Wranglers Take an L

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Well, the VHL Finals are all said and done, and most of us now know that the Vancouver Wolves took home the championship...again. Congratulations to them. In order for the Wolves to get to the finals though, they played against a strong Calgary Wranglers team who had them on the brink a couple of times. Let's take a look a Calgary's final 2 games of the playoffs, after holding a 3-2 series lead.

 

Vancouver Wolves vs. Calgary Wranglers  4-3 OT VAN

The 1st Period in this game started off hot, with the Wranglers striking first. At 3:54, Pekko Viitanen scored on the PP to bring it to a 1-0 game. Under 2 minutes later, the Calgary Wranglers struck again, with Nathan Perry giving them the 2-0 lead early. It was 2 early goals for Calgary, but then Vancouver poured it on. Late in the period, Aloe Dear scored at 18:43, then Jivere Zolnek tied the game at 19:31. Vancouver outshot Calgary a whopping 23-9 in the period, and all of a sudden it was a 2-2 game. The Vancouver Wolves didn't let up in the 2nd Period, with 26-3 shots, but goaltender Sirkants Klamasteris shut the damn door for Calgary, and they went into the 3rd Period with the same score, 2-2. In the 3rd Period, it was more even, but Vancouver scored on the PP only 16 seconds in, on a tally by Jivere Zolnek. Then, all the way until under 5 minutes left in the period, Rolf Fizzlebeef Jr tied it up 3-3, and this game headed to OT. In overtime, Vancouver poured it on once again, and then Calgary took a penalty which sent the Wolves to the PP. Corey Kitson would score, and Vancouver would force a Game 7. Shots were 79-28 in Vancouer's favour. Their players are obviously on PEDs. Calgary's goalie Klamasteris tried his best, only letting in 4 goals on 79 shots.

 

Calgary Wranglers vs. Vancouver Wolves  7-1 VAN

This Game 7 was one to forget for the Wranglers. Do or die, and they...died. The 1st Period was very even back and forth, but in the final 10 minutes of the period, Jerome Reinhart scored twice to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead heading into the 2nd. In the 2nd, Nils Tallinder brought the game within 1 goal for Calgary early on, but Vancouver didn't let up. Tyler Reinhart would score at 7:51, restoring the 2 goal lead at 3-1. Aloe Dear scored at 9:23, then Calgary took a penalty late and Henry Tucker scored to give the Wolves a 5-1 lead heading into the final period. Vancouver didn't stop. Jivere Zolnek and Corey Kitson both scored PP markers, and Vancouver would take the series in 7 games with a 7-1 victory.

 

Vancouver would take that momentum into the finals and beat Moscow in 6 games. What does the future hold for Calgary? I would say more playoff runs, because they will push even harder next season.

[a_Ferk 766]

Did Calgary ever hold a 3-1 series lead in this series? I wasn't paying much attention to the playoffs but that would be great for the meme. The title is also kind of misleading, Calgary actually took two Ls. 

 

It was too bad for Klamasteris, sounds like he played really well in that game six if that shots were that egregious. I agree with your sentiment that Calgary will continue to be a force in the North American conference, but it will be interesting to see how they compete with Vancouver's squad that has clearly found the meta. They may end up always the bridesmaid. 

 

9/10

 

 

[Arce 755]

I too am a fan of using the logos as my article pictures, I think that does just fine visually. This was a nice little recap of the two games that ripped out Calgary’s heart. I didn’t look too much into these games outside the scoreboard, so this gave me the detail of games 6 and 7. Game 6 could have gone either way. 79 shots is an onslaught! I initially thought a little look into Calgary’s off-season would have been cool, but you made it a point to leave that open with the question mark at the end, a TBD. Well done! 9/10