Knights take playoffs to the limit – and a little bit more
Last night was the last meaningful Ontario r Hockey League game at the London Ice House. r
It turned out to be a game befitting all the great hockey the place has r seen in 39 years.
rThe London Knights and Erie Otters put on a real show in Game 6 of their r best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
rThe Otters defeated the Knights 5-4 in overtime to take the series 4-2. r
rAnd while the Knights sprawled on the ice after Carl Colaiacovo tipped r the puck past London goaltender Chris Houle, they had nothing to hang r their heads about.
rThey gave more than anyone thought they had to give.
rHow fitting a series that has produced emotion and tremendous skill by r players like Rick Nash of the Knights and Brad Boyes of the Otters would r go into overtime with the Knights having to win to continue playing in r these playoffs.
rIt was enthralling. The game produced storyline after storyline.
rThe Knights, blown out 8-1 in Erie Saturday night to fall behind 3-2 r in the series, produced another effort in which they left nothing on the r ice.
rFour times the Knights game back from being one goal down to tie it 4-4. r Four times everyone in the building thought it was over.
rThe entire series was encapsulated in one play with 20 seconds left in r the third period. The Knights Dennis Wideman had the puck blocked by Boyes r at the Erie blueline.
rIt was the million-dollar man just signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs r against the Knights Chris Houle, a goaltender not many teams wanted.
rBoyes made several moves and fired a shot glove-side low. Houle’s hand r shot out and it was like he massaged the Ice House heart back to life. r
rThere is an advantage to losing a game the way the Knights lost Game r 5. There isn’t much one can be sorry about. There was no one play, one r mistake, one moment that changed that game.
rIt makes the game much easier to forget.
rThe Knights did their best to do just that. Game 6 was on national television r on Rogers Sportsnet. It made for great television and unbelievable marketing r for the OHL.
rFor those who expected a repeat of the last couple of minutes of Game r 5 when good taste and good sense deserted the hockey game, it simply wasn’t r going to happen.
rIt was one of those highly entertaining, charged playoff games.
rThere’s been a recipe for these games involving the Knights in these r playoffs. Count on something unexpected to happen and most likely it will. r
rStrange goals, unusual happenings and a rather surreal sense the Knights r could somehow come up with something worth the price of admission.
rLast night the Knights came back four times from one goal back. Every r time the Otters scored, the Ice House went silent with a sense this was r indeed the end.
rEvery time the Knights scored, the place went nutty. Somehow one would r think that a team that has just been scored upon would need the noise r a little more when they are demoralized.
rIn fact, they did what they could to spoil the series. At the end of r each game, even as the teams shook hands after the winner, there was a r shower of bottles thrown on the ice by a mindless minority.
rBut what would one of these playoffs games be without someone complaining r about a goal. The Knights third goal with little more than two minutes r left in the second fit the blueprint for these playoffs.
rThe Otters had just taken the lead when netminder T. J. Aceti tried to r clear the puck. The Knights were in the middle of a line change and Aceti r gave the puck to Rick Steadman at the Knights blueline. That area looked r like buffet night following a dieters’ convention. As Steadman took the r puck, at least two Knights dove back over the boards as if someone dropped r a grenade on the ice.
rThe sudden ice evacuation took everyone by surprise. Steadman lofted r a lazy wrist shot toward the net and it found the corner.
rIt turned out to be just another astonishing moment provided by a team r that in these playoffs, specialized in astonishing moments.
