Photo Credit : Vancouver Warriors twitter
You could hear a pin drop in the building after the final buzzer went at Rogers Arena. After leading 7–1 at halftime, a second straight semifinal appearance seemed imminent for the Vancouver Warriors. But instead, a monumental collapse ensued. The Halifax Thunderbirds went on a historic run, scoring nine unanswered goals. The Warriors got into some penalty trouble in the third quarter and couldn’t find any offensive rhythm, resulting in a stunning quarterfinal exit.
After falling to the Buffalo Bandits in the semifinals last season, head coach and general manager Curt Malawsky was aggressive in the offseason, bringing in four former Calgary Roughnecks, including Curtis Dickson and Jesse King – two players who massively improved the offense. Paired alongside Keegan Bal, who led the NLL in scoring, and Dickson, who was fifth in goals while recording his 10th 40-plus-goal season, the Warriors set a franchise record with 13 wins and earned the number one seed in the NLL, making Friday’s quarterfinal exit even more shocking.
Christian Del Bianco played lights out, stopping 26 of 27 shots he faced in the first half. The Warriors led 2–1 after the opening frame and then scored four goals in 3:44 in the second quarter, with Keegan Bal scoring Vancouver’s seventh goal of the game with 56 seconds left in the half.
Then the third quarter is where everything changed. Del Bianco sprung Shane Simpson and Reid Bowering on a two-on-one early in the frame for a chance to extend the lead and try to put the nail in the coffin, but they couldn’t capitalize. Then the Warriors found themselves trapped in their own end and unable to pick up loose balls, which caused them to get into some penalty trouble. After the Thunderbirds cut the deficit to three, they were awarded a five-on-three and scored twice on the two-man advantage, bringing them within one, which seemed to be the turning point. Not only was the Warriors offense unable to get any high-quality scoring chances, they weren’t able to find any rhythm at all. Even in the first half, they were playing very perimeter-oriented, which for a team coached by Malawsky, with the league’s leading scorer and other offensive weapons, was unordinary. It seemed as if the Warriors started playing not to lose instead of focusing on trying to win.
“We weren’t getting inside enough. They pushed us to the outside. We had good looks but we were settling for the outside shots,” said Malawsky on the offensive struggles. “That’s on me. I need to get the ball down low, into the corner, turn them around a bit… If we could play it over again we’d probably do some things differently offensively.” added Malawsky.
Del Bianco was the biggest reason the Warriors even had a chance in the game; he faced 71 shots in the game and 25 shots in the third quarter alone. “ He’s the backbone of our team, (I) felt like we left him out to dry. I don’t remember the last time we gave up that many shots. So he played a hell of a game.” Said Warriors defenceman and captain Brett Mydske on Del Bianco’s performance.
The Thunderbirds tied the game with 25 seconds left in the third quarter, then scored on a breakaway with just over 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter to take the lead. They added two goals 16 seconds apart, and the Warriors’ sense of urgency picked up, but they were unable to solve Halifax goalie Warren Hill. As the clock wound down, you could slowly feel the life being sucked out of the building, as fans were expecting a championship run—and rightfully so, with 13 wins and the offseason expectations. The Warriors fell way short, and “embarrassing” may be the only word to sum up how it ended. Rogers Arena hadn’t felt that somber since Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.
The way the NLL playoffs work is that the quarterfinal is a single-game elimination, while the semifinal and final are best-of-three series. Could we perhaps see the NLL change the quarterfinal to a best-of-three like the MLB did with the Wild Card round? Perhaps, but right now it doesn’t matter. Malawsky shared his thoughts on playing in a single-game elimination in the first round.
“ You need to be clean, you can’t make mistakes, you (have) to be disciplined. I’d love to have another (game), but we don’t. We didn’t earn the opportunity to have another one.”
The Thunderbirds’ comeback ties the record for the biggest comeback in an NLL playoff game, which goes to show how hard it is to win a championship in any sport. You need a lot to go right for you, and that’s why the best team doesn’t always win. But with the team the Warriors had, and giving up a six-goal lead, that’s what will make it sting.
The Warriors had championship aspirations and fell short. Malawsky ended his postgame press conference saying this: “ I don’t think (today was) an indication of who we are. We had a bad night at the wrong time and that’s what sucks.”
Overall, it was an amazing season for the Warriors—a franchise best, but it ended sooner than many thought.
