Persberichten

Spontaneous celebrations broke out in the Bow Valley region today after Buccs hero Wielisław Cheda scored the decisive shootout goal to beat the heavily favoured Hunters de Baskatong in three games. After a 7th place finish, no one expected Bow Valley to compete against the big boys Actus and Hunters of III.2, but with 2 series in the books, the Buccs are still in the mix for a III.2 championship banner. Meanwhile out in Montreal, the heated rivalry between the crosstown rivals Canadien and Canadiens ended with the favoured third seed Canadiens coming up on top with a hard fought 4:2 victory. Veterans of league III.2, this is the Canadiens first foray into the championship. Bow Valley was in the IV.7 championship last year and came up empty handed. Lets see how these two teams matchup in the season 4 III.2 Championships.

3. Montreal's Canadiens vs
7. Bow Valley Buccaneers
Season Series: 2-0 MTL (8:1, 6:3)

The Skinny: Can David beat Goliath three times in a row? Bow Valley fans sure hope so as they have already defeated the number 1 and 2 seeds to make it this far, they now have the challenge of defeating the number 3 seed Montreal's Canadiens.

The Canadiens originally were founded in the IV.5 division in season 1, and moved up to league III.2 after season 2. After a 6th place finish in the playoffs last year, the Canadiens have looked poised and ready all year to make a run at promotion to league II.1.

Bow Valley on the other hand is a relatively new team on the block, founded midway through season 3 in league IV.7. A surprise run their led them to second place in the league and a promotion to III.2. Not much was expected of them at the beginning of the season, but they have been defying odds all season, and now have a chance to move up again after only one season in III.2.

Team Comparison:
MTL---------------------------------- BV
24---------------Goals----------------19
21------------Goals Against-----------19
8---------------PP Goals---------------4
26% (5th)-----PP %----------------19% (6th)
81.2% (2nd)-------PK%-------------60% (T-7th)
3----------PP Goals Allowed-----------10
1--------------SH Goals---------------0
2----------SH Goals Allowed--------- -0

Team Leaders:
-----------------MTL-------------------------BV
Goals-----Hudson Lacombe (5)-------William Augustus (3)
Assists----Robert Thatcher (5)-----------Sam Yates (4)
Points-----Robert Thatcher (8)--------William Augustus (5)
PIM-------Vadym Bergman (6)-------Frederick Delaroche (12)
Shots-----T.J Seagraves (25)--------William Augustus (14)
+/--------Robert Thatcher (+7)----Frederick Delaroche (+7)
GWG-------4 Tied (1)------------------Garret Taper (2)

Key Matchups:
It is obvious that the Canadiens have much more depth and skill than Bow Valley. Their players are more experienced and just plain more talented. Bow Valley is very well coached however and they will need to outcoach Montreal to have a chance at winning. For Montreal to win they will need to make Bow Valley play an undisciplined game and take advantage of their poor penalty killing.


Prediction: The Cinderella story ends here, with the Canadiens sweeping the Buccaneers in 2 games.

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