Red Devils win but fall short of a trip to the finals

Aug 7, 2011 – The Red Devils won for a second night in a row defeating the Auckland Admirals 9-5.  Although tied for points on the league table with the Southern Stampede, by virtue of a better head to head record, the Stampede will play in the finals in Botany.

Aug 7, 2011 – The Red Devils won for a second night in a row defeating the Auckland Admirals 9-5.  Although tied for points on the league table with the Southern Stampede, by virtue of a better head to head record, the Stampede will play in the finals in Botany.

In a must win game for Canterbury, a strong start was required.  Thirty seconds into the game and fresh off a game suspension, Chris Eaden scored a slick wrap-around goal on Admirals keeper Michael Hopkinson.   Strong play pinning the Admirals in their own zone limited their chances and Canterbury finished the frame up 2 goals to nil.

The second period was all Canterbury as well.  Five unanswered goals were scored almost sealing the victory.  The last goal of the period was a first ever NZIHL goal for Red Devils rookie Bradley Apps.

The third period started with the appearance of a blowout however someone didn’t tell the Admirals.  They scored 4 goals in succession prompting goalie Justin Findlay to pull himself from the game.  Although plenty of momentum swinging the Admirals way, both teams traded one final goal and put an end to their 2011 NZIHL seasons.

The Canterbury Red Devils would like to thank their loyal fans for supporting the team throughout the season.  They would also like to thank all of our sponsors for coming on board.  The team would not be viable if not for the generosity of our sponsors.  Although the team fell short of our ultimate goal, we hope we provided something worthy of your cheers and we hope to see you all again in 2012.  We will try our best to bring the championship back to Canterbury.