Hurricanes Finally Deliver Knockout
March 31, 2008 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
Lethbridge Canadians News Release
Lethbridge, Alberta -- It took three tries but the Lethbridge Hurricanes are finally off to the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference Semi-Finals after blanking the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 4-0 in game six of their best of seven series Sunday night.
Trailing three games to nothing, the "never say die" Wheat Kings battled back to win back to back games to send the series back to Lethbridge with a chance to force a seventh and deciding game. However, the 'Canes would have none of that, scoring two unsanswered first period goals en route to the win.
Not only did the victory clinch Lethbridge its first playoff series since 1997, it spoiled Brandon's hopes of becoming only the second team in league history to come all the way back from a 3-0 series deficit to win a series.
Craig Orfino, Luca Sbisa, Colton Sceviour and Mike Wuchterl scored for the 'Canes, who finished the regular season with the second best record in the Eastern Conference.
As had been the case in the first two games of the series in Lethbridge, when the Hurricanes scored five powerplay and one shorthanded goal, special teams played a key role in Sunday's series clincher. Sbisa's first period goal came on the powerplay, giving the 'Canes a 2-0 lead and Wuchterl's third period goal came while Lethbridge was skating a man short. Overall, Lethbridge went 1-8 with the man advantage in the game and 6-32 in the series while Brandon was 0-4 and 4-38 respectively.
After opting for Michael Maniago for game five of the series on Friday, the Canes went back to Finnish netminder Juha Metsola in game six and he turned aside 20 shots to record the shutout. Meanwhile Joe Caligiuri, who played all six games in goal for the Wheat Kings made 28 saves to finish the series with a 2.96 goals against average and an .887 save percentage.
Sunday's game, which was delayed at the start of the third period when a fan was ejected for tossing something on the Brandon bench, marked the end of the line for Brandon's three overage players - Tyler Dittmer, Theran Yeo and captain Daryl Boyle.
A 4-year WHL veteran, Boyle played 262 games in a Wheat Kings' uniform, finishing with 31 goals, 131 points and 236 minutes in penalties. As well, he played in 47 playoff games, scoring three goals and 17 points, including six in this opening round series to lead the club in scoring.
A former National midget champion with the Brandon AAA Wheat Kings, Dittmer played in 219 WHL games, scoring 60 goals including a team leading 32 in 2007-08 and 141 points.
One of the club's inspirational leaders on and off the ice, Yeo missed the first two games of this year's playoffs, after missing 25 games during the regular season due to injury. However when he returned - as a forward - he was a physical force. During his four years in Brandon, the Prince Albert Saskatchewan native scored ten goals, 47 points and accumulated 471 minutes in penalties in 206 career games.
Lethbridge will now meet the Kootenay Ice in round two while the Swift Current Broncos will go up against the Calgary Hitmen, who disposed of Moose Jaw 4-2 Sunday to win that series in six games.
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Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from March 31, 2008
- Hurricanes Finally Deliver Knockout - Lethbridge Canadians
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