PR - Spirit

Guelph Spirit rev up for Playoffs

Another regular season is in the books and the Guelph Spirit are counting their lucky stars to be in the playoffs. The first two-thirds of the season were terrible for the Spirit. After 62 games they had only 48 points and were playing .387 hockey. Their starting goalie, Patrick Lalime, had been traded to the Saints for Martin Brodeur, and then re-acquired for Brodeur later in the season. They had suffered through stretches of no wins for 10 games and another of one win in 9 games.

But then something happened. No one's quite sure what, but it was big. "If I knew what I did," says GM Warren Goodlet, "I'd bottle it and make millions. Instead I run a fantasy hockey team. I think that says something."

What happened was, the Spirit turned their entire season around. They beat the Renegades, then the Sioux, then reeled of six more consecutive wins. They acquired David Turon on defence and cashed in some younger chips for UFA-to-be Eric Lindros. His arrival sparked another five game winning streak, and then a five game undefeated streak to lead the Spirit to seventh place. Over the last 26 games, the Spirit are 19-6-1, good for a .750 winning percentage. They have scored the fifth most amount of goals in the league (fourth best among teams in the playoffs).

The Spirit will open the playoffs on the road against the Owls. The Spirit won the season series 4-2 against the Owls, outscoring them 23-20. No one should be taking the Spirit lightly, but it's still possible the team from the first half will show up.

"We've been a weird team all year," stated winger Marian Hossa, one of three 40-goal scorers on the team. "Consistently inconsistent. The last three weeks have been great though. It's been really fun coming to the rink. And I must admit, even though I thought Lindros was a total jackass pansy who I'd never want to play with, he's been good for us. He hasn't been afraid to drop the gloves and he's pumped in a ton of points (17 points in 15 games)."

"We're ready for the war of the playoffs," assured gap-toothed defenceman Dion Phaneuf, proud winner of this year's Dave Schultz trophy for most PIM. "No one's coming around our net without paying the price."

An exciting first round matchup is up next - ain't playoff hockey great?