It took them seven games, but the Texas Brahmas defeated the Odessa Jackalopes in an 8-1 rout last night to earn a spot in the President's Cup Finals.
Thus the Brahmas, regular season Southeast Division and Southern Conference champs, are now officially the conference champions for the postseason.
They will face the winner of the Northern Conference series between the Colorado Eagles and Mississippi RiverKings, which will play its sixth game tonight. The Eagles currently lead the series 3-2 and will try to close it out tonight for the third straight game.
Robert Keith at the Texas Brahmas Insider Blog has pretty much everything you could care to know about the Southern Conference winners and will continue to cover them throughout the finals.
In the NHL, the Boston Bruins swept the Montreal Canadiens in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series, and the Pittsburgh Penguins have also advanced via a 4-2 series win over the Philadelphia Flyers. My face hurts from smiling so much about yesterday's game.
The New York Rangers have unsuccessfully tried to close out their series against the Washington Capitals twice, so they will play a Game 7 on Tuesday. The New Jersey Devils will try to knock out the Carolina Hurricanes tonight in a game that is currently in the first period. The Devils have a 3-0 series lead.
In the West, Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks both swept their first-round series, over the Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues, respectively.
The Chicago Blackhawks have a chance at the second round tonight as they head into their game against the Calgary Flames with a 3-2 series lead, while the Anaheim Ducks are leading the top-seeded San Jose Sharks 3-2 in their series.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Whoa
I must admit, when I saw the Mississippi RiverKings go down 4-0 to the Colorado Eagles in the first period of Game 4 of a series they were losing 3-0, I kinda started to count them out.
Former Buck Matt Summers wasn't having that.
He scored his team's first goal before the period ended, assisted on the next in the second and after the RiverKings tied it and kept it that way through the first OT period, he scored a double-OT game winner.
The RiverKings still have quite a climb ahead of them, but winning 6-5 in double overtime can't be too bad for morale, in spite of another former Buck (Kevin Beech) struggling in goal.
His replacement, Tyler Sims, got the game's No. 2 star, while Matt got the No. 1.
In the Southern Conference Finals, the Odessa Jackalopes evened the series at three games apiece with a 2-0 win over the Texas Brahmas tonight.
NHL-wise... well, I don't really feel like talking about that right now.
Former Buck Matt Summers wasn't having that.
He scored his team's first goal before the period ended, assisted on the next in the second and after the RiverKings tied it and kept it that way through the first OT period, he scored a double-OT game winner.
The RiverKings still have quite a climb ahead of them, but winning 6-5 in double overtime can't be too bad for morale, in spite of another former Buck (Kevin Beech) struggling in goal.
His replacement, Tyler Sims, got the game's No. 2 star, while Matt got the No. 1.
In the Southern Conference Finals, the Odessa Jackalopes evened the series at three games apiece with a 2-0 win over the Texas Brahmas tonight.
NHL-wise... well, I don't really feel like talking about that right now.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Independence, Etc...
Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days; my grandparents were in town Thursday and Friday, I was at a track meet all day Saturday... well, you get the idea.
Meanwhile, nothing new to report on the Bucks, but there is another new franchise joining the Central Hockey League, this one in Independence, Mo.
As far as the playoffs go, no CHL games tonight, but the Texas Brahmas lead the Odessa Jackalopes 3-2 in the Southern Conference Finals while the Colorado Eagles are out to a 2-0 lead over the Mississippi RiverKings in the Northern Conference Finals.
I think all the "Juha Toivonen is undefeated in the playoffs" talk jinxed him into giving up five goals in this game. But, though his team took the loss, he individually remained undefeated. Sorry Jeremy Symington.
Right now, I'm waiting for a couple of high school coaches to call me back (cross your fingers for me), but I will eventually post all the scores and stuff from both the CHL and NHL playoffs. Probably on Wednesday, I suppose.
Meanwhile, nothing new to report on the Bucks, but there is another new franchise joining the Central Hockey League, this one in Independence, Mo.
As far as the playoffs go, no CHL games tonight, but the Texas Brahmas lead the Odessa Jackalopes 3-2 in the Southern Conference Finals while the Colorado Eagles are out to a 2-0 lead over the Mississippi RiverKings in the Northern Conference Finals.
