The Bayside Tigers vs Stud Puffins
1st Period:
BAY (1-0) – Frank (1) (assisted by Joel) (1:16)
BAY (2-0) – Jacob (1) (assisted by Sena) (7:01)
2nd Period:
BAY (3-0) – Gabe (1) (assisted by Matt Stabel) (1:08)
PUF (1-3) – Sweet Baby James (1) (unassisted) (11:47)
3rd Period:
PUF (2-3) – Sweet Baby James (2) (assisted by Fleming) (9:52)
GAME NOTES: The opening game of the playoffs featured the 1st year, 5th place Stud Puffins and the 8th place Bayside Tigers…the Tigers put Gabe at forward for this one to jump start the offense and they scored on the first shift as Frank scored his 1st D5 goal…Jacob followed midway through the period to extend the lead to 2-0…after Gabe made it 3-0 Tigers, SBJ buried two to make it close, but it wasn’t quite enough. A late PP by the Puffins couldn’t get the tying goal and the Tigers moved on to the next round…Casca played in net in place of Eitan, who everyone thought had gotten into a car crash or something but turned out to just have the wrong time for the game somehow. Probably writing more pornos or something…the Tigers would move on to face the 4th seeded Cheetahs later in the evening.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Sena (1A)
2nd – SBJ (2G)
1st – Gabe (GWG)
My Cup Size Is Stanley vs Cleveland Monsters
2nd Period:
CLE (1-0) – Julie (1) (assisted by Rob) (0:29)
CLE (2-0) – Matt Russo (1) (PP) (assisted by Julie) (9:56)
3rd Period:
CUP (1-2) – Mike Tarnow (1) (assisted by Justin) (7:45)
CLE (3-1) – Tadpole Jack (1) (assisted by Rob) (8:40)
GAME NOTES: This was the first D5 game to feature a “puck line,” aka a point spread. With the line expecting the Monsters to win by two, many Cup Size players felt it was downright insulting and put their money on their own team to pull the upset…black did indeed play one of their better games this season, keeping the score tied through one period and getting some good attempts in on Zisser. However on the first shift of the 2nd period Julie put Cleveland on the board and Russo would add a power play goal with three minutes left to extend the lead to 2-0…Tarnow got black within a goal with 5:15 left in the game, giving them some hope. However, off the very next faceoff, the Monsters would answer with a shot from the left circle and hold onto the lead to move on to the next round, disappointing Cup Size gamblers across the nation.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Rob (2A)
2nd – Mike Zisser (1 GA)
1st – Julie (1G, 1A)
The Bayside Tigers vs The Charging Cheetahs
1st Period:
CHA (1-0) – Derek (1) (unassisted) (1:48)
BAY (1-1) – Gabe (2) (assisted by AFrey) (11:37)
2nd Period:
BAY (2-1) – AFrey (1) (PP) (assisted by Joel) (3:03)
CHA (2-2) – Sully (1) (assisted by Derek) (3:23)
CHA (3-2) – Sully (2) (assisted by Derek) (4:03)
3rd Period:
CHA (4-2) – Austin (1) (assisted by Jake Braun) (3:22)
BAY (3-4) – Gabe (3) (assisted by Joel) (9:20)
CHA (5-3) – Carlin (1) (EN) (assisted by Annie) (11:56)
CHA (6-3) – Neil (1) (EN) (assisted by Sully) (12:15)
GAME NOTES: The Cheetahs won both regular season meetings during the regular season as Braun scored with just over a minute left in week 1 and Austin netted the winner in week 9…in a battle of the top two draft picks in both the summer and fall seasons, Derek scored on the second shift of the game but Gabe answered with just over a minute left in the period, burying a rebound to tie the game going into the 2nd…there were numerous power plays in this one for the Tigers, and they were able to capitalize at the tail end of a 5 on 3 as Alex scored to give his team the lead. It was short lived, however, as Sully scored two goals on the next two shifts (both assisted by Derek) to put the Cheetahs ahead 3-2 going into the intermission…after Austin and Gabe traded goals, the score was 4-3 Cheetahs with 3:40 left. Blue would pull the goalie and press for the tying goal but several key saves by Dave and empty net goals by Carlin and Neil would give red the victory and a date the following week with the first place Green Street Hooligans.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Gabe (2G)
2nd – Derek (1G, 2A)
1st – Sully (2G, 1A)
Cleveland Monsters vs RONKONKOMA CONDO’S
2nd Period:
CLE (1-0) – Hogg (1) (unassisted) (6:43)
RON (1-1) – Hicks (1) (assisted by Olivier) (9:44)
CLE (2-1) – Tadpole Jack (2) (assisted by Rob) (11:43)
3rd Period:
CLE (3-1) – Hogg (2) (assisted by Matt Russo) (4:22)
RON (2-3) – Nurse Dangles (1) (assisted by Olivier) (10:15)
CLE (4-2) – Matt Russo (2) (EN) (unassisted) (11:56)
