Game 1 started very slow, obviously both teams were feeling eachother out in the first period. Both teams managed to get on the board in mid 1st period, then Portage got a lucky break on a really bad giveaway to make it 2-1. At one point Portage was leading 3-1 near the end of the 2nd period, but Humboldt stormed back with 4 unanswered goals in the last 25 minutes. It's worth noting that the game wasn't very physical until the 3rd period.
I'm not really sure what to expect from Portage. They look bigger then Humboldt, there goalie seemed huge. But they don't seem overly physical. They have one quick line with Eric Delong, and Nigel Dawes younger brother. But other then that they didn't seem like an overly quick team. They were very content to just set up defensively and let the Broncos come freely out of there own end. With Humboldt having speed to burn this could be bad news for Portage, as I feel if they want to succeed they're going to have to get more aggressive on the fore check, much the same way Kindersly had success in the early part of the Final.
On some Humboldt notes, they also started slowly but the speed of Matt Kirtzinger was dangerous all night, Taylor Nelson looked to be fighting it again, which is unusual after his record breaking year, the first two goals seemed particularly weak(although the 2nd was off of a terrible giveaway). Wasn't their greatest game either.
I expect a much quicker game tonight as both teams will have shaken off the nerves and rust last night.
As a homer I'm gonna pick Humboldt in 5 as they seemed so much quicker then Portage last night, but in reality if Portage starts forechecking more aggressively this could turn into a real good series.
