So It Ends, Again...

[tcookie 962]

It's over. Again.

 

The S97 Malmo Nighthawks turned in a vintage performance, really. A team that has done nothing but excel in the regular season and nosedive in the post-season followed up the highest of highs yet with perhaps the most painful of playoff crash-outs.

 

They were the best team in the VHL during the regular season - by a comfortable margin - and the best Malmo team, statistically, ever assembled. And here they are, seven games, one playoff series later - eliminated from Continental Cup contention. This time, there were signs that things could be different. The Nighthawks held a 3-2 series lead. It felt generous that Riga was still alive, having somehow squeaked out a game one OT win despite being outshot 49-13 over the first two periods and 58-31 overall. The Nighthawks seemed to outplay Riga for most of the night in game seven, too. But on the scoreboard, they were stymied by Red Panda and defeated in overtime by Tim Robinson's first career playoff goal. In the end, it wasn't different at all.

 

And with that, the Nighthawks said goodbye to franchise cornerstones Viktor Jensen, Savaisk Tzesar, and Ronald Johnson MacWallace III. Jensen, Tzesar, and MacWallace all finished their careers above a point-per-game; they are the #1, #6, and #7 scorers in Malmo franchise history. All three were truly great players, Malmo icons... players who deserved a better fate. It's hard to really say why, but this Malmo core simply wasn't able to get it done.

 

"Just feel terrible for those guys," said Malmo captain Phillip Rave after the series-ending overtime loss. "Just like Stone last year. Like Sparks a few seasons ago. Those guys did so much for our team. They don't deserve this. That's all I really have to say right now. Just sucks."

Edited yesterday at 04:06 PM by tcookie

[Banackock 8,274]

Sorry for the tough loss. They suck.