The Omegas were able to win the first game of their semi-finals series with a 5-2 win over the Hawks. It was actually a much closer game than the score reflects. The Omegas got off to a good start by scoring two quick goals in the first period. The Hawks scored two quick goals of their own in the second period to tie it up at 2-2. That was as close as the Hawks were able to come before the Omegas took the lead again and never looked back. Karsten Berg led the offense for the Omegas by scoring twice and adding two assists. He earns the Player of the Game.
The Hawks will look to tie the series up tonight (Saturday, March 10) and avoid being eliminated.

The other semi-finals series between the IceDogs & Flyers ended with a 5-2 win for the Flyers. After the Flyers got off to a 3-0 lead, the IceDogs made a game of it by coming back with two goals to make it 3-2. This was as close as the IceDogs would come as they spent eight minutes of the third period killing off a major penalty. Matt VanMarum gets the nod for Player of the Game for scoring two pretty goals in the Flyers' win.
The IceDogs will need to win tonight's game to move on to a third and deciding game in the series.

As I'm sure you're already aware, the playoffs start this Friday, March 9 at the Point Edward Arena. Here is a quick rundown of the games to be played in the first round:

Friday, March 9 at the Point Edward Arena
8:00pm - Omegas vs. Hawks
9:30pm - IceDogs vs. Flyers

Saturday, March 10 at the Sarnia Arena (Brock Street Barn)
6:30pm - Flyers vs. IceDogs
8:00pm - Hawks vs. Omegas

Friday, March 16 at the Point Edward Arena
8:00pm - Omegas vs. Hawks
9:30pm - IceDogs vs. Flyers

This is the update for the games played last Friday (March 2).

It's a wonder what a full bench can do for your team. Somebody should've told the Stars this secret earlier on in the season. For the second week in a row, the Stars pulled off a surprising victory. This time they beat the IceDogs 8-1. Dan Booy got three assists in the game, but we'll give the Player of the Game award to Greg Wierenga, who scored four goals for the Stars.

The middle game between the Flyers & Hawks was the only game that meant something in the final standings. The Hawks needed a regulation win to be able to put themselves into the third playoff seed. The Hawks, down by two goals, made a late game comeback in the last two minutes of the third period to tie the game up at 3-3. However, when regulation ended, the Flyers officially clinched third place and the teams chose not to play the overtime. Ryan Cross scored twice for the Flyers. We'll give the Player of the Game honours to Kyle Huizinga & Ryan Nutma, who were the two guys that scored the comeback goals for the Hawks. Each of these guys also got an assist in the game.

In the late game, the Omegas ended the regular season with a 7-4 win over the Cougars. Fred VanReenen Jr. followed in the footsteps of Curt Moesker, & Kev Karelsen by trying his hand at goaltending. He played a solid game in net for the Omegas and clearly looked like he was having a ball in doing so. O.J. Deelstra was able to solve Fred by scoring twice for the Cougars. Darren DeGroot had three points. Kalen Hellinga got three points for the Omegas. Karsten Berg got four points, but we'll award the Player of the Game to Rick Anjema, who got three points in his first game back in quite a while.

This is the update for the games that were played on Friday, February 25.

In the early game, the Stars pulled off a surprising 7-4 victory over the Flyers. Joel VanVeller got three points for the Flyers. Greg Wierenga led the Stars in scoring with his three points, but Dallas Fraser earns the Player of the Game honours with his solid effort on defense. He scored two goals including the game winner. He also solidified his name on "the list" with his effort.

The IceDogs rebounded from a tough loss the week before to beat the Cougars 6-2 in the middle game. Ole' Wes DeBoer must've been proud of his boys in this game. Joe DeBoer (you've met him) got two points. His big brother, Matt, got three points. But the Player of the Game was Joe & Matt's younger brother Brett DeBoer who had four points in the game.

In the late game, the Omegas continued their high scoring ways in beating the Hawks 8-2. Ryan Nutma scored both of the Hawks' goals. Take a wild guess who did most of the scoring for the Omegas. You guessed it - Karsten Berg & Kalen Hellinga share the Player of the Game honours this week. Karsten got four points, while Kalen had five points, including another hat-trick. Boy, I tell ya, these two guys sure make it tough for me to pick somebody else for Player of the Game.

I'm running a few weeks behind in the updates. This is the update for the games that were played on Friday, February 17.

In the early game, the Omegas beat the IceDogs 8-2. Joe DeBoer scored both of the goals in the IceDogs' loss. Sid VanReenen got three points in the Omegas' win. Once again, the scoresheet was full of 48's & 10's. Karsten Berg got five points, while Kalen Hellinga earns the Player of the Game by getting seven points, including four goals.

The middle game saw the Flyers beat the Cougars 6-4. It was a pretty close game all the way through until Tyler Veenendaal sealed the victory for the Flyers by scoring his second goal of the game in the last minute of the third period. Josh DeGroot & Kev Karelsen each had three points for the Flyers. We'll give the Player of the Game honours to Darren DeGroot of the Cougars, who scored twice and added an assist.

The late game between the Hawks & Stars was a much closer game than the score reflected. The Hawks skated away to a 5-0 win mostly thanks to an outstanding performance in goal by Mike Ward. He definitely earned the shutout. Curt Moesker also gave a good effort in net for the Stars, but it wasn't enough to stop Kyle Huizinga from scoring a hat-trick. Mike & Kyle will share the Player of the Game honours.