Toronto Marlies Advance to the AHL Western Finals
The Toronto Marlies have advance to the American Hockey League Western Conference Finals after a 3-2 win in Game of five the AHL Western Conference semifinals. The overtime game five winner by the Marlies’ playoff hero Mike Zigomanis was the series clincher, when he was able to knock home in a rebound, during a player play at 9:02 of the first overtime.
Marlies Head Coach Dallas Eakins had this to say about his playoff star.
“He’s a leader, he’s our guy that is probably 75-80 per cent on face-offs over a whole season,” Eakins said. “He’s an excellent penalty killer, good on our power play and when the game’s on the line this year a lot of times he’s the guy who stepped up and done it for us.”
During the 2012 AHL playoffs, Zigomanis has collected 3 goals and 2 assist, but as Coach Easkin’s stated, Zigomanis is a leader on this team, wins 75% of his face offs, not to mentioned Zigomanis’ commitment to defense.
As for the Abbotsford Heat it was the end of a historical season for the Heat on Wednesday, in front of a crowd of just 1,360 fans at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. The Heat finished the regular season with a record of 42-26-3-5.
The series against the Heat started off with the Heat winning the first game by the score of 3-1, then losing by the score of 5-1 two days later; both games were played in Toronto. But the Marlies were the far superior team winning the next three games in Abbotsford, for the 4-1 series win.
The Marlies will face either Oklahoma City or San Antonio in the next round, for a shot at to play for the Calder Cup.
Rant Sports Toronto Maple Leafs Feature Writer
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