CCHL Playoffs, BWW Tops Cheers & Cimo's

2015 CCHL Champs: Buffalo Wild Wings

The CCHL playoffs began Friday in front of a packed house at the Doug. Game number one saw #1 seed BWW skate away from #4 seed Cheers for an 8-4 victory, punching their ticket to the finals. BWW's was led by Corey "Corey" Laroche's hat trick while five other skaters tallied once. Cheers received a multi-goal effort from Captain Tim Walsh, but were unable to keep pace with the number one seed.

Semi final #2 proved to much more entertaining as Windmill and Cimo's slugged it out for over 80 minutes of action with the game going into double OT. In the end it was Ian Hamlet scoring off an offensive zone faceoff sending the fans into pandemonium and the Cimo's team back into the finals with a 4-3 victory. The game itself was a physical war with bodies strewn all over the ice and multiple players leaving the game due to injury, only to return to the frozen sheet minutes later.

Sunday's final pitted top seeded Buffalo Wild Wings against last year's Cinderella story Cimo's who were looking to prove that last year's run was no fluke. The game got off to a tough start for Cimo's as BWW's Laroche scored on the first BWW shot on net a mere 18 seconds into the game. A few minutes later after Cimo's peppered BWW goalie Tyler "Beans" Ingerson with shots looking to answer, it was Laroche scoring again on BWW's 2nd shot of the game. Cimo's would pull the game to 2-1 and then 4-2, but could not keep pace as BWW pulled away for a 7-3 victory and the CCHL Title. Laroche led the way for the winners with a 5 goal performance following up his hat trick in the semi finals and his regular season scoring title (55 goals). The championship was the first for Laroche after beginning his career under the Tim Walsh regime on Cheers, following last season's title loss he decided to test the free agency waters and landed with BWW and Travis Banga. The move seemed to pay dividends for Laroche and the Wings as it returned a title and Laroche's best individual season of his career. The 7th player award was also given to BWW forward and converted goaltender Corey Cotnoir who finished 5th in the scoring race after being selected in the 6th round. Top goaltender went to BWW rookie netminder Tyler Ingerson who posted a 4.90 GAA.

BWW Championship Roster:
Captain Travis Banga, Corey Laroche, Corey Cotnoir, Jack Mullen, Dillon Emerson, Danny Arndt, Bill MacDougall, Doug Troy, Matt Boudrais, Steve Arndt, Tyler Ingerson

NAHL: The Comeback

The Doug was packed to capacity and the place was rocking! The NAHL fans were anticipating the Eastern Conference Final game 7  to be a close, hard fought battle between Blue and Green, the two best teams in the league.  What transpired, however, was a lopsided high scoring game as Green exploded for several goals during the first two periods and had Blue on the ropes with an 11 to 6 lead with 6 minutes remaining in the game. The NAHL faithful were not happy and vacated the Doug for the nearest bar to drown their sorrows. The Blue squad tightened the bench and pounded out 6 goals to win the game and the NAHL Eastern Championship by the final score of 12-11! The “Comeback of the Century” was witnessed by 3 fans! With six minutes left in the game Tom "TC" Carroll, Jeff "Hurricane" Cain, Jim "Taz" Heath, Tom "Shemp" Champagne and Mike "Little Cum" Commerford led the Blue charge to tie the game and take the lead with 1 minute left. Green pulled their goalie, Ken "Rebel without a Rebound" Dean, and a few strings, and put seven men on the ice, but could not beat Ken "Don't Ya Love Em Madly" Bradley to score the equalizer. Goal scorers for Blue were Tom "TC" Carroll 3,  Mike "Little Cum" Commerford 3, Tom "Shemp" Champagne 2, Jeff "Hurricane" Cain 2 and Jim "Taz" Heath 2. Green got goals from Dave "The Younger Tilly" Tillotson 4, Todd "Philby" Philbrick 2, Jim "The Younger* Farrelly 2, Chris "Brownie" Brown 2 and Jim "Big Cum" Commerford 1.

In the NAHL Western Conference Copper took the championship 2 games to 1 over Magenta by a 7-3 score. 

The NAHL East and West Champs will contend for the Moe Rudz Cup. The Championship dates have yet to be determined.

NAHL Game 6 Recap: Barn Burner

Game 7!

