The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
A/B league championship Monday at 6:45 p.m.
By Than Acuff
It’s snowing, the skiing is great and town league hockey playoffs are coming to a head with both league championships slated for this weekend with the C/B league finals on Sunday, March 10 at 6 p.m. and the A/B league finals on Monday, March 11 at 6:45 p.m. There is one caveat though—depending on who wins, there may be a second championship game in both leagues given the double-elimination format.
Who can complain about more snow and more hockey? And, once again, that begs the question. Are we a hockey town with a ski problem or a ski town with a hockey problem?
Before we get to the game of the week, let’s bid adieu, I think that’s French, to those teams that have been eliminated.
Kochevar’s, the longtime nemesis of town league hockey and defending champion franchise, has been shown the door as has the Eldo in the A/B league. In the C/B league both REG and SKA have been eliminated. And by the time you read this, if you read this, a couple more teams have been kicked to the curb in both leagues.
That said, Lacy Construction remains on a heater in the A/B league. After finishing the regular season in first place with just one loss all season long, they opened the post season with 6-3 win over Bliss Chiropractic on Wednesday, February 28.
Goalie shortages continue to plague the leagues with injuries limiting availability. As a result, James Brennan received the call up from the C/B league to stand between the pipes for Bliss in the playoff game.
And Brennan did what he could, but the Lacy attack was relentless all three periods.
Lacy opened the game scoring two goals in the first four minutes as Emmet Subka shredded his way to the Bliss net to fire off a shot. Brennan made the initial save, but Sam Kay followed to finish the rebound and two minutes later Dakota Wiggins scored off an assist from Chris Leavitt. As the first period continued, emotions started to boil a bit, but both Brennan and Lacy goalie Eric DiMarco were calm and cool in net to turn away shots keeping the game to two goals after one period of play.
Connor Sample’s effort for Bliss had the team on the front foot at the start of the second period but DiMarco made the necessary stops. Billy Watson also shifted gears for Bliss to create additional chances but the effort of defensemen Jeff Snyder and the Langsfeld brothers held off Bliss until the eighth minute of the second period when Watson found the back of the net to pull Bliss within one.
Yet, just as things were looking good for Bliss, both Wiggins and Subka scored in the final minute for a 4-1 Lacy’s lead heading into the third period.
Bliss kept up their pace and pulled back into the game in the first two minutes of the third period. Ethan Jervik poked the puck past DiMarco during a stretch of chaos in the slot and Watson won a faceoff and skated straight to goal to score to pull Bliss back within one of Lacy Construction.
That would be as close as they would get though as Wiggins and Kay each scored later in the third period for the 6-3 Lacy win dropping Bliss to the loser’s bracket to fight to remain alive. Meanwhile, something is brewing in the post season and if I were a betting man, I would lay some money down on Alpine Lumber. Sure, they finished the regular season with just one win but there seems to be something brewing within the team and momentum goes a long way in the post season.
