KNOXVILLE, TN ¾ In an intense, physical and thrilling hockey game Wednesday night, the Knoxville Ice Bears defeated the Huntsville Havoc 3-2 in overtime to take the deciding fifth game of their SPHL semifinal series. The Ice Bears now move on to the President’s Cup final series against the Fayetteville FireAntz with a chance to defend last year’s playoff championship.
Forward Tim Vitek got the game winner at 11:48 of overtime on a sweeping wrist shot past Huntsville goalie Tim Haun. Forward Mike Carter forced a turnover at the blue line, got the puck to Kevin Swider who in turn fed Vitek a picture perfect cross ice pass from the half boards. Vitek, breaking towards the net down the other side of the ice, took the pass in full stride and flicked it past Haun who didn’t have a chance as pandemonium erupted among the Knoxville fans.
“The SPHL was extraordinarily competitive this year. I was sure that the closeness of the playoff race and the toughness that Huntsville had to display just to make the playoffs would make this a difficult series,” Knoxville coach Scott Hillman said. “They were a very tough opponent and I didn’t look forward to playing them. Our guys simply worked hard and prevailed.”
There was some déjà vu in the victory as a year ago they also had to go five games to win a semifinal series against Columbus before beating the now defunct Jacksonville Barracudas to capture last season’s President’s Cup trophy. On the other hand, the Havoc who missed the playoffs finishing last in 2007-08, made the playoffs this season and pushed the regular season champions to the brink. In reality this game could have gone the other way if any number of Havoc shots had been a few inches higher, lower or to the right or left.
The intensity of the game was as evident among the crowd as it was among the on the ice participants. A good portion of the crowd of 2,213 watched the last five minutes of regulation time and nearly twelve minutes of overtime standing. It was a collective display of both nervousness and support as the teams traded scoring opportunities that trickled just wide of the net, rolled through the crease behind the goaltender or hit goal posts.
The Ice Bears jumped out to what almost became a custom in this series, a 2-0 lead, midway through the first period. Defenseman Chris Brannen and forward Bobby Joe Pelkey scored goals within a minute and a half of each other. It could have been much worse for the Havoc as they found themselves either one man or two men short six times in the first 20 minutes.
Huntsville Coach Eric Soltys must have lit a fire under his team as less than a minute after the second Knoxville goal, a major melee broke out. While no fighting penalties were assessed, there were a number of penalties for the various skirmishes. Even though the Havoc ended up short handed, the delay to sort it all out seemed to stop the Knoxville momentum. The period ended 2-0 for the Ice Bears.
After the intermission, the Havoc found their game and answered with two goals in period two, both on shots from the point during power plays. Jeff Winchester scored at 3:23 and Bill McCreary hammered one home at 16:24. For the game, the Havoc went two-for-six on the power play while the Ice Bears failed to score on nine chances.
The third period, though absent of scoring, produced excellent end to end action minus any penalties as both teams knew the importance of staying out of the penalty box.
Both goaltenders were outstanding, especially late in the game when a goal meant game over. Andrew Gallant, who was in goal for all three wins in the series for Knoxville, stopped 46 of 48 shots including eight in overtime. In the last five minutes of regulation, he was sensational on a breakaway by Denis Sicard, who picked up a loose puck off a blocked shot that bounced into the neutral zone and broke in all alone on Ice Bears’ netminder. Meanwhile at the other end, Haun was holding his ground against heavy traffic in front of his net. In one sequence, he stopped three point blank shots with bodies flying all around him.
The dramatic Vitek goal came after the Ice Bears survived a shorthanded situation starting at the 7:52 mark of the extra period. Less than two minutes after Knoxville successfully killed the only penalty in the overtime period, Vitek sent Knoxville into the next round.
After the game, everyone was buzzing about the drama that had unfolded.
“What a great game that both teams played especially after the penalties slacked off,” Knoxville assistant coach Marc Rodgers said. “The intensity of the game was great. It is what I miss most about my playing days, the chance to participate in the playoffs.”
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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