Ultimately the Eastern Conference of PIHA must be narrowed down to two remaining teams.  Two teams that will go to battle in a best of five game series which will determine who will represent the East in St Louis for PIHA Final Championship Series held the weekend May 28 through 31 against the Western Conference Champion (either Colorado Springs Thunder or St. Louis Cobras) which will be determined this weekend, May 16, 17. 

The Connecticut Blaze secured their Northeast Division championship two weeks ago beating the Suffolk Sting in a nail-biter series and the Harrisburg Lunatics who soundly defeated its last two opponents in the first two games of each best of three series to win their third straight Mason Dixon Division title will now face off on Saturday and Sunday, May 16 and 17 at the Susquehanna Sports Center in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania for the Eastern Conference crown.  Both teams have played a series of games in Glastonbury Connecticut just a month ago during regular season and each team won one game in what were two very exciting, intense games.  Lunatics taking the first 6-3 and Blaze taking the second 4-3.  This rematch between the two for the bragging rights of Beast of the East should be no less intense. 

Both teams are well stocked with great talent.  Both teams have weapons that can sting quick and deadly.  The Blaze’s arsenal is headed by veteran superstar John Pinheiro who may be one of the quickest skating/stick-handling players in the game today.  He can turn directions on a dime and leave even the best defensemen in disarray.  Pinheiro leads his team in goals (37, 3^rd PIHA), assists (29, 8^th PIHA), and points (66, tie 3^rd PIHA with Lunatic Scott Gartzke).  He also is tie for first in PIHA with 8 game winning goals and alone in first in short handed goals with 7.  Simply put, he is a dangerous player in pressure situations, and even more so when his team is killing penalties.  His Blaze comrades are star contributors who will send the puck to the net repeatedly whenever given the opportunity.  Forward Jeff Goulet with 34 points, 23 of which were assists, a smart and crafty set up man, knows just how to work with Pinheiro and the two make a nasty combination.  On the powerplay?  Along with the two mentioned above veteran blue-liner Darrell Interbartolo and his cannon shot has always been a threat wherever he has played.  He is that pivotal power-play one timer or slap shot that can break an opponents back. The remainder of the team is solid contributors, Mario, Lucibello, Jay McGeown, Adam Goulet, and Eric Sarao, all have the ability to make life rough for the Lunatics this weekend.  Lastly, Blaze Net-minder Luke Brindamour brings solid goal keeping to the upcoming series with his steady 17 win record (4^th overall in PIHA) and a respectable 3.09 GAA and .811 save percentage, he can at times be a wall across that goal that seems impregnable to opposing forwards.

The Blaze as a team also has respectable stats during regular season.  115 goals scored for is second in the division, and fourth overall in the Eastern Conference.  The Blaze spent the second half of regular season becoming a playoff contender and kept working hard and making the best of their season to recapture the division.  As the season wore on, they were not only playoff bound, but on a terror within their division to claim its title for good reason.  Good hard work breeds wins.

Going further south of Glastonbury we come to the State Capital of PA. Harrisburg, where the Lunatics reside.  The Lunatics with home court advantage in this series of games because of having the best overall record in regular season in the Eastern Conference, can be a very frustrating to play at home with a large crowd.  Undoubtedly the Lunatics have had the best attendance league wide each home game this season and many seasons.  The fans can be unforgiving, annoying and the building in general can get very loud.  This series will probably not be any different in that department.  The Lunatics season this year has been remarkable regular season with 25 wins, 6 losses and one OT loss.  Scoring 158 total goals this season (2^nd in PIHA) 93 goals against (3^rd in PIHA) and a win percentage of .781 (2^nd in PIHA) the Lunatics will come at opponents on both sides of the rink, and make them work for everything they receive.  Nothing ever comes easy. 

Leading this pack of blue collar superstars this season is Scott Gartzke in his 3^rd pro season and at such a young age Gartzke has made a huge impact on the league this season and major impact on his team in terms of leadership.  Tie for 3^rd (with Pinheiro) in points with 66 , 38 (4^th in PIHA) of which are assists, 28 goals.  Gartzke has pin point accuracy and can pick the net apart like a surgeon if given the space.  If not given the space?  He will create it and do it anyhow as his stick-handling and hard skating often open avenues on the rink that other star quality players might not notice.  He is joined by energizer bunny Jay Mazer, who can electrify a game in crucial moments simply with the turn of the hips and skates and a quick release shot that is addressed like a laser beam.  Mazer, a veteran player since the leagues inception is a leader the team looks to for motivation.  He boasts 23 goals, 30 assists (7^th PIHA) and 53 points (8^th PIHA).  He too can be a threat when shorthanded and when the pressure is thick.  Remarkable with all that he brings to the table, he does so as a defenseman.  Speaking of which, veteran Kevin Hollenbush who has been a thorn to many teams notoriously is a never quit, hard working defenseman who can fire shots like a Howitzer, 21 goals, 24 assists is some big numbers for a blue-liner.  Forwards Shawn Powell and Zack Rohrbach are hard driving game changers and  2^nd Year Lunatic Cory Volchko is a strong two way star for the Tics who can effortlessly at times snatch a puck from opponents sticks and turn it at their net bending a net-minder into a pretzel.  Defensively the Lunatic’s Mazer, Hollenbush,  Nick Pappas, rookie Josh Murphy, and Scott Miller have put up big scoring this season, and as a team the Tics have 9 of their 11 starters all in double digit scoring numbers.  8 of those over 20 points.  A very deep bench with a weapons cache that resembles some 3^rd world nations, teams facing them will need to always be watching over their shoulders.  Lastly the goaltending for the Lunatics with Jason Rohrbach, who has been nothing short of a  magnetic force field for pucks.  He leads PIHA in wins with 19, second in Save percentage in the league with .869, and 2nd in PIHA with a 2.45 GAA.  Well balanced and cool under fire, Rohrbach has years of PIHA experience in some very huge games in its history.  Getting pucks past him can be downright frustrating.

Matching up between these two teams is going to be interesting as both have the capabilities to take a game and run with it.  Both teams have the experience, the veterans, the play makers and the strong defense to make a very explosive series.  Sadly only one will continue on to St Louis for the Championship Finals later this month.  Both are deserving.  The action starts at 6pm with game one on Saturday, May 16.  Game 2 at 7pm, game 3 at 8pm.  Game 4 and 5 if necessary will be held Sunday at 2pm and 3pm respectively. 

Whoever comes out of this will have yet one hurdle to overcome.  PIHA Pro Finals. St. Louis.

Best of luck to both organizations.