Chris Clegg
South Peace News
Four down, four more to go!
Wins, that is!
The Falher Pirates swept the Manning Comets in the NPHL’s East Division Final March 2 with a thrilling 5-4 overtime win and now await the winner of the Dawson Creek Canucks vs Spirit River Rangers West Division Final series in the NPHL Final. The Rangers lead the series 3-1.
Cruz Cote’s overtime goal at 1:35 swept aside the Comets four straight.
“It certainly was nice to finish this series in four games,” says head coach Dan Aubin.
“It will give us a chance to work on some specific parts of our game that need some adjustments.”
It is difficult to pick on the Pirates’ game after a four-game sweep which saw them outscore the Comets 22-12 and outshoot them 192-148 (11 shots on goal per game).
But of some concern is penalties. While the power play is not problem (the Pirates sizzled scoring on eight of 17 chances in the series) they did surrender 21 power play chances (but only four goals against).
“We gave them way too many opportunities on the power play, especially the stick infractions,” says Aubin.
The Pirates committed 10 stick foul infractions for 22 PIMs in four games, for a league-high average of 5.50 PIMs per game.
“Our penalty kill had a few holes and our defensive zone coverage will need some tweaking.”
Cote’s overtime goal was his second of the game. Kris Desjarlais, Darren Kramer and Trevor Tokarz added the others.
Ty Wiebe scored on the power play and shorthanded for the Comets while Austin Ward and Michael Gillen added the other goals.
The Comets led 2-0 and 4-2 before the Pirates rallied.
The Pirates took a commanding 3-0 lead in the series with a 5-2 home ice win Feb. 29. Isaiah Letendre opened the scoring before Cruz added a pair to stake the Pirates to a 3-0 first period lead.
Deklan Whillans and Madden Terriff closed the gap to 3-2 before the end of the first period.
However, Kramer scored in the second period and Wyatt Noskey in the third to seal the win.
The Pirates won the second game by the same 5-2 score at Manning Feb. 27. Dallas Brochu and Kramer each scored twice to lead the attack while Letendre added the other goal.
Ward and Josh Peters replied for the Comets.
Despite the sweep, Aubin believes the club can play better.
“This series wasn’t our greatest, but we played well enough to win,” he says.
“Our offence carried us and the depth on offence certainly was one of our assets.
“I think our overall team speed led to our success on offence. Having said that though, we still have a lot of things to work on if we want to be successful in the finals.”
No offence to the Comets, but the Rangers or defending champion Canucks pose a different problem. Both lineups are deep as opposed to the Comets.
The Pirates are on an incredible roll, however. Since the fifth game of the regular season, the Pirates have won 16 of 18 games, including the playoff sweep.
“There is a quiet confidence within the team but we all know our past successes mean nothing if we can’t win four more games,” says Aubin.
“There is more of a business feel to our approach versus a happy to be there when compared to last year. The players realize how difficult it is to get to the finals and aren’t taking this year’s opportunity for granted.”
The sweep was the third in a seven-game series between the two clubs in history. The Pirates swept the Comets in the 1980-81 semifinal on their way to the title, while the Comets swept the Pirates in the 1986-87 final to claim their only title. The Pirates hope that trend continues.
The NPHL Final begins after the conclusion of the West Division Final. Check the Falher Pirates Facebook page or NPHL website for the schedule.
The Pirates are gunning for the fourth NPHL title, having won in 1954-55, 1980-81, and 2011-12.