Only two teams remain in the hunt to host the 2014 Mann Cup. Peterborough and Six Nations started their series on Thursday in Peterborough. Six Nations knocked off the first place Brooklin Redmen in five games, while the Lakers took down a tough, up-and-coming KW squad.
Peterborough leads the Six Nations series one game to none after winning game one 9-7. Game two is Tuesday night in Six Nations.
Thursday’s game was chippy, with each team taking liberties with their sticks at every chance, although the penalty count was low. The two referees let the teams play, although fans should not expect this to continue throughout the series. As the series goes on, the two teams will grow to dislike each other even more than they already do. It will be fun for the fans to watch.
The Lakers and Chiefs are very evenly matched, despite the Chiefs’ less than stellar regular season. The Chiefs had a 2-1 lead in the first period, their only lead of the night, but then John Grant Jr. took over and scored a first period hat trick. The two teams were tied with 10 minutes to go in the third period, before Chad Culp and then Mark Steenhuis scored for the Lakers to give them the win. Cody Jamieson had four points for the Chiefs, and Vaughn Harris had a hat trick.
The Lakers will be without leading scorer Mark Steenhuis for games two through five as he takes his family on summer vacation. The Lakers may also be without Josh Gillam for an extended period of time. Gillam caught a seam in the carpet on Thursday night and went to the floor clutching his knee. He was to be evaluated Friday by doctors but the results of an MRI have not been made available yet.
The teams have a long break between games one and two. Both finished their first round series last Monday, and had little rest before the second round. They will have taken this four day break to rest any bumps and bruises from those earlier series.
Remaining games:
Tuesday, August 19 – @ Six Nations
Thursday, August 21 – @Peterborough
Monday, August 25 – @ Six Nations
Tuesday, August 26 – @ Peterborough **if necessary
Friday, August 29 – @ Six Nations **if necessary
Sunday, August 31 – @ Peterborough **if necessary
