Platinum elimination games as the new number four seed.

The Hornets, having lost only one regulation game all season stepped into the round robin as the number one seed which put them against the twelfth seeded NCL Purple Cobras, number nine Richview and number eleven NS Flames. The Hornets would come out of the robin 3-0 and would take the number two seed which earned them a bye straight to the Platinum semi finals.

Stefan Robertson and the IHO Grizzlies had their sights set on the Platinum title from day one. This was clear as the Grizzlies were all business in their three round robin games beating the Rattlers, NCL Purple Cobras and sixth seeded Euro Inferno earning them the number one seed after round robin play.

The 2009 MRHA season would prove to be a roller coaster for the Brokeback Mountaineers as they finished in second place after eleven regular season games only to come out of the round robin as the eleventh seed and earn an invite to the Gold division quarter finals. Their draw for the round robin was not an easy one as they were matched up against the eleventh place NS Flames, a team ready to prove that the regular season means nothing, the always tough Donkey Punchers and the Purple Cobras led by snipe show Frank Zuccaro. To top off a tough draw the Mountaineers were without their starting goalie Kevin Rawley, aka KEV-O, due to a season ending injury (special thanks goes out to MRHA IronMan goalie David Hughes for helping the Mountaineers and others during their times of need).

Another team that experienced extreme highs and lows during the 2009 season would be Tommy Kalinowski’s Phantoms. The boys in white battled hard all season finishing in seventh place after the regular season which put them against number six Euro Inferno in their first playoff game. This game will be remembered as one of the most exciting, back and fourth games of the entire season. After four lead changes in the second half the Phantoms would go home on the winning end of a 9-7 final thanks to the late game heroics of Phantoms big man, Damien Verzella. The Phantoms would finish the round robin with a 2-1 record, earning them a spot in the Platinum division.

The NS Flames were in a tough spot come playoff time. They were coming into the tournament having won two of their last three regular season games and were really starting to put fear into the hearts of their opponents. Sounds like a great way to head into the playoff except for the fact that they would be losing seven of their players (including their goalie) after game two of the round robin due to the World Championships in Italy. After a shootout win in game one, a crazy last second win after Latoya Clarke literally beat the buzzer in game two, the depleted NS Flames were in tough against the number one seeded Hornets in game three. The Flames would end up 2-1 after the round robin but would unfortunately have to forfeit their Platinum division quarter final game due to a lack of players and most importantly, a lack of a goaltender (IronMan Hughes was unable to help as he was called into work that night).

David Hughes and the Euro Inferno had, hands down, the toughest luck in the round robin. They were on the wrong end of an epic game against the Phantoms in game one and were beat with less than a second left in their second game by the Flames. After the two losses the Inferno were left with a very short bench for their last round robin game, they would end the round robin with an 0-3 record and would find themselves in the Gold division elimination game.

After the dust had settled we were ready for the elimination round of the tournament. In the Platinum division we had: IHO Grizzlies, Hornets, Rattlers, Road Dawgs, Phantoms & NS Flames. The Gold division featured: Chiefs, NCL Purple Cobras, Donkey Punchers, Richview, Brokeback Moutaineers & Euro Inferno.

The Grizzlies, Hornets, Chiefs and Cobras earned byes to their respective division’s semi finals as they were the top two seeds of each division. The other four teams from each division would battle it out for a spot in the semis. With the Flames forfeiting, the Rattlers had an easy way to the semis. The other Platinum quarter final, between the Road Dawgs and Phantoms was closer than the 6-1 score would make you think. In the Gold division quarters the Euro Inferno would lose a heart breaker, 8-7, to the Donkey Punchers despite only having four skaters. This game went back and forth, every time Euro Inferno would score it seemed like the Punchers answered back immediately. Hats off to David Hughes and JR Vitale of the Inferno for making this game one of the best of the playoffs. The Brokeback Mountaineers would earn the last spot in the Gold semis with a win over Richview.

Things were starting to get pretty intense around the Hershey Centre when semi final Tuesday rolled around. To start the night off No Regretzkys beat the Penguins in game four of a best of five series to take the 2009 MRHA Silver Division title. Once the celebration ended it was time for the first Platinum division semi final, between the number one seeded IHO Grizzlies and the Road Dawgs. This game went back and forth from the beginning and would need overtime to give us a winner. The Grizzlies would go into the extra frame a man short as they took a penalty with less than a minute left in regulation. A patient penalty kill and a few good stops from goaltender Ben Kalisz got the Grizz out of the short handed situation. Within a minute and a half of killing the penalty and shifting the momentum a shot off a rebound would find the back of the Grizzlies’ net. The next semi between the Hornets and the Rattlers would not be as close; the Hornets came out strong from the drop of the puck and never looked back. They held a 3-1 lead at halftime and would end up winning 5-2. Hornets goaltender, Matt Mitchell, shut the door on one the league’s highest scorers, TJ Brady, as he failed to find the back of the net (something that had happened only once all season long). The Gold division semis were won fairly handily by the Chiefs and Donkey Punchers, 9-3 & 7-4 respectively.

With the matches set for championship night all that was left to do was make sure the NARCh court was installed in time for the games to be played on the main bowl (a large benefit of having the Finals at our home rink). The court went in without a hitch and was ready with plenty of time to spare. The stage was set for two teams to step up and prove that they were the best in their respective divisions. The first game of the night was between the Chiefs and Donkey Punchers. Both teams came out smoking as they exchanged goals early in the first half. After the midway point of the first half the Chiefs really turned on the offense taking a 4-1 lead into halftime. After halftime the wheels seemed to fall off the Donkey Punchers defensive game as they were beat on odd man rushes and seemed to start losing their legs on the bigger surface of the main bowl. The Gold final would end 7-2 and the Chiefs would be crowned 2009 MRHA Gold Division Champions. Our final game of the season was intense from the drop of the puck, it was clear that both teams wanted the cup and neither was willing to give up an inch on either sides of the court. Road Dawgs goalie, Scott Irwin, matched the Hornet’s Matt Mitchell, stop for stop as both offenses were pouring on the opportunities. With the game tied at half it was clear we were in for a beauty finish to what was an amazing season. The Road Dawgs scored with less than two minutes left in regulation and would hold on to be the 2009 MRHA Platinum Division Champions with a 4-3 victory.