Associated Press

05/09/2011 10:13:22 PM

During the last month of regular season hockey, TNT didn’t have much to cheer about.  Albeit, they entered the post-season as a number one seed posting a franchise best 17-5 regular season record, in cruise control three of those five losses came during the final month of the regular season play.  It was the type of play that could get them an early exit from the tourney if they weren’t careful.  Their efforts were conservative and lackadaisical and at times even teammates had it out with each other.  Goaltender Adam Weber seemed to have lost his mid-season ‘mojo’ posting a 7.60 GAA over the remaining five regular season games, a career and season low for him in that statistical category.

Entering the post-season bracket, TNT would face the winner of Team Lux and Average Benders after resting through their first round bye.  They would only need one win to advance to the championship.  As Team Lux edged Average Benders in round one, TNT got a favorable match up.  They continued their dominance over Team Lux as they would go on to prevail by a score of 12-6 and would finish the regular season and post-season with a combined record of 5-0 in action versus Team Lux.  And just like that, TNT stamped their tickets to the Championship on Sunday where they faced Thunder.  During the regular season, TNT posted a record of 3-2 vs Thunder so this would not exactly be a guaranteed win for them by any means.

When play opened up, Thunder jumped out of the gates to an early 3-0 lead.  After deliberating over calling a timeout, Assistant player-coach Jim Fish decided against it in the event TNT would need their lone time out later.  Through the first period of play, Thunder held a subtle, yet commanding 3-1 lead over TNT.  They found themselves taking unnecessary penalties and becoming frustrated with the chances they were getting and still being down two goals.  Then, TNT completely took their play to a whole new gear during the second period where they would score four unanswered goals while only allowing one late goal.  “The second period saved us.  We had to respond to their dominance in the first period.  We all needed to calm down a little bit and get back to the high scoring power known as TNT,” said a jubilant Ben Fehr in the locker room after the game as he received a Miller High Life shower from teammate Danny Kunath.  Through two periods of play, TNT held a lead of 5-4.  From then on, it was all the TNT offensive show.  The squad would then have to kill off a major penalty for the remainder of the game with just under five minutes left when forward Jim Fish was ejected for fighting.  Thunder would only be able to muster up one goal in the final minutes, even attempting the pulled goalie for the two man advantage.  With a final score of 7-5, TNT had many more chances than the score indicated.

The offense was very much spread out and the TNT forwards kept the same pace throughout the game rotating three lines, all with scoring ability.  Much to the notice of TNT teammates and fans alike, defensemen Ryan Lessnau and Ryan Latreille displayed a defensive performance like none other disallowing all chances Thunder had during their time on ice.  The defensive pair, known in the locker room as ‘Ryan Squared,’ did not allow a goal for their second consecutive game.  Said Lessnau in a post game presser, “…teams just cant score on us when we’re out there.  Webs owes us big time.”  With this being the first title brought home in TNT franchise history, I would say “big time” is right.  Next game is TBA.

Notes:  Defenseman Matt Broadus threw up during the game but returned to not miss a single shift and was quoted as saying “It’s OK…It’s just beer.” …Forward Peter Vollbrecht also did not allow a goal during his time on ice Sunday night. …Despite allowing 5 goals, Goaltender Adam Weber played a solid game making a number of key saves to keep the contest with TNT’s grasp. …TNT did not exactly have champagne to celebrate, but did drink from the cup with the champagne of beers.