Fury face Danbury in semifinals
April 27, 2005 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release
MUSKEGON, MI.--- For an unprecedented eighth consecutive year, the Muskegon Fury have advanced to the Semi-Finals round of the United Hockey LeagueÂ’s showcase post-season event, the Colonial Cup Playoffs. Under the direction of second-year head coach Todd Nelson, the Fury took another giant step forward in their bid to become only the third team in UHL history to successfully defend the leagueÂ’s most coveted crowned jewel and become the first UHL franchise to attain the distinguished status of four Colonial Cup Championships.
With their convincing 5-0 shutout conquest in the seventh and deciding game Tuesday night at Walker Arena against long-time archrival Quad City, the Fury move on to lock horns with the Eastern Division rivals, Danbury Trashers in a best 4-of-7 Semi-Finals series.
Having achieved the hallowed home ice advantage by virtue of their regular season Tarry Cup Championship, the Fury will host games #1 and #2 as well as games #6 and #7 in the series with the latter two games if necessary. Danbury will be the host of the middle three games in the series; games #3, #4, #5.
Games #1 and #2 are on the docket for this Friday and Saturday nights, APRIL 29TH and APRIL 30TH at 7:30 pm at the FuryÂ’s home of Walker Arena, downtown Muskegon.
The dates of games #3, #4, and #5 at Danbury will be WEDNESDAY, MAY 4TH, FRIDAY, MAY 6TH and SATURDAY, MAY 7TH with face-off times set for 7:30 pm for the Wednesday and Friday games and 7:00 pm for the Saturday night affair.
Games #6 and #7, if necessary will come back to Muskegon on MONDAY, MAY 9TH and TUESDAY May 10TH with 7:30 pm starting times.
During the regular season, the Fury captured their third divisional crown, finishing on top in the Michigan-only Central Division with a record of 80(51-20-9) for 111-points as Muskegon laid claim to its second Tarry Cup crown and first since the 1998-99 campaign, the season of Colonial Cup I. As for Danbury, its debuting season in the UHL was a most impressive one with the Trashers finishing a strong second in the Eastern Division, posting a mark of 80(44-29-7) for 95-points.
Both the Fury and the Trashers advanced to the Semi-Finals round through first round successes over Quad City and Adirondack respectively. Earning the #1 seed, the Fury eliminated the 8th seeded Quad Citians in a full 7-gamesÂ’ series; 7(4-3) while Danbury, as the 6th seed dismissed Eastern Division titlist and #3 seed Adirondack in 6-games; 6(4-2).
The Fury and Danbury clashed three times during the regular season with Muskegon dominating at three games to none; 3(3-0-0); outscoring the Trashers, 16-4. At home, where the Fury enjoyed the best record in the league at 40(31-6-3), they defeated the Connecticut club 4-0 on February 11th and 7-2 on April 8th with the latter triumph clinching MuskegonÂ’s Tarry Cup crown. In their lone visit to Danbury, on Easter Sunday, March 27th, the Fury extracted a 5-2 verdict.
The Fury will open this second round, Semi-Finals series as the all-time top winning team in UHL history; both in regular season and playoffsÂ’ competition.
Muskegon has amassed the most regular season victories in league history with 541, having finished each of its first 13-seasons in the UHL with a winning record, unprecedented and unparalleled in league annals.
Moreover, in ousting Quad City in this yearÂ’s opening round series, the Fury not only hold the record for most playoff victories with 71, but also, now hold the UHL standard for most playoffsÂ’ series triumphs with 17 in an overall mark of 26(17-9).
UHL COLONIAL CUP PLAYOFFS
SEMI-FINALS ROUND
BEST 4-OF-7 SERIES
THE FURY VS. DANBURY
GAME #1 FRIDAY, APRIL 29TH DANBURY AT THE FURY 7:30 PM
GAME #2 SATURDAY, APRIL 30TH DANBURY AT THE FURY 7:30 PM
GAME #3 WEDNESDAY, MAY 4TH THE FURY AT DANBURY 7:30 PM
GAME #4 FRIDAY, MAY 6TH THE FURY AT DANBURY 7:30 PM
GAME #5** SATURDAY, MAY 7TH THE FURY AT DANBURY 7:00 PM
GAME #6** MONDAY, MAY 9TH DANBURY AT THE FURY 7:30 PM
GAME #7** TUESDAY, MAY 10TH DANBURY AT THE FURY 7:30 PM
** IF NECESSARY **
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International Hockey League 2 Stories from April 27, 2005
- Mallards to Host End of Season / Happy Hour Party - Quad City Mallards
- Fury face Danbury in semifinals - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Robinson named UHL's Goaltender of the Year - Rockford IceHogs
- Rockford's Michel Robinson named UHL Best Goaltender - IHL 2
- Trashers release Colonial Cup semifinals - Danbury Trashers
- Komets to face IceHogs in Semifinals - Fort Wayne Komets
- 2005 UHL Colonial Cup Playoff Round Two schedule announced - IHL 2
- IceHogs set semi-final schedule with Komets - Rockford IceHogs
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