Despite the cold bite in the air the Doug heated up Thursday night as Blue and Green faced off in game 6 of the NAHL Eastern Conference Best of 7 Championship in which Green held a three to two lead going into the game. The teams played fast paced, solid, scoreless hockey for two periods. Blue took the lead early in the third when Dunc "Coach" Walsh lit the lamp on a twisted wrister that beat goalie Ken "Rebel without a Rebound" Dean to the glove side and found the back of the net. Green tied the game midway through the period on a slick passing play at the crease from Dave "The Younger Tilly" Tillotson to Todd "Philby" Philbrick that beat goalie Ken "Don't Ya Love Em Madly" Bradley for the tap in. Later in the period Walsh knocked the puck over the goal line in a tight scramble in front of the Green net that put Blue in front 2-1 for his second goal of the game. Both goalies were sharp throughout the game and Ken "Don't Ya Love Em Madly" Bradley was tested often as Green tried desperately to tie the game.

Game 7 will be played next Thursday at 9:30 PM at the Doug. Tickets will be on sale at the Doug Box Office beginning Monday morning. League officials feel the game will be sold out by noon!

In the NAHL Western Conference Championship Magenta tied the Best of Three series at one with a 5-4 victory over Copper. 

Bruins Make Minor Additions as CCHL Approaches Postseason

Peter Chiarelli discussing how difficult his job is.

The trade deadline has come and gone and much like the CCHL deadline the NHL deadline passed with no major blockbusters happening. The Bruins sent two second round picks to Tampa Bay for Brett Connolly, a once highly touted prospect who has had a rough start to his young career. Many in the know consider this a savvy move by Chiarelli as their long successful track record of developing young offensive talent seems to speak for itself. In the CCHL there was only one minor deal to report as BWW severed ties with their recently signed prospect Kevin "Buckets" Marceau. There was no comment from BWW's Travis "Gang Bang" Banga on why the sudden change of heart, but Cheers Captain Tim "Timinator" Walsh wasted no time in locking up the young talented swingman. "I think he's got a great future in this league ahead of him," Walsh stated. "He's grown up his whole life waiting for this opportunity and honestly we were shocked when he became available, I think they may have given up on the kid too soon."

Week 20 in the CCHL turned out to be a preview of things to come as the playoff pairings have now been set and the sure to be packed crowd should be in for quite a treat. In game number one it was Cimo's breaking away from Windmill en route to a 7-6 victory to lock up the #3 seed in the playoffs and will face #2 Windmill. Pat "Patty Boi" LaCasse paced the Cimo's offense with a pair of goals and Mick "The Prick" Mounsey's howitzer from the point late in the action proved to be the game winner. Windmill was led by Mike "Tricky Dick" Richard's pair of goals and now trails Corey "Corey" Laroche by 10 goals for the scoring title.

Game number two saw BWW pull away from Cheers for a 7-4 victory. Corey "The Other Corey" Cotnoir scored the games first and last goals and Dillon Emerson also added a pair for the victors. Cheers received goals from four different players including the Timinator and former BWW prospect and newly signed Cheers forward "Buckets" Marceau.

With one week remaining and the top four seeds in the playoffs locked up it will be interesting to see how the GM's approach the final week of the season and whether they choose to rest their star players to avoid injury or push forward and look to avoid rust.

Standings
                    W-L-T     Pts      GF    GA    GD
BWW          16-3-1      33      153    96    +57
Windmill     10-9-1      21      113   111    +2
Cimo's         7-13-0      14       94    136    -42
Cheers         5-13-2      12       89    105    -16


Scoring Leaders

Laroche        53
Richard        43
Walsh           42
Williamson   31
Cotnoir         25
Faretra          23
Arsenault     17
Pat Lacasse  17
J. Mullen      16

Rock and Roll

The Doug was rocking Thursday night as Game 5 of the NAHL Eastern Conference Championships between Blue and Green turned out to be a tight heated affair. Sticks and bodies were flying in and out of the rink. In a close tight checking game Green edged Blue 8-7 on a late goal by Jim "Taz" Heath. Heath took a pass inside the Blue end and fired a rocket that Ken "Don't Ya Love Em Madly" Bradley blocked with his pad, but lost control and the always quick Heath jumped on the rebound to knock in the game winner. Bradley made many great saves for Blue throughout the game. Green called up Sean “F350” Ford from Concord PD to keep the puck out of the net and he proved to be “Ford Tough” in gaining the win. Green got goals from  Clint "Eastwood" Cassavaugh(2), Dave "The Younger Tilly" Tillotson (2), Andy "BTO" Bachman (2) and Jeff "Hurricane" Cain (1). Blue scorers were Mike "Little Cum" Commerford (4), Tom "TC" Carroll (2) and Tom "Shemp" Champagne (1).

In Game 1 of the NAHL Western Conference Championships Copper took a 1 game lead as they defeated Magenta 6-5 in their Best of Three series.