GAME NOTES: In the final game of the first playoff week, the 6th seeded Cleveland Monsters would face the 3rd seeded CONDO’S whom they had previously beaten 5-2 during the season…after a scoreless 1st period which featured Zisser and Casca trading saves, Cleveland went into the 2nd intermission up 2-1 after goals by Hogg and Tadpole Jack. Hogg was moved up to forward after spending the previous season playing D and he made that decision look like a wise one again early in the 3rd when he made a great individual effort and banked a shot in off a defenseman in front to put his team ahead 3-1 with just under 9 minutes left…Nurse Dangles, aka Dan “Creed” Creeden, would unleash one of his patented blasts (actually not totally sure about the IP situation with his slapshots but whatever) from the point to cut the deficit to one goal with 2:45 left. After the CONDO’S had some trouble establishing zone time, Mustache Russo buried an empty netter from his own end that looked like a total accident, but that he assured me was the result of “geometry”…with the victory, the Monsters brought joy to the city of Cleveland not seen since the Fall 2018 Cleveland Browns brought glory to the city. The Monsters also vindicated the league sportsbook which installed them as the preseason favorites and would go on to face the defending champion Goonies in the semi-finals.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Olivier (2A)
2nd – Matt Russo (1G, 1A)
1st – Hogg (2G)
The Charging Cheetahs vs Green Street Hooligans
1st Period:
CHA (1-0) – Annie (1) (assisted by Jake Braun) (1:12)
GSH (1-1) – Tracy (1) (assisted by Jake Reznick) (2:02)
CHA (2-1) – Matt Riegler (1) (assisted by Annie) (5:05)
2nd Period:
GSH (2-2) – Andrea (1) (unassisted) (0:53)
CHA (3-2) – Annie (2) (assisted by Sully) (8:25)
3rd Period:
GSH (3-3) – Joe P (1) (unassisted) (3:05)
GSH (4-3) – Mike Pags (1) (unassisted) (5:10)
GSH (5-3) – Probie (1) (EN) (unassisted)
CHA (4-5) – Derek (2) (EN) (assisted by Austin) (12:22)
GSH (6-4) – Jake K (1) (EN) (unassisted) (12:32)
GAME NOTES: The first game of championship had a little bit of everything for the many fine hockey fans in attendance…Annie opened the scoring off a quality feed from Braun in front, but on the very next shift Tracy would score her first career playoff goal to knot the score at 1. All told, 4 of the first 5 goals were scored by ladies…after Andrea tied the game at 2, the game was stopped for a 40 minute rain delay during which time players from both teams (and basically anyone who was around) helped dry the court…when the game resumed, it was a goal bonanza. Annie gave the Cheetahs their third lead of the game entering the intermission but Joe P tied the game for the Hooligans 3:05 into the 3rd before Mike Pags broke his Poutine brethren’s hearts with a goal off a faceoff to give green the lead late in the game…with the Cheetahs’ net empty, Probie slid across the court to block a clearing pass and buried a shot from an extremely rough angle to seemingly seal the game for the Hooligans. However, with 38 seconds left his old friend Derek would score a pretty sexy goal if I may say so myself to cut the lead to one and inject some last minute drama into this game. Jake would seal the game for the Hooligans with an empty netter from in front of his own net to send the 1st place Hooligans into the championship game…this was the first final four appearance in Cheetahs franchise history, and the 4th of Dave GDR’s career. He is the only goalie to make the semis more than twice.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Tracy (1G)
2nd – Probie (GWG)
1st – Annie (2G, 1A)
Cleveland Monsters vs Goonies
1st Period:
CLE (1-0) – Nate Lerner (1) (unassisted) (3:23)
2nd Period:
GOO (1-1) – Cherie (1) (PP) (assisted by Matt K) (0:33)
3rd Period:
CLE (2-1) – Tadpole Jack (3) (unassisted) (0:33)
GOO (2-2) – Matt K (1) (unassisted) (3:17)
GOO (3-2) – Amitai (1) (unassisted) (5:05)
CLE (3-3) – Rob (1) (assisted by Tadpole Jack) (5:44)
CLE (4-3) – Tadpole Jack (4) (unassisted) (6:54)
CLE (5-3) – Hogg (3) (EN) (assisted by LJ) (12:20)
GOO (4-5) – Joey C (1) (unassisted) (12:30)
GOO (5-5) – Cherie (2) (assisted by Yetter) (12:59)
Double Overtime:
GOO (6-5) – Ben (1) (assisted by Cherie) (4:54)
