2008 Lewis Cup Finals

The 2008 Lewis Cup Finals began on June 2 at the Metbank Center. The whole Island was “cup crazy” as the Concordes were appearing in their first final since 1990. Meanwhile, the Chicago Shamrocks had appeared in the final in 2003, but had not won since 1994. Game one started slow as the teams appeared to be feeling each other out. A goal from Scott Drayton gave Long Island a 1-0 lead in the second period, which held until late in the third, when Ryan Shelton took a penalty, leading to a powerplay goal for Martin Vannier. With just 1:50 left, Ilya Rusakivich scored what would be the winner as the Concordes took a 1-0 series lead. When game two went to overtime where the Shamrocks were desperate to avoid going into a 2-0 hole. Just 22 seconds into the extra frame, Jonathan Wheatley beat Luke Morrison to tie the series heading to Chicago. “That’s a huge win” said Wheatley. “It’s important for us to go home with the split.”

Game three was all Chicago early on, as Wheatley and Jay Lydon each scored in the first period, then Dan McBride and Lamar Jackson in the second. Down 4-0, the Concordes weren’t discouraged, scoring just seconds into the third. But Kari Nurminen stood tall, only allowing one more in a 4-2 win. The Concordes made a change for game four, going with 21-year-old Josh Gurmett in net with Morrison struggling. Gurmett responded with a shutout as Shelton, Tory Partridge, and Randy McAllen each scored in a 3-0 win to tie the series. “We have a battle on our hands now I’ll tell ya!” proclaimed CBC play-by-play man Graham Helm.

Game five certainly was a battle. Wheatley and McAllen each scored in regulation as the game went into overtime. Gurmett and Nurminen each made save after save as one overtime became two. In the second OT, Scott Drayton’s point shot hit the post, then Nurminen swatted a Ryan Shelton shot away from a wide open net. At the other end, Gurmett seemed unbeatable as the game went into a sixth period. The third overtime would last just over seven minutes, when Lamar Jackson, the 39-year-old playing in his final season, ripped a shot from the top of the circle to beat Gurmett and give the Shamrocks a chance to win the Lewis Cup at home. Long Island opened the scoring on game six on a goal from Chris Dempsey, but it was all Chicago after that. Wheatley scored twice, putting an exclamation point on his playoff MVP honours, and the Shamrocks went on to win the game 4-1 to claim their first Lewis Cup in 14 years. In an interesting piece of trivia, the Shamrocks were the first team in the 16-team playoff era to lose game one of each series and win the cup. Captain Corey Clark received the cup from Greg Nolan and immediately passed it to Martin Vannier, the 20-year veteran who had never won the cup. With his health failing, Fred Garfield Jr joined the team on the ice for a celebration reminiscent of the 1983 celebration. “These kids really played their hearts out” said Garfield. “My father would be very proud.”

2008 Playoffs - Conference Finals

Chicago vs Los Angeles

Matt Stover’s solid play in the LA net continued in game one against Chicago with a shutout performance as the Wizards took a 1-0 series lead. In game two, The Wizards came back to tie the game after going down 2-0. Early in the first overtime, Jonathan Wheatley beat Stover to tie the series. After winning two games in LA, the Shamrocks found themselves one win away from the Finals. Game five back in Chicago was a close one. Isaac Hart and Luca Schrober each scored for LA while Dan McBride and Corey Clark each scored for Chicago as the teams went into OT once again. Chicago peppered Stover with shots throughout a lopsided first overtime, but the 27-year-old made some huge saves to send the game to a second extra frame. Five minutes into the second overtime, Wheatley was the hero again, beating Stover to clinch the series and send Chicago to the Lewis Cup Finals.

Long Island vs Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Redshirts’ fourth appearance of the decade in the Eastern Conference Finals did not begin as planned. Almost everyone on the Concordes’ Roster registered a point in a decisive 7-1 game one victory. After being chased in game one, Luke Bowers put any concerns about his confidence to rest with a big 46-save performance in game two as Philly won 3-2 to tie the series. The Redshirts were happy to head home with the split, but the games at the PhillyDome both went the Concordes’ way in a bizzare case of déjà vu, as Scott Drayton score the Overtime winner from exactly the same spot on the ice with nearly identical point shots in a pair of 2-1 wins. The Shamrocks clinched their series the night before game five and it appeared the Finals matchup would be settled, but Philly pulled out a gutsy 4-2 effort on the road to survive. Back at the Dome for game six, another Drayton point shot in OT was stopped by Bowers, giving the Redshirts even more confidence, and just moments later, Sean Nowakowski proved to be the hero, sending the series to a game seven on the Island. Game seven began the way the series started, with a Long Island route. The Concordes jumped to a 4-0 lead by the end of the second period, forcing Philadelphia to pull Bowers in favour of veteran Pierre Noel. Noel was solid in the third, giving the Redshirts a shot at a comeback. Nowakowski, Baxter, and Sergei Dyatlov each scored to bring Philly to one goal with only 50 seconds remaining, when Long Island center Tory Partridge was called for a cross-check. The Redshirts pushed hard but veteran goaltender stood tall. The clock ran out and the Concordes headed to the Lewis Cup Finals for the first time since 1990. When asked about killing the penalty in the last minute, Long Island captain Ryan Shelton replied “its game seven, you have to find a way to kill those penalties.”

