Buffalo Storm Inline Hockey

They certianly did not take the easy route, but the KW Rage got the job done by coming out of the losers bracket in the League Championship Double Elimination Tournament to defeat the Toronto Tigers in 2 straight games to earn their 2nd League Championship in a row. 

After dropping into the losers bracket in the tournament, toe Rage were forced to play a total of 5 games on Sunday, including a staggering 4 in a row.  In their first of 4 in a row, the Rage defeated the Hamilton Power, earning the right to immediatley face off against the home team, Buffalo Storm who had lost to the Toronto Tigers earlier in the day.  After defeating the Storm and advancing to the League Championship Round, KW was forced to play 2 more games against the Tigersl right after they finished off the Storm's season. 

Their impressive weekend was wrapped up when the defeated Toronto and were able to hoist the GLi Cup once again; once again earning hte right to be called Champions for another year.

The team will face off against the Toronto Tigers at 12:00 PM tomorrow afternoon at the Cheektowaga Recreation for the opportunity to play for the 2008 GLi Championship, beginning at 3:00 PM.  
 
Captain Kevin Fischer led the way, scoring 3 goals while forward Rob Szymkowiak burried 2 of his own, including a shorthanded goal from defenseman Justin Banaszak.  Joe Bodkin capped off the scoring with an empty netter and Jim Durham added 2 assists.  Goaltender Derek Mohney captured the win in a solid performance between the pipes.  
 
For more information on todays games, plaese tune in to either the 6:00 PM or the 11:00 PM news on Channel 7 this evening.
 
The Storm would like to thank all of those who came out to support us throughout the Championship weekend and look forward to tomorrows contests and the chance to win the '08 GLi Cup.

The Buffalo Storm Jr. A Inline Hockey team continued their winning ways with a convincing10-6 victory over the Chatham Jr. Maroons in front of another sizable home crowd on Saturday night at the Cheektowaga Recreation Center. 

            The Storm went down 2-0 early in the contest, Jason Francabandiero scored his first of 4 goals in the contest with less than 3 minutes remaining in the half to bring the Storm within 1; 2-1.  Chatham battled back and went up by 2 once again until Paul Hockwater scored his first goal of the season from Kevin Fischer and Jon Deveny.  For every first half goal that the team scored, the Maroons had an answer, going into the half, Chatham lead the game 4-2.  The 3^rd quarter was much of the same, rookie Joe Bodkin netted his 2^nd of the season, but Chatham answered back less than a minute later, to once again maintain their 2 goal lead. 

            The 4^th quarter of the game proved to be entirely different as Chatham began a parade to the penalty box that would ultimately lead to their 3^rd loss of the season.  3 year veteran Dan Shanahan scored the teams first of 7 power play goals in a row, rookie Dan Wasielewski picked up an assist on the goal and finished the game with a +1 rating; improving his team lead in the +/- category to +12.  Francabandiero then filled the net with 2 goals on the PP in 38 seconds, giving the Storm their first lead of the contest; 6-5.  Chathams Cliff Hill knotted the game at 6 just minutes later with his 3^rd goal of the game, but Storm Captain Kevin Fischer would have none of it; scoring his first of 2 goals on the power play in the game with just over 3 minutes to play – Fischers goal put the Storm in the lead for good.  Fischers 2^nd of the game and 3^rd PP goal of the season came 1 ½ minutes later, followed by Franco’s team leading 12^th goal 13 seconds later.  Deveny was able to cash in on his first goal of the season with less than a minute remaining in the contest to secure a 10-6 victory for the Storm.

            Currently, the team sits in 2^nd place in the Great Lakes Inline Hockey League with 11 points; they remain the only team in the league that has yet to lose a game in regulation time, they are looking up at the defending champion Kitchener Waterloo Rage who sit atop the league with 12 points.  The Storms next home game will be Saturday, May 31 @ 5:00 PM at the Cheektowaga Recreation Center as they welcome in the London Fury.,  Come out and weather the Storm!