PJ SHEA HONOURED AS 2009-10 EWSHL MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

 

Goaltender PJ Shea of Jakes Battalion was named the 2009-10 East West Suburban Hockey League regular season Most Valuable Player at the Annual Awards Night on Saturday evening at Jakes Steakhouse.

Shea was also named the Top Goaltender for the regular season.

 

Auto Barn Wheelers rearguard Geoff Cunningham was voted the Top Defenceman while the Port City Pirates Matt Wayne was tagged as the Rookie of the Year.

 

Alex McQuinn of the Auto Barn Wheelers was named the league Top Forward and was honoured as the Top Scorer.

 

The Coach of the Year is the Auto Barn Wheelers tandem of Larry Damon and Bob Vincent while East Coast Moving forward Andrew O’Hanley was named Most Sportsmanlike Player.

 

Tommy Grant was named the Manager of the Year.

 

Chris Hawkins was selected the Playoffs Most Valuable Player and was named the Molson Vitos Bruins Most Valuable Player.

 

Other team Most Valuable Players include Tim Vincent –Auto Barn Wheelers, PJ Shea – Jakes Pub Battalion, Donny Daley – East Coast Moving, Andrew Theriault – Port City Pirates, Allain Chaisson – Kaceys Lightning and Craig Taylor – Rockys Mooseheads

 

Gerry Snodgrass announced he is stepping down as league president and will remain in the circuit as coach of the Mooseheads. No replacement has been named.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

THE LOWERY REPORT

by Steve Lowery

GAME SEVEN

 

Molson Vito’s Bruins 6  Auto Barn Wheelers 4

 

Battered, bruised, bleeding and with a short bench, the Molson Vito’s Bruins staged a remarkable third period comeback with five straight unanswered goals to forge a 6-4 win over the Auto Barn Wheelers, and in the process grabbed their second consecutive East West Suburban Hockey League Championship, taking the series 4-3.

 

The Bruins lost four players to prior commitments headed into game seven, riding a bench with just four spares.  To add insult to injury a key offensive winger, Chris Hawkins took a puck to the face and was cut bad three minutes into the game.

 

The Wheelers would take a first period lead of 2-1, and head into the third with what they thought was a comfortable 4-1 edge -- Tom McHugh with a pair for the Wheelers, Nick Palmer and Jarred Fitzgerald one each.

 

Daryl MacKenzie had the lone Bruins goal in the first period.

Then the third period, and the flood gates opened, starting with a Scott Wentworth slaps shot from just over the blue line that ripped by Wheelers goalie Dan Smith 2:04 into the third.

 

A little over a minute later, Hawkins, who returned late in the first heavily bandaged, set up Daryl MacKenzie for his second and it’s a one goal game.

 

Less than three minutes later the Wheelers are shocked, and it’s a tie game on a goal from Derek Robinson on a scramble around the net.

Hawkins would score the game winner, top shelf, with 6:16 to spare.

 

MacKenzie provided the insurance goal, capping a hat trick, on a power play, with 3:32 left in the game.

 

It is the first time in seven years a team has put together back to back championships … the Bruins have won three in that span, the first coming in the 2004-05 season.

	Playoff Scoring Leaders
	Player - Team	GP	G	A	Pts	Pim
1	Chris Hawkins - Molson Vito's	11	7	9	16	12
2	Greg Connolly - Molson Vito's	11	4	12	16	2
3	Craig MacKenize - Molson Vito's	11	7	8	15	4
4	Daryl MacKenzie - Molson Vito's	11	6	9	15	0
5	Kamil Forgie - Molson Vito's	9	10	3	13	6
6	Jared Fitzgerald - Auto Barn	10	5	8	13	11
7	Tim Vincent - Auto Barn	9	11	1	12	34
8	Rob Vincent - Auto Barn	9	3	9	12	8
9	Nick Palmer - Auto Barn	10	3	7	10	2
10	Alex McQuinn - Auto Barn	10	2	8	10	5

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

THE LOWERY REPORT

by Steve Lowery

GAME SIX

 

Auto Barn Wheelers 5   Molson Vito’s Bruins 4

 

With every single game of the East West Suburban Hockey League finals being decided by one goal, it seems fitting the series is reduced to a one game winner take all; the Auto Barn Wheelers forcing the series to the limit with a come from behind 5-4 win over the Molson Vito’s Bruins.

