CHL Update: Atlantics Outlast Flickertails for First Title

The Halifax Atlantics had a season that mirrored their parent club, the Quebec Tigres, in a number of ways. Like the Tigres, the Atlantics have traditionally been strong on defense and goaltending. This year’s club was no exception to that rule, as Halifax tied for the league lead in GAA with a slender 2.10 mark.

This year, also like their parent club, the Atlantics showed unexpected upside on offense. RW Al Rodney led the league in goals with 29, and three other Halifax players were among the league’s top 10 in goals (Ds Olezka Bulakov and Axel Borgstrom with 23, and veteran F Yann Eberlein with 21).

Like Quebec, Halifax finished with their best record ever, and made the playoffs for the second straight season. And like the Tigres, the Atlantics made it all the way to the Finals. While the Tigres fell short in their quest for the Vandy, however, the Atlantics went the distance, outlasting the plucky Fargo Flickertails in seven games to claim their first-ever Howard Trophy.

“Now that we’ve got some trophy-winners here in Halifax, we’ll be able to send them on to Quebec to collect some more hardware,” said coach Roland Tedesco. “The future is bright here in Canada, and not just because of all the fires!”

The Atlantics came into the Finals as the favorites, but the Flickertails were no pushovers. They’d upset the Spokane Zebras, the defending CHL champions who’d finished with the league’s best record, in the previous round. Fargo’s players have eagerly adopted the swaggering, pugnacious attitude of their coach, Harvey Williams. And they fought hard every step of the way.

In the series opener, Halifax took a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to goals by Bulakov and Gauss. But the Flickertails battled back, ultimately tying it in the middle of the third thanks to a goal by RW Claes Arvidsson. The Atlantics ultimately prevailed 4-3 thanks to a power-play goal by Rodney with just over four minutes left. Game 2 was more of a defensive battle; Fargo didn’t score the game’s first goal until early in the second period, on a power-play tally by C Liam Engstrom. LW Billy Knox tied it up for Halifax with just under seven minutes left in regulation, forcing overtime, but Fargo claimed the 2-1 victory in the extra session thanks to D Dean Frater’s goal, his second of the series.

Game 3, in Fargo’s Gustafson Arena, was an odd affair. The Atlantics were outshot 12-6 in the first period, but still managed to take a 3-1 lead. As in Game 1, the Flickertails battled back to tie the game, only to fall 4-3 on a goal by Halifax RW Henri Verdon with 1:39 left in regulation. After the game, Williams railed against the officiating; Fargo was called for four penalties – including to two Atlantics goals, including Verdon’s game-winner – while Halifax was whistled for none.

“The league has already decided who’s going to win this, and they’re making sure of it,” the Flickertails coach fumed. “If this was a fairly officiated game, we would have won. But the league won’t stand for my group of ruffians getting their hands on the trophy, so they told the refs to make sure we don’t.” Williams’ rant earned him a $10,000 fine from the league.

In Game 4, Fargo struck first, with RW Mitchell Managan and Arvidsson scoring in the back half of the first period to give the home team a 2-0 edge. Halifax fought back in the third, with Eberlein scoring to cut the deficit in half. When Fargo’s Rex Batten was penalized for high-sticking with 1:20 left in regulation, the Atlantics had a golden opportunity to tie things up. Instead, however, Flickertails LW Ranno Kalda scored a shorty to secure a 3-1 win and tie the series. Halifax scored first in Game 5, with D Jose Martinez striking in the early minutes of the second period. But Fargo Ds Sheldon Harville and Rich Behneke scored less than 2 minutes apart early in the third to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win, and move just a victory away from a title few would have predicted.

Halifax dominated Game 6, scoring three times in the first and cruising to a 4-0 win. The Atlantics held Fargo to just 18 shots, all of which were stopped by G Jonathan Crane. That set up a winner-take-all Game 7 at Point Pleasant Arena. Rodney put the home team in front on a power play goal with a shade over five minutes left in the first period. Fargo tied it up with their own power play strike in the middle of the second, when C Yvon Levette picked off an attempted clear and fired it over crane’s catching glove. Halifax regained the just a bit more than two minutes later, when LW Travis Gauss deflected a shot home. The lead held up through most of the third, even as the Atlantic had to kill off a double minor penalty against Rodney. An elbowing call against Halifax LW Miroslav Novotny with 1:34 left in regulation opened the door for Fargo to force overtime. But in an eerie parallel of Game 4, LW Kimmo Eliasson registered a shorthanded score with 26 seconds left to seal it for the Atlantics.

Eliasson’s championship-clinching shorty earned him the Finals MVP honors. It was one of two goals that the journeyman winger scored in the series. Others receiving MVP consideration included Rodney (who recorded 3 goals and 4 assists in the series) and Crane (who posted a 1.99 GAA and a .919 save percentage).

“There are a lot of special players on this team,” said Eliasson. “I’m glad I could help them achieve this victory.”

