Friday March 6, 2020

Final OT: 4-3 Canucks

Another point to our total but a bitter taste with an OT loss with only 3.5 seconds remaining.

A hefty crowd filled Eric Coy last night and it was great to see former Hawks mingling and mixing and cheering on our current troops. Susan Gilmore, again, did a magnificent job of organizing the occasion with her tireless work and we thank her and, of course, all the Hawk board and volunteers for their efforts to put the evening together. The 50/50 quadrupled its normal amount and some lucky patron headed home with $415!!

We got off to a bit of slow start, gave up an early goal and went 0/4 on the power play in the first. Then St. James made it 2-0 midway through the second and it felt reminiscent of Thursday night’s game vs. St. Vital where we trailed 3-0. However, we did not despair and battled back.

Welcome back to Gorenstein who played a strong game and was solid on the back line. He got the puck to the net and Lawrence banged in the disc to make it 2-1 with five minutes left in the second. Matty Law has been a constant producer, of late, and is playing his best hockey of the season. Canucks did tally once more late in the second to pull ahead 3-1 on a power play.

Early in the third, Robinson fired a seeing-eye laser over the glove- hand of the Canucks’ keeper then six minutes later on a power play, Opperman and Hansell moved the puck around and to the crease where Seremet bodied one into the net as he crashed the crease…3-3!

We exchanged chances and Wicha continued his tough play and ended up scrapping with an annoying Canuck (they are all very annoying) and got the better of him so both were sent packing with five and a game. Canucks are a much despised group and, although they move the puck well, they seem more insistent on the cheap shots and dirty tactics. I am not a fan of them, whatsoever.

Gardiner, Ferbers and Hess all played great and are in playoff form. Fisher continues to dole out well-timed, clean body checks and his efforts get our boys fired up.

We played back-and-forth, three-on-three overtime and both teams had numerous close chances throughout. With time ticking down, St. James got one more rush and an unfortunate bounce send the puck tumbling over Hall into the net as time was about to expire. Hall played great in his second game back from injury as we were outshot 40-26. 

St. James arrogantly celebrated their victory and added to my dislike of them. What a treat it would be to wipe that smirk off their collective faces down the road in a late playoff match-up.

We close out our regular season when we play the #1 Twisters tomorrow night in Morris and can vault into 7th and maybe 6th place with a win. Whomever we meet in the first round are aware of our recent gelling and will not look forward to seeing us in a best-of-Seven.

Now to tweak our PP and our arsenal will be complete.

– Fishmum

Thursday March 5, 2020

Final: 5-4 Hawks

Last night’s game was not for the feint of heart. Of late we have been showing the rest of the league, particularly the top teams, that we are not going away any time soon.

Our start was not in keeping with that doctrine and we found ourselves down 3-0 midway through the first. St. Vital looked fast and poised and that sinking feeling was ruminating around the assembled faithful. However, the Hawks of the past two months have played with a distinct purpose and have remained unfazed by such oppression.

With under a minute to play in the first, Robinson’s and Opperman’s speed and tenacity saw them dig a puck free behind St. Vital’s net and Opps slid it out front to a swooping Lawrence who smacked it home to put us on the board before the first ended. A glimmer of hope and a ray of light existed.

Period two was all ours. Ferbers was a man possessed and continually made strong forays from our end with the puck, moving it quickly and confidently up the ice. Our dogged forechecking and puck battles saw us get numerous chances around the Victorias’ net. Hansell and Ferbers fed Hruska at the blue line and he made a quick deke then wristed a rocket into the net from the top of the slot. Less than a minute later we had a power play and Petras and Ferbers played the up-high umbrella perfectly and fed Hansell who wristed his own rocket in for the PP goal. The period ended 3-3 and we were brimming with confidence.

Period three saw Robinson continue our assault a minute and a half in as he deflected a shot from Maxwell over the goalie’s blocker after some stellar work on the boards by Smith freed the puck to the waiting Maxwell, 4-3.
Opperman continued his speedy, chance-making night and he converted a strong feed from Seremet to score the eventual game winner which put us up 5-3 at the time. St. Vital looked perplexed and a bit ruffled but they did make a press down the stretch, sneaking one more in with under four to play. Then, in the dying seconds with their net empty, they had two dynamite chances but Wiens was up to the task and we deserved our 5-4 victory.

Roffey played a solid game on the back line and pasted a bunch of Victorias to the boards. Wicha and Fisher continued their check-finishing and left a bunch of Victorias gasping for air. 
We’re firing on all cylinders and have given notice to the entire league that we are back with a vengeance. We never say die and support each other totally.

50th anniversary celebration tonight at the Coy sees us take on the Canucks. We are battling for 7th place and trying to oust the Twins from that slot for the playoffs. The first place Twisters are probably hoping we do move up to 7th as we are a wrecking crew of late.

Solid Hawks’ play is infectious!

– Fishmum