I tell ya what - these playoffs so far have been great games to watch! Last night's first game of the finals was another one of those great games. Both teams had plenty of scoring chances and it was not neccessarily dominated by one team.
The Flyers got on the score sheet first with a power-play goal by Joel VanVeller. Kev Karelsen scored another goal for the Flyers half-way through the second period. At this point, the goalies took over the game and held the final score at 2-0 for the Flyers. Seth Hellinga made a bunch of good saves to hold the Flyers at two goals, but Rick Jones stole the show for the Flyers by shutting down the powerful Omegas with a handful of "highlight reel" saves. He earns the Player of the Night honours along with the shutout.

Game 2 goes tonight (Saturday, March 19) at 7:30pm at the Point Edward Arena. With a win tonight, the Flyers will take the Championship. The Omegas will look to tie up the series with a win tonight to keep their hopes of a "three-peat" alive.

Matt DeBoer of the Crusaders was ejected from the game on Saturday because he received three minor penalties. This was the second time that this has occurred for Matt this season, so he is okay to play in the first game of next season. Thank goodness for the "clean slate", eh Matt?

Game 2 between the Flyers & Hawks was another great game between the two evenly matched teams. This series could've easily gone seven games if we had the time for such a long series. Dave VanOostveen scored twice for the Hawks to give them a 2-0 lead until the Flyers scored their first goal half-way through the second period. The teams traded goals and it looked like we were going to have overtime until Dan VanReenen broke the 3-3 tie with just over three minutes to go in the third. The Flyers were able to shut the doors at this point and earned their first trip to the finals since winning the Championship four seasons ago. We'll give Dan the nod for Player of the Night with his second game winning goal in as many nights.

The second game between the Crusaders & Omegas was certainly a differnt type of game from the night before. The teams opened up the first period with five goals between them. The night before it was 1-1 until midway through the third period. The Omegas took charge in the second period and found themselves up 6-3 going into the third. Jordan DeBoer made it interesting when he scored his second goal (and fourth point) of the night early in the third. It still wasn't enough and the Omegas won the game 6-4. With the win, the Omegas will meet the Flyers in the finals and will get a chance to go for the "Three-peat".

On behalf of the League, I want to congratulate Steve DeBoer of the Crusaders on a great career in our League. Steve has let on that he does not plan on coming back to play next season (at least not as a full-timer). He has certainly been one of the most tallented players in our League's history. Even as recently as last season, he was our League's leader in both points & assists. Way to go Steve!

Sid VanReenen of the Omegas & Matt Tamminga of the Crusaders each received a "10 minute" misconduct in their game on Friday night. This is the first "10 minute" misconduct of the season for both of these guys, so they are not suspended for these misconducts.

Sid VanReenen was also handed a "game misconduct" on top of the "10 minute" misconduct. For this, Sid will be suspended for one game.

The early game between the Omegas & Crusaders was a very tight & conservative type of game until the Omegas broke out with three goals in the last half of the third period. The Omegas took the series lead by winning the game 4-1.

The later game between the Flyers & Hawks was also a very close game, but it was much more wide open. There was plenty of scoring chances for both teams. Both goalies were called upon to keep their respected teams in it. The Flyers came away with a 4-2 win to take the series lead. Flyers goaltender, Rick Jones gets the nod for Player of the Night.

Both series resume tonight at the RBC Centre (Rink 2).
The Hawks & Flyers start at 5:15pm.
The Crusaders & Omegas start at 6:45pm.