Round 2 Playoff Preview

FRANKLIN HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS - 2013

SEMI-FINALS PREVIEW

BY FHL Contributor, Adam Cristallini

MUNHALL-   It has been nearly three weeks since the top seeded Thunder and Bulls have played an opponent on the black top. Conventional wisdom says “rust” will play a factor for those two teams and their opponents, the Moose and Crosby’s have a slight advantage since they played in the First Round last week. Bulls captain, Shane Lucas thinks otherwise. “I don’t believe playing in three weeks will have any effect on us going into this game versus the Crosby’s”, Lucas said.  “I feel that our team has veteran guys who have been a part of bye weeks and having weeks off before a playoff game which allows us to know how to prepare mentally for matchup like this.” Lucas also believes that if his teams gets off to a slow start, that the weight falls on him. He insists that getting his team ready to play is his full responsibility.

                What Shane Lucas does like about finishing high in the standings an getting a first round bye to the Semi-Final round, is that some of his key guys can rest up some lagging injuries. Roy McDonald, who led the team with 14 goals and 17 assists, was dealing with an injury that would have kept him out of the first round game had the Bulls not earned the bye.

                Another headline for the Bulls that is coming to the forefront is FHL great, Brian Barca. The attention always seems to find him and usually it’s for good reason. At the end of playoffs, Barca will be officially retiring for good. Brian’s business of youth baseball training is taking off faster than expected, as why his time this year was limited which was evident in his statistics. Barca registered 6 goals and 12 assists this season. Those were His lowest totals of his whole career.  Barca had previously never scored less than 25 goals in a given season.  With missed time this year, Barca recently was bumped from his king of most career points in league history. Chad Kanz now owns that distinction with 298 points. Barca finished his career with 295.

                Captain Shane Lucas couldn’t speak more highly of retiring veteran, “He has had a major impact on this league and the players in it because of his desire to win.” Lucas also mentioned how Barca helped him grow as player and instilling confidence in to Lucas as a line mate and as a captain. It will be Shane’s biggest honor to send Barca out of the league on top at the end of April. “I want to be able to be the captain that hands him the cup first, because if there is any player in this league that deserves to win each year, Its Brian Barca.” Whether you would like that or not, that’s a pretty cool way to close the door on an amazing career.

THE MATCHUP:

BULLS vs Crosby’s

GAME  1: Saturday March 30^th 1:00pm

GAME 2: Saturday March 30^th 2:00pm

Game 3: IF NECESSARY April 6^th TBA

BULLS-

-Bulls were the 2^nd place finisher with a 10-5 (37-22) and half game back of the Defending Champion, Thunder.

-Bulls FWD Ryan Sabo had10g,6a in his first year back since 2008-09 season.

- Shane Lucas is his first year as Bulls captain

- Goalie Craig Hixon had a 0.63 GAA

CROSBY’S-

-John George’s Crosby’s team finished 7-8 (30-31) and in 4^th place.

-Last year’s Runner-UP

- Defeated the Jets in the first round 3 games to 2.

Prediction: BULLS 2-1

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                Now onto the first Semi-Final matchup of the weekend between the Thunder and the Moose. The Moose come into this year’s Semi-Final round versus  the 1^st seeded Thunder as the league’s lowest seeded team. Last week, the Moose upset the 3^rd seed Whalers. Moose won the series 3-0 and were led by longtime captain Zack Siniawski and one time standout, Dustin Hess’ 3 goals and 1 assists. For their effort they get to meet an anxious Andrew McDonald led Thunder team who are ready to begin the FHL title defense.  “This is what you play all season for- These few weeks of hockey. It's the playoffs, you got to love it”, McDonald said.

The Thunder are clearly the favorite again this year. The Thunder have the weaponry of Chad Kanz, the league’s top scorer with 44points, and Zack Wahal, who had 22 goals this season.  While McDonald has one of the best offensive teams in the league, he is plenty aware of what the Moose are capable of. “Any team can win on any week. The Moose are talented on offense with (Zack) Siniawski, (Jay) Kortz,(Dustin) Hess, and(Joey) Faiello just to name a few. Not to mention having (Ryan) Perhac back on defense, he's one of the hardest to score against”, McDonald said “We have our hands tied this week for sure.”  Last week, the Moose came out of the straight out of the woods and surprised everybody by beating the heavily favored Whalers. Dustin Hess was a major part of that cause. Hess has had limited playing time due to work, but came up big like a trusty veteran should. Will that momentum carry over into the series against the Thunder is yet to be seen. One thing is for sure though, it should be a dog fight

THE MATCHUP:

THUNDER vs. MOOSE

GAME 1: Saturday March 30^th 11am

GAME 2: Saturday March 30^th 12pm

GAME 3: IF NECESSARY April 6^th TBA

THUNDER-

-The Thunder had the league’s best record and are the Defending Champions

-Every Roster player but one, Jeff Pingor, registered at least a point

-Dave Kwolek led all goalies in wins(34) and GAA(0.52)

MOOSE-

-Moose finished the season in last place with a record of 4-11(17-36)

-Joey Faiello led the team with 12 pts, the lowest team leader in points in FHL history

-Dustin Hess had 3 goals and 1 assist in Opening Round. He had 1 goal and no assist all season

Prediction: THUNDER 2-0 SWEEP.