Toronto advances past Seattle as Hextall shuts the door.

[Peace 1,532]

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- Toronto came into this series knowing they were the underdogs against a strong Seattle roster, and they were willing to fight as hard as they could in what was predicted to be a short five or six game series for the Bears before they advanced to the conference finals, and while it was a fairly quick series... it wasn't at all what people were predicting, defied nearly all of the estimated fans had given, and even came to a surprise to the team that skated away with a 4-1 series victory. 

In game one -- a 5-2 Seattle win -- the Bears were able to quickly establish their dominance over Toronto, eventually climbing above and away from anything the Legion could muster. This game was over 3:52 into the second period, when Seattle went up 4-2, and any momentum Toronto had evaporated just as quickly as it arrived following Killinger clawing into a 3-1 deficit just eight seconds into the frame. Seattle was on cruise mode, and easily controlled the rest of the game from that point on. 

 

Toronto would respond in game two with a 4-3 victory over the Bears, and owned the second and third periods, but costly mistakes turned the Legions' 3-1 lead into a dangerous 3-3 tie against a potent Seattle offense. Despite outshooting the Bears 16-4 in the third period, Seattle converted on two of their shots just over a minute apart from one another, completely halting the momentum Toronto had picked up throughout the three goal second period after Seattle opened the scoring; they were stunned, the sudden pressure seemed unrelenting, but they endured the small flurry and got back to work. With Hulk Hogan in the box for roughing, Ritchie would score his third goal of the game to give Toronto a 4-3 lead they'd ride to the final buzzer.

 

Tied up at one, and back in Canada for game three, Toronto and Seattle riddled each other with picks in the first frame of game three. Toronto had a 2-0 lead, had registered an impressive twenty four shots on goal, but couldn't keep up with Seattle's pressure. The Bears effortlessly took control of the game in the second period, tying the score at 2-2. If it weren't for Hextall between the pipes for Toronto who knows what would have happened in the third period of the game, but onto overtime the two clubs went. John Merrick would score a powerplay goal just one second before Hulk Hogan would leave the sin bin, the Seattle Bear defender was penalized once again for roughing in the third period. 

We have to assume GM Bana wasn't pleased with Hogan's lack of discipline that actually lead to Toronto winning two games. 

 

With Toronto leading the series 2-1, and through some slight lineup adjustments, the Legion stunned themselves and management with a dominating 7-2 victory over Seattle in game four; Chad Magnum scored four goals and registered an assist; Erik Killinger recorded four assists; John Merrick contributed three applies; and Oh Sens put the puck in the back of the net twice. Oh, and of course Jaxx Hextall stopped 35 of 37 shots he faced for a convincing victory. 

The final game of the series... game five. Seattle's on the brink of elimination, Toronto leads the series 3-1, and the strategies have been adjusted again. For Toronto the outcome was beyond favorable, as they advanced to the Conference Finals on a 20 save shutout by Jaxx Hextall, but for Seattle the results were far less than desirable. Last season the Bears were able to come back from a similar deficit against Calgary, eventually winning the championship for the forth time in six seasons, but it wasn't meant to be.     

[Jubis 1,348]

Real nice underdog story especially the rough start Toronto had out the gate. 

[Banackock 8,044]

4/7