CFHL Playoffs and Cherry Cup Preview

The CFHL Cherry Cup Playoffs were in full swing and has gone "chalk" all the way to the Cherry Cup Final.

Round 1:

Marchand had 5 goals for Puck

Who Gives a Puck vs Goon Crew 7-2:  This game was over from the start as Brad Marchand from the Puck started the week with a hat trick as the Puck were on their way to 17 goals.  A record in the playoffs.  (I think...we'll say it was a record).  Marchand ended up with 5 goals on the week and Crosby added 6 more!  The Crew surprisingly beat them in FOW 127-123, but what was once the power of the Crew, the goalies started the week terrible and could never recover.

Mayhem on Ice vs. White Mambas 5-3:  In the second game, the favorite won as well as this game wasn't very close either.  Mayhem tallied 13 goals, and it was a team effort 4 players scoring 2 goals and all but one other player scoring 1.  McDavid continued his amazing season for the Mayhem scoring 2 goals and 3 assists with a +5.

Round 2:

Alex Assassins vs. Mayhem on Ice 7-2:  If this was an opportunity to knock of the top team in the CFHL this would have been it.  They failed to reach the century mark in FOW.  They only had 2 goalie wins and had less than 10 goals.  But unfortunately for the Mayhem they managed NO goalie wins, only 30 FOW and 7 goals.  Jack Eichel for the Assassins scored 3 goals and Bobrovsky had a GAA of 0.48.

AshBuster fans celebrate Kucherov's hat trick.

AshBusters vs. Who Gives a Puck 6-2:  This game was closer than the score indicated but the Number 2 seed defeated the Puck and moved onto the Cherry Cup Final.  If it wasn't for Kucherov this might have been a different story.  He had 5 of the 8 goals the AshBusters scored.  They beat the hell out of the Puck as well as Borowiecki had 25 hits alone!!  My god, wow! The Puck still only lost goals by 2, assists by 1 PPG by one and tied goalie wins.

Cherry Cup Finals Preview:

AshBusters at Alex's Assassins

This is a match up between the 2 top teams in the CFHL.  And the Assassins will go for the Cherry Cup keeping the cup in the Cherry family for yet another year.  But it won't be easy versus the AshBusters that bring a high power offense.

Goals:  Advantage here is with the AshBusters who lead the league with 206 and are lead by Kucherov's 38 goals (5 last week).  Lets not forget about Rakell (32), Pavelski (28) and the bearded wonder Burns (27).

Assassins' leading helper Backstrom

Assists:  This is pretty even with both teams mid of the pack.  Assassins probably have a slight advantage who have 38 more assists than AshBusters on the season.  But over a course of a season isn't that many.  Backstrom leads this team with a whopping 57 assists on the season.

Rating:  The plus/minus is hard to rate.  But if you take just the season stats on this the Assassins have a huge advantage as they lead the league with a +69, while the AshBusters were second to last with -37.  But each week you never know how your team will fare.

Schenn has 15 PPG for AshBusters

PPG:  You could say this might be pretty even as they are 1 and 2 in PPG.  However the AshBusters have 79 PPGs compared to the Assassins 56.  They have two players with 15 or more PPGs.  Brayden Schenn had 15 and team MVP Kucherov has 17.  However this is another category hard to predict as it is at the mercy of power play opportunities.

Hits and FOW:  This one is easy.  AshBusters will easily win Hits, as they lead the league with 1,080 hits and with the beast Borowiecki shouldn't be a problem.  The Assassins have consistently been a top FOW team and are typically over 100 FOW each week.

Goalies:  My goodness, could you have a better match up of 4 goalies.  All candidates for the Vezina Trophy in the NHL.  Assassins have Carey Price and Sergi Bobrovsky and the AshBusters have Craig Anderson and Devan Dubnyk (both former Goon Crew, just so you know...doh!!!).

Could these be the stars of the Cherry Cup finals?

Don Cherry's take:  Well boys this should be one for the ages.  I mean you have the two best teams in the league squaring off and how good does it get with those boys in the net facing off eh??  The AshBusters hit like a ton of bricks and might wear the Assassins down.  It will come to who can win assists, ratings. And that Kucherov boy from Russia is a hell of a player for the AshBusters.  Duby and Price are just a little better than Anderson and Boby...  Assassins win a close one and the Cherry Cup stays in the Cherry family.  Which is what I like...those Cherry boys...hell of organ-eye-zations.

CFHL Week 20 and Playoff Preview

The regular season is over and the quest for the Cherry Cup has begun!!

Last week there was a battle for the last two spots in the playoffs between the USSR, Goon Crew and White Mambas.  It was earlier reported that the USSR would have been in regardless with a 3 way tie based on total rotisserie points, but not so fast my friends...

