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The 2010 Semifinals The Good Sir Gazette Written by Cole Thompson March 28, 2011 One step closer to victory. One step closer to the money. Most importantly though, one step closer to immortality. The first round of the playoffs have come and gone, and two GMs have seen their dream evaporate for this season. Our first two casualties were (6) Five Knuckle Shuffle and (4) The Phenoms. Five Knuckle Shuffle made the playoffs for his first time and got bounced just as quickly as he made it. They just didn't have an answer for the excellent goaltending of MVB All-Stars. While FKS put up a valiant effort they still found themselves losing 8-2 against the third ranked MVB All-Stars. Call it a learning experience for FKS, as I expect they will build on this and come back hungrier next year. While FKS can use the “inexperience” card and build from his first taste of the playoffs, The Phenoms can only wonder what could have been. Two streaks came to an end this year for The Phenoms. First off they broke their streak (4 years) of finishing 1st or 2nd during the regular season. As if that wasn't bad enough, now The Phenoms have also broken their streak of finishing in the money all four years. This will be the first year that The Phenoms have not played for at least 3rd place thanks to a 6-4 loss to MesEx in the quarterfinals. It's unfortunate that The Phenoms were just decimated with injuries (losing S. Crosby, E. Malkin, Ju. Williams, P. Sharp, and A. Kopitar) as I believe they really had a shot to keep their streak alive. Anyway enough looking back, time to look ahead to the Semifinals! (1) No Boundaries vs. (5) MesEx – Back-to-back President's Trophy winner No Boundaries faces off against former League Champion MesEx this week in what will be a very intense battle. First off you have No Boundaries who once again dominated the regular season finishing 13 points ahead of 2nd place The Good Sirs'. As was the case last year, No Boundaries was led by his offense as he picked up The Rocket Richard Trophy (330 goals) and the Gretzky Trophy (852 pts) on the year. No Boundaries is led by Art Ross leader D. Sedin (96 pts). After this big gun though, No Boundaries has kind of a Philadelphia Flyers philosophy as it is offense by committee. There is a 26 point drop-off to No Boundaries next highest scorer, C. Giroux (70 pts). Followed by a pantheon of players in the 50s and 60s (R. Getzlaf (69), J. Carter (63), M. Havlat (60), P. Datsyuk (57), O. Jokinen (52). The goaltending of No Boundaries is a different story. Don't get me wrong, they have been doing the job as they all 20+ wins and 9 shutouts between the 3 of them, but the likes of C. “Remember 2006?” Ward, K. “Will this duct tape hold my body together” Lehtonen, and D. “I remember when I didn't have to wear a mask” Roloson aren't exactly the 3 headed monster that wins you championships. That being said they have got No Boundaries this far, what's another 2 weeks? Speaking of goaltending, MesEx is coming off one of the best weeks I've ever seen for goaltenders in the TOFHL! The main reason why MesEx was able to slip past The Phenoms (as he only won 6-4-1 despite The Phenoms being decimated with injuries) is because of his stellar goaltending. To put it in perspective, The Phenoms put up a goalie stat line of 3Ws, 1.59GAA, 0.942Sv%, and 1 SHO.... He lost all 4 categories! Led by R. Miller and T. Thomas, MesEx put up 5Ws, 0.87GAA, 0.969Sv%, and 3 SHO last week! Those stats are criminal, and if MesEx can find a way to duplicate that he'll be playing for his second Championship in 4 years. Looking at the season series, these two teams met twice with No Boundaries dominating 2-0 (17-5). In league history these two teams have met 6 times with No Boundaries leading 3-2-1 (34-27-5). As in the NHL Playoffs, hot goaltending can carry you to the promised land and that's exactly what MesEx is hoping for. No Boundaries has a different philosophy ala The Red Wings, that you build your team around strong offense/D and can get by with “cheaper” goaltending. It will be interesting to see who and what philosophy wins out. Not only will I be watching this match-up to see what philosophy wins out, but we also have two teams trying to make history. No team in league history has won The President's Trophy and the Cup in the same year. No team has ever won the TOFHL Cup twice. After this week, one of these teams will have the opportunity to make history. Who wants it more? Prediction: MesEx 6-4-1. (2) The Good Sirs' vs. (3) MVB All-Stars - Talk about a chance at redemption. Just 1 week removed from losing 7-2-2 to The Good Sirs' (knocking himself out of 2nd place and a first round bye), MVB All-Stars has a chance to redeem himself as he once again faces off against The Good Sirs'. MVB All-Stars is in his first playoff appearance and is doing quite nicely thus far. In the quarterfinals he knocked off (another playoff rookie) Five Knuckle Shuffle 8-2-1 behind the fantastic play of his goaltenders. MVB All-Stars put up fantastic goaltending stats (4Ws, 1.38GAA, .951Sv%, and 2 SHO) and it is a big reason why he pulled off a 8-2-1 victory. MVB has been strong all year with his goaltenders though as he led the league in goalies wins (85). Now that's not to say MVB is relying solely on his goaltenders, as we showcased in last week's article MVB finished 3rd in the Gretzky Trophy race with 807 points. He definitely has the chops to continue his strong run in his first playoff appearance, although his test this week is much more difficult than what he faced in the quarterfinals. The Good Sirs' have had a great regular season, which earned them their first bye ever in the playoffs. Looking over the stats, The Good Sirs' didn't dominate any offensive category, but they were in the top 5 for all 7 offensive categories, and finished 4th in the Gretzky Trophy Race with 790 pts (17 back of 3rd place MVB All-Stars). The Good Sirs' were also strong with their goaltenders as they finished tops in both GAA and Sv% on the season. Looking over the match-up history, The Good Sirs' leads the overall series 4-2 (35-23-8) and went 2-0 (13-6-3) this season against MVB All-Stars. Anyone who has played any competitive sport knows how hard it is to beat a team twice in a row, and that is exactly what The Good Sirs' is facing right now. Added to the pressure, The Good Sirs' has to face MVB All-Stars without his scoring leader A. Ovechkin (77 pts), while MVB All-Stars team is fully healthy and ready to continue his “Cinderella Run” in his first playoff appearance. I predict a great match-up as MVB All-Stars wants to prove he is for real and The Good Sirs' is trying to make it back-to-back finals appearances and his 3rd in 4 years. Prediction: The Good Sirs' 6-5. |