 

The Bruins had a 3-2 lead headed into the third period, attempting to become the first time in seven years to put together back to back League championships.

 

The teams were tied after the first, Tim Vincent scoring two for the Wheelers, Derek Robinson and Chris Hawkins for the Bruins. 

 

The only goal of the second came on a line change, Tim Mullett hit Scott Wentworth with an on the tape pass from behind his own blue line, and Wentworth buried it for the 3-2 lead.

 

Tom McHugh evened the game early in the third, scoring for the Wheelers at the 1:02 mark, and Alex McQuinn scored at the 6:57 mark, on a powerplay, with two seconds left in the man advantage, to give the Wheelers the lead.

 

McHugh made a monster open ice hit in the Bruins zone late in the game, forcing a turnover, and Nick Palmer took advantage collecting the puck and quickly converting, giving the Wheelers an insurance goal they would need, with 1:35 to spare in regulation.

 

With time winding down, the Wheelers took two penalties, the first with 25 seconds to go, the second with 11; and with their goalie pulled, 6-on-3, the Bruins scored off a face off, Hawkins second of the game, with 8.6 seconds left, but they could not force overtime.

 

Game Seven is Friday night, 8:30pm at the Lord Beaverbrook Rink.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

THE LOWERY REPORT

by Steve Lowery

GAME FIVE

 

Molson Vito’s Bruins 5   Auto Barn Wheelers 4

 

A last second goal from Daryl MacKenzie, with 4.3 seconds left on the clock gave the Molson Vito’s Bruins a 5-4 win over the Auto Barn Wheelers and put them one win away from their second straight East West Suburban Hockey League Championship.

 

All five games in the final series have been decided by a single goal, three of them in overtime, and it looked like this one was headed that way as well.

 

The Bruins carried a 4-3 lead into the third, and it stayed that way until the latter part of the period, when Scott Enright evened it up for the Wheelers.  Enright one timed a feed in the high slot past Bruins goalie Karl Augustin with 4:00 to spare in regulation.

 

Augustin made a key save in close with time winding down.  Kamil Forgie who scored the Bruins 3^rd, and 4^th goals, ended up with the puck off that scramble, raced up the wing, and had the presence of mind to take a quick look back at the clock on the way, noting he had just over 9 seconds to make something happen.  He gained the zone and fed a perfect pass to MacKenzie to set up the winner.

 

Derek Robinson and Craig MacKenzie had the other Bruins goals.

 

Rob Vincent had a pair for the Wheelers and Randy Gilmore had one.

 

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

THE LOWERY REPORT

by Harold Nason

GAME FOUR

 

Tim Vincent scored at 2:01 of the first overtime period and the Auto Barn Wheelers defeated the Molson Vitos Bruins 4-3 in Game Four of the EWSHL Championship Finals played on Sunday evening at the Lord Beaverbrook Rink.

 

Randy Gilmore, Nick Palmer and Jarred Fitzgerald scored for the Wheelers while Daryl MacKenzie, Chris Hawkins and Greg Connolly scored for the Bruins.

 

The best of seven final is tied at two games apiece and Game Five goes on Tuesday evening at 8:30 at the LBR.

 

 

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS – GAME FOUR

 

Molson Vitos Bruins 3

      Auto Barn Wheelers 4  OT

 

 

Period Summary #1

1 Wheelers Randy Gilmore (Ron Paley, Jarred Fitzgerald)  1:33

2 Wheelers Nick Palmer (Geoff Cunningham)  10:54

 

Period Summary #2

3 Bruins Daryl MacKenzie ( Ben Scott)  5:22

4 Bruins Chris Hawkins (unassisted)  9:52

5 Wheelers Jarred Fitzgerald (Tom McHugh)  13:45 PP

 

Period Summary #3

6 Bruins Greg Connolly (Chris Hawkins, Kent Fulton)  5:10

 

Period Summary #4

7 Wheelers Tim Vincent (unassisted)  2:01 OT

 

 

Goalies: Auto Barn Wheelers (Kyle MacDonald)

       Molson Vitos Bruins (Karl Augustin)

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

THE LOWERY REPORT

by Steve Lowery

GAME THREE

 

Molson Vito’s Bruins 2  Auto Barn Wheelers 1 (OT)

 

The Molson Vito’s Bruins have taken a 2-1 lead in the best of seven East West Suburban Hockey League final with a 2-1 decision of the Auto Barn Wheelers, in overtime.

