Largest crowd of the season in Aurora today to watch the Tigers and the Otters conclude their regular season play. Interesting cross section in the crowd, there were the Tiger fans, a large contingency of Otter fans, many of the Newmarket Hurricane players and coaches, some Orangeville players and coach Dale Hawerchuk. The players did not disappoint them in what could have been the best game of the season at the Old Barn, the Tigers and the Otters battled right down to the wire with the Otters eking out a 3-2 victory and in doing so edge out the Newmarket Hurricanes for 1st place in the North Division, by virtue of 1 more win over the season.

There has been much speculation before the game as to how the Tigers would play this one, would they play to win or would they concede 1st place to the Otters. I'm glad to say that the Tigers came out "roaring" and it didn't take long to realize that they were out to win, what other way would coach Dupont play! At the 4.16 mark of the 1st period Jeff Vanderlugt notched his 17th of the season assisted by Jeff Harbach and Billy Siekris. Josh Vatri got that one back at 11.29 from Jon Whitelaw and Jake Yard. A couple of mins later Ronny Rogers put the Otters up 2-1 with a pp goal, assists going to Josh Vatri and Jon Whitelaw. The 1st period ended with the Otters up 2-1.

The Otters took a 3-1 lead in the 2nd at 15.47, this time it was Ken Carswell who beat APM Richmond Hill Midget goalie call up Brandon Brown. Corey George and Dan Pinkney were credited with assists. The Tabbies fought back and 1min 17secs later it was Cody Smith scoring his 2nd goal since joining Aurora, a pp goal from Michael Sardella and Mike McLaughlin. The 2nd ended 3-2 in favour of the Otters. The Otters outshot the Tigers in the 1st and 2nd periods 27-11. It was obvious that the Cats were guarding the nest protecting young Brandon Brown who was outstanding between the pipes.

In the 3rd both teams missed chances in an all out end to end battle with the Tabbies outshooting the Otters 13-9 but not being able to beat Jeff Dawson. With about 2 mins to play it appeared that the game would be tied up as Jeff Harbach had a wide open net from 10ft out with Dawson right out of the net, he slid the puck along the ice, it went behind Dawson and missed the open net by a whisker. The Tiger fans were already on their feet cheering the goal but it didn't happen. A great finish to a great game between two talented teams, who could very well meet again down the road.

First star of the game? young goaltender Brandon Brown who handled himself like a veteran being called up at the last minute to replace Matt Beirnes who was scratched due to illness. Brandon, who hadn't played for several weeks, played a la "Stonewall Jackson" as he turned aside 33 of 36 shots that came his way.

Aurora played today with 5 regulars still out of the lineup, Aaron Barton, Matt Beirnes, Jordan Watts, Mike Morley and Ben Heaphy. Look for Barton, Beirnes, Watts and Morley to play Thursday night in Aurora against Orangeville in the 1st game of their 3 out of 5 series. Heaphy could be ready to go on Saturday or Sunday.

Finally, congratulations to the Huntsville Otters for a fine season and finishing 1st in the North Division.

Now the real fun starts.

GO TIGERS GO

Difficult for both Barton and Beirnes to play on Thursday , unless you're expecting a goaltending problem. If Barton is unable, Beirnes is not the answer. It could be an early exit for the Tigers. Oh well, more time for Jerome @ The Hill Academy.

cudos to brandon brown
without barton the tigers will be hard pressed to do much in the playoffs regardless of who is in front of him.

i bet that if aurora doesn't beat orangeville, (very unlikly though , it will be hard but not that hard) then newmarket will be screaming for joy because of their bad reputaion against the tigers in the past playoffs, but i thought that barton would be playing by playoff time?

"roara"

I mean't that both Barton and Beirnes will be in the lineup, I thought that was obvious, but I'll spell it out more clearly. Barton will be starting, Beirnes will be back up. OK.

You get your back up very quickly when it comes to the Tigers. You don't take sarcasm very well. I don't know about a three peat for your Tigers this year, the Otters are due and deserved.

Hey Craig:

Nice to have a few words again today.

Don't take this as anything but an observation. I was expecting your guys to run us badly today. We have 5 regulars out, we had to call up 2 Midget goalies at the last minute, one who hadn't played for 3 weeks or more (Brown) and we held the Otters to a scant 1 goal win, in a game that I think could have gone either way, especially if Harbach had scored in the open net with 2 mins to go. Correct me if I'm wrong, but judging from the lineup today, the Otters are at full strength. For a team that had to win to clinch 1st place, what do you think was the problem today. Talking to Tom McCarthy before the game, he was not taking the Tigers lightly, maybe the players did.

Did the Tigers surprise? were the Otters off their game? let me have your comments.

Your bitterness for the Tigers is a constant theme of yours...there must be some history there. Did you get cut or something ?

2 tough games on thursday and friday night could have played a factor in the game. also seemed like neither team could get anything going as no one wanted to make any mistakes which slowed down the pace. the tigers did a good job of protecting the net and blocking shots as well. a win is a win though and thats what we needed. all in all a great season for the otters. the boys played great all year and will continue to do so into the playoffs.