GAME NOTES: Not sure what was in the water on August 13 but after a 10 goal explosion the previous game, we expected a slightly quieter affair in this one. Instead, we were treated to perhaps the greatest game in league history featuring 11 goals, 8 of them taking place in the 3rd period…I’m not even really sure where to start, so let’s just skip to the 2nd intermission where the game was tied 1-1 on goals by Nate for the Monsters and Cherie for the Goonies. Just 33 seconds in, Tadpole Jack gave the Monsters a 3-2 lead. Less than 3 minutes later, Matt K buried his first playoff goal to tie it up and just two minutes after that, Amitai gave the Goonies a 3-2 lead. Not to be outdone, the Monsters needed just 39 seconds to answer as Rob buried a rebound to knot it up. Just over a minute after that, Jack buried another rebound for his league-leading 4th goal of the playoffs to put Cleveland ahead…after an amazing individual effort by Hogg down low to score an empty netter and put Cleveland ahead 5-3, you’d be forgiven for assuming the Monsters were heading to the finals. Indeed, multiple betters were overheard asking for a championship line when there was still 40 seconds left in the game…off the following faceoff, down two, the Goonies needed to bury one quickly and they did as Joey waltzed across the middle and flung a wrister far-side to pull the Goonies within one. Off the following faceoff the Goonies generated a ton of pressure but it appeared the Monsters would hang on. With about two seconds left, Yetter got the ball on the half-wall and gave it up to Cherie at the point, who unleashed a desperation blast that went top-shelf with 0.3 seconds remaining. A wild celebration ensued and though the Monsters challenged, the video clearly showed the ball go in before the buzzer for the first semi-final OT in league history…since it was the 2nd week of the playoffs, the first OT was played 5 on 5. Both teams had chances but Zisser and Max held out like Moses in the desert and in a game full of firsts, we were heading to our first double-OT in league history…3 on 3 OT after both teams had been playing for almost an hour and a half was, as expected, quite hectic. Purple had the better of play early on and had multiple chances to end the game stymied by a combination of Max’s athleticism and his defense’s shot blocking prowess. About four and a half minutes in, Hogg and Russo had pressure deep but the Goonies were able to hold strong and break back the other way, with Cherie and Ben on a 2 on 1. Cherie was stopped by Zisser but the rebound went right to Ben who made no mistake in scoring the overtime winner, sending the Goonies to the championship game…the OT periods were livestreamed on Facebook and an impressive 18 people watched live from home, with 138 total views logged…I don’t have an exhaustive list of my favorite D5 games but according to everyone who was there, this was the greatest game in D5 history. The Monsters had an excellent season but would fall just short of the championship, while the Goonies would move on to their 2nd straight championship game.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Ben (GWG)
2nd – Tadpole Jack (2G, 1A)
1st – Cherie (2G, 1A)
Goonies vs Green Street Hooligans
3rd Period:
GOO (1-0) – Mike Yetter (1) (assisted by Sara Lehman) (11:24)
GOO (2-0) – Sara Lehman (1) (assisted by Cherie) (11:46)
GAME NOTES: Before puck drop, multiple bets came in on the Hooligans based on their #1 seeding and the fact that they had rested for almost two hours while the Goonies were coming off an emotional marathon game…there had never been a shutout in a championship game prior to this one but Max made history in this one with a number of tough stops to keep the score even at 0, especially early on when the Hooligans were buzzing. Green did have what they thought was a goal in the 1st period but it was waved off due to goaltender interference…the Goonies seemed to get better as the game went on, not surprising considering how fatigued they probably were at the start. The 3rd period was fairly even possession-wise but Max and Casca kept the game even and with two minutes left, it looked like we would see our first even championship game overtime…however, with just 1:36 left in the game the Goonies would get a cycle deep and eventually the ball came to Sara behind the net, who would whip a backhand pass into the slot which Yetter redirected for the first goal of the game. The Hooligans would pull the goalie for the extra attacker but the Goonies sealed the game with a late empty netter to become the first team to ever win two championships in D5, let alone two consecutive ones. Congrats!
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Mike Yetter (GWG)
2nd – Sara Lehman (1G, 1A)
1st – Max (W, SO)