The Flickertails took the loss in stride. “We pushed it as far as we could get,” said Williams, “and that’s probably farther than we had any right to go. But I bet this will be the first time a losing team outdrinks the winners! Time for me to go do my part to make that happen.”

Tigres “Shattered” by Finals Loss

After Fritz Kronstein’s goal found the back of the net to end the 2023 SHL Finals, Quebec Tigres RW Stephane Mirac sank to the ice. His teammates offered a consoling pat on the back and a hand up, but Mirac remained mired in despair.

After a couple of minutes, he rose from the ice and joined the postgame handshake line. As soon as that was over, however, Mirac rushed to the locker room and collapsed in front of his locker, sobs racking his body.

“It seemed certain to me that this was our year,” Mirac told reporters, once he had recovered enough to speak. “After we won the first two rounds without even losing a game… well, how could we not think we were going to win all of it? I had never had that feeling before in a Final, but this time I did. And so, for us to lose this way… it shattered me.”

Mirac’s reaction was shared by most of his Tigres teammates. During their previous two Finals trips, in 2018 and 2022, Quebec came in as the underdog, and therefore took their losses in stride. This time, however, they were considered the favorite. Since that they not only lost, but were thoroughly outplayed by the Michigan Gray Wolves, this loss stung much more than the previous ones.

“It’s devastating, I’m not gonna lie,” said LW Walt Camernitz. “This may have been the best chance I’ll ever have to win the title. And we couldn’t do it – we didn’t even come close. I’m 35, so I know I’ll only get to ride this ride so many more times. To work this hard, and have a team this good, only to come up short again… it hurts.”

Coach Martin Delorme sounded similarly disconsolate in his postgame remarks. “First of all, much credit to Michigan. They were a worthy opponent, and they played a brilliant series,” said Delorme. “But I cannot help but wonder, where did our offense go? All season, we scored with ease. Even in the playoffs, we made it seem simple. Then in the Finals, our offense abandoned us. That, I did not expect.”

Several players pointed to the loss of D Richard McKinley – a two-way star and the team’s best blueliner – in Game 2 as the pivot point of the series. “Once we lost Richard, we were in real trouble,” said D Laurie Workman. “He’s such a catalyst for us at both ends. What he gave us, we couldn’t replace.”

Despite the Tigres’ disappointment in the moment, they have considerable hope for next season. While they have a number of pending free agents – including core players McKinley, Mirac, and G Riki Tiktuunen – they are expected to have little trouble resigning most of them. And they can count on reinforcements from their minor-league affiliate in Halifax: rising stars like RW Al Rodney and Ds Olezka Bulakov and Axel Borgstrom. Odds are good that they’ll return to the playoffs, and even a third straight Finals trip is not out of the question.

Still, it’s hard not to look at this season as a squandered opportunity. “It really seemed like we were a team of destiny this year,” said LW Vonnie McLearen. “But it turns out reality had a different script in mind. Fortunately, we’ve got a few months to go get drunk and shake this off before we have to try again.”

Kronstein Named Finals MVP

The 2023 SHL playoffs have been a showcase for Michigan Gray Wolves D Fritz Kronstein. The 30-year-old has long been one of the league’s top two-way defensemen, but he had never had those signature playoff moments that make great players immortal. He had won a Vandy in his rookie season, but he hadn’t won one since; indeed, the Wolves hadn’t won a postseason series since that 2016 campaign.

When Michigan reached their first Finals in seven years, Kronstein made the most of the moment. He starred on both ends of the ice, recording seven points – including five goals – and seven blocks to lead the Wolves to a stunning five-game victory over the Quebec Tigres. As a result of his relentless brilliance, Kronstein was the runaway winner of the 2023 SHL Finals MVP.

“Fritz has been the heartbeat of this team all season,” said Wolves coach Gilbert McCoyne. “He’s been a leader in the locker room, in practice, and of course on the ice. There’s no way we would have gotten this far without Fritz’s total commitment and hard work.”

Kronstein put his stamp on the series from the beginning. The blueliner scored a hat trick entirely in the final ten minutes of Game 1 to secure a 4-2 win and stun the Tigres and their fans. He had a goal, an assist, and two blocks in Michigan’s 5-1 rout of Quebec in Game 3. And in the series-clinching Game 5, Kronstein scored the game-winning goal in overtime, along with an assists and three blocks, one of which prevented Quebec from scoring the go-ahead goal in the waning minutes of regulation.

In addition to those highlights, Kronstein led the Wolves’ dominating defense, utterly neutralizing Quebec’s East-leading offense. Michigan held the Tigres to just 20.8 shots per game, a dramatic reversal in fortune for a team that had not lost a game in either of the previous two rounds.

While presenting the award, SHL Commissioner Frank Driscoll noted that Kronstein’s two-way excellence was inspiring a new generation of players. “There are thousands of kids all over Michigan who watched this series and are saying, ‘I want to be like Fritz Kronstein when I grow up,’” said Commissioner Driscoll. “They couldn’t have chosen a better player to model themselves after. I want them to understand that this trophy represents years and years of hard work, selflessness, dedication, and a total commitment to excellence. If you want to be like Fritz, you’d better be prepared to hold yourself to the highest standards, because he always has.”

