PS3 NHL 09 Tournament

Click here for Tournament Results. 

On Saturday Feb 7th Gamers from all around Timmins came to Northern Swing to participate in the PS3 NHL 09 Fundraiser tournament for the Timmins Jr. Golf Team. Around 10:30am, players began to arrive, some wearing their team hats, while others, like Korey Secord came in wearing his hat and Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey. By 11 o’clock all the teams were chosen and the Double Elimination tournament was ready to begin. In one of the first 3 first match’s being played on the big screens, Leafs424 (Secord) was victorious, which kept him in the Winner’s Brackets, a great improvement from his previous NHL’09 Tournament. He later explained that he had been practicing hard for this chance at redemption. During the first 2 rounds of the tournament there was a couple of upsets, such as defending champ Go Sens Go (Paul Charette) lost two consecutive games and was eliminated from the tournament, an upset in deed. This was a special occasion for his boss, as he was the victor who sent Charette packing. On another note, a heated battle had begun between Adam MacIvor vs. Craig Berlingeri in the second round. MacIvor edged Berlingeri 4-2, which gave Craig his first loss and sent him to the Loser’s Bracket to try and make it to the finals the hard way. As the day went on, there were only a couple lop-sided games, which meant there were many close games that could have gone any which way. “Munch” (Ryan Salminen) and “Leafs424” had proven to be contenders as they reached the Semi-Finals in the Winner’s Bracket, which meant they were both undefeated on the day to that point.

At 2 o’clock the gamers put there controllers down to enjoy some lunch, Toppers Pizza of Timmins were gracious enough to donate pizzas for all the players so they wouldn’t be hungry during the intense games. After lunch Secord and Salminen were getting ready for their game, while in the Loser’s bracket MacIvor was getting ready for a Re-match against Berlingeri in the quarter’s finals. This was the only rematch of the tournament, and MacIvor was leading 5-3 going into the third period. Determined not to lose his second game and be out of the tournament Craig scored once in the first 10 minutes of the third making the game 5-4 then with only 2 minutes left in the game a combination on 4 goals was scored between the two teams. The most unbelievable part was when Craig took the lead by scoring two quick goals, then after winning the ensuing face-off, he decided to try the keep away strategy in order to ensure victory. He proceeded to take the puck back to his net to kill time, however McIvor had other plans, not wanting to be eliminated himself he rushed the puck carrier with all he had, forced a turn-over and pulled off a beautifull one-timer in front of the net. The game was now tied with less than a minute to play. When everyone in the room were excited about the potential sudden death overtime that was going to take place, Craig unleashed an incredible desperation slap shot that hand-cuffed McIvor’s tender and lighted the lamp with only seconds left on the clock. It was a heart breaker for McIvor but a tremendous comeback victory for Craig. 7-6 was the final score. This was the game of the tournament.

Even with all that excitement there was still a champion to crown. In the Semi’s Finals of the losers bracket Leaf424 was going up against Craig to see who would face Munch in the Championship Game. Once the game was over, Craig was victorious over Leafs424. This meant that after 34 games it was now time for the Championship Game, Craig VS Munch. In the First Period Craig held Munch to only 2 goals which was a feat in itself as Munch had been scoring at will throught most of his games. In the second period however, Munch turned on the jets and scored 6 unanswered goals taking a commanding lead in the game. In the third period Craig got on the board a couple times but the deficit was too great and Munch took the win and the Tournament with an 8-2 victory. The final tournament result were 1st: Munch- Ryan Salminen (Blackhawks), 2nd: Craig – Craig Berlingeri (Flyers), 3rd: Leafs424 – Korey Secord (Maple Leafs).

All in all, there were 14 competitors who battled it out. Organizers received great feedback from these participants at the end of the tournament, and now they hope to grow this event to a full 32 competitor tournament. Organizers would like to say “Thank You” to all of those who came out to support the fund raising efforts for the Timmins Jr. Golf Team. “We hope to see you again at the next NHL’09 event, and please tell our friends and/or fellow gamers, this could be a great continuous series of tournaments in Timmins”

Congratulation to Ryan “Munch” Salminen for a very well tournament played.
Thank you to Q92 & Toppers Pizza for there Generous Support of the event.

Left-Right: Mat Vachon, Korey Secord, Ryan Salminen, Craig Berlingeri, & From Q92 Mike Bissett