The Lions Roared

I'm not one who usually celebrates a roundhouse right to the face, but the Trois-Rivières Lions delivered the knockout punch to the three-time defending champions tonight in the ECHL's Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Lions used their timely offence and outstanding defensive game to shut down the Florida Everblades in Games Five and Six to capture the EA "Bud" Gingher Trophy as ECHL's Eastern Conference champions, ousting the history-seeking Everblades in six games. For just the second time in ECHL history will a Canadian team compete for the Kelly Cup, and I'll be quick to point out that Canada is 1-0 in Kelly Cup Final series right now.

Tonight's game was a class in how to close out a series as the Lions went into Estero, Florida and simply out-everythinged the Everblades on their ice. Justin Ducharme opened the scoring with 4:26 to go in the first period, he added a second goal at 10:42 of the second period, and it was 3-0 for the Lions a mere 18 seconds later when Alex Beaucage found the twine. Three more goals in the third period from Tyler Hylland twice and Tommy Cormier once combined with solid defence and Luke Cavallin's 25 saves, and the Lions booked their tickets to the Kelly Cup Final with a 6-0 win in Game Six.

The series was tied at 2-2 after four games after the road teams had won each of those games. Trois-Rivières claimed a 2-0 lead after winning twice in Estero while Florida evened the series with two wins in Quebec, so the pivotal Game Five in Trois-Rivières might have been the most important game of this series. Chris Jandric scored 1:04 into the third period for the game-winner in that game as Trois-Rivières put a stranglehold on the series with a 3-1 win for the 3-2 series lead.

Florida was 4-0 at home prior to losing both home games to Trois-Rivières, so they needed a bounceback after dropping the first two games of this series. However, as I wrote above, six goals for Trois-Rivières while Florida scored none was not the bounceback the Everblades were seeking as their championship run came to an end.

"A pretty disappointing game," Everblades head coach Brad Ralph said after the game. "Not a good night to have an off night. But I’m proud of these guys. They fought through a lot to get us to this point."

The Lions used the same suffocating defence they had employed in sweeping Reading and limiting Norfolk's chances in their previous series by having an "all-for-one" defensive presence. The Lions were quick to get back to the defensive zone as a five-man unit to help Cavallin, and they dropped in front of a ton of shots while getting good net-front coverage to clear rebounds and second chances. Offensively, they capitalized on chances they were given, but Lions seem to be content to allow their defence to win a championship.

"We scored three or four 5-on-5 goals all series," Ralph told reporters. "So credit to their defense and their goaltending. They did a tremendous job. They blocked a lot of shots, and we didn't get a lot of secondary opportunities. They defended really well."

The Lions now stand four wins away from immortality - an idea that may be hard to fathom considering they were nearly folded last season. Spire Hockey, led by American businessman Jeff Dickerson, purchased the team from Deacon Sports and Entertainment, and the group hasn't looked back as they have worked alongside the Montreal Canadiens to build one of the best minor-league affiliation situations in all of hockey. If the Lions can prevail over the Toledo Walleye, this might be the biggest "rags-to-riches" story in hockey ever!

The Lions now will prepare for a trip to Toledo, Ohio on Saturday, May 31 where the Kelly Cup Final gets underway. These teams have virtually similar records at this point in the postseason with Toledo holding a 12-3 record while Trois-Rivières sits at 12-4. First goals could be a prelude to victory for one of these teams as Toledo is 8-0 when scoring first while Trois-Rivières holds a 12-2 record when getting on the scoresheet first. Score early, score often?

Here's where things get really weird: these two teams have never played one another in a meaningful game. They have never played against one another in a regular season ECHL contest nor have they ever met in the playoffs. There is literally no history between them from which we can learn, so we'll see new chapters written when the puck is dropped on Saturday. Both teams enter the Kelly Cup Final seeking their first ECHL championship, so this Kelly Cup Final has all sorts of history baked into it as Trois-Rivières travels to Toledo.

It's fun to see the lone ECHL Canadian team standing so close to a championship this season, and my hope is that people in Quebec rally around the Lions as they have a very good chance to make history on home ice if they can earn a split, at least, in Toledo. With Canadian teams still alive in all three of the NHL, AHL, and ECHL, the potential to bring home at least one, if not more, championships to Canada remains high! Allons-y, le Lions de Trois-Rivières!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!