When it comes to senior men’s lacrosse, no team was as dominant this year as the Red Deer Silverbacks.

The Silverbacks finished with the best record and lowest goals against by a senior lacrosse team in Alberta. Last Saturday, the Silverbacks invited the Calgary Irish into the lions den, also known as, the Blackfalds Multiplex Arena, for the first two games, of the best of five series. The winner becomes the Senior C Men’s provincial champions.

Game one: The Silverbacks could only muster a 3-0 lead after the first period. And that’s when a harsh reality check came, in the form of a pep talk. The kind of pep talk that is filled with motivational words that are rated +14A. The offense kicked in, and the Silverbacks scored seven goals in the period to go up 10-2. The final score in game one? 12-4 Red Deer.

Game two: There’s more hitting and cheap shots, and these teams are really starting to hate each other. After two periods of play, Calgary down five goals, (7-2) gets desperate. They have been stymied by goal-tending in five periods. So they’re looking for a way. Any way to beat Kirkaldy and they believe they’ve found it. 



<> For you hockey fans, let’s go back to 1993 Stanley Cup final, the ‘Great One’ is an L.A. King. The Kings are playing the Montreal Canadians, and they’re up 1-0 in the series and 2-1 in game two, with just under two minutes to go. Then coach Jacques Demers calls for a measurement on Marty McSorley’s stick. A risky call that worked! The Canadiens pulled their goalie, tied the game with a power-play goal. Went on to win the game in overtime, and win the cup!

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Calgary wants a measurement on Kirkaldy’s shin pads. Shocked, the refs take him, and both captains back to the dressing room, to get the verdict. Kirkaldy’s equipment is deemed illegal, and as he’s being ejected he yells out “Nice call Calgary!”. The Irish now have a power play for two minutes. And that’s a lot of time to do damage. 
And the damage was done. By the Silverbacks! They scored six shorthanded goals to show the Irish what they think of their tactics. The outburst made the score 13-2, en route to a 17-4 victory. The Red Deer Silverbacks can close out the Calgary Irish and win the Senior C Men’s Championship, if they can beat Calgary at the Subway Soccer Centre, on Saturday.

Seems like it was a nice call by Calgary, after all.

sports@reddeerexpress.com