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Playoff Previews - "B" Division
(2) Mickeys @ (1) Executioners
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Mickeys: 9-3-0, 53 GF, 36 GA, +17 Dif.
Executioners:
9-2-1, 77 GF, 36 GA, +41 Dif. |
Mickeys
Top 5 Scorers |
Executioners
Top 5 Scorers |
Gurjit Dhaliwal 11-12-7-19
Iain Chima 11-9-7-16
Vinay Bahia 12-8-8-16
Robbie Toor 11-6-10-16
Paul Bahia 8-6-6-12 |
Andy Saran 12-10-23-33
Waseem Khalil 12-16-9-25
Steven Tung 11-7-18-25
Muni Dutta 10-15-8-23
Lee Bryant 6-7-13-20
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| This "B" division final should be a beauty
as it pits the two top performing teams from the regular season
against each other. The Executioners needed a late season 5-0 win over
the Mickeys to secure top spot. It also completed a two game sweep
over the Mickeys as the Executioners won an early season match-up of
these teams by a 4-3 count. Strangely all four of the Exec's goals
were scored on the powerplay with the Mickeys replying with two
shorthanded goals in a penalty filled game. Both of these teams
received first round byes and advanced to the finals on the strength
of semifinal sweeps. |
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The Executioners picked up where they left off in the
regular season as they fired 14 goals in their first two games of
these playoffs versus the Snipers. As expected, Lee Bryant has started
playing full time now that the team is in playoff mode and with 5
goals and 3 assists through just 2 games, he seems unstoppable at the
moment. Just behind him is Bryce Goligher who racked up 2 goals and 5
assists in the last series. The Execs smartly move Bryant back to the
point for powerplay opportunities, swapping him positionally with
d-man Steven Tung who they plant in front of the net to make use of
his imposing frame. The Executioners powerplay was a strength during
the regular season at 37.5 % and it also scored 3 times in the last
round.
The Mickeys have some good top-notch scoring threats up front
themselves, but the depth of offensive weapons is of concern once
compared to the Executioners. In any case, at the moment the bulk of
the offense is coming from the Mickey's back end. There is little
doubt that the bread and butter play for the team right now is to
swing a quick pass across to the top of the umbrella formation for a
one-timer from defenseman Vinay Bahia. He is typically one of the
league's leading shot takers and has the cannon firing on target at
the moment. He tallied an impressive 5 goals in the 2 games against
the Vikings. Iain Chima, typically known as a shooter himself, turned
set-up man in the last round registering five assists. Gurjit Dhaliwal
didn't hit his stride in his first round, but look for him to ignite
the offense in this series with his partner in crime, Paul Bahia, who
collected four helpers himself. Edge:
Executioners |
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Those that know hockey realize that half of your team
defense revolves around your own team having possession of the ball.
The Executioners use this to great effect as they only surrendered 19
shots in each of the two games they played so far. There may be a key
loss to the defensive corps, however, as Herman Randhawa went down
with a shoulder injury after a collision behind his own net. Binda
Gill only played one game versus the Snipers and just six during the
regular season. Getting him into the lineup will be even more
important now.
The Mickeys' group on defense is a pretty nasty
bunch in general. Makhan Chima and Kam Athwal love to battle in front
of their own net. Big Rav Kaila will get a chance to put his size to
use against the large Executioners forwards in this series. Kaila had
a big series himself with a pair of goals against the Snipers to go
along with Bahia's five tallies. In fact, the Mickeys back end
accounted for almost all of the scoring against the Vikings. Unlike
their opponents, the Mickeys did give up quite a few shots against in
the past series which they will have to limit and prevent making bad
turnovers or the quick transition of the Executioners will make them
pay. Edge:
Executioners
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The goaltending for game one of the Snipers series
was frankly atrocious as Rahim Ahmad looked shaky through the entire
game. Though that may have just been an aberration, the Executioners
went with Ron Sharma for game two and he shut the door with an
impressive performance, stopping 17 of 19 shots. Team management will
have an interesting decision to make as to whether or not they will
give Ahmad an opportunity to get back on the horse, but this is a
final and the Mickeys will put up a strong attack. This may not be a
good time to gamble.
Alam Cheema was outstanding versus the
Vikings and a few members of that Vikings team told me that he may
have been the difference in the series. Though there is undoubtedly
more to it than that, his amazing .923 save percentage for the series
seems to lend support to their case. Unlike the Executioners, the
Mickeys will have no problem settling on a starter for game one. Edge:
Mickeys
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| This is a good match-up of two teams that have both
had tremendous seasons in the NWBHL. One team will win their first
championship in the league and sadly, the other will go home empty
handed. This is also a comparison of different styles of building a
club. The Mickeys have retained their basic core through all three of
their seasons while the Executioners changed up much of their personnel
from last year's disastrous effort, and added several key pieces as
they went. As it currently looks, the Execs seem to have added a
little more and are a loaded team on both forward and defense. If they
can get a reasonable goaltending performance out of their starters
they will be an odds-on favourite to beat the Mickeys just as they did
during the regular season. Edge:
Executioners |
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