By Dan Boyd
The Windsor Royals tried to be a David in their opening round playoff series against the Goliath - St. Margaret's Bay Mariners but when everything was said and done, the Royals lost out in five games.
Tuesday, March 2 in the Bay with the Royals down 2-0 in the series, they showed extra emotion and plenty of drive in jumping out in front of the Ducks 3-0 with the help of pair of goals from Erik Jackaman in the early stages of the game. However, the Ducks got back into it late in the game with a pair of goals with less than 3 minutes remaining in regulation after scoring one previously in the third to to tie at 3. Royals fans in attendance at the Bay didn't know what to expect when overtime began but the Royals came back with a strong effort resulting in Tyler MacGowan scoring with 1:35 left in the first OT session and putting Windsor for a short time back in the series, trailing the Ducks by 1 game 2-1.
Wednesday night, whatever the Royals showed in the Bay the previous night was all gone by the start of the second period. Windsor grabbed a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes on goals from Sam Webb and Erik Jackaman but that was it as the Ducks then scroed four unanswered goals for a 5-2 win. Saturday night in St. Margartet's, the Ducks staked themselves to a 6-0 lead, scoring 5 unanswered goals in the second period and winning 6-2 to eliminate the Royals.
Royal Crowns: the 2009-2010 season was a far cry from last year when the club won only four games and missed the playoffs but the club's executive is already looking forward to the 2010-2011 season and are hopeful an even strong club will emerge. The Bay Ducks who eliminated the Royals will host the Atlantic Canada Junior "B" Hockey Championship in late April in the Bay with the winner to be crowned the Don Johnson Cup Champion. It is an honour the Royals have been proud to bring back to Windsor on three seperate occasions, the most recent during the 2007-2008 season.
