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Eagles get dogged
Arizona sweeps Colorado in Central Hockey League finals
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Chris Bartolone of the Arizona Sundogs skates with the Ray Miron President’s Cup after defeating the Eagles 6-3 in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series on Friday night at the Budweiser Events Center.
ERIC BELLAMY / ebellamy@greeleytrib.com
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Jon Mitchell, (Bio) jmitchell@greeleytribune.com
May 10, 2008
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LOVELAND -- Too fast. Too quick. Too good.
When it comes to the Colorado Eagles' opponent in the 2008 Ray Miron President's Cup Finals, that describes the Arizona Sundogs perfectly.
The Sundogs proved on the ice, on the scoreboard and in all facets of the series they were just too much to handle for the Eagles, who watched as the Sundogs celebrated on the Budweiser Events Center Ice holding up the same trophy the Eagles claimed last season. That came thanks to a 6-3 Sundogs victory in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series, humbling a strong franchise which can't claim its dominance on the Central Hockey League anymore.
"They always took advantage of their opportunities, and that's all there is to it," Eagles coach Chris Stewart said. "They outplayed us in this series."
Arizona became the first CHL team to sweep the championship series this century and the first since 1999, when Shreveport swept San Angelo. And Arizona did it in a Budweiser Events Center filled with 5,289 fans, who stood in a stunned silence when Alex Leavitt scored an empty-net goal with 2 minutes, 10 seconds remaining to essentially seal it.
"What made it great was to do it here," Arizona coach Marco Pietroniro said. "These guys are a class club and they're champs twice in this league. They set a standard in this league that we try to follow, so to win it here feels real good."
The Eagles, however, are a franchise in transition and could see the departures of several key players this season. How many remains to be seen.
"This was a team that was built to have a chance at winning consecutive titles," Stewart said. "No doubt about it, this will be a season of change."
Colorado Eagles’ goalie Bryan Bridges stretches in vain for a shot by Alex Leavitt of the Arizona Sundogs late in the second period on Friday night at the Budweiser Events Center. Colorado lost 6-3.
ERIC BELLAMY / ebellamy@greeleytribune.com
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Once again, the Eagles created opportunities for themselves but fell short. Colorado held a 44-35 shots-on-goal advantage, yet failed in each of its five power-play attempts. The Sundogs, however, were 3-for-7 on power plays, with Leavitt's third and final goal capping that mark.
And the Sundogs were able to withstand that barrage of shots thanks to series MVP and Sundogs goalie Rob McVicar, who stopped 146 of 156 shots during the series.
"We weren't worried about sweeping the series," McVicar said. "We just came in here knowing what we could do, and it doesn't matter if we're at home or on the road or what."
Leavitt scored the go-ahead goal with 6.5 seconds remaining in the second period, snapping a 2-all tie and shifting the momentum back in the Sundogs' favor headed into the second intermission. That stopped a run of stellar play by the Eagles, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game early in the second period.
"It's something you work for and it's something we wanted to retain, and we fell short," veteran right winger Greg Pankewicz said. "This is a good group of guys that's well coached.
"The unfortunate thing," Pankewicz added, "is that this group of guys probably won't be together next year."
The Eagles started Bryan Bridges in goal in place of struggling Sebastien Laplante, but the Sundogs jumped on top early. Steve Rymaha's goal at the 5-minute mark of the first, followed by a second power-play goal from Cory Urquhart, gave Arizona a two-goal edge. Both goals came when Pankewicz was in the penalty box.
But the Eagles battled back. Jason Beatty cut Colorado's gap to one goal with 3:45 remaining in the period, scoring on a delayed penalty when he beat McVicar on a shot from the left side of the Sundogs' blue line. Then in the second, Fraiser Filipic scored at the 8:22 mark to knot the score at 2-2.
But Leavitt, the Central Hockey League's leading scorer in the postseason, wrapped a shot around the left pad of Bridges to give the lead back to Arizona for good.
"We battled hard and I'm proud of everyone in here," said winger Riley Nelson amidst a silent Eagles locker room. "What do you say? It's an empty feeling. Unfortunately, we didn't get it done. We just have to lick our wounds, I guess."
Arizona 2 1 3 -- 6
Colorado 1 1 1 -- 3
First Period -- Scoring: 1, Arizona, Rymsha, pp (Redenbach, Bartolone) 5:00; 2, Arizona, Urquhart, pp (Landry, Visser) 10:14; 3, Colorado, Beatty, ea (Tobler, Nelson) 16:15. Penalties: Colo, Schneekloth (high sticking), 0:47; Colo, Pankewicz (hooking), 3:01; Ariz, Schlemko (hooking), 6:39; Colo, Pankewicz (roughing), 8:49; Colo, Iannazzo (roughing),12:24.
Second Period -- Scoring: 4, Colorado, Filipic (Leonard, McGrane) 8:22; 5, Arizona, Leavitt (Visser, Laperriere)19:54. Penalties: Ariz, Rymsha (hooking), 0:06; Colo, Tobler (high sticking), 4:40; Ariz, Liebel (goalie interference), 13:14; Colo, Tobler (goalie interference) 14:49.
Third Period -- Scoring: 6, Arizona, Hood (Visser) 3:48; 7, Arizona, Redenbach, sh (unassisted) 5:40; 8, Colorado, McGrane (Seth Leonard, Aaron Schneekloth) 16:10; 9, Arizona, Leavitt, pp, en (unassisted) 17:50. Penalties: Ariz, Leavitt (tripping), 4:58; Ariz, Sellan (hooking), 8:13; Colo, McGrane (high sticking),16:35.
Shots on goal -- Arizona 14-12-9 -- 35; Colorado 13-21-10 -- 44.
Power-play opportunities -- Arizona 3-7, Colorado 0-5.
Goaltenders -- Arizona, McVicar 44-41-3, Colorado, Bridges 31-26-5; Laplante, 3-3-0.
T -- 2:29. A -- 5,289.
Referee -- Mark Lemelin. Linseman -- Kyle Simms, Jordan Crowell.
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