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Playoff Previews - "B" Division
(4) Snipers @ (1) Executioners
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Snipers: 7-5-0, 46 GF, 49 GA, -3 Dif.
Executioners:
9-2-1, 77 GF, 36 GA, +41 Dif. |
Snipers
Top 5 Scorers |
Executioners
Top 5 Scorers |
Brad Gunsten 10-7-4-11
Steve Carruthers 7-5-6-11
Daniel Lafortune 5-7-3-10
Jay Taylor 10-5-5-10
Enrique Miranda 12-1-9-10
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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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| After a tough 08/09 season, the Executioners and
their GM, Mike Bhayana, went back to the drawing board for this
season. What they came up with was a merger with Andy Saran's
expansion Vipers team. The results speak for themselves. The team
dominated during the regular season blowing out the opposition with
regularity. A late season 5-0 demolition of the Mickeys clinched first
place in the division and a coveted playoff bye through the first
round. The Snipers have had a more difficult route to this point, having to
go through a tough Wolverines team in 3 games, but after an opening
game loss caused by a short bench, the Snipers depth and high-end
talent took over in games 2 and 3. Interestingly, the Snipers won the
only game between these two teams in the regular season, a 5-4
overtime thriller with Daniel Lafortune scoring the winner. |
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The Executioners are about as stacked as you can get
up front. They rival many "A' teams in their depth of offensive
weapons. You need only look at the top of the league scoring charts
this season to see that. The top four positions in the scoring race
are all held by the Executioners starting with Andy Saran. There are
few in the league that can keep up with Andy. His first two steps are extremely
explosive and he has terrific vision of the floor. This will likely be
the first of a few scoring titles in the n-dub for him. Second on the
list is Waseem Khalil who managed to morph himself from a set-up guy
to a goal scorer this season, leading the division with 16 tallies.
His quick release snap shot is one of the best weapons in the league.
At third on the list, and the top scoring defenseman, Steven Tung has
certainly showed his ability in his first year. Great size and
offensive instincts have him as an odds on favourite for "Best
Defenseman" in his division this year. The always reliable Muni
Dutta sits fourth on the team with 23 points in 10 games. An excellent
sophomore season for the big power forward. I would be remiss if I
didn't mention Lee Bryant's incredible 20 points in just 6 games. He
didn't play many games during the season but look for him come playoff
time to continue his domination. There are too many others to mention;
Bryce Goligher, Mike Bhayana, Binda Gill, Chris Lloyd... Yikes!
The Wolverines did a reasonable job on Daniel Lafortune in game 2 of
the series (He missed the first game), only to be burned by Steve
Carruthers who scored a pair in a 3-1 win. Both were unstoppable in
game 3, but the Wolverines pretty much didn't have an answer for
anyone on the team as the Snipers walked to an easy 7-3 series
clincher. The big news for the Snipers this series is the return from
suspension of Brad Gunsten. He is still a key contributor, and if he
can tread the line without crossing it, he will add another big gun to
a team that can certainly use the offense. Mike Slanisky has rebounded
from a sub-par regular season to be a vital component of the Snipers'
first round success. He scored only 4 points in 9 games this season
but has already recorded 5 in the team's 3 games so far, good for the
club lead. Chuck Emery has also had something of a comeback post-season with 3 goals after being held without one all season. Edge:
Executioners |
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Though both defensive corps in this match-up have
decent size, there is little question as to the better ball moving
team. Pretty much every player on the back end for the Executioners is
capable of carrying the ball up the floor. Some players such as Steve
Tung or Binda Gill can be considered a fourth forward out there. Mony
Sodhi as well is an offensive force and has seen his fair share of
time on the point of an Executioners powerplay. There are some
defensive minded players as well, such as Rick Tung and Herman
Randhawa that allow their partners to get the green light. The team
allowed a mere 36 goals against during the regular season, good for a
tie for first in the entire league with the Delta Mickeys.
Both sides of the Snipers "D" were on
display in their round one tilt versus the Wolverines. At their best
they were containing the small, speedy Wolverine forwards, and getting
big point shots on the net that resulted in several goals. At their
worst, particularly in the first game that saw them playing with a
very short bench, they were slow and immobile. The odds favour getting
a full bench out from here on in, but the Executioners forwards are in
another class altogether. They have much more size and equitable speed
to the Wolverines, but possess the most underrated of hockey skills;
finish! It will be important for the Snipers to get their forwards
coming back to play team defense, and most importantly, the team must
stay out of the penalty box to avoid the Executioners' potent
powerplay which hit on a 37.5 % efficiency during the season. Edge:
Executioners
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The goaltending on the Executioners has been a topic
of debate for a couple of seasons now. Their struggles to find a
number 1 have been well documented, although Rahim Ahmad seems to be
making a strong case for himself. He earned more starts as the season
went along and put up some solid numbers, albeit in front of a stacked
team. His record was 4-1-1 and Rahim posted an impressive GAA of 2.78,
tops of any goaltender in the division that played more than a couple
of games. His biggest drawback is the lack of experience, especially
as compared to his Snipers' counterpart, Mike Ireland. If Ahmad is
unable to play, then look for Ron Sharma to get the start. His numbers
weren't as impressive but at 4-1 he has still shown his ability to get
the job done.
Mike Ireland was up to his old tricks in round
1 posting an .891 save percentage and a pair of wins. He will
face a tonne of shots in this series but he is quite used to that
being in front of a Snipers team that has had some high shot seasons.
Game one was a great example as a tired Snipers defense surrendered 46
shots in the loss. More often than not he has been able to rise to the
occasion due to some good conditioning and athleticism. If the Snipers
are to advance to the final this time around, look for Mike Ireland to
be the primary factor. Edge: Snipers
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| The clear edge on paper would seem to go to the
Executioners, but the fact remains that we don't play these games on
paper, and the Snipers were one of only two teams to defeat the
Executioners all season. Having said that, the Snipers victory came
early in the season before all the pieces were in place for this team
and they have seldom looked back. There is just too much depth on
forward and defense for the Execs, and entry into the "B"
finals and a chance at a league crown seem to be theirs to lose. Edge:
Executioners |
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