PEORIA, Ill – The Peoria Rivermen chose well and the Pensacola Ice Flyers did not. The top-seeded Rivermen chose last-seeded Roanoke as their opponent in the first round of the SPHL playoffs and followed with a two-game sweep. The third-seed Ice Flyers passed up the Riverkings, the number seven seed, to take on fifth seed Knoxville. The Ice Bears swept out the Ice Flyers to earn a shot at the Rivermen.
Head-to-head, the two teams faced off five times during the regular season. Peoria bested Knoxville 4-1, with the Ice Bears earning an additional point for an overtime loss.
Thank you!…
The Rivermen have been perennially snake-bit on the road in Pensacola. Knoxville made have done Peoria as big as a favor as they have done themselves.
The advantage goes to…
Knoxville had the best penalty killing record in the league during the regular season at 89%. Second in the league? Peoria at 88.1%. The two teams were also about the same on the power play. The Ice Bears finished fifth in the league with 18.9% success while the Rivermen were sixth at 18.4%
Peoria scored 3.77 goals per game this season, second most in the league. In third, Knoxville with 3.66. The Rivermen lead the league in goals against, allowing just 2.75 per game. The Ice Bears were sixth in the league, allowing a half-goal-per-game more (3.25).
If the regular season trend holds true, Knoxville will see at least one more power play per game than Peoria will.
Stoppers…
Zoltan Hetenyi has allowed five goals in eight-and-one-half periods of play. That’s a GAA of 1.78 and any playoff team would be overjoyed to have that. Troy Davenport is his backup. Look him up and you will find he was only the third-best GAA (2.66) in all of the SPHL this past season. That’s a solid tandem the Ice Bears have between the pipes.
Peoria counters with Tyler Parks and Mason Pulde. Parks was rusty upon his return from the ECHL, but that seems to be ancient history. Parks posted a 1.51 GAA in the sweep of Roanoke. Pulde, at ten games, did not log enough ice to qualify for league ranking but still posted 1.44 GAA.
The Series….
Wednesday night in Peoria, Friday night in Knoxville, Sunday afternoon in Peoria, if needed. It’s about eight-and-one-half hour drive each way and about 570 miles.
The winner is…
A three-game series is so dangerous to predict. A bad shift…even a bad line-change can swing momentum and put a team in an 0-1 hole very quickly. Both teams have two goalies that are capable of carrying the team to the Championship series.
Peoria is a team built for the SPHL playoffs. Jean-Guy Trudel has learned a lot over the years and Peoria has built on that.
To even get here, Knoxville had to play above their heads for almost nine periods. They will need to repeat that feat if they hope to best Peoria.
Sometimes it’s easier to play above your head than it is to play to your potential. It is not impossible that Knoxville could topple Peoria in three games.
But it is improbable.
Peoria in three.
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