1991 REGULAR SEASON

Willard Division: In the first week the Whales had a scare with a nasty knee injury to Bill Bronkowski that nearly derailed the season. D Eli Priestley kept them in the hunt until Bronko could return late in the year and squeak into a wildcard spot. Meanwhile the Anchors made good use of it and rose to the top of the division behind great play from Jack Kovak and JoJo Gorka. It was the Sina Serpents who looked like a different squad with rookie #1 pick Patrick Quinn taking control of the leadership and helped them to a team-first playoff berth. Both the Rockets and Pioneers struggled as their teams are aging or rebuilding.

Hatch Division: The Kodiaks picked up where they left off and ran roughshod on the division, notching another title. Stellar play from the whole unit earned them a Louis Trophy for best record as the Romanovs had no trouble behind a sticky defense and tight net play from Rocco LaPlante. The Swans struggled early but came about late behind Ray Parrino to notch the 4-seed. Just behind them, the Wizards adjusted with Gian Guilano and Sam Sebastian finally took off as Alko found enough chemistry to earn a wildcard. The Blazers put up a good fight but faded late as the season was a good showing for some of the young players. The Neptunes showed a major drop-off in talent as their stars have aged or retired. The Herons' rebuild was as expected, finishing in last place while still managing to play exciting hockey.

Elam Division: John Roszak led the league in scoring and earned an MVP trophy as he led the Captains to the division title and the 2-seed. Stingy defense by Len Rutkowski and G Vassily Wuopio kept the other teams at bay. The Snappers, though, made a good showing and surged ahead of the faltering Crusaders and Barbarians to earn a playoff berth behind good play from David Tennfjord and an invigorated D Steven Orban. Quebel disappointed for a second straight season as the forwards suffered too many injuries and scoring was a problem. The Barbarians had trouble winning games even though Frankie Albertelli did his best. The Heralds were expected to be bad and focused on development as top rookie Fredric Perreault looked good in limited action.

Rankin Division: Kings' goalie Manu Harmaajarvi put the division on lockdown as he played a magical season in the net, earning Best Goalie while Pete Lentini and Co did enough to win the division. The Electrics kept pace for most of the season behind lights-out scoring from Denis Lemieux, who has taken the reins from Leo Stendahl, and earned a 9th-straight playoff berth. The young Falcons showed major improvement as Bobby Kozun and Bryan Klein were tough to stop and the Sava Side is becoming exciting again. The Killers saw a huge year from goalie Austin Ellis go to waste as the offense was decimated with injuries and the team missed the playoffs. The Glaciers expected to improve but didn't make much progress as some wonder if head coach Pete Clayton is holding them back. The Bucks played better even with a bad roster but remained the second-worst team in the league as the staff has a lot of work to do to improve the team.



Hockey on the Mount:

A tepid version of HOTM due to budget cuts in anticipation of the '92 acquisition of Elite Vision, the turnout was small but the game ended up being good. The Anchors pulled out a win against a banged up Whales squad without Bronkowski.



Playoff Preview:

Serpents vs Whales
Sina's introduction to the playoffs is a date with the battled-hardened Whales who are finally healthy

Snappers vs Wizards
DC's been pesky all season while the Wizards are finally seeing some chemistry

Kings vs Electrics
These teams know each other well and could make for a long series

Anchors vs Swans
These teams are fairly evenly-matched and the bookmakers are at odds on who is better

Byes: Kodiaks, Captains

C&C always appreciated!
Up next: 1991 playoffs

Well, well.  Sina's in the playoffs, eh?   Stinks that they got a rough first round matchup, but it's still nice to see them make the postseason!

Really loving how clean those HOTM Anchors jerseys are.   I wouldn't mind seeing that more often!   Am I seeing this right?   They have a -44 goal differential?!   Impressive that they got into the playoffs at all!

I'm gonna pick the Kodiaks to repeat as champions with a hard fought win over the Captains.  Can't wait to see how it all plays out!

