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Urq660 · 08-06-2021, 05:15 AM

Wow, that was quite a first round, huh? Sweeping our biggest rivals 4-0, outstanding! The only problem is, we now have probably the second best team this season in the league standing in front of us, the Vancouver Whalers. The home of the SMJHL‘s top goal scorer in Alexis Saint-Michel, the top point scorer in Makrus’The Tater’ Jager and the goaltender with the most shutouts in Olof Karsikko. Yikes, this is going to be quite the series, hopefully won’t be too much of a comedown from the highs of Round 1. Let’s get to it!

Game 1
Well, that is not ideal. St Louis brought back down to earth, with a sizable bump! The joy of 4 (6 if you include the false start) wins in a row evaporated in the Pacific Coliseum.
Regular season points leader Jäger was involved early on, bagging the assist for the opening goal, just over 5 minutes into the first period, Lev Lebedev steering it past Byrnison in the Scarecrows goal. Sophomore defenseman NeverBrokeAgain YoungBoy doubled the advantage in the middle of the period, Elvis Alexander and Ako Zile providing the As, with Strawberry Sailfish adding a third a couple of minutes later, assisted by Sven Svechnikov. St Louis managed to pull themselves back into the game, late in the period, team captain Freidensreich Hundertwasser leading from the front, slotting a goal home, assisted by Spicy McHaggis and Miguel Hefeweizen. A strong end to the period, things don’t look so bleak! 3-1 to Vancouver at the end of the first!
The second period was pretty quiet, the big even being the Whalers getting a 4th goal, Conner Tanner converting with assists from Landon Fischermann and a second for Ako Zile. 4-1 Vancouver after 2.
The third period provided some excitement, as St Louis pulled the deficit back to 2, early in the third period, through Nikolai Ayerzov, assisted by alternate captain Marcel Beck. Darwin Koff picked up the only penalty of the third period, for Tripping, but the ‘Crows could not convert the Power Play.
Final score, St Louis 2-4 Vancouver in the first of 2 back to back home games for the Whalers. Overall, St Louis played pretty well, they were only 1 shot on goal off Vancouver (this will become relevant very soon…), the Whalers were just sharper in front of goal.

Game 2
Okay guys, let’s put that behind us and bounce back…..
Oh.
3 minutes into the first period, Ako Zile put Vancouver ahead, assisted by YoungBoy and Alexis Saint-Michel, making his first appearance in the scoring! Vancouver dominated, but St Louis’ defence held fairly firm and kept them to 1 goal. 1-0 Vancouver, at the end of the first.
The second period was much busier. Ako Zile with his second of the game, assisted by YoungBoy again, and Narboza Manyhands. YoungBoy and Manyhands combined again for Vancouver’s third goal, on the PP following Mars Stanton getting called for Roughing. This was followed by a fourth from Ragnar Ragnarsson, assisted by YoungBoy (again) and his namesake, Uhtred Ragnarsson. Daryl Urquhart pulled one back for St Louis with his second of the playoffs, assisted by Hunter Sharpe and the teams playoff points leader Jonny Tsunami. Conner Tanner took the Whalers lead back to 4, late in the third, Koff and Sailfish getting the apples. Robert Feltersnatch bagged a second goal for the Sacrecrows late in the third, Dane von Gucci and Nikolai Ayerzov assisting. Final score St Louis 2-5 Vancouver. The score fairly reflects each teams offensive production, with Vancouver out-shooting St Louis by a whopping 53-23. Back to St Louis for a back to back next, let’s see if we can shore things up a bit!

