PR - Saints

Saskatoon Saints Squeak by Archrival Hurricanes in Seven; and Prepare for Another Divisional Matchup with the Walkerton Aces

Game 5 in Saskatoon : After a win and lost for both clubs in their opening two home games, the series was tied 2-2 going back home to Saskatoon . Goaltender Tuuka Rask was given the nod for Game 5 and he provided the team with a solid performance at home giving the Saints a 6-2 victory. The key to Game 5 was the PP, in which the Saints finally lived up to their Regular Season reputation by scoring four straight goals, including the winner, with the man advantage. The Saints went 4 for 9 on the PP compared to the Hurricanes’ 0 for 4. Rask wasn’t challenged much in his winning playoff debut and ended up saving 14 of 16 shots.

Game 6 in Calgary : With a chance to win the series in six, the Saints went into Cowtown with an air of pride over their thrashing the night before. The Hurricanes answered back and showed their poise and talent under pressure. Brian Boucher, their go-to-guy since his masterful Game 4 win at home, played the game of his life. Boucher and the Canes completely shut down one of the best offenses in the league. For his stellar performance, Boucher received 1^st star after stopping all 25 of 25 shots for the first and only shutout throughout this first round of the playoffs. And adding injury to insult, the Hurricanes knocked out Saints’ superstar Ilja Kovalchuk (out for one week).

Game 7 in Saskatoon : A series of phenomenal goaltending and spectacular scoring came down to one last game on the prairies. This S. Saskatchewan River rivalry fittingly saw the opening scoring by Saints’ Captain Chris Higgins and the last goal unassisted by former Hurricane Matthew Lombardi. The Saints went on to take the game by a score of 5-2 with one goal on the PP; despite the Hurricanes out-skating and out-shooting the Saints 32-26. The story; Tuuka Rask who made 30 saves in order to advance the Saints to the Eastern semi-finals for the first time since TFHL 16 which saw them be swept by, of course, the Hurricanes.

Notes on the Series: Kudos must be given to the Hurricanes club, who fought tooth and nail in this series, and who for two of their three wins absolutely dominated the Saints. Goaltender Brian Boucher played two spectacular games, including one shutout and superstar Svitov boasted the ‘most goals’ title in this series with 5. Geoffrey Young commented on the Hurricanes club in the post game press conference: “Every time we play these guys, we get a little nervous. We have such a rich rivalry and I’ve always had great respect for the Hurricanes and their manager and owner Derek Major who has not only won a TFHL Championship, but consistently has been competitive in the regular season and the playoffs – a claim not many clubs can make in this league! In particular, long-time Cane Jason King was a warrior and a leader. And the future is bright with Svitov and a strong core of youngsters who will continue to dominate in our division the next seasons. Alexander Sundstrom in particular showed amazing potential along with former Saint Getzlaf. We look forward to seeing you next season in the playoffs!”

Eastern Semi-Finals Against Walter's Aces

All four remaining clubs in the East are from the Hunter Division. The third seed Saints and the eighth seed Aces now face off. The Aces just dispensed with the Eastern favourite Brantford Bobcats, a team Geoffrey Young expected to face in the second or third round: “I was certain that the Bobcats would be in the conference finals. I know how strong the Aces are and how last season they did the same thing in upsetting the Cats. We’re taking this club very seriously!”

Aces’ GM Dave Walter is a proven champion (with two cup rings). Furthermore, the Aces management and club have added incentive for embarrassing the Saints since the Kovalchuk RFA fiasco of this past off-season. The Saints and the Aces were in negotiations for a trade including Kovalchuk prior to Free Agency. But when a deal seemed unworkable, GM Young 10 million dollars on the RFA Kovalchuk. This got trade negotiations going again. The Saints-Aces seemed to have a deal work out, so the Saints withdrew their bid, made the deal, and the rest is history. Perhaps the hockey gods have paid the Saints back with some hubris, since Kovalchuk will be missing for at least the first two games of this series. This might give the Aces the edge they need to take a series lead by stealing a game or two in Saskatoon before heading back home.
Another young goalie battle: The Saints Rask (age 21) will be facing rookie Aces goaltender Bryon Pitton (Age 19). Neither goalie has much experience and leadership so many pundits are expecting an strong offensive series by both clubs: (Saints and Aces are tied for top for Team Scoring at 25 Goals For each, also Blades are at 25 GF).
GM Young: “I recognize the Aces have stronger depth, especially on defense. However, I think we have better top players at all positions: including Higgins, Lombardi, Bouchard, Kovalchuk for forwards; Baranka and Ballard on defense and Rask in net.” It is true Baranka has been huge on D (8 pts in 7 games with a +3); however, Ballard’s performance has been at the very least suspect with only 1 pt in 7 games and an abyssal -3. Look for shakeups in the lineup similar to Game 7 which saw Lombardi jump to the top line with Higgins for the first time all season. Young added, “we’re not the ‘favourites’ in this series, despite having home ice advantage. We play the same at home as on the road, and when you match the Aces up against the Saints, you see two very similar clubs with GM’s who know how to match lines and maximize scoring. Look for a six or seven game series with either team taking this one and perhaps the conference!”