EVANSVILLE, IND. – At times it seemed almost impossible but the inaugural regular season of the All American Hockey Association has reached its end. Now it is on the AAHA’s first postseason. 
All four teams – Battle Creek, Chicago, Chi-Town and Evansville – will take part in the two round playoffs. The first round will consist of two best-of-three series with the winners advancing to the best-of-five championship series. Here’s a look at the two semifinal match-ups: #1 Chi-Town Shooters (30-12-0-0, 60 pts.) vs. #4 Chicago Blaze (1-11-0-0, 2 pts.) Season series: Chi-Town won both meetings. Schedule: Game 1 March 20 @ Chi-Town 6:20 P.M., Game 2 March 21 @ Chicago 6 P.M., Game 3 (if necessary) March 22 @ Chi-Town 6 P.M. (All times CDT). This series, on paper at least, doesn’t look like much of a match-up. Following the demise of the Detroit Dragons in early January, the Shooters put the pedal to the metal and won the regular season title by five points over Battle Creek. Chi-Town Head Coach/Managing Partner Darren Seid hasn’t lacked for controversy this season, being suspended on a number of occasions, including for his part in a mid-season brawl as a player in a contest. In between, he has put together a very strong team. They were fairly consistent, posting a 17-4-0-0 record at home and a 13-7-0-0 mark on the road. Leading the way offensively is mid-year acquisition Nigel Hawryliw, who landed with the Shooters after starting the season with battle Creek. Hawryliw’s combined numbers include 40 goals and 31 assists for 71 points. Matt Moffat, chosen as the AAHA Most Valuable Player is a close second with 70 points on 30 goals and 40 assists while Jason Dolgy tallied 20 goals and 41 assists for 61 points. Add to that Jim Stussy who had 49 points and 107 penalty minutes, Justin Barr (24-25-49) and Josh Laliberte (21-27-48) and the offense is impressive. Stussy led the team with seven power play goals as the Shooters converted on 56 of 216 man advantage opportunities (25.9%). On defense, another in-season acquisition, Warren Galloway (9-32-41) led the blue line corps until he was called up to Amarillo in the CHL last month. Expect AAHA Defensive Player of the Year Jeff McDowell (11-24-35), Brian Jacque (6-14-20) and David Montgomery (1-14-15) to contribute points as well as protecting the defensive end. If there is one weakness, it is the penalty killing where Chi-Town allowed 56 goals on 244 shorthanded situations (77% kill rate). The Shooters were the most penalized team, racking up 1,210 penalty minutes in 42 games. In net, T.J. Fitterer saw the most work, finishing the season with a 10-3-0 record and a 4.08 goals against average. Bryce Luker, who posted a 9-3-0 mark with a 3.85 goals against average and a .915 save percentage, may edge out Fitterer for the start in game one. The Chicago Blaze joined the AAHA wars in January, replacing the folded Detroit team. The Blaze were at an immediate disadvantage as they played out the Dragons’ road schedule and played no home games. General Manager/Head Coach/Owner Aaron Mattey (who also is listed as having played in some games and is on the playoff roster) was able to cobble together a squad but only five players participated in 11 or more games (the team played a total of 12). The Blaze also had a set of games in Battle Creek where players from the Revolution donned Chicago jerseys to fill in the holes for Blaze players who had been involved in an automobile accident on the way to Battle Creek. Forward Andy Howard led the offense with six goals and eight assists in 12 games. Phil Hoss (5-4-9 in 12 games) and Tim Spryszak (3-4-7 in 11 games) were the next highest scorers. The Blaze power play connected at a respectable 16% (8-50) considering the fluidity of the roster and limited practice time. On defense, look for brothers Josh (3-1-4) and Adam (1-2-3) Elzinga, Arik Lebda (1-1-2) and Charlie Chapple (0-2-2) to see plenty of time on the ice. Like the Shooters, the Blaze will need to improve on a 64.3 penalty kill rate (15 goals against in 42 times short) if they are to get out of the first round. Goaltending has been a trial and error situation for the Blaze. Pat Pagani (0-2-0, 8.56 goals against) and Tom Schaul (0-2-0, 13.09 goals against) are the two on the playoff roster out of the seven net minders who saw action. They will have their work cut out for them against the Shooters. # 2 Battle Creek Revolution (26-13-2-1, 55 pts.) vs. # 3 Evansville IceMen (16-26-0-0, 32 pts.) Season series: Battle Creek won series 7-1-1-1 Schedule: Game 1 Mar. 20 @ BC 7:30 P.M. (EDT); Game 2 Mar. 21 @BC 7:30 P.M. (EDT); Game 