Claimed: A look back on the S45 Finals

[Eggy216 136]

I may know nothing about VHL history, but that's not going to keep me away from the bonus TPE. So today we're looking back on the S45 VHL Cup Finals, which featured the Wranglers and Titans.

 

As game one started out, the teams looked to be headed for an intense battle. Shots were close at 29-26 in favour of the Wranglers, and goals were just as even at 4-3 going the same way. Interestingly, despite the close score, the game did not start out that way - the Wranglers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first, while the Titans only picked up their three in the 3rd period.

 

The second game went similarly as far goals go, with the Wranglers pulling ahead in the series with a 4-2 victory, but shots suddenly went the other way with the Titans dominating the pace of play, 36-22. The story here was the Wranglers Penalty Kill, only allowing one goal on seven attempts, while the Titans only had to kill off three penalties of their own - succeeding on two of those occasions.

 

As the teams moved into game three, it looked like things were starting to shift. This time it was the Titans who took the victory by a tally of 2-1 - and picking up their first victory made the series the same. Again it was the Titans who had more shots, 35-23, with their penalty killing going perfect on four attempts while their powerplay picked up one of six - a tally from Marcel Faux.

 

Unfortunately for the Titans, game four did not go quite as well. The shots were close, just as in game one, with a 38-34 tally favouring the Wranglers and a score going 4-1 the same way. With the series at 3-1, the future looked bleak for the Titans. Bismark Koenig was the standout here with his 11 shots leading to two goals and an assist as well as first star honors - truly the difference maker in this game.

 

But the Titans weren't about to go down easy. In game 5 they blew the Wranglers out of the water with 46 shots on net compared to their opponent's 17. While the score was only 2-1, it could have easily been much, much worse - especially if the Titans converted on more than just one of their four powerplay opportunities.

 

In game 6, the Titans pulled the series even for the first time. With shots 31-29, they scored all the goals they'd deserved in game 5 but were somehow unable to put away. Their 5-2 win was lead by Phil Hamilton's 2 goals and an assist, and the Titans fans were starting to wonder if they could actually pull this off.

 

As it turned out, they were. Shots remained even at 22 apiece in the game, but the score was anything but even. With a 4-1 win, the Titans took their first lead of the series, and it was the only one that would matter. After scoring 4 straight goals before the the Wranglers could even pick up their first, it was over. The Titans, after seven hard-fought games, would emerge as the S45 VHL Cup Champions.

[CowboyinAmerica 2,911]

That was a sad finals. That Game 6 and 7 are when karma came to bite Wingate for all the success he had the rest of his career.

[BOOM 8,818]

I'd forgotten about this. Sad for CIA but good turn around for Helsinki.

[der meister 3,247]

It was nice to be in Helsinki after 2 straight cursed seasons in Cologne