The Storm who have struggled in league play for the past 5 seasons were able to wrap up the #1 seed with one game remaining in the regular season; they will travel to Kitchener this evening to face-off against the defending champion KW Rage.
The game against Bramalea will go down in history, not only as the biggest win in Buffalo Storm history, but also as the most exciting, action packed inline hockey game that the team has ever been involved in. The game started out as a defensive battle and remained that way for 48 minutes with both teams battling non-stop to the duration of the game, knowing full well that one mistake could mean defeat. Both teams were held scoreless throughout the first quarter, Jason Francabandiero opened the scoring and scored the only 1st half goal for either team, 6 minutes into the games 2nd quarter, rookie Danny Wasielewski picked up an assist on the goal. Captains Kevin Fischer and Jim Durham played an outstanding first half, forcing numerous Bramalea turnovers with a constant, solid forecheck that Bramalea could just not handle. The Storm managed to hold the Blue Devils to a total of 10 first half shots, Buffalo had 14.
The start of the 3rd quarter proved to be much different than the first two as Rob Szymkowiak and Joe Bodkin exploded off the opening face-off with Szymkowiak burying the puck 8 seconds into the 2nd half to put the Storm up 2-0. Bramalea responded to bring the score within 1 a little over one minute later. Fischer then headed the Storms offensive explosion where the team peppered Bramalea goaltender Patrick Truckle with 17 shots in the quarter; Fischer netted his 14 & 15th goals of the season including 1 on the power play; Jon Deveny picked up assists on both Fischer goals.
Franco put the finishing touches on the Storm victory and capped off the scoring last in the 4th quarter on a phenomenal long bomb pass from Deveny; final score Buffalo 5, Bramalea 1. Deveny finished the game with a +3 rating and 3 assists, clearly his move to defense has benefited both him and the team as the grizzled veteran played one of the most outstanding games on his 5 year Jr. A career.
The Storm look to continue their winning ways as they host the Great Lakes Inline Hockey League Championship Weekend, June 21-22 at the Cheektowaga Recreation Center. This will be the first time in team history that they host the playoffs as well as hold the #1 overall seed going into the seasons final weekend. The team would like to thank everyone who has come out to support them throughout the past 2 months and we hope to continue to receive your support as the team looks to capture their first ever GLi League Championship. Come Out and Weather the Storm!
