Franklin Hockey League Championship Preview
By:
Shane Lucas
Crosby's
vs. Moose
Game 1 and Game 2 - April 20th, 2013
Game 3 and Game 4* - April 27th
Game 5* - May 4th
* if necessary
As
the 2013 Franklin Hockey League season comes to a near end, we have seen the
league, and its talents grow to new heights this season. Week in, week out each
of the six teams would battle each other to the point where anyone could be
beaten. Through the tough and rugged season, the days and nights spent
preparing from week to week, shoveling endless amounts of snow to prepare the
surface for 11am each Saturday, battling for seeding heading into the playoffs,
it all comes down to one thing – The CUP. Here we have it, this Saturday April
20th, 2013 the FHL Championship will be underway between a storied
franchise the Crosbys, captained by John George, and a franchise that is
attempting to win its second FHL Cup in three seasons, the Moose, captained by
Zack Siniawski.
A
Crosby team lead by John George began the season with an underachieving record
for their standards, but on draft day the team was assembled with plenty of
veteran guys, some returning from last season’s runner-up team in the FHL Cup
Finals. When asked if having veteran
guys on the team will benefit them in their second appearance in the Finals in
two seasons the Crosbys captain, John George said “We definitely have a lot of guys that have cup
experience. They know what it takes to run the table in the playoffs. It
definitely makes my job a lot easier. At the same time we have young players
who have contributed to our success and bring some energy like Jeff Gardner and
Sean Lyons. So I think we have a nice mix of everything when its clicking”. The
Crosbys began the playoffs already feeling good about themselves after putting
together some late season wins, and then beating the Jets 3-2 in a best of five
game series in the first round, and beating the Bulls with a dynamic offensive
performance in the semi-finals. George says “I think we've definitely peaked at
the right time, but we still have another team in our path. The guys have
committed to playing the game with a level of intensity that's needed to do
well this time of year and hopefully we keep it up these next two weeks. The
Jets and Bulls both were tough tests and definitely have made us work for our
success so far”. The success that Crosbys have been having can be attributed to
the momentum they have gained heading into these finals, but with each
semi-final matchups being two sweeps (Crosbys 2-0, and Moose 2-0) there will be
two weeks since a game has been played by either team. There is some concern
about not playing in that amount of time. “I think the layoff will show a
little bit of rust early Saturday but I don't expect that to last too long for
either team. They've been playing extremely well too and have the same amount
of time off as we do”, George said. The Moose provide an interesting matchup
for the Crosbys offensive power they put on the ice each and every shift. The
Moose are a physical, and defensively sound team. After displaying the
offensive performance that the Crosbys did against the Bulls in the
semi-finals, George was asked if his team will be able to continue that into
the Championship…“there are definitely some challenges presented when playing
the Moose. They have arguably one the best defenseman in the league in Ryan
Perhac and a former MVP, Jason Kortz on offense. It's going to be a tough
matchup, no doubt. We have to come ready to play from the hop”.
An interesting story from the history of the Crosbys is that John George
originally had Roy McDonald as his franchise player. The Crosbys never really
achieved what George felt they could with McDonald as the franchise player; two
seasons ago George made a blockbuster deal sending Roy McDonald to the Pirates
(soon to be Thunder) and the Pirates sent Tony Bonacorso to the Crosbys as the
main two names in the deal. George would then have to watch his former
franchise player raise the Cup the following season while playing with former
Pirates team, now the Thunder. With all thoughts set on winning a Cup following
that trade, George has yet to accomplish that with his new star. Tony Bonacorso
is regarded as one of the best, if not the best player in the league and has
yet to win an FHL Cup. When asked what it would mean to complete this journey,
and fulfill his thoughts when making that deal, and hand Bonacorso his first
cup George said…
“Well we wouldn't be in the position we are now without him. He's had a
great career and hasn't slowed down. I can't think of anyone who deserves to
lift the cup more than Tony Bonacorso. He's one of those players who makes
everyone around him better and he makes everyone on the team want to work as
hard as he does. Handing him the cup is something I've been thinking about
since he joined the team. Tony isn't the only guy who is deserving of his first
cup though. Guys like Ryan Cleary and Tom “Tombo” Cunningham who have worn
white for quite some time now, Tom its all he's known, are overdue for hoisting
the cup. I know former rivals and now teamates Grise, Pander and Marty are also
excited to fight for the cup for these guys. We can't wait for Saturday”.
