Sutherland Cup Round-Robin Schedule Set
by Niagara Falls Canucks
on April 13, 2011 @ 3:30pm
The Niagara Falls Canucks are set and ready to participate in the Round Robin for the Sutherland Cup. The Canucks beat the Thorold Blackhawks in 4 games to win the Golden Horseshoe Championship.
The first game of the Round Robin takes place on Friday April 15 at 7:30 at the Gale Centre when the Canucks will play Elmira.
On Sunday April 17 the Canucks travel to St. Thomas for a 7:00 game.
The Canucks are back home on Friday April 22 at 7:30 when they host the St. Thomas Stars.
The Round Robin concludes for the Canucks when they travel to Elmira on Sunday April 24 for a 7:00 game.
The top two teams from the Round Robin will then compete in a best of 7 championship series with the winner being awarded the Sutherland Cup.
A fan bus to St. Thomas is in place and leaving the Gale Centre at 3:00 pm sharp Sunday April 17th. The cost is $35.00 for adults and $33.00 for seniors/students and includes a ticket to game . Tickets for the bus will be sold on Friday at the Canucks game. Tickets are cash only and are sold on a first come first serve basis.
Come travel with us and support your Canucks on the way to the Sutherland Cup
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Josh Dadic, ex-Red Wing and a few other teams, scored twice as the Canucks opened strong with a 6-3 win over the Sugar Kings of Elmira before over 1600 in Niagara Falls.
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Ron , The Canucks also have Myles Micallef an other former Wing.
Niagara Falls should be one of the two finalist playing for the Sutherland Cup. Remember last year when everyone thought that Brantford would win the Cup and Stoney Creek would be in the final with them. But Nobody told that to Lasalle who finished 5th in their division and beat everyone to win the Sutherland Cup. Next game in Niagara Falls is April 22 @ 730 at the Gale Center.
The Gale Center is a new arena on Fourth Ave.http://www.arenamaps.com/arenas/5204.htm
That's how Terry Masterson described the officiating in Game 1 of the Sutherland Cup round robin tournament Friday night at the Gale Centre.
And before you start to think that it's a case of sour grapes, or the standard complaint of a coach on the losing side, Masterson's squad, the junior B Niagara Falls Canucks, not only won the game, but they won by a comfortable 6-3 win over the Midwestern Conference champions, the Elmira Sugar Kings.
"We didn't work this hard all year long to be subjected to this kind of clown show," said the coach. "The referees were ... clowns.
"We're used to the best refs in Ontario (in the Golden Horseshoe Conference), not refs that are that bad. Our guys showed great discipline considering that there was at least 12 head checks and probably 24 hacking (calls that went unpenalized)."
The coach explained that during the round robin, neutral referees are used officials from the conference not playing in the game.
From Masterson's comments, it's clear that the Sugar Kings brought a more physical game to Gale Centre than the Golden Horseshoe champs are used to seeing. From the opening faceoff, the Sugar Kings were bumping right away. But, if the Elmira squad thought that a couple of early hits would throw the Canucks off their game, 45 seconds into the first period David Mathers scored, letting Elmira know that the Canucks know how to play tough as well.
Exactly five minutes later, Josh Dadic (the first star of the night) netted his first of two on the night, burying a pass from Brett Foy and Cam Stewart. Dadic's goal chased starting goaltender Matthew Smith from the cage in favour of backup Nick Horrigan.
The early deficit didn't take the fight out of the Sugar Kings, however. The next charge up the ice after the goalie switch, the Sugar Kings forwards ripped a shot off the post after having much too much time all alone just inside the top of the left playoff circle.
One of the few times that the refs clamped down on Elmira's excessive roughness, the Canucks benefited with a 5-on-3 power play. With five seconds remaining in the first power play, Dustin Scott held a Mathers pass just long enough to drag Horrigan out of position and slid it into the far corner for a 3-0 lead.
The middle frame would see the Canucks double the Sugar Kings in goals, 2-1 for a 5-1 lead at the end of 40 minutes. Dadic opened the scoring in the second, with Kyle Steckley netting the home team's fifth of the night. Elmira's Cass Frey had a marker sandwiched between the two at the 7:35 mark of the period.
After 40 minutes, the shots were tied at 16 apiece, but the third period would see Elmira outshoot the Canucks 8-2. They would also outscore the Canucks 2-1, for the 6-3 final.
Fifty-seconds into the third, Brad Krause closed the gap to 5-2 and just over the halfway point of the third, Colton Wolfe-Sabo netted the Sugar Kings final goal of the night.
Mark DiFruscio added an empty netter to pad the Canucks lead.
The third-period turnaround by the Elmira side was not lost on either coach.
Sugar Kings head coach Geoff Haddaway said that by the end of the game, the Elmira team were finally playing their style of hockey. He was unwilling to offer excuses for the loss, but did confirm that the team was late in arriving to the Gale Centre due to traffic tieups, reducing the teams' ability to properly prepare for the game.
"It's tough to get back into a game after they've got a 3-0 lead," said Haddaway. "We've got no one to blame but ourselves, they're too good a team. They will always capitalize on your little mistakes.
"By the end of the game, that's how we play typically."
"We played to two different Elmira teams tonight," said Masterson. "The first 30 minutes and the second 30.
"I'm glad we had the quick start tonight."
First star of the game Dadic said that despite facing a more physical team in Elmira than what they've regularly seen, the key to the Canucks remains simple: "We just have to stick to our plan. We play our game and if teams are running you all game, you just have to be aware and ready for that."
The Canucks play their second game in the round robin Sunday night at 7 p.m. in a road game against the St. Thomas Stars.
My comment- the referees were Tim Cox and Mike Pearce. Will the coach be suspended for his remarks?
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Two more each for Dadic and Mathers and four assists for David Grant as the Canucks drop the Stars 7-3 Sunday night in front of over 1600 in St. Thomas.
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
