2021 Cherry Cup Champion: Cherry's Checkers

 The shortened (thank goodness) 2021 CFHL season has come to a close.  The Cherry Cup Finals were, well, less than dramatic or memorable.  Sorry Checkers and California Raisins.  It had some drama in the first two nights, but then it was pretty much over.  Anti-climatic ending to our season.  But still fun none the less.  

The odds were stacked against the Raisins, who were facing a superior offensive squad, and even if they could win both goalie categories, they would need to steal at least 2 additional skater categories. It didn't help that out of the gates their two goalies, Jarry and Saros, struggled.  Saros got the win, but had to go into OT to get it after 2 scoreless periods.  Jarry wasn't even suppose to start but came in in relief but gave up  2 goals on only 7 shots.  

Toffoli and Petry would hook up for a PPP goal, netting the Checkers 4 points on one goal and Marchand and Bergeron would connect for more points for the Checkers in the first night.  They would be up 4-0-2 to start the series.  

 The Raisins did well to climb back into this game in the second night.  Sidney Crosby had a great night, scoring 2 goals and then adding an assist, PPP and a hit.  DeBrincat also added 2 goals for the Raisins and Jarry, while allowing 3 goals, got the win to give the Raisins 2 goalie wins so far for the week.  Raisins suddenly had some hope, getting on the board, now down 4-2.

Sid was not a happy man...

The Checkers came out in the third night on fire getting a hat trick from T.J. Oshie and going 3-5-3-7 for the night!  The bright spot, if there was one, for the Raisins, was Blake Wheeler who managed to score 2 goals late to give the Raisins back the lead in goals.  Plus Checker goalie Binnington lost in a shoot out preventing the Checkers from tying Wins.  So still a little glimmer of hope for the Raisins.

Oshie had a hat trick on night 3

That glimmer would be extinguished in night 4 as the Checkers struck a pretty good blow, getting 8 assists to the Raisins 2 and 14 hits to their 4.  Ristolainen didn't disappoint getting 8 hits last night.  Raisins goalie Jarry did get the win, but gave up 4 goals in the process.   The Raisins would not recover.  The score never got off of 4-2 rest of week, and the Checkers would capture their 5th Cherry Cup!  

Ristolainen was a beast

Brad Marchand earned Cherry Cup MVP award with a goal, 5 assists, 2 PPP and 3 hits

Crosby did what he could for the California Raisins, scoring 4 goals, 2 assists, 2 PPP and 4 hits.  Pretty damn good week. 

Amazing the Checkers won easily with only 1 goalie win all week.  (guess goalies not as important as in real NHL...)

Congratulations to the Cherry's Checkers on their 5th Cherry Cup title.  Now if we can only get the Cup back from the Mayhem, I can get it engraved!

Let the celebrations begin....

Marchand and Bergeron celebrate another Checker Cherry Cup

Oshie lifts the Cherry Cup!

Kopitar and Doughty have been with Checkers
in previous Cup victories...

Marchand getting the party started!

Not sure if Marchand has enough booze yet...

CFHL Cherry Cup Day 4

 It might be all over for the Raisins.  Last night the Checkers struck a pretty good blow, getting 8 assists to the Raisins 2 and 14 hits to their 4.  Ristolainen didn't disappoint getting 8 hits last night.  Raisins goalie Jarry did get the win, but gave up 4 goals in the process.  

Tonight the Raisins will have 5 skaters take the ice, but no goalies.  Checkers will have only 4 players tonight.  Binnington might get the nod again between the pipes and it appears that Samsonov is still in the dog house.

Samsonov just can't seem to get out of dog house

It will take a minor miracle for the Raisins to pull this off.  They would need to go on a PPP tear and have their goalies pitch shutouts the rest of the week.

This will likely be the last update until the final.  Enjoy.

CFHL Cherry Cup - Day 3

 The Checkers came out in Day 3 on fire getting a hat trick from T.J. Oshie and going 3-5-3-7 for the night!  The bright spot, if there was one, for the Raisins, was Blake Wheeler who managed to score 2 goals late to give the Raisins back the lead in goals.  Plus Checker goalie Binnington lost in a shoot out preventing the Checkers from tying Wins.  So still a little glimmer of hope for the Raisins.

However that glimmer could be extinguished tonight as the Raisins only have 3 skaters going tonight, while the Checkers take the ice with 6.  At least for the Raisins, it is two of their best players, Crosby and DeBrincat.  Might not matter with the Checkers top two duos take the ice tonight of Bergeron/Marchand and Toffoli/Petry plus Checkers' lead hitter Ristolainen.  Can the Raisins survive tonight?  

CFHL Cherry Cup - Day 2

 The Raisins did well to climb back into this game in Day 2.  Sidney Crosby had a great night, scoring 2 goals and then adding an assist, PPP and a hit.  DeBrincat also added 2 goals for the Raisins and Jarry, while allowing 3 goals, got the win to give the Raisins 2 goalie wins so far for the week.

