Laredo, Texas – In the most peculiar of places, the Colorado Eagles won the Central Hockey League championship Wednesday night with a grueling 1-0 victory over the defending champion Laredo Bucks before 6,780 fans at the Laredo Entertainment Center.
Karlis Zirnis’ second-period goal at the 16:25 mark held, and the Eagles’ defense took care of the rest to earn the two-year-old franchise its first Ray Miron President’s Cup.
“The toughest game of the finals was played tonight,” Eagles coach Chris Stewart said. “Karlis gets a lucky bounce and we got a goal when we really needed it.”
Laredo, which won the 2004 title in its second season, started Game 5 with intensity, while the Eagles looked timid for a period and a half. That changed midway through the second, and Colorado’s defense took control after Zirnis’ goal.
“We knew coming into the game that Laredo was going to come out playing hard, being down 3-1,” Eagles defenseman Kris Mallette said. “They threw the kitchen sink at us.
“We were a little tight with the stick at the beginning of the game, but we got our heads into the game in the second period.”
Laredo’s game plan to attack the net was evident in the first period after putting 15 shots on goal at netminder Paulo Colaiacovo. The Eagles tested Bucks goalie David Guerrera only three times.
It was more of the same in the second with the Bucks taking 12 more shots, but at the six-minute mark things changed for Colorado.
The Eagles slapped 10 shots on goal and finally found a way past Guerrera on Zirnis’ goal.
“It doesn’t matter where we would have won it,” said Mallette, whose team traveled from Loveland to the banks of the Rio Grande River. “It would have been nice to win it at home, but for a lot of guys here, this is a first time and we’ll take anywhere, anytime we can get it.”
Eagles general manager and part-owner Ralph Backstrom, who won six NHL Stanley Cups during his career with the Montreal Canadiens, compared the CHL title to winning at the highest level.
“For us, this is the Stanley Cup. I think we were very fortunate to have two young, outstanding goalies this year that played great all season,” Backstrom said of platooning goalies Colaiacovo and Tyler Weiman.
“We had some great leadership, team chemistry, talent and speed … those were the key ingredients for our success this year.”
The Eagles’ Chris Hartsburg was named the finals MVP.
Colorado 0 1 0 – 1
Laredo 0 0 0 – 0
First period – None. Penalties – Cullaton, LAR (roughing), 5:07. Desrosiers, COL (roughing), 5:07. Paiement, LAR, double minor, (high-sticking), 9:33.
Second period – 1, Colorado, Zirnis, (Desrosiers), 16:25. Penalties – Paiement,
LAR (High Sticking, Double Minor, 4 min) 16:45.
Third period – None. Penalties – Paiement, LAR, double minor, (high-sticking), 4:54.
Shots – Col. 3-10-7 – 20. Laredo 15-12-9 – 36. Power play opportunities – Col. 0-of-6. Laredo 0-0. Goalies – Colorado, Colaiacovo, 36 shots-36 saves. Laredo, Guerrera, 20-19. A – 6,780.
