Well it's playoff time again and I thought it would be nifty to post articles of the Knights past playoff adventures once again. Seems to get me into the playoff spirit. Perhaps a few others too. This article is not too long ago. Enjoy...
By MORRIS DALLA COSTA -- London Free Press
It seemed impossible, improbable and downright unlikely.
But given the London Knights' rather remarkable season to date, it all seemed right up their alley.
Down 3-1 to the Guelph Storm in the best-of-seven OHL Western Conference final, many wrote them off as finished, dead, kaput.
Instead, they're coming home to the John Labatt Centre for Game 7 Monday night. Did we say impossible, improbable and downright unlikely?
It seems fitting that it has come down to this -- a seventh game between the two best teams in the league.
London came to Guelph on the heels of a thrilling overtime win two nights ago.
The Knights came as a team that had regained its confidence. They came wearing their green sweaters -- they're usually reserved for special occasions.
Was it going to be a funeral or a party? It turned out to be a party -- and what a party.
The game will be remembered for a third period in which the Knights responded to questions about whether they would be able to face adversity and survive.
London went into the third period tied 1-1 and gave up a bad goal 11 seconds into it. It seemed the blow would be fatal.
Instead, the team shook it off and blitzed the Storm. They blitzed the Storm for four goals, suddenly turning standout Storm goalie Adam Dennis into something less than superhuman.
They blitzed the Storm the way they've blitzed so many other teams in the regular season -- with the type of offensive onslaught that left the other team reeling.
They did it with guts, determination and a will to survive.
And the Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre was rocking, but by the large contingent of Knights fans.
It sounded like the John Labatt Centre on Thursday night.
Chants of "Go Knights, go" reverberated throughout the arena long after the game was over. The players were serenaded with the chant as they got on the bus to go home.
"The fans were unbelievable," said forward Scott Sheppard. "It's going to be a lot of fun at (the John Labatt Centre) for Game 7."
The turnaround in the third period was almost breathtaking. Except for the third period in Game 5, the final period usually has belonged to the Storm. But the Knights have become stronger as this series goes longer, and believe it's the Storm that is wearing down.
And then came the fireworks in the third period, a display that marked a comeback not many fans believed possible.
"We had the momentum coming in here," said Marc Methot, who along with Brandon Prust, Danny Syvret and Trevor Kell did a great deal of heavy slugging.
"There defence is getting tired. You can tell. Each game, our top players are getting stronger."
It's something assistant coach Jacques Beaulieu talked about as being a goal, making the Storm defence work harder to wear them out. He felt the overtime game provided a momentum shift.
"Their defence played a lot of minutes, especially (Kevin) Klein. He was off the ice only once in the eight minutes of overtime," Beaulieu said.
Methot talked about Game 7.
"We have two days off. I'm excited about Game 7. All our players are excited about it."
Storm coach Shawn Camp was saying the same thing.
"We're excited. If at the start of the season you had told me we'd be playing for the Wayne Gretzky Trophy in a one-game showdown, we would have fast-forwarded the season to right now."
No doubt. But his excitement looked a little more forced than Methot's. His team had two chances to eliminate the Knights.
His team had every reason to believe that it would be over by now.
But they threw in a clunker in Game 5 and suffered a massive collapse in the third period last night.
Now they have to go back to the John Labatt Centre to face a team they had to believe was all but done.
Not a very exciting task, not at all.
"Napoleon didn't take Moscow, the Nazis got within 21 miles in 1943, but in a war of a different kind, Team Canada conquered Moscow." -journalist On the summit series
Edited by: Erskinefan at: 3/27/05 2:11 am
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Alternate Captain
Posts: 233
3/27/05 2:08 am
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Actually, Biff, they were down 3-1. London managed to win game 2 in Guelph.
KnightHawk
THOMPSON TWINS RULE - as spray painted by Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
SCISSOR SISTERS RULE - soon to be spray-pained by KnightHawk :p
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Role Player
Posts: 341
3/30/05 9:06 am
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