Tonight the Raisins will have 5 skaters on the ice while the Checkers have 6.  Key players to watch for the Raisins it's Landeskog and O'Reilly, who has been hot lately. Toffoli and Petry are back on the ice for the Checkers and Binnington will try to tie the game in goalie wins.  It appears Samsonov will not play tonight for the Caps.  

Cherry Cup Update - Day 1

The Checkers came out of the gate fast in day 1 racking up 11 assists already as they take an early 4-0-2 lead.  The Raisins goalies did exactly what they couldn't do and faltered under the pressure of the Cherry Cup Finals first night.  Saros got the win, but barely after having a shut out through 2 periods had to go into OT to earn the win. 

Toffoli and Petry combined for a 4 point play for Checkers

Jarry has a chance to redeem himself tonight.  Tonight should be a little quieter, as both teams only have 4 skaters each going tonight.  Keep an eye on Checkers Bergeron and Marchand while Raisins will have Crosby and DeBrincat tonight. 

Raisins are hoping for a big night out of Sid the Kid

CFHL Update #9: Playoffs and the Cherry Cup

Well the stage is set!  After the lost 2020 season, we have arrived at the 2021 Cherry Cup Finals.  It will be an Uncle and Nephew battle between the Uncle Cherry's Checkers versus the Nephew the California Raisins.  These two teams have been battling all season to be the number 1 team in the CFHL and this week we will see who really is.

FIRST ROUND

The playoffs started in somewhat dramatic fashion with the Mayhem on Ice beating the Who Gives a Puck on the final goal of the entire week!  With the game all tied up.  The Lighting game went into overtime where on the final play of the week, Victor Hedman scored his only goal of the week, sending the Mayhem onto Round 2 and the Puck home to play golf. 

In the other first round game, the California Raisins had little trouble dispensing the Assassins 5-0-1.  The Raisins dominated in the net with Jarry getting 3 wins and a .923 SV % and Vasilevskiy getting 2 more wins.  

SECOND ROUND

In the second round it was a pair of snoozers.  Both the Raisins and the Checkers winning easily 5-1. 

Raisins defeated the Krampus Carols who was battling a number of injuries.  It was a little close, as the Raisins won goals by only 2 and assists by 1, but the rest wasn't close.  Barkov had 3 goals and 2 assists for the Raisins while their goalies once again came up big with 4 wins (which they needed since Krampus had 3).  It might have been even closer had Grubauer been healthier and played more than one game. 

The Checkers had an even easier time with the Mayhem, dominating in goals, assists and PPP.  Not so much in goaltending however getting only 1 win and a .899 SV%, but surprisingly it was enough.  The dynamic duo of Hellebuyck and Talbot, which had carried the Mayhem much of the season, let them down when they needed them the most. They ended up with no wins and a .846 SV%.  Ouch...

CHERRY CUP PREVIEW

The Cherry's Checkers will be going for their 5th Cherry Cup title when they face off with the California Raisins, a relatively new team, that seemed to find its groove the second half of the season and has cruised through the playoffs. 

Let's take a look at the Tale of the Tape:

Goals:  Checkers #1 - 155  Raisins #4 - 134:  Advantage Checkers

Assists: Checkers #4 -  251  Raisins #6- 239:  Advantage Checkers

PPP:  Raisins #3 - 130  Checkers #5 - 128: Even

Hits: Checkers #1 - 879  Raisins #6 - 545: Huge Advantage Checkers

Goalie Wins: Raisins #1 - 53 Checkers #4 33:  Not even close, advantage Raisins

Goalie SV%:  Raisins #1 .920  Checkers #9 - .903: Advantage Raisins

In week 2 the Checkers defeated the Raisins 5-1, but in Week 11 the Raisins got revenge beating the Checkers 5-1.  This sets up the ultimate grudge match!

Checkers are led by the Bruins duo of Bergeron and Marchand who combined can tally quite a few points.  Both play on same line and both play on same first power play line.  Toffolio is no slouch either scoring 27 goals on the season.  Ristolainen has 176 hits on the season and leads the hitting brigade of the Checkers.

Barkov has been on fire lately scoring 7 goals over the past 2 weeks and Ryan O'Reilly has stepped up his game in the playoffs.  But the real strength of this team is in net with Tristan Jarry and Andrei Vasilevskiy.  They have combined for 53 wins on the season and a .921 SV%.  In the playoffs they have combined for 8 wins.  

Key to this game for the Raisins to upset the Checkers will be to try to steal at least 2 categories while holding onto the two goalie categories.  If their goalies slip it will be curtains for the California Raisins. 

Prediction:  Checkers 4-2.  Checkers offense proves to be too much for the Raisins.

(Side note:  Tie breaker is highest seed, which favors Checkers.  Also, the site says stats will stop accumulating on May 8.  This was before they extended the season to May 16.  My assumption is that this weeks Cherry Cup will end on the final game on May 8. But stranger things have happened...)