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| August 1, 2002
By Jim Anderson
Day 5 Wrap Up at the Finals, July 31
NARCh TV leads latest Nielsen Ratings
|  The days are passing quickly here in
St.Paul as we are nearing the end of
the Gold division and seeing some
of the Platinum and PRO players
arrive for the start of their games.
While the day is ending early here at
the Xcel Energy Center, the quality of
the games have been excellent and
the excitement level has been at a
fever pitch as teams are fighting for
playoff spots, only to turn around 2
hours later and continue the chase
for the coveted NARCh Cup.
Of course, we've been webcasting for
a large portion of the day. The
non-hockey highlight was when the
Mission Empire Snipers Bantam and
Junior teams decided to shave their
heads before the start of the
Platinum division. One of our
trainers found them and quickly
corralled them for the webcam. Jeff
Gardner and Mike Patton provided
the play by play as head stylist Pudge
did the honors and shaved 2 heads
live on NARCh.com. They drew a
large crowd and our announcers
interviewed the passerby and Sniper
kids for about 20minutes.
Ok, back to hockey. The Pee Wee
division moved into the playoffs and
we were treated to a great game right
off the bat. The #13 seed Magic
Window Flames showed that they
will be dangerous as they upset the
#4 Rollin Ice Patriots in OT. It took
about half the extra session to break
the tie and the excitement on the
Flames was great! Their goaltender
sprinted the floor as fast as any
forward to join in the celebration.
Earlier in the day the Magic Window
Flames coach had just about lost his
voice. Hopefully he has it back for
his quarterfinal matchup vs the #1
seeded Cobras tomorrow afternoon.
The Chula Vista Golden Eagles
avoided the upset and ended the
Kansas City Rage season by skating
to a 6-0 victory. Irvine Raiders 87, the
#6 seed, also scored 6 goals in a
6-1 win over the Screamin Eagles.
The #10 ProJoy Mission Gulls pulled
the 2nd upset of the 5 Pee Wee
playoff games by beating the #7
Hyper Falcons by a 4-1 score. In the
last game, the #8 seed Laverne 88
kept the #9 NJ Wolfpac at bay, and
advanced to the quarters with a 3-1
win.
So tomorrow's quarterfinals look like
this:
#1 Cobras vs # 13 Magic Window
Flames
Do the Flames have anything left in
their playoff run?
#2 Mission Empire Snipers vs #10
ProJoy Mission Gulls
Despite being a #10 seed, the Gulls
only lost one game in their
preliminary round so this should be
a close game. With 8 titles now, Tim
McManus knows what it takes to win
and will have his Snipers ready to
play.
#3 CPH Cyclones vs #8 Laverne
Empire 88 Black
I know little of these 2 teams, being
from the east however it promises to
be an exciting game since the only
blemish on either teams record in
the prelims was a tie by Laverne.
Also with 50 goals scored between
them, it looks to be a high scoring
affair.
#5Chula Vista Golden Eagles vs # 6
Irvine Raiders 87.
Same thing here, the Raiders tied
one game to keep them from a
perfect round robin. A note on the
Raiders, they allowed only 4 goals in
their preliminary play, which was 3rd
best. If they advance it will likely be
through a low scoring game.
On to the Bantam Division. Some 1st
round playoff games today.
The #7 Chula Vista Golden Eagles
advanced with a 2-1 victory over the
#10 NorCal Mavericks.
#8 Hyper Valley Stream also
advanced with a 5-4 victory over the
#9 Rollin Ice Patriots.
Tomorrow's matchups are:
#1 Tour Blast Red vs #8 Hyper Valley
Stream
Despite being the #8 seed, Hyper
Valley Stream only allowed 2 more
goals than Tour Blast Red. The key
for Hyper is going to be finding a way
to get quality scoring chances
against an equally tough defense
and still play strong D while trying to
keep a stronger offensive team off
the board.
#2 Corona Edge vs #7 Chula Vista
Golden Eagles
Only one point separated these 2
teams after the 1st round of play.
The Edge holds the edge on
defense, and if they play a
disciplined game, will hold the
advantage as the Eagles rely more
on their offense.
#3 ProJoy Roadrunners vs # 6 SIHA
Stallions Black
ProJoy is starting to hit their stride
and can stamp themselves as a
legitimate contender with a victory
here vs SIHA, who's playoff berth was
sealed in hard fought game vs the
Canucks. Also a #6 seed has
probably caused more upsets than
any other seed through the history of
NARCh.
#4 ProJoy Mission Gulls vs #5 K-Tek
Kondors
K-Tek's only loss of the tournament
so far has been to the #1 seed Tour
Blast Red who won 5-4. Neither
team would be a suprise to win this
game and go on to capture the title.
ProJoy's only slip was a tie with
ProJoy Roadrunners, so each team
has been tested. Maybe this game
should be on NARCh TV?
Mite division, can't forget about the
little guys. Early round playoff action
today with 2 games.
#7 Team Excalibur Black advanced
to the quartefinals with a 3-1 win over
the #10 US Blades Synergy.
In the second matchup, #8 ProJoy X
held on and prevailed in overtime 4-3
over the #9 Tour Corona Edge Blue
in what was a 2nd close game
between the 2 teams.
Tomorrow's Quarterfinals:
#1 CPH Quest vs # 8 ProJoy X
The Quest have only allowed one
goal so far and won the initial
meeting between the two teams.
ProJoy is hoping to prove the adage
that its tough to beat the same team
twice in a NARCh event.
#2 Nor Cal Dragons vs #7 Team
Excalibur Black
A similar situation as the Dragons
have only given up 2 goals so far.
Excalibur needs to score early in this
game.
#3 Nike Rinkside Rockets vs #6 Tour
Corona Edge Black
The Rockets are averaging 8 goals a
game and their defense is rock solid.
As like above, the Edge need to
score early in this game and then
play strong defense. It will be tough
for them to try and run and gun vs the
Rockets.
#4 NPI Force vs #5 Mission Empire
Snipers
The Force have the higher seed by
allowing one less goal then the
Snipers and both teams averaged
over 5 goals per game, so it should
be an exciting matchup between
such evenly matched teams.
The Junior playoffs are finishing up
as I'm writing and the #4 ProJoy
Roadrunners have just won a 5-4
overtime thriller vs the #5 K-Tek
Kondors. The #6 ProJoy Mission
Gulls advanced with a 8-2 victory over
the #3 CPH Rangers. In the last
game of the evening, the Arizona
Groove, who earlier made their
NARCh TV debut
That shuffling of upsets means #1
CPH Black will face # 7 seed Arizona
Groove and the #4 ProJoy
Roadrunners will face #6 ProJoy
Mission Gulls in the other semifinal.
Keep an eye on NARCh.com once
again for webcasts throughout the
day and the scores as they are being
updated on a near hourly basis.
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