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Originally posted by hrc666

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Originally posted by tjpavlik

This series ended at the conclusion of game two. Giving up a three goal lead to lose in overtime is just too much for a team to overcome mentally. Ask SC last year. Ask Paul McIllveen this year... and last year.

For all its bluster Elmira was just an average team. When they ran up against a team that could take what they were dishing out and hand it back to them they simply imploded. A very average offense and a limited defense ultimately did them in, oh and you have to mention a nutcase who wants to go with anyone who won't fight him back. (Justin Johnson is still waiting, Mike.) Sgroi is simply a liability when he can't intimidate the opposition and ends up taking needless penalties. I wonder what team he will start with next year for his 10th ECHL SEASON!! My bet is Toledo!

I do not mean to belittle the Cyclones efforts. We dominated this series. The secondary scoring was outstanding... Elmira never knew which direction it was coming from and spent a lot of time chasing the puck. The physical play was just enough to keep Elmira off guard but not enough to draw a ton of penalties. Ryan Nie stepping up when called on was key.

Now we wait. Hopefully this wait will treat us better than other pauses we've endured this season.

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Couldn't agree with you more. I posted this on another board before I read your post:

I watched the last two games on B2 at a local sports bar with a group of fellow Cyclone fans. It appeared that the Cyclones had more zip and energy than the Jackals. Given that the quality of the feed made watching the game similar to watching an archived tape of a 1968 Chicago Blackhawks game (is that Pit Martin and Stan Mikita that I'm seeing?), I could be entirely wrong.

Game #2 killed the Jackals. They should never have let a 3 goal lead slip away from them. Some losses hit harder than others, and I think that this loss was fatal for the Jackals. They went from having the traditionally acceptable split on the road entirely within their grasp to an 0-2 hole and that was probably very hard for them to stomach.

The Cyclones are rounding into top form right now and the Jackals just weren't able to or were prevented from bouncing back from game 2.

In some series, a sweep is just the result of one team being entirely overmatched. That certainly wasn't the case in this series. The Jackals are a much better team than they showed. I still think that their first round 9 game series (7 +4OT +2OT+OT=9) took a lot out of them.

The Cyclones are now in a very enviable position of having a few days off and plenty of time to prepare for and travel to either SC or FLA. I would imagine that as I type this the BAC level of some of the players on the bus is borderline toxic. They've earned a mid-playoff bash.

Just another thing. I had posted that the Cyclones would open at home if SC is the opponent due to the fact that the NC Coliseum is booked May8-10. That is not the case. The Cyclones have already announced the USBA CF playoff dates: Wed. 13th, Fri 15th and Sat 16th (if necessary). Evidently the Stingrays have another venue in the area which they will use. Shorty Rock has described it as a Sports Plus-type facility except that the support beams on the ceiling are LOWER.
This ought to make for some interesting strategy as flipping the puck out of one's zone will result in a defensive zone faceoff if the ceiling is hit.

It will also make getting tickets very tough as the capacity of the building is probably very small. I plan on calling the Stingrays office tommorrow to get more information about where and when they will play and will post whatever information I obtain.

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Originally posted by hrc666

I called the Stingrays office earlier and they said that they are doing everything they can to get their games in the North Charleston Coliseum for the opening of the next series if they win this one. The practice facility where they would play if they can't only seats 1000 or so. I asked if they might play games during the day in order to be able to play on the weekend and the reponse was that they would probably keep the games at the traditional 7:05 starting time. So, it very well could be a Monday/Tuesday (11th/12th) start should they advance to the next round.

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Originally posted by hrc666

I called the Stingrays office earlier and they said that they are doing everything they can to get their games in the North Charleston Coliseum for the opening of the next series if they win this one. The practice facility where they would play if they can't only seats 1000 or so. I asked if they might play games during the day in order to be able to play on the weekend and the reponse was that they would probably keep the games at the traditional 7:05 starting time. So, it very well could be a Monday/Tuesday (11th/12th) start should they advance to the next round.

The Stingrays now lead 2-1 and Florida's goalie didn't play well last night. Florida goofed badly on their roster choice for goaltenders. Their #1 goalie is in the AHL and playing as a starter for Houston. The Everblades had him on their roster and now only have an EBUG as a #2 goalie. This EBUG can only play if Leggio (the other goalie) is injured. So, it looks like there is a very good chance that there will be a rematch of last season's Conf. Finals.

The Stingrays will know more by Tuesday or Wednesday regarding the sites and times for the next round.

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