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.

Fritz Keonstein

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.”

2023 SHL Finals – Game 4

QUEBEC TIGRES 2, MICHIGAN GRAY WOLVES 0

(Michigan leads series, 3-1)

The Quebec Tigres came into today’s Game 4 with their backs pressed firmly against the wall.  They were one loss from elimination at the hands of the Michigan Gray Wolves, and missing their top defenseman, Richard McKinley, who was sidelined by injury.

“Tonight we must win,” said RW Stephane Mirac.  “We have no choice, for otherwise there is no tomorrow.”

The Tigres’ Game 4 performance was hardly the stuff of legend.  The offensive malaise that has lingered over them all series continued, as they managed just 19 shots.  But thanks to some selfless defense, a shutout from goalie Riki Tiktuunen and a couple of hard-fought goals, they found a way to win and remain alive.

“One win is assuredly not enough to pull us out of the hole we are in,” said Quebec coach Martin Delorme.  “But if we are to come back in this series, we must start somewhere.”

After shuffling the team’s forward lines in a blowout Game 3 loss, Delorme restored the usual alignment for this contest, which seemed to help.  The breakdowns and miscommunications that plagued the Tigres in the last game were greatly reduced in this one.  The team also played a more disciplined game, cutting down on costly penalties.

“In Game 3, we were a grotesque inversion of ourselves,” said Delorme.  “All of our usual strengths turned into weaknesses, and we flailed where we tend to soar.  Tonight, we were much more like our true selves.”

It took less than five minutes for Quebec to take the lead.  A solid open-ice check by D Patrick Banks relieved Wolves RW Jorma Seppa of the puck.  The loose biscuit bounced to LW Vonnie McLearen, who quickly eluded the lone Michigan defenseman between him and the net with a neat spin move, then beat goalie Dirk Lundquist on the stick side to make it a 1-0 game.

“When I spun around the D-man and realized I had a clear path to the goal, I couldn’t believe it,” said McLearen.  “They’ve thrown wave after wave of bodies at us all series.  I’d almost forgotten what an open lane looked like.”

The Tigres’ second goal came with just over five minutes remaining in the second period.  An interference call against Wolves D Sam Bergdorf put Quebec on the power play.  Varying up their typical power-play formation, C Mikhail Ilyushin crossed behind Mirac with the winger screening the center from the defense.  Ilyushin then drew the defense toward him and whipped the puck back to Mirac, giving him a clean look that he buried with a snapper that went top shelf.

“We worked kind of like a pick-and-roll in basketball,” said Mirac.  “It was something they had not seen before, and it worked.”

On the other end, Tiktuunen turned side all 24 Michigan shots.  He had a couple particularly impressive saves in the third period, robbing Wolves D Fritz Kronstein twice: once with a sprawling pad save early in the period, and once on a glove save with 3:17 left to shut down the Wolves’ comeback hopes.  Tiktuunen also stood tall during a third-period barrage when Michigan’s fourth line got off three shots in a 14-second span.

“I knew there was no room for mistakes today,” said Tiktuunen.  “So I made none.”

The Finnish netminder’s brilliant performance was aided and abetted by his defense, who repeatedly threw themselves in front of Michigan blasts.  Delorme had particular praise for Banks; the 32-year-old blueliner, who signed with Quebec as a free agent this offseason, personally made a third of the Tigres’ 18 blocks.

“Patrick is a smart, selfless veteran defender, and he does not get the credit he deserves for that,” said the coach.  “Sadly, he has more of a reputation for being injured than anything.  I hope games like this help him to rewrite his story.”

For Quebec to rewrite the story of this series, they’ll need three more performances like this, including another road victory in Game 5.  “We know the odds against us,” said D Laurie Workman, “but we’re focused on just winning the next one.”

Michigan, meanwhile, hopes to close things out at home tomorrow.  “We’d really like to celebrate in our arena, in front of our fans,” said coach Gilbert McCoyne.  “We’ve come this far, and the fans have supported us so strongly along this journey, they deserve to see it.  We think we’ve got a good shot to do it.”