March 21, 2010

Shield and Storm clinch Semi-finals!

March 21, 2010

The South Muskoka Shield and Deseronto Storm both closed out their respective opponents Saturday, setting up a rematch of last year's final for the 2010 GMHL Russell Cup Championship.

The Shield took insurmountable 7-1 lead over the the two time Russell Cup holders, Bradford Rattlers, and coasted to an 8-4 win in game 5, completing a streak of 4 straight wins en route to a 4-1 Semi-final series win.

The Storm split the first 4 games of their Semi-Final with the Regular Season Champion Ellito Lake Bobcats, with each team winning once and losing once in each other's rink.  However, Deseronto 'stormed' in to Elliot Lake for game 5, winning with a 4-0 shutout, before returning home and closing out the Cats 6-4 in game 6.

This final will see the first rematch in the GMHL's four year history, and gives the defending champion Shield an opportunity to tie the Rattlers for the most titles with 2, should they prevail over the Storm.

The two teams didn't meet this season until mid-January, when the Shield beat the Storm 3-2 in Deseronto.  The second game in the season series took place in Gravenhurst in February, and saw the Shield prevail by a 6-2 score.

Last year's Russell Cup Final between these same two teams went 6 games last year, with the Shield outscoring the Storm 25-19.  South Muskoka took a stranglehold on the series, going up 3 games to none, and then giving up games 4 and 5 before closing the deal in game 6 in Deseronto.

Over the last 2 seasons, including playoffs, the Shield sport an 8 & 2 record vs the Storm, with 6 of the 10 games being decided by 1 goal.

The Shield will be playing all their home games the Bracebridge Memorial Arena, due to construction at the Centennial Centre in Gravenhurst.

Schedule for the Best of Seven Final will be announced shortly, but Game 1 should be tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, March 23 in Bracebridge.  Stay tuned for details.