3 (if necessary) Mar. 22 @ Evansville 3 P.M. (CDT) The one-sidedness of the regular season series, the number of times the Revolution beat the IceMen by four or more goals (four including an 11-0 shutout on January 10th) and just the general dislike of the two teams for each other make this a series worth watching. The Revolution have not been without their own bits of drama this season. First, principal owner Andrew Miller was replaced by team physician Dr. Joe Burkhardt and Richard Williams (the father of one of the players) along with consultant Joe Kolodziej, who received the AAHA Executive of the Year award. Then coach Matt Wiedenhoeft, his assistant coach and the team captain were relieved of their positions, replaced by player/coach Mark Allen. Even with the distractions, Battle Creek put together a solid season. Away from home, the Revolution put up a respectable 11-9-1-0 record. At home, the Revs were quite good, going 14-4-1-1 in the friendly confines of The Rink. Offensively, three players rang up more than 50 points during the regular season. Mike Podelnyk led the way with 34 goals and 38 assists for a whopping 72 points in only 30 games played. Unfortunately for the Revs, he left for the IHL‘s Flint Generals on March 16th, leaving his teammates to pick up the slack.. Steve Koich suited up for 33 contests and contributed 20 goals and 41 assists. Player/Coach Mark Allen found the time to light the lamp 20 times and earned 37 helpers while taking on the responsibility of running the Revs’ ship. Add in Dan Kohanchuk (15-19-34) and Kevin Demers (12-11-23) and the defense will have its hands full. And if the opposition wants to play rough, Mason Cossette (165 PIMs) and Demers (111 PIMs) can handle it. The one sore spot is the power play, which ranked dead last in the league at 15.4% (24-156). Back at the blue line, Wes Baughman (9-23-32, 21 PIMs) and Kyryll Katrich (7-21-28, 64 PIMs) are the lynchpins. Nick Williams (3-17-20, 60 PIMs) and Brett Aimone (4-10-14) will be expected to come up big as well. The Revolution’s strong point is penalty killing as their 87.2% kill rate (22 goals against on 172 times short) led the AAHA. Goaltending hasn’t been much of an issue for Battle Creek. They started the season with two goalies and finished with the same pair. Justin Grevious (11-7-0-1, 3.37 goals against average) saw the bulk of the work, getting into 21 games and earning AAHA Goaltender of the Year honors. His teammate, Mario Passarelli (8-6-2-0, 4.47 goals against), got into 18 contests and fared pretty well. The Evansville IceMen were a bit harder to get a read on. Despite having the AAHA General Manager of the Year (Chip Rossetti), Coach of the Year (Jason Reichart) and Sportsman of the Year (goalie Matt Wagner), the team struggled to find any consistency. They were a decent 11-10-0-0 at home in the Swonder Ice Arena but a dismal 5-15-0-0 on the road. Evansville had no less than 11 players tally 20 or more points during the regular season. Shane Heffernan, who joined the team part way through the season, led the way with 91 points on 34 goals and 57 assists. Mike McRae (31-45-76), Ryan Ford (19-34-53), twins Ed (21-24-45) and Earl Hudick (12-29-41) and Michael Uvodich (23-13-36) all made huge contributions. The power play benefited from the offensive talent, clicking at a 20.7% clip (55 for 266). As if that wasn’t enough, all eleven of the top scorers posted 38 or more penalty minutes so toughness isn’t a problem. On defense, Lewis Lanway (10-11-21) and Ryan Sexsmith (7-13-20) led the back line group. Tim Recio (1-10-11), Dustin Warner (93 PIMs), Brandon Davis and Kyle Gletow will need to make their presence felt behind the big two. They will also need to perform better as a team on the penalty kill, having done so at a 76.8% rate (52 goals against on 224 times short) during the regular season. Matt Wagner (6-10-0-0, 5.87 goals against average) will need to be on his game in net for the IceMen to do well. He is probably the most rested player in the AAHA, having been out for most of the year with a concussion suffered in an early game with Chi-Town. His backup, Dave DeSander (5-8-0-0, 5.93 goals against) filled in admirably after winning a five goalie battle during a mid-season roster shakeup. Evansville also has this year’s feel good story, Kira Hurley (0-0-0-0, 4.99 goals against), as a third net minder. On Valentine’s Day night, Hurley became the first female goalie to register a point with an assist on a goal in a victory over Chicago. Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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