Slashers celebrate sweeping success
"Jesus, swept."
That was the reaction of one Maidstone Mudslingers fan as the team trudged off the ice following its 3-2 loss to the Yellowknife Slashers Sunday night. The loss was the fourth in a row for the Mudslingers, as they were swept from the championship round.
The win sealed Yellowknife's third title in nine years, cementing the franchise's place as the most successful in league history. The squad won seven straight games after dropping its post-season opener to Washington. Maidstone's second-place finish still marks it the most successful Spear team.
Goaltender Marty Turco led the way for the Slashers with four goals in four finals games (and nine goals in eight playoff games), while Maidstone netminder Andrew Raycroft led his team with three goals in the final series.
Yellowknife owner Kevin Johnson was magnaminous in victory.
"Ha! All the rest of you guys are losers. L. O. S. E. R. S. Hey, is this thing on?" he said. "To all the other owners, I'd just like to say--there's always next year.
"But seriously, folks, I'd like to thank Paul Kariya for getting hurt, and all the rest of the guys for staying healthy."
Kariya' replacement at left wing, Rick Nash, was the ACHL's top-scoring skater.
Maidstone coach Clay Fields congratulated the Slashers on their championship, but said the team lives up to its name.
"They really do slash a lot," Fields said. "They do it really mean-like too."
Fields said he himself took one on the shin as he crossed the ice on his way to the dressing room after game 1.
"It really hurt," he whined. Fields said the Slashers were also name-callers.
Mud centre Sergei Fedorov whined about his playing time, as usual. "If coach had played me in game 4, we'd have won."
Fields dismissed the what-ifs with a shrug of his shoulders: "The best team won. It's all mud under the bridge now."
Washington caps playoff run with sweep
The Washinghton Capitalists swept the Kissimmee Army to win third place in the ACHL.
Leading scorers for the Capitalists were Mats Sundin and Brendan Shanahan, each with four goals, and Roberto Luongo, with three. Ed Belfour had three for the Army.
This year was only the second post-season appearance for Kissimmee.
Weirdly, after leading the Spear Division all season, the Army was one of only three teams to emerge without winning any money. The Sandwich Heroes, the Spear's top-scoring team, and the Copper City Billy Club, in its inaugural year, were the others. The Austin Ruins and Big Easy Carpetbaggers each won one of the side-bet $40 prizes.
League finances
| Franchise
| Initial
Balance
| Side
bet
| Player
Fees
| Winnings
| Final
Balance
|
| Austin Ruins |
$100 |
$10 |
$70 |
$40 |
$60 |
| Copper City Billy Club |
$100 |
$10 |
$75 |
$0 |
$15 |
| Kissimmee Army |
$100 |
$10 |
$55 |
$0 |
$35 |
| Maidstone Mudslingers |
$100 |
$10 |
$90 |
$160.50 |
$160.50 |
| New Orleans Big Easy Carpetbaggers |
$100 |
$10 |
