Nearly 650 fans looked on as Greg Cerilli had the hat trick to power the Huntsville Muskoka Otters to a 5-2 home win and a 2-1 lead in their series against Orangeville. Blueliner Jesse McConney had four assists for the victors. Jon Whitelaw and Phil Moreau, who also added two assists, got the other Huntsville tallies while Nick Vassos and Curtis Longland replied for the Crushers, both on the powerplay. Ryan Williams stopped 37 for the win.

the otters had a huge win tonight. playing most of the game shorthanded the otters still dominated the scoresheet and ryan williams was brilliant in net.

You can thank Mr Marely for the win, how do you call goalie interference on the Crushers in a 2-1 game when the party that pushed the player in was an Otter.Go figure.Poor game managment on Marely's part.

are you nuts? refs call goalie interference that way all the time and judging by the amount of pims that were called against huntsville i would say marley and koziel gave the crushers nothing to complain about.

I can't see Huntsville being undisciplined, must be the refs. I can't believe Pinkney would take 5 penalties and be out there head hunting. Just doesn't sound like McCarthy's choir boys to me...

easy with the cheapshots northscout.
this is the first game in a long time that pinks has had a lot of pims.
huntsville has been a very disciplined club since before xmas with a few minor lapses. it happens.

Hey Northscout, don't get Craigshaw mad. He doesn't like what he refers to as "cheap shots" but just before that he calls a guy "nuts". Is that not a cheap shot? Craigshaw, you have to learn to take it and that there is more than one team out there.You seem to have no problem critisizing other people but you can't take it yourself. Just an observation.

Choir Boys no, Hockey players yes....when you play on a team with contact you sometimes react with contact....Northscout...sorry to hear you still haven't come to grips with some of Huntsville's more aggressive players....might I add a quality that your beloved Terriers hold as well. I for one felt your team was a great team, partly because of their aggressive nature.... I don't like selfish penalties but one thing's for sure....there is nothing better then playing on a team that you know every last one of your teammates will be there when needed to defend or help out. No doubt Dan takes some stupid penalties as do most...but...Dan is also given alot of ridiclous penalties purely based on his size and strength.

I never said Couch didn't play aggressive or didn't take needless penalties. I remember Craigshaw was trashing Couch after a few of the physical games between the two teams, just wanted Craigshaw to have a look in the mirror.. I wish Couch had a few of those Huntsville agitators, they might still be playing. Best of luck to Orangeville or Huntsville in the next round. I hope the winner can go all the way.

I do not see how you can blame a game on the refs when your team gets 19 pp opportunities in the game. I did not see the game, but considering there were no major penalties or any sign up rough stuff in the boxscore it seems a little excessive.

First step to receiving help is helping yourself.

I believe the issue came with the momentum shift that the penalty call created. It was a 2-1 game and the Crushers had carried much of the pressure, thanks to several pp's. The difference was, however, that many of these Huntsville penalties were waranted. When the Crusher player was sent crashing into Ryan Williams, almost everyone believed that the penalty would go to the Otters. But, instead the referee saw the Crusher forward as the culprit, thereby putting Huntsville on a 5 on 3 advantage. With little time remaining in the 2nd, the Otters got a momentum boost and effectively sucked all of the energy out of Orangeville's team.

I'm not saying that the call made the entire game, but the mistake by the referee caused a serious momentum swing that ultimately lead to the Crushers' collapse in game 3.

bbaun never heard of a figure of speech? sorry to get you so riled up.
have you not noticed smc and others have taken jabs before. i take it in jest but insinuating head hunting and that the coach sends his players out to goon thats a bit much. i see a head check called. pinks hits hard and he is big. when you have guys that are 5-7 playing guys that are 6-2 any hit isnt going to be shoulder to shoulder.

north scout the aggression between cooch and huntsville was great. it was the things after the game that were inappropriate. i think you agreed with me on that front back then if i remember correctly.

mattyb yes some of the penalties were stupid on the players part there is no question but twice as many pims for one team? game 1 otters 8 pims oville 5, game 2 5-5 tie. i dont see any indication of huntsville having pims like this in previous games

thats the way refs call it almost all the time. i have seen on numerous occasions this year were huntsville players have been hit into the goalie and gotten the penalty it happens.

i understand your point that it was a momentum changer however how many 5 on 3's did the crushers have to their advantage.

momentum shift? Heck, the ref controlled the whole momentum of the game by calling such a lopsided game. To blame the ref for losing the game because he made one bad call after putting one team on the powerplay for much of the game is comical.

First step to receiving help is helping yourself.

the play in question was a Crusher heading towards net at full speed at a very close range if I recall, Huntsville did check the player and the player did land on Williams, In my opinion I believe the penaly was given because with or without the Huntsville player running into the Orangeville player he did not look like he was going to stop. Is that how the rule book reads???? I have no idea. I have seen it all year if you are that close and on top of the goalie you're getting the penalty right or wrong. Hawerchuck lost his cool right there in the game which I also believe had a huge effect on his team. Huntsville fans were booing the refs ALL night, the few Orangeville fans that were around me couldn't let go of that one call, I am sure it all rubbed off on the team.

Northscout...The Couch guys that were at the game were cheering for Orangeville, they must really hate the Otters to cheer for the team that knocked them out.....

Craigshaw:Your Otters never do any wrong. Did you ever play the game (Houseleague I would imagine). You never give the other teams credit, all you do is bash and cotradict.As I mentioned before you never have a bad word to say about "The Otters", they aren't perfect. I watch other followers of other teams call a spade a spade when their team makes mistakes or does stupid things. You however admit no wrong to "The Otters".The Otters are a good team and I wish them luck after last years demise, but please keep an open mind because I get tired of your biased opinions. You aren't always right, it takes two to tangle.

bbaun, you mustn't really read craigshaws posts, he defends his team when needed and in my opinion very open minded,,,he goes to games that the Otters arent even playing in and is one of the posters that lots of my friends from other teams enjoy his opinions.....so sorry, I think you are off base on this one

wow i dont think i bash and contradict all that often on here. i believe in all the oakville threads i have been giving them lots of credit for being a great team. i recently defended the villanova coaches. i often call out my team on here after losses due to pims, defensive lapses, etc.

i have a very open mind. im always up for a good discussion. smc and i have had numerous arguments over different topics to give an example.

yes i do defend my team and i am proud of our players, i know they arent perfect but you are entitled to you opinion and i guess we will have to agree to disagree.