 

Scott Wentworth fired a perfectly placed screen shot, from the point through a maze of bodies in front of Wheelers goalie Dan Smith; the game winner coming with 36 seconds left in the first overtime period. 

 

The first three games in the final have been one-goal affairs, two of them settled in overtime.

 

For the better part of the game it looked like the Wheelers would go up 2-1 in the series behind the shutout goaltending of Smith.  

 

Jarred Fitzgerald scored the only Auto Barn goal, with 3:54 left in the first, and the teams played through a scoreless second. 

 

Smith’s shutout was busted by a freak goal with 3:28 left in regulation.  Craig MacKenzie fired a shot which hit Smith in the mask and popped up and over him for the tie goal.

 

Both Smith and the Bruins Karl Augustin made a number of key saves throughout overtime to prolong the affair. 

 

. CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

THE LOWERY REPORT

GAME TWO

by Steve Lowery

 

Molson Vito’s Bruins 5   Auto Barn Wheelers 4

 

The best of seven East West Suburban Hockey League final is tied one game a piece after another one goal game, the Molson Vito’s Bruins evening up the series with a late game power play goal, a 5-4 decision over the Auto Barn Wheelers.

 

Special teams were critical down the stretch; the teams avoided the penalty box for the first half of the game, started taking a few as the second wound down, and paraded to the box in the third.

 

Both teams killed short two man disadvantages, and both scored on the power play.

 

Rob Vincent’s second of the game on a Wheelers power play tied the game 4-4 with 3:33 to spare – threatening to send the second straight game of the finals to overtime. 

 

The Bruins Daryl MacKenzie completed a hat trick, also on a power play with 1:12 to spare and it would hold to be the game winner.

 

Kamil Forgie and Greg Connolly had the other Bruins goals.

 

Tom McHugh and Geoff Cunningham complimented Vincent’s pair for the Wheelers.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

THE LOWERY REPORT

by Steve Lowery

GAME ONE

 

Auto Barn Wheelers 5  Molson Vito’s Bruins 4 (OT)

 

The Auto Barn Wheelers have handed the Molson Vito’s Bruins their first loss of the playoffs – and in dramatic fashion, Alex McQuinn capping a late game charge with the  winner 14 seconds into overtime, for a 5-4 win.  It was the first game in the best of seven league championship series.

 

The Bruins were first on the board, courtesy of Kamil Forgie’s first of two on the night, a bullet slapshot from just over the blueline 3:04 into the game. 

 

The Bruins carried a 2-1 lead into the second; Tim Vincent evened the game up quick, 27 seconds after Forgie’s goal.  Chris Hawkins restored the Bruins lead, scoring at the 4:38 mark, and Bruins goalie Brian Feetham preserved it, with a beautiful glove save off Nick Palmer, with a just over a minute to spare in the period.

 

Ben Scott made it 3-1 1:39 into the second – and it would stay that way until the final few minutes of the third.

 

Wheelers winger Jarred Fitzgerald had the chance to be tagged as the goat, wiping out a Wheelers power play with a roughing penalty, and taking an extra two for arguing the call on the way to the box.  But his mates killed off the penalty, and he returned the favour.

 

Seconds after getting back on the ice he collected the puck in front of his own net, charged down the ice, and set up Scott Enright to make it 3-2. Three minutes later, Fitzgerald tied the game.

 

Kamil Forgie’s second; a deke in close on Dan Smith, made it 4-3 Bruins with 1:46 to spare.

Fitzgerald’s second, with their goalie pulled, with 24.3 seconds left in regulation sent the game into overtime.

 

It was the first loss for the Bruins, having swept their opening round best of three, and they swept their best of five semi final as well.

 

Game two in the series is set 8:30pm Thursday, at the LBR.

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