Game 3
First, I’m going to need you to go grab a dictionary. Got it? Good. Now take yourself to the letter R and look for the entry under ‘rearguard action’ and, as you can see, it displays a shot of this game’s scoreboard.
I know I do the scores as we go along, and I will, but the headline of this game is that St Louis were outshot badly again, 41-18 to Vancouver, but Christ on a bendy bus, they only went and won it 4-2!!! This game was the definition of winning from the back!
Honestly, it didn’t start great, and when NeverBrokeAgain YoungBoy put Vancouver into the lead late in the first, assisted by Darwin Koff, a lot of fans in the Enterprise Centre thought this was the beginning of another painful game. St Louis had a Power Play earlier in the period, after Alexander was called for Boarding, but honestly, they did not look like converting it, and they didn’t. End of the first, Vancouver up by 1.
Whatever Scarecrows GM Blitz said to the players between periods, hoo boy did it work! 3 unanswered goals in the second for St Louis. The Taskmaster himself, Greg Davies, opened their account, assisted ably by Bouchard and Ashe in the first few minutes of the period. Lebron Brady added a second, and St Louis lead for the first time in the series, a few minutes later, Tsunami setting him up for it. Then Davies struck again, von Gucci and Ayerzov providing the assists. Vancouver we’re trying, don’t get me wrong, but they couldn’t find a way past the brick wall between the pipes, Byrnison. All they could muster was a penalty on Ako Zile for Hooking, but again, the ‘Crows couldn’t convert the PP. Score after the second period is 3-1 St Louis!
7 minutes into the third period, St Louis put the game firmly into their own grasp, with a fourth goal, taken nicely by Feltersnatch, assisted by former Maine teammate Hefeweizen. Vancouver picked up a second goal, to make the result look at least somewhat respectable, Lebedev scoring in the final minute, Strawberry Sailfish and The Tater with those apples.
Final score: Vancouver 2-4 St Louis. Again, the shot differential was 41-18 in Vancouver’s favour. So a great result, but definite cause for concern, letting them get so many shots on Byrnison. Let’s see if we can keep it up.

Game 4
The second game of St Louis’ home back to back, and theEnterprise Centre is rocking, following the huge Game 3 win. More of the same please? Going back to Vancouver tied 2-2 would be much better than them just needing to beat us in their house to go through. And damn, at least we’re not getting swept! And, it turned out, this game went very much like the last one! Yes, Vancouver dominated possession and outshot us badly again, 50-28 this time, but shit, we got another dub!
The first period was much more frantic than it has been. Darwin Koff opened the scoring at around 5 minutes, with Barry B Benson and Strawberry Sailfish assisting. Then St Louis went on a tear, notching up 3 goals before the end of the period! Brent Ashe scored his first goal of the playoffs, with the assists coming from Davies and Urquhart. Sam Stone then also scored his first of the playoffs, the rookie was assisted by Hunter Sharpe and fellow rookie, McHaggis. Davies then bagged one of his own, assisted by Stone, also his first assist of the playoffs, and von Gucci, very much not his first assist of the playoffs, his 7th in fact! McHaggis decided to make the end of the first period a bit more Spicy (see what I did there) by getting called for High Sticking, but st Louis did a solid job killing the penalty. Score after 1, 3-1 St Louis!
The second period didn’t start quite so well. 2 and a half minutes in, The Tater fed Robot Sunfish, who knocked it past Byrnison, to bring Vancouver within 1. It did not even last 3 minutes, however, as Sharpe added the Scarecrows fourth, the assists coming from Feltersnatch and Davies. Late in the period though, Lebedev set up a nail biting third, with Vancouver’s third goal, Robot Sunfish turning creator this time, alongside YoungBoy. Score after the second period is 4-3 St Louis.
Presumably, both teams had tired themselves out with 2 intense periods of hockey, so had a rest on the ice. No goals, no penalties, nothing to report from the third. Vancouver dominated possession and shelled Byrnison mercilessly, but he stood tall, and St Louis too a 4-3 win, and with it, a real belief that they are good enough to go toe-to-toe with the top teams in the league. On to Vancouver!

Game 5
Right, back to the dictionary everyone, straight to W and look up ‘wheels falling off’. Yes, I know it’s a phrase and wouldn’t be in the dictionary, but give me a break, we just got battered like a Mars Bar in Scotland by the Whalers. St Louis were outplayed and brutally outshot yet again, but wow, this turned out differently. The worst shot differential so far in this game, 51-14! St Louis put up 2, yes 2, a pair, deux, zwei, dos, 2 shots in the first period. Let’s get this one over with, so I can crawl back under my blanket and weep.
Vancouver took this game by the scruff of the neck in the first period. Lebedev opened the scoring, with Sunfish and Jager providing the set up. Then Ragnar Ragnarsson got himself a brace, Luc Blouin, a #1 overall pick in the SHL draft a couple of season ago, and Giannis Kroustis with the assists for the first, and his namesake Uhtred Ragnarsson with the A for the second. Sam Stone just reminded everyone that St Louis had actually turned up, by getting called for High Sticking late in the period. After 1, it’s 3-0 to Vancouver.
In the second, Vancouver continued to shellack the St Louis goal, without too much resistance. They only managed a single goal in the period though. It came through Conner Tanner, assisted by Fischermann and Lebedev. At the end of the second, the score is 4-0 to Vancouver.
The third period saw the Whalers add a 5th within a minute of the start. Kroustis with the goal, YoungBoy laying it on for him. Brady slotted one home for the away side, assisted by von Gucci and Bouchard. Stone picked up his second minor of the game for Slashing, and that’s all she wrote. Quite the comedown after taking back to back wins in Missouri. Final score St Louis 1-5 Vancouver. Thoughts turn to the pain of being eliminated in front of a home crowd, and the possibility of it, as we return to the Enterprise Centre down 3 games to 2.

