It’s early Saturday morning and I have to tell you about what went on in the last night at the Fish Bowl.

In an unprecedented move, the HFHL stepped outside of the box and played the season finale on a Friday night…and what a great finals it was.

The Fitz led Chill were at the well for the first time in what seemed decades, while the Lynx had clawed their way up the ladder to make it to the dance. The Chill were two men down and the Lynx had a full squad.

Ball dropped at about 8:10PM and we were underway! First period scoring quickly opened up when Justin Logan took a pass from Alex Yeadon and buried it low corner on Dylan Warren and it was one zip. Then Fitz took a questionable hooking penalty and the Lynx went on the prowl looking to even it up…and that’s exactly what they did. Rookie Brandon Trowbridge snapped a shot past Brendan Hanrahan after Stu Whidden fought to get him the pass. The Chill were out chanced heavily in the first as they were outshot 17 to 6. 1-1 after the first.

Second period saw a repeat of the first when Alex Yeadon fired a shot that was turned aside by Warren, but that speedy Justin Logan pounced on the rebound and the Chill were back in the lead. But the Lynx kept pressing and they were rewarded when Dan Carver pushed the ball up floor to Stu Whidden who had an opportunity to get that rocket sauce shot of his off and did he ever load up on it, blowing a rare slapper past Hanrahan and boom…the game was tied. The shots were much closer with the Lynx having a slight edge in this period 12-11. Close as it can get 2-2 after the second.

Traffic…it gets more and more congested here in HRM every year. Seems like there are cars all over the place. No one likes traffic…especially goalies. But I know one guy who loved it last night…Jordan Castilloux…He took advantage of some traffic in front of the Lynx net when he fired a seemingly routine slapper from beside his own net that found its way through the bundle of legs in front of Warren and hit the back of the net…and unfortunately for the Lynx…this proved to be the game winner. Not from lack of effort mind you. The Lynx fired 15 shots, and good quality ones as well, but Hanrahan, as he has done this playoff run, stood tall and quiet in the net turning aside each one. The Chill added two more including and empty netter and with just a bit of time left, the Lynx conceded the game and the Chill were crowned HFHL 2026 A season Champs! 

This was a great game with no shenanigans and lots of respect both ways. It embodied the spirit of what we want to see in the league, so thanks to the Lynx and the Chill for a great final.

This season’s playoff MVP was pretty easy to choose. Chill net minder extraordinaire Brendan Hanrahan  posted a 2.33 goals against and a .943 save percentage. A performance not seen since the days of Marty Kane and Chris McKinnon. Well done Brendan. 

I wanted to take a moment to thank all those who volunteered to ref this season. Although it comes with a $5/ game credit towards the next season, it is an extremely thankless job and not always worth the grief. But without them, we don’t play.

Also I would like to express gratitude to both Rob Tyrrell and Matthew Monk, who play large rolls behind the scenes to help keep this beast moving, so thank you guys.

Well…that’s a wrap folks. Another season in the books and now Summer is almost here.

The plan is to play our preseason game the last Monday of August so keep your eyes open for the registration email which will probably start going out in late July or early August.

This is Billy Concarney saying bye for now. God Bless and hopefully we will see you all in the fall.

Be well peeps