In addition to the award, Kronstein received a Kia Telluride SUV and a Chris-Craft Catalina power boat. “This is a great package,” said Kronstein. “After a season like this, I’d love to drive up to the UP [Upper Peninsula] and spend the summer just cruising around Lake Superior., just to enjoy some peace.”

2023 SHL Finals – Game 5

MICHIGAN GRAY WOLVES 3, QUEBEC TIGRES 2 (OVERTIME)

(Michigan wins series, 4-1)

In the postseason, big moments tend to find great players. The Michigan Gray Wolves entered today’s Game 5 with one last chance to clinch the SHL championship in front of their fans at Cadillac Place. Not only did the Wolves want to raise the Vandy on home ice, they wanted to deny the Quebec Tigres the chance to climb out of an 0-3 series hole and shift the Finals back to Canada.

For Wolves D Fritz Kronstein, the moment came in overtime, with the Wolves and Tigres locked in a 2-2 tie. The teams had been deadlocked for nearly two full periods, and they had now reached sudden death. Anything – a lucky bounce, a well-timed shot, a bad line change – might end or extend the series at any moment.

Michigan had the puck in the offensive zone. C Cyril Perignon dropped the puck back to Kronstein near the blue line. Kronstein planned to walk the line look for one of the Wolves’ forwards to break toward the net, ready for a shot or a deflection. But the blueiner suddenly noticed something: there was a lot of open space between him and the net.

“I felt like I could step up and take a clean shot before [the Tigres] could close on me,” said Kronstein. “Plus, they were all crowded around home plate, and I figured they were probably screening their own goalie a bit.”

Kronstein charged toward the slot. Before a Quebec player could come out to meet him, he wound up and fired a slapshot that sailed through traffic. As Kronstein had predicted, Tigres goalie Riki Tiktuunen was screened by his own man and was slow to react. Before Tiktuunen could raise his glove, the shot was already in the back of the net. The Wolves were 2023 SHL champions, and Kronstein was the hero.

“This postseason couldn’t have come at a better time for Fritz,” said coach Gilbert McCoyne. “He’s been one of the league’s best blueliners for years, but he’s never had the chance to show that in the playoffs. Along comes this run, while Fritz is still in his prime, and he picked up the team and led them. I can’t think of a more deserving champion.”

Kronstein’s fingerprints are all over Michigan’s championship run. It started with the first round against the Milwaukee Growlers, when he suffered a concussion and a broken nose in the first game, then came back against doctor’s orders to lead his team to wins in Games 4 and 5 and knock out the defending champs. Then against the mighty Anchorage Igloos in the Western finals, Kronstein led the defense that thwarted the mighty Igloos attack. In Game 1 of the Finals, his third-period hat trick helped the Wolved come from behind to stun the Tigres.

Even before Kronstein scored the game-winner and series-clincher in this game, he’d played a prominent role. With Quebec leading 1-0 at the first intermission on a Mikhail Ilyushin goal, Kronstein led the Wolves up the ice to start the second, ultimately firing a slap pass that fellow D Sam Bergdorf tipped in to tie the game at 1 apiece.

Just over a minute after Bergdorf’s goal, LW Alan Youngman scored to put the Wolves in front. That lead, however, barely lasted more than two minutes before RW Flynn Danner was called for high-sticking, and Tigres LW Walt Camernitz jammed it home on the power play from the top of the crease. After that, the game settled into a rugged stalemate, with neither team finding much in the way of quality scoring chances.

Late in the third, though, Quebec had a golden opportunity. LW Jarmann Fischer and C Drustan Zarkovich got loose on a two-on-one rush, with Kronstein the lone defender back. Fischer got Wolves netminder Dirk Lundquist to bite on a fake slapshot, then slid a pass over to Zarkovich. The center took aim at a yawning net, but Kronstein threw himself in front of the shot and deflected it harmlessly away.

“That was a real game-saver right there,” said Lundquist afterward. “I committed too early, and if Kronny hadn’t blocked it, that was a layup for them.”

Thanks to Kronstein’s block, the Wolves forced overtime. And then the blueliner ended the game, and the series, with his golden slapshot. After the puck went in, Kronstein threw his head back and screamed. All the years of frustration, the pain of his injuries, the elation at leading his team to the mountaintop… it all came out at once. Then his teammates mobbed him and piled on top of him, as the team celebrated its first Vandy since 2016.

In the jubilant postgame locker room, 37-year-old C Hunter Bailes – Michigan’s longtime captain – announced that he planned to retire.

“I’d been thinking about my body was up to another season anyway,” said Bailes. “And now that I have the chance to go out on top, that basically clinches the decision for me. Plus, I’m confident that the team is in good hands. It’s Fritz’s team now – there’s no doubt about it.”