But, the Melville Millionaires' season is over after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Estevan Bruins. Estevan takes the series 3-2, and will advance to face the Yorkton Terriers.
All 5 games of the Sherwood Conference Survivor Series were decided by one goal, 4 of them in overtime, and the other in the last minute of regulation.
5-4 Estevan in overtime, 5-4 Melville in regulation, 5-4 Melville in triple overtime, 3-2 Estevan in overtime, and 3-2 Estevan in overtime.
Game 5 saw the Mils lead 1-0 after one, on Ian McNulty's league-leading 5th of the playoffs, and Mark Owen made it 2-0 early in the second.
But, like every game in this series, no lead is safe, and Dominic Perrault scored with 3 seconds left on a powerplay, and Jonathan Ceci tied it on a 2-on-1 late in the period.
After a scoreless third, the Mils and Bruins went to overtime again.
3:33 in, Perreault wristed a shot through traffic, and they ruled that it was tipped by Calder Neufeld and in. I thought it was Perreault's 2nd of the game.
Alex Sirard was outstanding in Games 4 and 5. He made 40+ saves in the deciding game.
Both teams deserved this one, but that's not possible. The Bruins earned it, and scored the final goal in a true "last goal wins" type of series.
The Bruins out-scored the Mils 19-18, and Melville never lost a game in regulation.
Not that it's any consolation now, but the Mils had every opportunity to win a series that few if any people gave them a chance in. Estevan has 9 stud 20-year-olds, while Melville had 4, after trading Metz and Hanson at the deadline.
Coach Jamie Fiesel said on the Post Game that Michael Rogoschewsky was likely their playoff MVP. He's played his last game in Mils' colours, along with Craig Karius, Justin Hollinger and Dane Bonish.
So, it's Yorkton-Estevan now.
Obviously I was hoping for a Yorkton-Melville Conference Semi as the radio guy for both teams, and no I don't like the bus trip to Estevan, and I'm not a fan of their rink, or the vantage point from their broadcast booth.
But congrats to the Bruins on winning a hard-fought series. Coach Chad Leslie has been great to deal with and we'll chat again Saturday night.
Joel Danyluk also gets one final crack against his hometown Terriers, after beating them in last year's final with La Ronge.
Thanks Feez, Neil, and the Mils. That was a treat to watch.
Sent from my BlackBerry® powered by Virgin Mobile.
FIESEL POST GAME
4 comments:
give Melville credit, they played a heck of a series and should have won. Estevan cant be happy with that performance.
*by the way good teams dont dump and chase on the PP, they carry the puck and set up. This is learned in Novice as well!
So proud of this team! The future looks bright, they will be dangerous next season! Can't wait, already!!
I was really hoping for a Melville/Yorkton Series. The Mils deserved to win the series. All the guys can be proud of what they accomplished. And Hey Craig when will the schedule for the Terriers be posted? I know they play Sat and Wed. in Yorkton but still no update on schedule on SJHL website. And GO TERRIERS GO!!!!
John
Hats off to Fiesel, brought a young team a long ways and almost knocked off Estevan. Very classy interview as well. Hope Feez is around for a long time!!
Post a Comment