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The 1997 Summer Playoffs | |
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Blizzard 5-2 Loss | Well the Blizzard hit us like a storm right from the begining. In Short: we lost 5-2. 2nd place again... Better luck next season guys... |
| The 97 Summer Season | |
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During the off-season, Hank was abducted by the aliens hiding behind the comet Hale-Bopp and was unable to return for our first game - a 3-2 loss to the Cyclones. The season started, but we weren't ready. We were completely outplayed in the first period, falling behind 1-0. Craig managed our only two goals of the game - one in the 2nd and one in the 3rd period. Those goals weren't enough, as we trailed the entire game. Our defense was a bit rusty, allowing 2 shorthanded goals for the first time. |
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The aliens returned Hank to us (surgically altered of course) and took Richard DeMarquez instead. Hank received 2 minors, a major, and a game misconduct for fighting in his return to earth. Phil led our scoring with 2 goals, while Hank, James, Ryk, Roger, and Richard Crosthwaite all managed a goal of their own in a 7-1 victory. We outshot the Barracudas 2 47-8, and actually put our goalie to sleep for most of the game. He was rudely awaken by a wraparound goal in the third period that ruined the shutout. |
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With all the alien abductions behind us, we played our best game of the season so far - a 5-1 win over the Steel Frogs. It was a strong game, with a lot of passing and good teamwork - very nice to see for a change. Bruce led the way with 2 goals, while Brian, James, and Ryk each chipped in one. We even scored a power play goal where all 5 players touched the puck, passing it back and forth across the ice before James put it in a wide-open net. |
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Too many penalties and sloppy defense resulted in a 4-4 tie against the Blizzard. We were leading 4-3 after two periods as Craig, Steve Arsenault, Phil, and Richard DeMarquez all scored one goal each. On the flip side, the three goals we allowed to that point were all special teams related - 2 power play goals, and a short-handed one. We were unable to score in the 3rd period or the overtime, and unfortunately we allowed them to tie the game with 4:29 left. Overall, a disappointing effort, and a disappointing result. |
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We outshot the Snipers (formerly known as Gold Rush) 30-14, but managed only a 2-1 victory. The Snipers did not play very well, but their goalie almost made up the difference. Only one of our lines was able to crack through against him, with both Hank and Steve Arsenault scoring one goal each. The defense did an excellent job holding the opposition to only 14 shots, but we all know it's going to be a tougher game next time we play them. |
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It was a penalty-ridden affair that saw us kill off three different 5-on-3 situations en route to a 6-0 shutout. We outshot the Cyclones 27-18 while racking up 24 total minutes in penalties. Richard DeMarquez scored a pair of goals, while Gary, Mike, Bruce and Jason added one each. Richard DeMarquez refused to fight back when the opposition started throwing punches, which not only enabled him to avoid a suspension, but allowed him to remain in the game and score his 2 goals. |
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Another impressive performance by the Ice Hawks was overshadowed
by defenseman Mike Lachtanski's announcement that he was leaving the team
to take on a tougher opponent--Hodgkin's Disease. A team leader in every
sense of the word, Mike's sense of sportsmanship and his love for the game
are a large part of what the Hawks are about. Good luck, Mike. We're pulling
for a speedy recovery and your return to the point. In the game, the Hawks dominated the play from the start, but the teams were scoreless until James Kucera jammed in a goal with 5:00 left in the second period. Less than 3 minutes later, Craig Pekarek poked in a rebound to make the score 2-0. With the Junior 'Cudas wilting, the Hawks iced the game away in the third period by scoring 3 goals in the span of 90 seconds. Mere seconds into a power play, Hank Ross made it 3-0 when Scott Dvorak's pass found him alone in the slot. Steve Arsenault added another goal on a solo rush up the ice and Roger Kopp completed the scoring when he converted a Perkarek pass in front of the net. Outshot 23-12, the 'Cudas managed to avoid the shutout with a goal in garbage time. |
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It wasn't pretty, but it was a "W" as the Hawks extended their streak of games without a loss to seven and maintained their hold on first place--three points up on the Snipers. When James Kucera scored just 36 seconds into the game, it looked like a rout was in the works. But despite enjoying a huge advantage in shots on goal and numerous power-play opportunities, the Hawks kept handing the Croakers opportunities to get back into the game. The low point: giving up a short-handed goal while enjoying a 5-on-3 advantage. But there were positives aplenty, starting with the continued strong play of the Kucera-Kopp-Marquez line. Each member of the line scored a goal and all three pressured the Frogs defense all night. Elsewhere, Craig Pekarek notched his team-leading 5th goal and Scott Dvorak converted on a power play opportunity his first goal of the season. "Super-sub" Ryk Langdon continued his great play, coming through with a goal and two assists. |
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It's here--the Ice Hawks mid-season swoon. In an ugly a loss as you'll see, the Hawks blew 3-0 and 4-1 leads to lose in overtime to the Blizzard, 5-4. Dominating early, the Hawks had a 15-5 advantage in shots at the end of the first period which saw Scott Dvorak, Craig Pekarek, and James Kucera find the net. A scoreless second period found the Hawks in cruise control, managing only three shots on goal as a gritty Blizzard team kept chipping away. Still, victory looked certain when a Rich DeMarquez goal at 10:29 of the third period put the Hawks up 4-1. It looked like some of the Hawks had already punched out as the Blizzard fought back, scoring three times in the third period--the equalizer coming on a wobbly shot from the point with 0:19 left. The winning goal at 3:17 of OT was a fitting ending to one of the worst games the Hawks have played in three seasons of existence. If there were any fans, they would have jeered the players off the ice. It will be interesting to see if the Hawks can bounce back from a two-week layoff when they host the arch-rival Snipers on July 6. |
