The Gamecocks were third-best in roller hockey all year. Now they have a shot to be number one.
The squad is playing the Club House Sharks in Cayman’s 2012 national roller hockey league finals. Kings Sports Centre saw game one of the best-of-three series on Sunday with game two slated for Tuesday, 29 May, at 8.10pm.
Brendon Malice has guided the Gamecocks all season as team captain and states his side is built for this stage.
“I really like our chances, I chose this team for the playoffs,” Malice said. “It’s not pretty, we make the opposition work. No team is taking anyone lightly but if we play the way we have, we’ll be hard to beat.
“The Sharks defence is awesome and makes their offence click. But we’re not a flashy team. We’re good at hustling and beating teams to the puck. We’re a dump and shoot kind of team.”
Malice has his team in the finals after an 8-6 upset of the MEPCO High Rollers in the semi-finals. MEPCO finished second in the regular season at 7-3-1 while the Gamecocks were 6-5. The High Rollers had the competition’s second-best offence behind Mark Missal (17 points off 14 goals) and Ryan Pull (13 points off 11 goals).
Malice, who finished second in the league’s scoring title race with 21 points. states the victory was personal.
“We were more than likely to finish third and we liked our chances in the playoffs. We ended up playing the High Rollers, who beat us twice. Last year we had only one or two losses before MEPCO beat us. We felt we could compete with them once we got our goalie, Randy Cannon, back.”
On the losing end for the High Rollers would be captain Darryl Hather, who has kept MEPCO a relevant name in hockey for many years. A multiple national champion, Hather focused on his sponsor’s support rather than the defeat.
“MEPCO has been our sponsor back when we were called Alba,” Hather said. “It’s been about five years, Jimmy Laurenson has been very good about sponsoring us and we thank them for that.”
Hather had predicted a MEPCO-Sharks final before the playoffs started. Club House held up their end of the deal with a victory over the fourth seeded Flames in the semis.
The Sharks should be heavy favourites after claiming the regular season crown at 11-1. Club House had the league’s best offence (scoring 99 goals), the top goalie in Scott Hughes (82.6 save percentage and 23 goals allowed, both tops in the competition) and the scoring champion in Rob Rintoul (26 points off 14 goals).
Malice states his Gamecocks have a shot at another upset, on the strength of their defence.
“When I drafted this team, it was from a defensive perspective. I’m a defenceman and I drafted defensive players high. When our goalie Randy was out, the defence was not reliable. He hurt his groin and without him we were like 2-2.
“With him, we’re winning, we’re more prepared and we’re solid. We may have been third but we were the only team to beat the Sharks. Randy is a huge part of this team. He makes a difference with four or five goals in a game.”
If necessary, game three of the finals would take place next Tuesday, 5 June, at 8.10pm.
Related Videos
