On Monday November 17th The Garden City Recreation Department held its three Championship Games for its fall 2008 Roller Hockey Season. Up first was the Junior Division which is children ages 9 & 10. It was battle between the New York Rangers coached by first year coach Jonathan Zarkin and the Dallas Stars coached by fellow first year coach Vinny LoRusso. After the playing of our national anthem and introductions of both teams, it was game time. The Rangers would get on the board first as Eric Eulau knocked in a rebound for the first goal of the game off great passes from Kyle Quinn and Michael Nygaard. The Rangers also scored the next two goals with the second goal coming from Michael Nygaard while the third came from Willie Eigl off a great pass from Billy Bice. It was now the Stars turn as the threesome of Jack Fenty, Grant Henneberger and Luke Keating worked together to score and assist on the next three goals, tying up the game. After some great defensive plays from Stars Defensemen Joey Rocco and Peter Sceusa, the Rangers got on the board late in the first period with two additional goals from Nygaard with assists coming from Aidan Polke. After one period of play the Rangers held a 5 to 3 lead.

In the 2nd period both teams got a ton of chances to score but Stars goalie Michael DeSimone and Rangers goalie T.J. Michielini both made some unbelievable saves to keep the game close. Finally late in the period, the Stars got a goal as Grant Henneberger scored from a great pass from Bret Bello to make the score 5 - 4 Rangers at the end of the second period. In the third period the Rangers came out flying and put the game away with additional goals by Kyle Quinn and Michael Nygaard. The Rangers also had to play some great defense led by David Leary and Christian Ferris as the Stars did not give up and continued to put pressure with great chances coming from Andrew Wykowski and Matt LaGreca until the final buzzer rang. In the end the Rangers came away with a 9 to 4 victory to capture the Stanley Cup. After the game the Conn Symthe Award given to the player voted most valuable to his team was presented to Rangers goalie T.J. Michielini.

Next was the Mites Division made up of children ages 6 thru 8. It was a battle between the Phoenix Coyotes, coached by Dan Hickcox and the Florida Panthers, coached by first year coach James Ross. The Coyotes would get the game's first goal when Peter Menoudakos scored while on a breakaway. The Panthers then followed back with two quick goals from Steven Spirakis and Matthew Mazur. The Coyotes then responded when Robert Lucano scored off a great pass from Scott Henneberger to tie the game at 2. Jacob Kaiserman scored off a great pass from Daniel Leary and Steven Spirakis scored with an assist from his brother Matthew Spirakis to add two goals for the Panthers by the end of the first period.

Heading into the second period, Christopher Michel of the Coyotes would score to make it a one goal game once again. The Panthers would then get two quick goals from Steven Spirakis making the scored 6 to 3. But the Coyotes never gave up. Led by some quality goaltending from Alex Menoudakos, John Morris and Ryan Michel, all making great saves, the Coyotes pulled within one, with two goals from Robert Lucano off great passes from Brendan Smith and Kieran Sullivan. Panther's goalie Matthew Sauchelli was outstanding throughout the game making some great saves and keeping his team in the game.

Heading into the third period with the score of 6 to 5 lead by the Panthers, the scoring really picked up. Jason Derby and Billy Illardi would each net one home for the Panthers early in the third to once again give the Panthers a three goal lead. Midway through the third period the Coyotes turned on the pressure and once again mounted a big comeback. First Peter Menoudakos scored, then Robert Lucano to make it 8 to 7. Matthew Mazur would put one home once again giving the Panthers a two goal lead at 9 to 7. The Coyotes once again did not give up and got two late goals by Lucano and Menoudakos to tie the score at 9. We were headed to overtime!

Thirty four seconds into overtime Matthew Mazur of the Panthers would skate in on a breakaway and score the game winning goal to win the game by the score of 10 to 9 and capture the Stanley Cup in the Mites Division. After the game the Conn Symthe Award given to the player voted most valuable to his team in the playoffs and Championship was presented to Matthew Mazur of the Florida Panthers.

The third championship game of the night was for the Senior Division, ages 11 to 14. Like the Mites Division, this match up was between the Phoenix Coyotes coached by Dan Hickcox and the Florida Panthers coached by James Ross. The Coyotes would get on the board first when Matthew Lobasso would score off assists from Andrew Lobasso and Jake Quattlander. The Panthers would quickly respond when PJ Volz would score on a breakaway to tie score was tied at 1. Before the first period was over the Coyotes would regain the lead when Billy Tranfaglia off a great pass from Andrew Lobasso.

Zach Bostrom, the goalie for the Panthers, along with Luciano Migliore would both make some key saves to keep the score close heading into the 2nd period of play. The Coyotes came out flying to start period two, but the Panthers were ready and great defensive plays were made by Conor Sproat, Aidan Murphy, Thomas Mage and goalie Zach Bostrom to keep the Coyotes off the score sheet. However, midway through the period, the Coyotes finally broke through when first Billy Tranfaglia would score and then Andrew Lobasso would add one. After two periods of play, the Coyotes held a 4 to 1 lead.

As the third period began the Coyotes would add yet another goal when Billy Tranfaglia would take a great pass from Brendan Polke to score his third goal of the game. The Panthers never quit with quality scoring chances from Connor McGarry & Matt Cotter all denied by Coyotes goalie Luciano Migliore. The Panthers finally got one when PJ Volz, off a great pass from Tyler Biscone, cut the lead to 5 to 2. With only a few minutes to go and the Panthers still trying to get back in this game, the Coyotes defensemen Henry Wykowski, Tom Trabold, and Frank Sikorski all made great defensive plays as the Panthers really picked up the play getting a lot of quality scoring chances. As we reached the final two minutes of the game, the Panthers got yet another goal when Kenny Nygaard scored his first goal of the game to make the score 5 to 3 Coyotes. With 24 seconds left to play in the game Kenny Nygaard would once again score this time off assists from PJ Volz and Matt Cotter and suddenly the score was 5 to 4. In the final seconds of the game the Panthers would come close but defensive plays by Coyotes defensemen and some great lasts saves by Luciano Migliore in net helped the Coyotes hold on and the Coyotes went on to win 5 to 4 and capture the Stanley Cup in the Senior Division. After the game the Conn Symthe Award was presented to the player voted most valuable to his team during the playoffs and Championship to Florida Panthers goalie Zach Bostrom.

The Garden City Recreation Department Hockey Staff wishes to thank everyone for a great Fall 2008 Season and we look forward to many more great seasons in the future.