The Finals series got going on Saturday night with a couple of teams that have had history of playoff rivalries in the past, but were a bit of a surprising match-up for this year's finals.

The Omegas took Game 1 of the series with a tight 2-1 victory over the Albinos.
The Omegas got both of their goals in the first period - both courtesy of Ryan Alderman. The Albinos got their one and only goal half-way through the second period when Risser Wierenga snuck in from the point and scored on Mike Ward (who was filling in as the Omegas goaltender for this game). Both teams traded chances, but both goalies were able to shut down the scoring for the rest of the game.

Since he scored both goals for the Omegas, Ryan Alderman is the Player of the Game for this one.

Both of the semi-final series proved to be quite exciting playoff hockey. Game 3 of both of the series also did not disappoint.

In the early game on Friday night, the Albinos once again, upset the top seeded Hawks by beating them 4-3 in overtime, earning their spot in the finals.
Both teams seemed to take some time to get settled into the game, but the Albinos scored twice in the last few minutes of the first period to hold a 2-0 lead. By the end of the second period, the Albinos scored another goal and went into the third with a 3-0 lead.
The Hawks were finally able to solve Albinos goalie, Zac Harris, early in the third period. That goal seemed to give the Hawks some confidence and they scored another goal just two minutes later. When the Hawks scored their third goal five minutes later, it looked like it took the wind out of the sales for the Albinos. However, they were able to hang onto the 3-3 until the end of the third.
Overtime was also very exciting with both teams getting their chances. With about four minutes to go in the ten minute overtime period, Ryan Clubb was able to sneak one through and won the series for the Albinos.
Both goalies played particularly well in the game, but the Hawks likely would've ran away with the game if not for the clinic that Zac Harris put on. The Albinos goaltender earned the Player of the Game for the second time in this series.

The Omegas earned their ticket to play in the Finals by beating the Flyers 4-1 in the third game of their semi-final series.
Here again, both teams seemed to take some time to get settled into the game. Each team scored a goal in the first period.
In the second period, the Omegas scored two quick goals to take a 3-1 lead. The score stayed this way until the Omegas added an empty net goal with one minute to go.
Like Game 3 of the other series, both goaltenders in this game held their teams in it. Seth Hellinga gets the Player of the Game for this one. He was able to pretty much shut down the high scoring players on the Flyers.

For the first time since the 2009-10 playoffs, both semi-finals series will be going to a third and deciding game.

The Flyers evened up their series with the Omegas by beating them 3-1 on Saturday night.
The Omegas got on the scoreboard first and held a 1-0 lead until half-way through the second period, when the Flyers were able to score on a power-play. With four minutes to go in the second, Dustin Bouma scored another goal for the Flyers which seemed to be the game-changer.
The Flyers added one more goal half-way through the third period and held on to the 3-1 win. Dustin's goal stood up to be the game-winner, so we'll give him the Player of the Game honours in this one.

After losing for the first time in over 14 months, the Hawks bounced right back on Saturday night to beat the Albinos with a convincing 9-2 victory.
The Hawks got off to a quick start and never looked back. By the end of the first period, they already held a 5-0 lead.
The Albinos showed signs of a possible comeback by scoring two quick goals at the end of the second period to make the score 6-2. However, this was all the Albinos could muster. The Hawks scored three more times by the end of the game and cruised to victory.
Derek Barneveld had two goals and and an assist for the Hawks, while Dave Vanoostveen scored a hat-trick. We'll let these two Hawks players share the Player of the Game honours for this one.

The Albinos stunned everyone in the first game of their semi-finals series against the Hawks by beating the Hawks 5-3. This was the first time that the Hawks have lost a game since January 6, 2017. To put that in perspective - that was the same night that Brandon Wilpstra broke his leg. The Hawks' record since that night has been 27 wins, zero losses, and one tie. That's a pretty good run. Hats off to them.
Anyways -back to this game.
Both teams came to play. The Albinos struck first and held a 2-0 lead going into the third period. This was mostly due to some outstanding goaltending by Zac Harris of the Albinos. He held off the Hawks with plenty of amazing saves. We'll give Zac the player of the game honours for his performance.
The Hawks were finally able to solve Zac early in the third period to make the score 2-1. The teams traded goals throughout the third, but the game winner ended up to be a very strange (and scary looking) goal by Corey Moesker. Corey took a slapshot from the point that was going high and wide of the Hawks' net, however it struck Jordan Nydam in the neck and bounced into the Hawks' net. Jordan was shaken up, but fortunately was not seriously hurt.

In the semi-final series between the Omegas & Flyers, the Omegas hung on to win the game 3-1 over the Flyers.
The Omegas took charge of the game early and held a 3-0 lead by the end of the first period. They held this 3-0 lead until Chris VanVeller was able to get a shot past Omegas' goaltender, Seth Hellinga with only 1:32 to go in the third. The Flyers pulled the goalie, but it the damage was done and the Omegas held on for the win.
Karsten Berg was in on all three of the Omegas' goals, scoring two of the goals and assisting on the other. Karsten is the player of the game in this one.

Game 2 of both of these semi-finals series goes tonight (Saturday, March 10) at the Sarnia Arena (Brock Street Barn).
The Omegas & Flyers will play at 8:00pm.
The Hawks & Albinos game will be at 9:10pm.

It's hard to believe, but our regular season is already over for another year. We will begin our playoffs this coming weekend. Here is the schedule for this weekend's games:

Friday, March 9 @ the Point Edward Arena
7:00pm - Hawks vs. Albinos
8:20pm - Omegas vs. Flyers

Saturday, March 10 @ the Sarnia Arena (Brock Street Barn)
8:00pm - Flyers vs. Omegas
9:10pm - Albinos vs. Hawks