Turned out that the USSR needed the win to avoid the tie as each of the 3 teams played each other twice.  Mambas went 3-1, sweeping the Soviets, and the Crew went 2-2, while USSR was 1-3.  The AshBusters were going to make sure the USSR didn't make the playoffs as they dispensed them 6-3 on 14 goals, 5 PPGs and 4 goalie wins between Dubnyk and Anderson, two former Crew goalies that they sure wished they still had.  Pavelski was the Number One Star of the game scoring 5 goals and a +5.   This was a bitter and disappointing end to the season for the Soviet squad who is conducting a full on investigation to see if there was rule fixing to keep them out...

Pavelski had 5 goals for AshBusters

So the stage is set for the Cherry Cup Playoffs!  Number 1 and Number 2 seeds are the Alex Assassins and MacDaddy's AshBusters.  They await the winners of the first round games.

Goon Crew at Who Gives a Puck - The Crew started hot, then faded, but manged to make the playoffs.  They made a few questionable trades as of today, trading Craig Anderson earlier in the season and then Dubnyk towards the end.  Since, Lundqvist has been hurt now for the playoffs and what was once their strongest suit is now their weak link.  Who Gives a puck is based on strong center play and assists and are second in the league in FOW.

UPDATE:  Puck off to a fast start with a hat trick by Marchand and already have 6 goals.  Crew's goalies are a joke posting a 5.95 GAA and no wins after both goalies played the first day.

Marchand has 3 goals after just one game already

White Mambas at Mayhem on Ice - White Mambas were an unlikely playoff team who at first didn't have a strong draft.  Since then, they have been strong in net with Murray and Jones.  In addition to Murray, they lean on two other Penguins in Malkin (33g, 39a, 11 ppg) and Kessel (21g, 40a).  They have to win with offense and goalie play as FOW and Hits are their weak point.  Mayhem are just a well rounded team, not posting huge numbers in any category but just solid.   Lead by Connor McDavid.

Malkin and Kessel for the Mambas

UPDATE: Mayhem have early lead but all categories close with the Mambas goalies yet to play.

CFHL Week 19

One week to go and there is a race for the final playoff spots!  Here is last weeks action:

Assassins vs. Goon Crew 6-2
The game was closer than the score indicated as the Goon Crew threw everything at the Assassins that they could.  But when you play against a team that has two goalies like Price and Bobrovsky, and those two goalies play each other to a 1-0 OT game, there's a good chance you are not going to win Goalie categories.  It was back and forth toward the end in goals and assists and the Goon Crew threw up 138 FOW, but Assassins had 151.

3 stars of the week Kucherov, Bobrovsky, and Price

AshBusters vs. White Mambas 9-0
Apparently the block buster trade that brought Dubnyk to the AshBusters was the right move as they swept the Mambas.  In fact both goalies for the AshBusters were acquired through trades with the Goon Crew...maybe the Crew should have just kept those guys (Dubynk and Anderson).  They combined for 5 wins and a 1.75 GAA.  Kucherov for the AshBusters had 5 goals as well.  There really wasn't a close category.  Mambas are fighting for their playoff life too.

Mayhem on Ice vs. Krampus Carols 5-3
The Mayhem got back into the win column and have solidified their playoff spot.  This was a close one as the Mayhem edged them in goals by 1.  PPG were tied and could have made the difference for the Krampus had they netted just one more PPG.  Again Patrick Kane was the number one star in the loss scoring 5 goals for the Krampus.  Unfortunately he did not get much help elsewhere.

Kane had hat trick in loss.

USSR vs. Slow Icin 7-2
The Soviets, who were at risk of losing out of a playoff spot if tied with Mambas at end of season, took care of their business dispensing of Slow Icin' and increasing their chances for playoff spot.  There wasn't a whole lot of goal scoring in this game as not a single skater had more than 1 goal.  However the Soviets are preparing for a future battle with the Assassins if they meet in the playoffs as they tallied 191 FOW!

Another happy USSR fan...

Who Gives a Puck vs. Checkers 5-3
The Puck ended the Checkers last dying hope at a playoff bid and another run at the Cherry Cup.  As if 191 FOW were a lot, the Puck had 205!  This appears to be the trend as teams prepare for a run at the Cup.  Checkers did have 11 goals, 3 from Jamie Benn, but once again, the goalies for the Puck out played the Checker net minders.  The Puck had Crawford and Miller in net and had 3 wins 2.55 GAA and .924 SV%, enough to beat the Checkers netminders Budaj and Talbot.

Crawford for the Puck came up big

Playoff Picture:
Assassins have the top seed locked up.  AshBusters have a 2 point lead over Mayhem.  Even if the Mayhem win and AshBusters lose, AshBusters would win tie breaker thus they have clinched the Smythe.  Who Gives a Puck have playoff spot clinched.

Number 1 seed Assassins

Then it still comes down to the last 2 spots between USSR (19pts), Crew (17pts), Mambas (17pts).  Easy for the USSR, they basically have clinched since they should win tie breakers.  If all three teams are tied, it would go to total rotisserie points in which Mambas are way behind.

Crew need a win or a Mamba loss to make the playoffs. If they lose and Mambas win, Mambas in and Crew out.  If both Crew and Mambas lose, Crew are in.