Game 6
This is a big one. Lose, and we’re out with a whimper, after so much hope when the series was pulled back to 2-2. Win and anything is possible! Game 7s are notoriously unpredictable! Let’s get into them!
St Louis were, again, outshot, but not by nearly as much and certainly weren’t outplayed!
The first period was a frantic one! Once again, leading from the front, Captain Fantastic Hundertwasser put the ‘Crows in the lead, to a rapturous reaction from the crowd in the Enterprise Centre, laid on by Ethan Bouchard. This was followed by a penalty on Vancouver’s YoungBoy for Roughing, but the Whalers successfully killed the penalty. Feltersnatch doubled their lead, Bouchard with his second assist of the game, alongside Hefeweizen. Mars Stanton took a Holding penalty for St Louis, Blouin taking a Roughing minor for Vancouver, both PK units did their job. In the last minute of the period, Vancouver pulled one back, through Ragnar Ragnarsson, assisted by Kroustis and Svechnikov. Score after 1 period, 2-1 to St Louis.
The second period was similarly busy. Steve Collins scored early on for St Louis, assisted by Davies, but within a minute, Ako Zile had pulled one back for the Whalers, set up by Saint-Michel and YoungBoy. Conner Tanner managed to pick up a 2 minute Delay of Game Penalty, then had some choice words which the ref didn’t appreciate, and added a 10 minute Misconduct penalty on top of it! St Louis finally capitalised on a Power Play, Miguel Hefeweizen scoring, assisted by Urquhart and Ayerzov. McHaggis was called for Hooking, but the Scarecrows PK proved as effective as their PP had. Score after 2, 4-2 to St Louis!
The third period was much quieter, no penalties, and both sides struggling to make the breakthrough. St Louis bagged a 5th and final goal through a Jonny Tsunami empty netter, assisted by Lebron Brady, within the last minute. Final score, Vancouver 2-5 St Louis. Holy shit guys, game 7 coming up, we could actually do this!

Game 7
The atmosphere is electric in the Away locker room of the Pacific Coliseum. A mixture of nerves, confidence and just raw emotion of every kind bleeding from the St Louis players. They repeat the mantra over and over ‘anything can happen in Game 7’. Some last words of encouragement from Blitz, our GM, and Hundertwasser leads us out onto the ice.
It starts as a very cagey affair, both teams know that they can’t let the other get ahead. There’s too much at stake for pointless heroics here. The first point of note is McHaggis taking a Holding penalty after 12 minutes, but the St Louis PK unit gets it done. Then things start to go wrong for the underdogs.Vancouver score 2 goals in 2 and a half minutes. Ako Zile converting from a Blouin pass and Jager scoring, courtesy of a Lebedev assist. Score after 1 period is 2-0 to Vancouver.
The Whalers seem to go into lockdown mode, throwing players behind the puck, protecting their lead. A cagey second period gives way to an even cagier third. Both teams getting chances but not able to convert them. Time is slipping away from the Scarecrows. Into the last minute, surely it’s all over? Hefeweizen scores, assisted by Beck and Hundertwasser, but it’s too little too late. Final score, St Louis 1-2 Vancouver, the Vancouver Whalers win the series 4-3.
There are emotional scenes on the ice for several Scarecrows, as this loss constitutes their last game in the SMJHL. Hundertwasser, Davies, Urquhart, Hefeweizen and von Gucci are all moving up to the SHL for next season. They leave behind a solid core of players, who could certainly mount another challenge if they are supplemented by some good rookies. The other big change is that this marked the last game for the St Louis GM, Blitz. Beloved by his players, he will be an even bigger miss than the graduating players.

So, a series that had it all. Drama, an underdog fighback, a knife edge of a Game 7, celebrations for some, an emotional ending for others. It’s been a good run.

*SCARECROW NOISES*
Scarecrows

2,469 words I believe

LairdButler · 08-06-2021, 05:52 AM

***_Blitz_*** · 08-06-2021, 06:17 AM

Asked Madden · 08-06-2021, 08:04 AM

Sad scarecrow noises

Lobbanet · 08-06-2021, 03:52 PM

well played!

steveoiscool · 08-06-2021, 04:53 PM

You guys really stepped it up in the playoffs, losing game 7 sucks but you should still be proud

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