Bulldogs are Silver B champions

The Northern Illinois Hockey League Mite Silver B season officially came to an end Sunday morning, March 11, when the Chicago Bulldogs captured the Wolves Cup.

Playing on Inwood ice in Joliet, the Bulldogs rallied to post a 3-1 win over the Crystal Lake Yellowjackets. The Yellowjackets claimed a 1-0 lead, only to have the Bulldogs respond in the second period to forge a 1-1 tie going into the final stanza.

The Bulldogs, whom the Jaguar Mite #2 went 2-0-1 against during the NIHL regular season, tallied twice in the final period, however, to claim the Wolves Cup.

On Saturday, playing in Crystal Lake, the Chicago Jets -- who knocked the Jaguars out of the playoffs in the second round -- scored a 1-0 victory over the Falcons to capture third place in the Silver B Division.

Multiple trips and a fall

Jets end Mite #2 season in playoff's second round

Jaguar Mite #2 was tripped up Saturday in its efforts to capture the Wolves Cup at the Silver B level.

Playing in a game marred by 11 total penalties, including seven tripping calls, the third-seeded Jaguars fell to the second-seeded Chicago Jets 2-0 in the second round of the Northern Illinois Hockey League playoffs. The loss – the first by Mite #2 to a Silver B-level team since early December – brought their season to an end.

Despite the tight officiating, which resulted in seven penalty calls against the Jaguars and forced their successful stifling of two 5-3 short-handed situations, the Jaguars played well enough to win. While no official shot/save statistics were kept for the game, the Jaguars pressured the Jets throughout the first period and a half, getting repeated shots at the Jets’ goalie, while minimizing the Jets’ scoring chances.

With 4:21 to play in the second period, however, the Jets managed to get behind the Jaguar defense and convert on one of the few scoring chances they had to that point. Mario Scalise tallied what would prove to be the game-winning goal on an assist from Sean Doyle.

With 9:44 left in the third period, the Jets scored an insurance goal during a scramble in front of the net. The tally came after Jaguar goalie Luke Brzezinski appeared to have frozen the puck along the goal line. The puck, however, scooted clear of his glove and lie for a few seconds between his pad and the goal post in a gap barely larger than the puck itself.

With no whistle having been blown, the Jets’ Doyle located and took a whack at the loose puck, propelling it from outside the goal line to the back of the net. Tyler Pan and Ryan Thomas were credited with the assists.

Undeterred by the two-goal deficit, partly because of having forged a tie from a similar situation in their last outing against the Jets, the Jaguars repeatedly tried to stage a comeback, but were continually stymied by impressive goal tending. Even pulling Brzezinski in favor of an extra skater with approximately 90 second remaining was not enough to get the Jaguars on the board.

While the season ended for the Jaguars when the final horn sounded, the win propelled the Jets into a semi-final game on Sunday against the top-seeded Bulldogs, who had defeated the Bruins earlier Saturday. The Bulldogs topped the Jets 2-0 on Sunday to advance to the Silver B championship game at Inwood at 9 a.m. Sunday morning, March 11. They will take on the Red Tier’s second-seeded Yellowjackets.