Claimed: S22 Founder's Cup

[Megster 63]

A Look Back at the Season 22 VHLM Playoffs

 

We are going on a ride back in time to July 2011, when an underdog won the Founder’s Cup.  Going in to the playoffs the Minot Gladiators had run away with the Prime Minister’s Cup (awarded to champions of the regular season in the VHLM) with an astounding 124 points, 33 points more than the next closest team, the Kolari Panthers (91 points).  Going in to the first round the Minot Gladiators were set to faceoff against the 3^rd seeded Brampton Battalion while the Kolari Panthers were going to match up with the 4^th seeded Oslo Screaming Seamen.  In the European Conference the Panthers took care of the Screaming Seamen in 6 games, trading games at home in the first 4 and then Kolari taking the last 2 games outright.  In the North American Conference the tables were turned when the Brampton Battalion took down the largely favored Gladiators in 6 games.  In the first 4 games of the series the Battalion and Gladiators traded victories with the Battalion snatching two very close ones in over time, all of the games were 1 goal games so far.  Then it broke open a little in game 5 and the Battalion took it 6-2.  On the cusp of defeating the first overall seed the Battalion clinched it in 6 games with a decisive game winning goal by Troy Thompson at the beginning of the 3^rd period.

 

That led to a final match up of the Kolari Panthers and the Brampton Battalion.  To say the Panthers were a favorite would be an understatement, no one believed that the Battalion could carry out this Cinderella story.  In game one the Battalion blew it open scoring 6 goals to the Panthers 3, despite the fact that the Panthers actually had 1 more shot than the Battalion.  A lot of that can be attributed to the great play of Carlos Vasquez who had a .912 save percentage in that first game.  In the second game it was much closer with the Battalion sneaking away with a 5-4 victory despite getting out shot yet again.  Jeff Dar came to play for the Panthers with 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points and a +1 with 5 hits and a shot block but the Battalion got consistency throughout their line up to win that game.  The Battalion were now up 2-0 going in to game 3 and headed back to home ice.  The Battalion won game 3 by a score of 4 to 2 and for the first time in the series outshot the Panthers 38-35.  Sven Kramer contributed 2 goals for the winning team but what really set them apart was Carlos Vasquez .943 save percentage.  Somehow, he still didn’t manage to earn a star of the game.

 

Going in to game 4 the Battalion could taste the champagne on their lips they were ready to win this cup and were only one win away, could they pull of the improbable sweep?  The nerves could be felt by the goalies in the first period and both teams came out with their scoring sticks.  The Battalion scored the first 2 goals, one from Zoran Dragovic and one from Dan Jones.  Then the Panthers Leeroy Jenkins scored a goal assisted by Jeff Dar and Kyle Ernst.  Not to be out done Dan Jones scored his 2^nd of the period.  Then Kyle Ernst scored a goal for the Panthers followed by Jenkins 2^nd of the period.  To close out the scoring in the first period Teatime McScones hammered one home with 21 seconds left in the period.  After one it was 4-3 Battalion, but once again they were being outshot 15-10.  Going into the second period you could fell the intensity from the Panthers.  34 seconds in Wesley Kanaan scored on the power play, followed by a goal by Alexander Randoulov.  That wrapped up the scoring for a second period that saw the Panthers out shoot the Battalion 20-9.  At the end of the second it was 5-4 Kolari, and you could feel the tension in the building as the Brampton fans just would not quit on their team.  The third period was a very defensive one but Troy Thompson broke through to even the score up for Brampton at the 12:03 mark.  As the clock wound down Ronan O’Keefe took a penalty for interference and the Battalion went to work on the power play taking the lead off a David Webb marker with 5:35 left to go.  The Panthers tried their hardest and with 33 seconds left pulled their goalie, but it was just too late.  The Brampton Battalion had done it!  They had won the Founder’s cup!  Please click the image below to find the roster page for the championship winning Brampton Battalion!