1991 PLAYOFFS



Wildcard Round

7 Sina Serpents vs 10 Portarra Whales
While health was a concern for the Whales, they didn't expect to get pushed around by the Serpents but found themselves in an elimination Game 5 and Patrick Quinn scored the go-ahead goal to shock the Whales. [SIN wins 3-2]

8 Dosa City Snappers vs 9 Alko Wizards
The Wizards dropped two games early and climbed back to tie up the series but the Snappers' newfound scoring prowess found its mark in Game 5 as Tennfjord carried DC to a series win. [DC wins 3-2]




Quarterfinals

1 Kirlow Kodiaks vs 8 Dosa City Snappers
The Snappers were game but the suffocating style from the Kodiaks was too much for DC to handle as Kirlow carried the series in 5 games. [KIR wins 4-1]

2 Kirkenport Captains vs 7 Sina Serpents
The Serps showed a lot of heart, including a pair of OT games but the firepower of the Captains was enough to easily push past Sina. [KRK wins 4-1]

3 Bancana Kings vs 6 Kavalos Electrics
An exciting series between division rivals, it was fast and dramatic from the drop all the way to OT in Game 7 where Pete Lentini found a home for the winner. [BAN wins 4-3]

4 Port Alrene Anchors vs 5 Vensessor Swans
Both teams battled back and forth but it was the Swans who had more of a punch late in the series as Andre Kabbani pitched a shutout in Game 6 to seal it. [VEN wins 4-2]




Semi-Finals

1 Kirlow Kodiaks vs 5 Vensessor Swans
Kabbani opened the series with a magical shutout as the Swans gave the Kodiaks their best shot. Rocco LaPlante had a shutout of his own in Game 3. An OT winner from Rafi won Game 5 for the Kodiaks but Ray Parrino had a hat trick in Game 6 to send it to a Game 7 where the Kodiaks won in a landslide. [KIR wins 4-3]

2 Kirkenport Captains vs 3 Bancana Kings
It looked like the Kirk Boys might cruise but Pete Lentini brought the Kings back into the series to tie it at two. Roszak regrouped the Captains who came back to put away the Kings in six. [KRK wins 4-2]


Up next: The Captains and Kodiaks battle it out for the 32nd Marcotte Cup

Give Sina a couple years and they will become scary. I can feel it.

1991 Marcotte Cup Championship Finals

1 Kirlow Kodiaks vs 2 Kirkenport Captains

These two teams have been neck and neck all season and collide in a battle for the 32nd Marcotte Cup. The Kodiaks are defending champions, having finally rid themselves of the Cup monkey after losing all their previous appearances. They feature a pair of Russian brothers leading the charge in Rafi and Sami Romanov along with Quincy Ledoux on the top line. Goalie Rocco LaPlante has taken a step up this season and with Max Kopecky and Jan Mikulec patrolling the blue line, it's easy to see why. Kirlow has a deep depth, including free agent signing F Kenny Stokes who is on a line with Lukas Lodwig and Derek Curry.

The Captains are led by John Roszak who just earned his first League MVP trophy for his stellar play and scoring. His top linemates are Davi Martikainen and Eric Jorgensen. The talented Vassily Wuopio mans the net with Dennis Vanderbloem backing him up. Rising defenseman Len Rutkowski is on a top pair with Nick Keltgen who has improved this season. Former Falcon forward Fabian Fryer leads the second line with Mark Freeman.



Game 1: KRK 3 @ KIR 1 – The Captains looked more composed to start out and jumped to a quick lead as Roszak and Fryer scored. Quincy Ledoux got one back in the second period but a Keltgen rebound out it out of reach as the Captains drew first blood in Kirlow.

Game 2: KRK 1 @ KIR 3 – Kirkenport scored first again on a beauty from Martikainen but the Kodiaks refocused themselves and climbed back into it on a shot from Rafi in the second. The third period was dominated by the Kodiaks as Max Kopecky scored and assisted on a goal by Ledoux.

Game 3: KIR 1 @ KRK 0 – Rocco LaPlante performed an acrobatic save early in the first and it set the tone for a slow defensively heavy game as LaPlante kept his scoresheet clean. Kenny Stokes found a home for the winning goal in the third as Wuopio came up just shy of stopping the puck from inching across the line.

Game 4: KIR 3 @ KRK 1 – The Kodiaks this time jumped to the early lead as Ledoux and Rafi Romanov scored each. John Roszak answered with a gorgeous goal of his own but Sami found the scoresheet and put the Kodiaks up 3-1 in the series and the Kirk Boys on the brink.

Game 5: KRK 0 @ KIR 5 – Back at a sold-out Orchard Center, the Kodiaks got off to a hot start as Ledoux scored twice and LaPlante shut down the Kirk attack. Kopecky added one and Lodwig added another as they poured it on. Even third line defenseman Gary Keeling got in on the action with a goal of his own as the Kodiaks were relentless until the final horn as they successfully defended their title with their second-straight Cup win. For his brilliant scoring, F Quincy Ledoux was awarded Series MVP and became just the second player in league history with 5 rings.

1991 Marcotte Cup Champions: Kirlow Kodiaks (2)

Up next: THL 2.0