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Showing resilence after a difficult defeat the previous week, the Ice Hawks rallied to beat the Snipers 4-2 in a showdown for first place. In a game that saw the penalty boxes busier than the red light district of Amsterdam, the Hawks dominated the 1st and 3d periods, firing 20 shots on goal with 10 of those shots coming in the crucial final period. A last-minute substitution, Brian Gibson notched two goals in the first period to put the Hawks ahead 2-0. After the Snipers fought back to tie the game 2-2, the Hawks stepped up the pressure in the third period, finally scoring on Steve Arsenault's sharp-angle slap shot with 9:19 left in the contest. When the frustrated Snipers tried to get physical, they only managed to draw foolish penalties. Capitalizing on a 5-on-3 mismatch, the Ice Hawks put the game away when Roger Kopp banged in the rebound of an Arsenault shot with 2:29 left in the game. A solid victory that demonstrated the heart of a team that could shake off a devastating loss and stay on track for a championship. |
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Still high off our win over the Snipers last Sunday, we were eager to dominate the Cyclones. With Steve Arsenault's overpowering play in the first period, he earned himself a 3 point period (2 goals & an assist). Phil Young managed to knock one in off a face off pass from Arsenault. Less then two minutes into the second period, Craig put one in the back of the net, off an assist from McFarland. The frustrated Cyclones struck back with a goal for themselves and a vicious cross check after the whistle, from their goalie on Phil. This resulted in an unfair penalty on Phil and a light sentence for the Cyclone's goalie. Then in the third period the Cyclones added their second goal, soon after James wrapped up the game by putting one in off assists from both Young and DeMarquez. In the Fourth period, IN THE PARKING LOT! "Are you threatenin' me?" says Beavis. |
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Can you say "Roughing"? The 12th game of the season and we started off behind, the Barracudas had the 1-0 lead in the first. So we stepped it up in the second, with Bruce receiving an excellent pass from Phil to tie the game at 1. Soon after Rich put one in from a pass from both Roger and James. Then James put one in off a poke check from Roger. (In which Roger almost lost his life, as I recall! Thanks James! ) After that it got rough, with 8 penalty minutes for the Ice Hawks and 14 for the Barracudas. By the end of the second period we had a power play where Steve A. scored a PPG from a sweet pass from Bruce. Finally in the third, Roger knocked one in off a rebound from Rich's shot on net. The game seemed to be getting out of hand with 7 roughing penalties as the game progressed... the game ended with the Barracudas getting a PPG at the 1:33 mark of the third. |
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Lucky game #13......The Frogs scored first with their own #13, who managed to carry the puck from behind their net, across the ice and buried it into our goal unassisted. Pekarek tied it up soon after, with help from Crosthwaite and Arakaki. Kucera tied the game at 2 later in the second with his #30 special...a face off steal...with DeMarquez knocking it in as the rebound sat right next to the goalie. One minute into the third Pekarek took the Hawks to 3 by firing a puck straight as an arrow through the Frog's goalie's stick and into their net with an assist from Arakaki. We had a total of 43 shots on net in the game with 23 shots in the third period. Near the end of the third the Frogs retaliated by pulling their goalie leaving Mack to make the final saves. I credit the win to Mack, for making those incredible saves, when the team let the Steel Frogs come hopping right into the crease. Good job Mack! It would also help if Rich could put a puck in an empty net... |
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Game #14...... Our three STARS OF THE GAME ARE: #1 Steve Arsenault -- With a Double Hat Trick! 6 Goals, 4 of them coming in the first period alone! #2 Brian Gibson -- 1 Goal and 6 Assists! |
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Still pumped from our 14-5 win over the Cyclones, we were prepared to face the Blizzard, who managed to defeat us in a previous game in overtime. We dominated the first period with goals from Kucera (assisted by DeMarquez and Kopp), Arakaki (assisted by Anderson and Kowalczyk) and another from Kucera ( with an assist from Young). The Blizzard managed to sneak one in late in the first, with a scary wraparound w/no defense that made ice hockey legends roll in their graves. Kucera landed his first hat trick in the second with a sweet goal assisted by Kopp. Unfortunatly, we became tired and started to play sloppy. The Blizzard took advantage of this and closed the gap with two more goals, making it 4-3. It began to look as if we were repeating ourselves, when we let the Blizzard overthrow us with two more goals in the third. Not fazed by the impending loss, Kucera slammed one more past the Blizzard goalie, off a rebound(?) from DeMarquez late in the third. Thanks to the encouragement from our fans in the stands, we managed to defend our position and end the game in a 5-5 tie. |
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Without a goalie we entered our last game of the season with desperate anticipation against the Snipers. One....two....three shots on goal with Arakaki in the net...a center manning the pipes until a goalie was found. Four...five...six....minutes seemed like hours as we watched ourselves scramble against time to save our game. The Snipers managed to get two past Arakaki in the first, but Demarquez slipped one in past the Sniper goalie near the end. In the second period, Roger G. Kopp Jr stepped up into the crease, making his goalie debut. He made some incredible saves! Later during a power play, the Snipers knocked one in off a double rebound, making the score 3-1. The Snipers clinched their win with a open net goal, minutes left in the third. It was a tough game but it could have been alot worse. Kopp did a great job in his first game, blocking 9 shots out of 10!!!! |