I think all the "Juha Toivonen is undefeated in the playoffs" talk jinxed him into giving up five goals in this game. But, though his team took the loss, he individually remained undefeated. Sorry Jeremy Symington.
Right now, I'm waiting for a couple of high school coaches to call me back (cross your fingers for me), but I will eventually post all the scores and stuff from both the CHL and NHL playoffs. Probably on Wednesday, I suppose.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
New Franchise
I don't have much time to blog about this now, but just wanted to post something about the fact that the CHL announced a new team in Allen for the 2009-10 season today.
The team's temporary Web site can be found here.
Seems like pretty soon the league will be able to have a conference comprised purely of Texas teams, eh? I wonder if divisions will be realigned again now that the Brahmas have yet another franchise much closer to them than their division mates this season.
The team's temporary Web site can be found here.
Seems like pretty soon the league will be able to have a conference comprised purely of Texas teams, eh? I wonder if divisions will be realigned again now that the Brahmas have yet another franchise much closer to them than their division mates this season.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Wrapping Things Up
I wasn't able to stick around at the the season ticket holder party at the LEC tonight long enough to witness the presentation of the team awards, but here they are as per Bryan Benway's press release:
-Team MVP: Darryl Smith
-Fastest Skater: Bobby Russell
-Smartest Player: Jeff Bes
-Tough Man: Erick Lizon
-Best Hair: Igor Agarunov
-Best Dressed: Igor Agarunov
-Ladies Man: Jason Dixon
-Worst Dancer: Jaye Judd
-Mr. Neat Freak: Devin Featherstone
-Best Cook: Jaye Judd
-Grumpiest Player (Presented by Terry Ruskowski): Jeff Bes
Hopefully Judd getting worst dancer isn't a result of the guys making fun of him about his bum legs, but I'm glad to report he is feeling better even though it's a little too late now.
Sadly, a lot of the other guys will be sticking around for surgery on those injured parts that nagged the team all season long. Sadly on the surgery part, not the sticking around, of course.
My mission this evening was to interview all the team's vets about the prospects of their returns and say goodbye to everyone, and I accomplished that to the extent that I could. If Brent Cullaton and Andrew Martin were around, I sure as heck couldn't find them.
The story we're running in tomorrow's Times will focus mostly on the vet outlook, but I also spoke to most of them about their thoughts on this season, so I'll be sure to share those on here at some point. Hope those of you who made it to the event had a good time.
Oh, and as some of you were probably informed tonight, Mr. Neat Freak Devin Featherstone dabbles in photography in addition to playing hockey and fighting fires. You can visit his photography site to check his work out. Pretty neat stuff, and that baby foot with the rings is adorable.
-Team MVP: Darryl Smith
-Fastest Skater: Bobby Russell
-Smartest Player: Jeff Bes
-Tough Man: Erick Lizon
-Best Hair: Igor Agarunov
-Best Dressed: Igor Agarunov
-Ladies Man: Jason Dixon
-Worst Dancer: Jaye Judd
-Mr. Neat Freak: Devin Featherstone
-Best Cook: Jaye Judd
-Grumpiest Player (Presented by Terry Ruskowski): Jeff Bes
Hopefully Judd getting worst dancer isn't a result of the guys making fun of him about his bum legs, but I'm glad to report he is feeling better even though it's a little too late now.
Sadly, a lot of the other guys will be sticking around for surgery on those injured parts that nagged the team all season long. Sadly on the surgery part, not the sticking around, of course.
My mission this evening was to interview all the team's vets about the prospects of their returns and say goodbye to everyone, and I accomplished that to the extent that I could. If Brent Cullaton and Andrew Martin were around, I sure as heck couldn't find them.
The story we're running in tomorrow's Times will focus mostly on the vet outlook, but I also spoke to most of them about their thoughts on this season, so I'll be sure to share those on here at some point. Hope those of you who made it to the event had a good time.
Oh, and as some of you were probably informed tonight, Mr. Neat Freak Devin Featherstone dabbles in photography in addition to playing hockey and fighting fires. You can visit his photography site to check his work out. Pretty neat stuff, and that baby foot with the rings is adorable.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)