Event Recap

Since I have lost all motivation while at work, I have not had the energy to post the results of the various sporting events recently so I’ve decided to sum it all up in one post. Here’s what I’ve been following lately.

Last Saturday night, in a sold out HSBC arena (18,690), the Buffalo Bandits won the 2008 NLL Champion’s Cup. At times they looked to dominate the Portland Lumberjax but the Jax kept fighting and did not allow the Bandits to expand any lead past three goals. The lead was only two with under a minute to go when Derek Malawsky scored to narrow the gap to one. Mike Thompson and the Bandits defence shut the door and held on to a 14-13 victory. Dan Dawson led all scorers with nine points (3G, 6A) in his third championship game loss in four years (2005 to Toronto and last year to Rochester). Buffalo’s Mark Steenhuis was named the game’s MVP with six points (5G, 1A) while the ageless John Tavares netted two goals and two assists for four points. Congratulations Bandits!

Earlier in the day, Finland shutout Sweden 4-0 in Quebec City to capture the bronze medal at the 2008 IIHF World Hockey Championship before Canada lost to Russia 5-4 in overtime on Sunday. In the championship game, Canada came out strong but was unable to hold on to the lead as Russia dominated the third period and likely overtime as well. Despite their unbeaten streak going into the final game, it was a disappointing end to the tournament for team Canada, especially since it was on home soil. They still represented their country well and should be proud of what they accomplished.

One week prior to the world event, the 2008 RBC Cup Champions were crowned. After the round robin, the Camrose Kodiaks, representing the Pacific, were a perfect 4-0; the Humboldt Broncos, representing the West, and the host Cornwall Colts were 2-2; the team from the East, the Pictou County Weeks Crushers was 1-3; and the Central representatives, the Oakville Blades, ended with a 1-3 record as well but failed to make the playoff round. In the end, the Humboldt Broncos defeated the Camrose Kodiaks 1-0 to win their second National Junior A title in five years.

Last but not least, the 2008 Memorial Cup is heading into the final weekend with the host Kitchener Rangers hanging by a thread. After winning the tournament opener, the Rangers have lost two straight and find themselves needing a win Friday night to advance to Sunday’s championship game. The Gatineau Olympiques suffered three losses and find themselves out of the tournament while the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL finished the round robin at a perfect 3-0 and await the winner of the semi-final game. The semi-final game is a repeat of the OHL title series as the Belleville Bulls (2-1) take on the host Rangers (1-2) for a chance at the Cup.

2008 NLL Champion's Cup

The 2008 NLL Champion's Cup will be played on Saturday May 17, 2008 at 7:30 PM. The venue will be determined tomorrow when the New York Titans travel to Buffalo to face the regular season leading Bandits (despite the identical records). The winner of this game will host the winner of the Western Conference Final between the host Calgary Roughnecks and the Portland Lumberjax. The cup final may be a rematch of the 2004 final only in a different venue if the Roughnecks win as Calgary hosted the Bandits in 2004 and came away with a 14-11 victory. The Champions Cup final marks the return of NLL lacrosse to the Score network as they will air the game live in Canada (Sportsnet is booked solid that day with game 2 of the Memorial Cup at 4:00 PM and the Blue Jays game at 7:00 PM or maybe 8:00 PM, either way they can't show it).

3 Down, 1 to Go!

With a 4-1 win in last night's game, the Spokane Chiefs have earned a spot in the national title tournament. They defeated the Lethbridge Hurricanes in four games to sweep their way to the WHL title and the Memorial Cup. Spokane allowed only five goals in those four games. One spot remains vacant for the Memorial Cup as we await the winner from the QMJHL, which can be decided Friday as the Gatineau Olympiques now have a 3-1 series lead. In the OHL, the Kitchener Rangers look to win the J Ross Robertson Cup as the top team in the OHL tonight at home.

Belleville Fights off the Brooms

On the brink of elimination and a sweep, the Belleville Bulls battled hard in game four of the OHL final and defeated the Kitchener Rangers in overtime. Kitchener got off to a fast start by scoring the first three goals of the game. They looked to be in complete control of the game but Belleville got on the board with less than a minute to go in the first period and seemed to take the momentum away from the Rangers. The two teams traded goals in the second period before Belleville shut the door defensively and scored two unanswered goals in the third period to force overtime. In overtime, the Bulls captain, Matt Beleskey, scored on the power play to force a game five back in Kitchener.

Every game from this point forward is a big game. If Belleville wins game five and gets the series to 3-2 then they may derive some momentum out of it and, now that they know they can beat the Rangers, they will definitely force the play more. Kitchener needs to rebound from their loss and end the series Thursday to ensure there are no doubts about the team’s ability heading into the Memorial Cup. I have no doubts they will rebound as after their loss to the Greyhounds in the conference finals, they rebounded with a commanding 6-3 win. Game five should be exciting as both teams will be fighting for the win.

In the other leagues, the Spokane Chiefs are looking for a sweep of their own with a 3-0 series lead on the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Over in the QMJHL, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies are in tough with the Gatineau Olympiques as they find themselves down two games to one after sweeping their first three series. The winners of the WHL and the QMJHL will join the Bulls and Rangers in Kitchener in just over a week to play for the Memorial Cup.