When a team wins a championship and the dust settles on the celebration, and then the season begins anew, defending said championship becomes the number one storyline. Trying to defend/repeat can be motivating or it can be a burden, or sometimes a little of both.
Watertown’s own entry in the Power Play Senior Hockey League, the Boston Gold Kings, have spent the whole season up to this point believing they were better then last year’s championship squad, and that the challenge of repeating was all good. While the Gold Kings play has been up and down, and while penalties and a lack of discipline rendered their regular season inconsistent, the roster is full of good guys and equally good hockey players.
The Gold Kings finished the season in second place, and they won their best-of-three semifinal matchup with the Salem Sasquatch, two games to one. The elephant in the room though was the newest entry to the league, the Hudson Valley (NY) Reapers. Fast, strong, disciplined, good forecheckers and better passers, the Reapers stormed the league to the tune of 14-2 in the regular season, and a two-game sweep of their semifinal, where they outscored Holyoke 22-5.
The Gold Kings played the Reapers as well as any in the regular season, winning one of two at home and playing well at Hudson Valley and in possession of leads in both games before falling to defeat. The Gold Kings have every right to believe they can play with the Reapers, and beat the Reapers, but it wouldn’t be easy. And it would require disciplined play, some puck luck, and a full 60-minute effort each night.
The league allows the higher seed to determine where Game 1 is played, and Hudson Valley chose to come to Watertown for Game 1, with games 2 and 3 (if necessary) in New York. For one period and all but 29 seconds of the second period, the Gold Kings were right where they wanted to be — defending their title and playing a brand of hockey that had them on the verge of taking Game 1. But something happened on the way to the locker room for the second period intermission, and the carry-over to the third turned an entertaining and suspenseful hockey game into a rout, with Hudson Valley ultimately taking Game 1 with a 7-2 victory. Game 2 is Saturday night April 11 in N.Y. at 7 p.m.
The Reapers are a quick-strike team, taking an innocent possession and turning it into a goal. After two weeks off, the Reapers didn’t look the least-bit rusty, and at 5:11 of the first period they turned good passing into a 1-0 lead. Eleven minutes later, they made it 2-0 as their number one line of Frack, Shepherd and Jackson worked their magic. When the Gold Kings Brandon Garneau was called for tripping 28 seconds later, it was as though a collective “oh oh” was heard from the Gold Kings fans.
What transpired next though changed the game for the next 19 minutes of play. Shorthanded, Tony DiCostanzo retrieved a puck that cleared the zone and eluded the Reapers pointmen. DiCostanzo flew towards Reapers goaltender Mike Rockwell, intent on turning the breakaway into a shorty to cut the lead in half. DiCostanzo was held just as he was about to shoot. While at first it seemed as though the referee signaled a penalty, instead he had signaled for a penalty shot. A huge moment in Game 1, indeed, and DiCostanzo was up to the task, deking Rockwell to his glove side and then switching to his backhand and lifting the puck into the net to make it Reapers 2, Gold Kings 1.
With momentum, a minute later the Gold Kings number one line of O’Leary, M.Baldino and Cordio put pressure on Rockwell. For one of the few times, Rockwell couldn’t control the rebound, and Joey O’Leary was in the right spot in front of the net to slide home the rebound of Baldino’s shot to tie the game at 2. In 1:24, the Gold Kings displayed their own quick-strike ability, and we had a hockey game.
Momentum carried over for most of the second period for the Gold Kings, and even though they couldn’t convert on back-to-back power-plays in the first ten minutes of the second period, Boston was the better team and needed a score to validate their efforts. In the final five minutes of the period though, the Reapers found their legs and started to become a presence in the Gold Kings zone. Boston goalie Evan Morelli, who was his usual solid and stellar self, was finally called upon to make a few saves after what had been a relatively quiet period. And then, with everyone in the arena ready to hit the concession stands and salivate over an excellent 2-2 game and what the third period had in store, the Reapers essentially turned the game in their favor for good.
The Reapers ever-dangerous second line of Clerc, Trenkle and DiNicola pounced on the suddenly tired and flat-footed Gold Kings to score at 19:31 to take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. A crushing goal, one that Boston clearly took with them onto the ice for period number three. Remember that penalty problem I mentioned with respect to the Gold Kings season? Well, they committed three in the first 7:43 of the third period, and the Reapers converted on all three power-plays to take a 6-2 lead. They added a garbage goal at 16:02 to make the final 7-2, Hudson Valley.
As a fan, 2-2 after 2 was all one could ask for of the one and two seeds facing off in Game 1 of the best-of-3 Finals. But, it wasn’t meant to be, and it was a reminder to the Gold Kings, which trust me, they didn’t need, that if they want to win this series they are simply going to have to play 60 minutes, not 39 minutes and 31 seconds. The Reapers are good. Really good. The Gold Kings are good, and capable of beating this team, but the margin of error is razor-thin.
Any competitor at any level worth anything loves a challenge. There’s no way the Gold Kings are afraid of the Reapers or psyched out. I expect the Gold Kings will play an excellent hockey game in a hostile environment and do everything they can to force a Game 3. And if it’s not meant to be, it will be because Hudson Valley is just too good at this particular point and time, and the Gold Kings will look to next season eager to regain the crown. Game 2, Saturday night April 11 at Hudson Valley. Go to ppshl.com for more details.