It'll be a rematch of last year's championship final in the Howe Sound Men's Hockey League, as the Heli-Riggen Flyers take on the Lil' Enzo's Red Wings for the title.
To get to the final series, both teams experienced totally different semi-final match-ups, with the Flyers sweeping the Code Blue Chiefs in three straight, while it took the Red Wings five games to send the Royal LePage/ Black Tusk Predators packing.
The sweep hasn't necessarily been a good thing for the Flyers, however, as they have had plenty of idle time waiting for the Reds vs. Preds series to come to a close.
The Red Wings blasted the Preds in the first two games, winning 8-4 and 9-3 before letting down their guard and allowing the Preds to creep back into the picture. The Preds took game three 5-3 and tied the fourth game 4-4.
Because of ice-time restrictions, overtime is unfortunately not permitted.
The Preds faced a Herculean task in game five of their series Wednesday night (April 14), needing to defeat the Red Wings by nine goals in order to advance to the finals as a result of their first two lopsided losses. The Predators gave it their best shot and won the game 5-3, but still lost the series on goals for. "It was a good battle," said Red Wings centreman Spiro Moukas. "But they didn't have their full team out for all of the games which hurt them a little bit. Paul Savage [the Predators netminder] played some exceptional games to keep them in the series - he played great."
But it was too little, too late for the Predators.
"We got blown out in the first two games," said Savage, "but we came back to make it a decent series."
With as much rest as the Flyers have had, they may find it difficult to be on their A-game from the opening face-off. Facing a strong offensive-minded Red Wings squad, the Flyers will have to play some disciplined hockey to retain their title.
"We're gonna need a game to get up to speed," said Flyers goaltender Steve Hadden. "The Wings are going to be flying after their victory, but we'll do our best and we'll just keep working hard."
The Red Wings plan on sticking with what has worked best throughout the regular season - the mantra that offense is the best defence.
"The Flyers are a strong team - they move the puck well and are very strong defensively," said Moukas. "Our top lines are gonna have to put the puck in the net for us to beat them."
In the 2003 finals, The Red Wings knocked off the Flyers in a hard-fought series that came down to a fifth and deciding game.
Game one of the 2004 Championship Final series is set for tonight (April 16) at Brennan Park. The puck drops at 10 p.m.
