On Wednesday night game 6 of the WLA final took place as Coquitlam looked to force game 7 while Langley hoped to walk out of game 6 WLA champions.
The first period began with Langley making a statement as Brett Hickey scored just a minute in to take a 1-0 lead. The rest of the period was a defensive struggle as Coquitlam fought to get a goal but Langley were able to hold them to only 6 shots in the period. Coquitlam would make the most out of those 6 shots though as Mark Negrin scored with 4 minutes left in the first period to tie the game 1-1 as the game headed into the second period. In the second period Langley would once again get an early goal as Shayne Jackson scored just 3 minutes into the period in order to give Langley a 2-1 lead. Coquitlam would respond as Daryl Veltman and Mark Negrin struck for Coquitlam giving Coquitlam a 3-2 lead. Langley turned up the pressure as their offense exploded for 4 goals in just 5 minutes. Langley’s four goal breakout was started by Shayne Jackson while Lewis Ratcliff, Brett Hickey and Alex Turner scored the other 3 goals for Langley. With Just a minute left in the second period Langley held a commanding 6-3 lead. Coquitlam would score with 43 seconds left in the period as Ryan Johnson found the back of the net to make the score 6-4. In the third period the defenses stepped up as both offenses were held in check until 5 minutes left in the period when Lewis Ratcliff scored to increase Langley’s lead to 7-4. Coquitlam would answer right back as Daryl Veltman scored to keep Coquitlam in the game and make the score 7-5. Langley did not let up though as Sam Cook and Todd Scottdale scored to seal Langley’s victory and give Langley back to back WLA Championships. The final score was 9-5 as the Langley Thunder defeated the Coquitlam Adanacs to be crowned the 2012 WLA Champions.
The Coquitlam Adanacs have nothing to be ashamed of in defeat as they gave Langley all they could handle as Coquitlam showed why they were one of the top teams in the WLA season. Coquitlam had a remarkable year as they went from last in the WLA in 2011 to the WLA finals in 2012. Coquitlam had a great season thanks to the likes of Nick Rose, Dane Dobbie, Daryl Veltman and Kevin Olson. Coquitlam will now look at how they can improve for the 2013 season but one thing that is for sure is that Coquitlam will be one of the top teams in the WLA in 2013.
The Langley Thunder capped off a great season on Wednesday night. Despite a rough start to the season they rose to the top of the WLA standings and repeated as WLA Champions. Langley was able to shutdown Dane Dobbie and hamper Coquitlam’s offense in game 6 which allowed Langley’s offense to take control of the game. Langley made all the right moves in the off season as they signed Garrett Billings and traded for Lewis Ratcliff. Both theses move paid off as Ratcliff lead the team in scoring in the post season with 49 points while Billings finished second in scoring with 31 points. Brodie MacDonald was a force in the post season as well as he posted a 7-1 record with a goal against average of 6.00 and a save percentage of .853. Langley will now advance to the Mann Cup and take on the Peterborough Lakers and will try and find redemption after they fell to Brampton in 5 games in the 2011 Mann Cup. So expect Langley to come out fired up in the Mann Cup as losing is not an option this year.
