Congratulations to the Hawks, who have won their first league championship since 1999, with a 3-1 win over the Cattle Barons in the third and deciding game of the finals.

The Hawks got on the scoreboard first when Dave VanOostveen scored a short-handed goal five minutes into the first period. Jeff Vanderdeen evened it up for the Cattle Barons half-way through the second period. This is the the way the score stayed through two periods, thanks to some outstanding goaltending for both teams. As he has been these whole playoffs, Steve Pastoor was solid in net for the Cattle Barons. On the other end, Risser Wierenga overcame the huge pressure laid on his shoulders in a "fill-in" role as the Hawks' goaltender after Mike Ward's injury in last week's game. He was outstanding in net for the Hawks and was a big part of their win.
In the third period Kyle Huizinga scored two huge goals for the Hawks. These goals stood as the game winning & insurance goals. Kyle gets the nod for the Player of the Game.

Time for some fun facts:
As mentioned earlier, this was the first time that the Hawks have won the League Championship since 1999.
Pat Dam is the only current Hawk that was on that team back in 1999. As a matter of fact, Chris Pool & Wayne DeBoer (both are now with the IceDogs) are the only two other players from the 1999 Hawks team that still play in our league.
Ryan Nutma & Doug Boelens are the only two other current Hawks that have won a past championship. They were both on the Hawks team that won the championship back in 1998. After winning that championship in 1998, both Ryan & Doug left the Hawks to be part of a new team in our league at that time (IceDogs).
See - wasn't that fun?

Dan Feenstra of the Hawks was handed a "10 minute" misconduct. This was the first "10 minute" misconduct for Dan this season, so he is okay to play in the final game next Friday.

The Cattle Barons have tied up the finals series with a 4-2 win over the Hawks.

The Cattle Barons had a good start to the game when Kevin Ryan scored in the first minute of the game. This was the only goal scored in the first period.

The Hawks briefly tied the game up in the second with a goal by Pat Dam. A goal by Chris Helps a few minutes later regained the lead for the Cattle Barons. A few minutes later Andrew Noorloos scored a big goal to give the Cattle Barons a 3-1 lead. Late in the second period, Hawks goalie Mike Ward, got injured in a collision in his crease. After taking a couple of minutes to regain his feet, he soldiered on, but it was obvious that he was hurt.

When Kevin Ryan scored his second goal of the game for the Cattle Barons mid-way through the third period it appeared that they were going to cruise to victory. However, I have learned that you can never count the Hawks out in these playoffs. With just over five minutes to go in the third period, Kyle Huizinga trimmed the Cattle Barons' lead to 4-2. The Hawks put a lot of pressure on to score again, but Steve Pastoor would have none of that. He was solid throughout the game in net for the Cattle Barons, making some huge saves when he needed to. He earns the Player of the Game honours.

Game 3 will be played next Friday (March 29) at 9:00pm at the RBC Centre on rink 2.

The Hawks are now one win away from winning the championship with a 3-1 victory over the Cattle Barons in Game 1 of the final series.

Both teams traded chances in the first period, but the game was scoreless until Kyle Huizinga scored in the last minute of the first period to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Half-way through the second period Ryan Tamming scored a huge goal to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. Dave VanOostveen also scored late in the second to extend the Hawks' lead to 3-0.
Cattle Barons' goaltender, Steve Pastoor, kept his team in it the whole game, but the Cattle Barons had a tough time solving Mike Ward in net for the Hawks. With five minutes to go in the third , Jeremia Winia was finally paid off for his hard work in front of the Hawks' net when he scored to give the Cattle Barons some hope of a come-back. The Cattle Barons pressed hard for another goal, but the Hawks shut the door and took Game 1.

We'll give the nod for the Player of the Game to Ryan Tamming of the Hawks, who scored what turned out to be the game winning goal. He also assisted on the first Hawks' goal.

Game 2 is this Friday (March 22) at the Point Edward Arena @ 7:00pm. The Cattle Barons will look to extend the series to a third game, while the Hawks will be shooting for their first League Championship since 1999.

Here is a quick review of the schedule for the finals series between the Hawks & Cattle Barons:

Game 1 - Saturday, March 16 @ 7:00pm at the Point Edward Arena.
Game 2 - Friday, March 22 @ 7:00pm at the Point Edward Arena.
Game 3 - Friday, March 29 @ 9:00pm at the RBC Centre on Rink 2.