$60 |
$40 |
$70 |
| Sandwich Heroes |
$100 |
$10 |
$50 |
$0 |
$40 |
| Washington Capitalists |
$100 |
$10 |
$60 |
$53.50 |
$83.50 |
| Yellowknife Slashers |
$100 |
$10 |
$75 |
$321 |
$336 |
Round 3 Scores
(Home team in CAPITALS)
Game 1
YELLOWKNIFE 2 (Sakic, Turco), Maidstone 1 (Raycroft)
Washington 2 (Sundin, Luongo), KISSIMMEE 0
Game 2
YELLOWKNIFE 2 (Guerin, Weekes OT), Maidstone 2 (Fedorov, Raycroft OT)
Washington 6 (Sundin 2, Shanahan 3, Kaberle), KISSIMMEE 2 (Satan, Belfour)
Game 3
Yellowknife 3 (Guerin, Turco 2), MAIDSTONE 1 (Kovalchuk)
WASHINGTON 4 (Shanahan, Iginla, Redden, Luongo), Kissimmee 2 (Niedermayer, Belfour)
Game 4
Yellowknife 3 (Sakic, Nash, Turco), MAIDSTONE 2 (Kubina, Raycroft)
WASHINGTON 3 (Sundin, Iginla, Luongo), Kissimmee 2 (Satan, Belfour)
Round 2 Scores
(Home team in CAPITALS)
Game 1
Washington 2 (Luongo 2), YELLOWKNIFE 1 (Turco)
Maidstone 2 (Jagr 2 OT), KISSIMMEE 0
Game 2
YELLOWKNIFE 4 (Sakic, Guerin, Chara, Turco), Washington 3 (Shanahan, Iginla, Redden)
KISSIMMEE 4 (Tanguay, Czerkawski, Theodore 2), Maidstone 2 (Alfredsson, Giguere)
Game 3
Yellowknife 8 (Sakic 3, Nash, Guerin 3, Turco), WASHINGTON 6 (Sundin 2, Iginla 2, Luongo 2)
MAIDSTONE 6 (Kovalchuk, Alfredsson 2, Ohlund, Giguere 2), Kissimmee 4 (Tanguay 2, Satan, Niedermayer)
Game 4
Yellowknife 2 (Turco 2), WASHINGTON 1 (Iginla)
MAIDSTONE 2 (Ohlund, Giguere), Kissimmee 1 (Satan)
Round 1 Scores
Game 1
Washington 5 (Sundin, St-Louis, Luongo, Iginla 2 OT), AUSTIN 3 (Thornton, Berard, Roloson)
MAIDSTONE 3 (Kovalchuk 2, Raycroft), New Orleans 1 (Lalime)
Game 2
AUSTIN 5 (Roloson 2, Tkachuk, Bondra, Berard), Washington 3 (St-Louis, Redden, Luongo)
MAIDSTONE 1 (Raycroft), New Orleans 0
Game 3
WASHINGTON 4 (Sundin, St-Louis, Luongo, Iginla OT), Austin 4 (Havlat, Bondra, McCabe, Thornton OT)
Maidstone 3 (Kovalchuk, Raycroft, Giguere OT), New Orleans 2 (Schneider, Lalime)
Game 4
Austin 4 (Bondra, McCabe, Berard, Roloson), WASHINGTON 2 (Iginla, Luongo)
Game 5
Washington 4 (Sundin, Luongo, St-Louis OT, Heatley OT), AUSTIN 4 (Tkachuk, Gonchar, Havlat OT, Lang OT)
League standings
at end of regular season
| Axe Division
| W
| L
| T
| P
| GF
| GA
| |
Top Scorers
| G
| GP
|
| Yellowknife Slashers |
49 |
23 |
8 |
106 |
219 |
169 |
|
G Brodeur (SAN) |
61 |
77 |
| Austin Ruins |
45 |
32 |
3 |
93 |
174 |
150 |
|
G Turco (YEL) |
60 |
80 |
| Washington Capitalists |
30 |
46 |
4 |
64 |
155 |
170 |
|
G Khabibulin (AUS) |
50 |
80 |
| Copper City Billy Club |
26 |
47 |
7 |
59 |
141 |
192 |
|
G Belfour (KIS) |
43 |
76 |
| Spear Division
| W
| L
| T
| P
| GF
| GA
| |
L Nash (YEL)
| 40 |
70 |
| Kissimmee Army |
44 |
33 |
3 |
91 |
170 |
158 |
|
G Luongo (WSH) |
39 |
66 |
| Maidstone Mudslingers |
35 |
38 |
7 |
77 |
163 |
172 |
|
R Hejduk (NO) |
38 |
79 |
| New Orleans Big Easy
Carpetbaggers |
37 |
41 |
2 |
76 |
157 |
161 |
|
L Kovalchuk (MAD) |
38 |
80 |
| Sandwich Heroes |
35 |
41 |
4 |
74 |
176 |
183 |
|
L Tkachuk (AUS) |
38 |
80 |