The Moose have been on an unbelievable run in the 2013 FHL Playoffs. It
could be considered as one of the best runs to the FHL Cup in FHL history. The
Moose finished the regular season last in the standings, and was poor in all
major statistical categories. Then came the trade deadline and Moose captain,
Zack Siniawski felt that he needed to make a deal to shake up his roster and
improve in the second half of the season. He sent Ryan Fish, and BJ Yott to the
Whalers and in return received Pat Farrell, Jim Johnston, and Mike Stadleman.
Siniawski was asked if being active at this years trade deadline has helped
them get to this point, “Absolutely. I didn't like the way things were goin for
us, and I knew there were other teams willing to deal. We lost a couple of
great guys and players in Fish and Billy, but Farrell has been a shut-down defenseman
week in and week out for us. Beansy (Johnston) and Stadleman have been huge in
the playoffs. We added 3 veteran guys who are built for the FHL Playoffs. And
that's what it's all about”. As history stands, the deal was the right call to
make seeing that it has helped lead the Moose to their second FHL Cup
appearance in three seasons, winning the first. When asked about this run in
the playoffs and upsetting the Whalers and Thunder, and the poor season the
Moose had, Siniawski said “Well first off, I know what it looked like on paper,
but we don't look at those first 2 rounds as upsets. We struggled during the
regular season, ya know, missed a lot of man-games to injury and whatnot, but
when we're healthy and present we expect to win. You look at the guys in the
locker room and you can just see it, ya know. We're not here for 2nd place”.
With this being Siniawski’s second
appearance in the finals in three seasons, but his first at the new dek he was
asked if having that experience from Franklin still helps… “yeah, ya know, I
think anytime you have experience it helps. Obviously Kortzy, Beans, Max and
myself have been there together 2 years ago. Some other guys have been there
too as well as some who haven't. We just have to play hockey the way we have
been over the past few weeks. Ya know, obviously”. The Moose have put on a
stellar offensive, and defensive performance in these playoffs scoring nine
goals, and only allowing two goals against in both matchups. When looking back
on those two performances and being asked if this Championship will require
more offense or defense from his team, “Yeah, ya know, obviously you gotta
score goals to win games but it starts from the net out. These playoffs we've
locked down defensively, Joey's been great in net, ya know. You got a pure
shooter in Bonacorso, Grise has a nose for the blue paint, we gotta be aware of
those guys. Ya know obviously if we can lock down defensively, our goals will
come”.
There is no question that these two
teams have battled, and have done every necessary thing to reach the 2013 FHL
Cup Finals. Each captain has prepared their team mentally to endure what the
playoffs will bring, and that has come from their experiences being in each of
the last two finals. This matchup sure has a feeling that it can provide some
magic offensively, and some of the toughest “crap shoot corner” battles this
league has ever seen. In one phrase that could put words to this matchup, and
prepare you for what is to come, has been said by one of the Pittsburgh Penguin
greats, Phil Bourque… “BUCKLE UP, BABY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
Extras:
When asked what
each captain would do first with the Cup if they were to win…
George: “The first
thing we'll do with the cup is take it down the river and party all summer
long!”
Siniawski: “(laughs)
We'll worry about that when we get to it.”
Predictions:
A. McDonald– Crosby's 3, Moose 1
S. Lucas – Crosby's 3, Moose 2
N. Siniawski - Crosby's 3, Moose 1.
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