2008 Playoffs - Round Two

Milwaukee vs Los Angeles

The biggest upset of the 2007 playoffs was when the LA Wizards defeated the Choppers in the second round. A year later, the teams squared off for the rematch. Despite the Wizards’ 9-point improvement in 2008, the Coppers were still considered heavy favorites in the series, that is until Los Angeles won game one 4-2 thanks to an Oleg Gusarov goal in the third period that would prove to be the winner. Milwaukee recovered with a 4-1 win in game two, but Matt Stover made several big saves as the Wizards took game three at home to lead the series. Isaac Hart was suspended for game four after a knee-on-knee hit on Henrik Akerman and without the LA agitator on his back, Brad McNair exploded for two goals and two assists in a 4-1 Choppers win. The Chops would take the series lead with a 2-0 win at home in game five but Hart tormented McNair throughout game six, then scored what would be the winner in a 6-1 LA victory, sending the series to a game seven. Game seven would go into double overtime, where LA’s Hendrik Soderstrum beat Matt Darwin with a slapshot to upset the Choppers and send the Wizards to the Western Conference Finals for the second year in a row.

Long Island vs Toronto

After a shutout performance in game one, Concordes goaltender Luke Morrison struggled in games two and three as the Racers took a 2-1 series lead. The veteran goaltender found his game again in game four, however, earning another shutout in a 2-0 win. Game five would be one of the longest in league history, reaching four overtimes before Ilya Rusakivich finally ended it, giving Long Island a chance to win the series. Game six was all Long Island early on, as Rusakivich, Tory Partridge, and Scott Drayton each scored to give the Concordes a 3-0 lead. A late goal from Joe Murdock would be too little too late as Long Island would advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Chicago vs Oakland

Travis Sweet was supposed to be the big story for Oakland after another big season and two straight shutouts against Dallas in the first round, but the young goaltender had to have an emergency appendectomy just hours before game one against Chicago, putting him out for the series and forcing Oakland to go with veteran Kevin Washer, starting his first playoff game since he played in Boston. Washer played very well in the first four games, earning a shutout in game four. In game five, Jonathan Wheatley scored in the third period of a very tight game to give the Shamrocks the lead and eventually the win. Facing a must-win at home in game six, the Nuggets once again fell behind early. Washer was pulled in favor of rookie Ian Thorne in what many figured could be his final PHL game. Chicago won 5-1 to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Philadelphia vs Boston

Just three weeks after the ugly Chris Woods incident, the Redshirts and Bulldogs clashed in what seemed like an inevitable playoff meeting. Sean Nowakowski was back in the Philly lineup, wearing a full cage to protect his jaw, while Woods watched from home while finishing his season in Canadian Senior Hockey, his PHL career likely over. A surprisingly tame game one went to the Redshirts, but after game two, the fun began. The Redshirts hung on for a 2-1 win but Joey Hamilton flipped the puck down into the empty Boston net anyway, after the horn had sounded. Immediately, several Bulldogs gathered around Hamilton, while the Redshirts rushed to his defense, the two teams throwing jabs at each other. The officials broke it up but afterwards Boston’s Brayden McPherson told reporters that Hamilton was a “little piece of (expletive)” and that someone would need to “teach him respect”. Brendan Marlo and Mikael Larsson came up big in game three, a 3-0 Boston win, but the game was a rough one, with scrums after every whistle. Jeffery Simpkins scored on the empty net to seal the win and celebrated like his team had won the Lewis Cup, enraging the Redshirts. Philadelphia enforcer Ryan Schwimmer grabbed Simpkins, but McPherson intervened and the two heavyweights went toe-to-toe as fans who were leaving the arena hurried back to their seats. The series everyone had anticipated was on. Game three was complete chaos, with Boston up 3-0 in the second period, Simpkins took an extra poke at Redshirts goalie Luke Bowers after he had made a save. Defenseman Corey Powell grabbed Simpkins and started throwing haymakers immediately. Then Jeremy Sutton started trading punches with Joey Hamilton. Eventually, Bowers and Mark Davis met at center ice, with Davis getting the upper hand. Philly attempted a comeback in the third but Boston held on for a 3-2 win. Police were eventually called in when several big fights broke out in the stands, then in the parking lot. Players were kept inside the arena for nearly three hours after the game as a street brawl outside turned deadly.

The league issued a stern warning to both teams ahead of game five. Any player to fight after a whistle or a horn would be suspended one game, and any player who fought while another fight was in progress would also be suspended one game. Police in full riot gear lined the parking lot and the corridors of the PhillyDome for game five. Right off the opening faceoff, Enforcers McPherson and Schwimmer squared off for the second time in the series with McPherson getting the win. The fight seemed to calm everyone down a bit. The Redshirts, realizing they would not win an alley fight with the Bulldogs, relied on their speed and quick passing and won the game 4-2. Back in Boston for game six, Philly went up 3-0 in the first ten minutes, chasing Davis from the net. Boston would score early in the third but it was too late. As the final seconds ticked down on another rough game, two linebrawls delayed the final buzzer. When the buzzer finally sounded on a wild series, the referees would not allow the teams to participate in the traditional handshake line, instead ordering the Bulldogs off the ice immediately, ending another chapter in one of sports’ greatest rivalries.