For those of you who are new readers, let me sum up this season of studio predictions. Go figure... it's our last broadcast of the Winter Season and Goralnik's Guesses is at an even 10-10. After starting off under .500 for most of the year, I roared back with a 4 game winning streak to peak at 3 games over even. I then proceeded to lose 3 straight to end up in this predicament. It's Championship Saturday on the ice but it feels the same for me. If I lose, I have to sit with that taste in my mouth for a little while and that's never fun. So that's exactly what I'm not going to do this afternoon because I have an ace up my sleeve.
I don't need to drag this one out. Both teams are fantastic squads playing their best hockey. Both teams are well coached and have balanced rosters from the faceoff dot to the crease. But only one team has the ultimate champion, who happens to be a Senior in his last High School game. My ace up my sleeve is the one, the only, Andrew Sacco. To have a Senior State Champion on your team is one thing but to have that player be the goaltender... that's a whole different story. Anyone who knows hockey knows that a goalie can steal the show. Like a certified ace is to a baseball team, a goalie may have more influence over the outcome of a game than any other player in any other sport. And North Haven has a Senior Champion.
So to sum up: Andrew Sacco. Your Honor, I rest my case. In fact, I believe so much in Mr. Sacco, I'm dropping the 2-1 hammer down and stamping this game with the seal of Goralnik Guarantee! For those of you who didn't pick up what I was putting down, I am 2-1 on guarantees. This afternoon, I will climb to 3-1 on the backs of the North Haven Indians.
You do not want to miss this one! Watch it with the play-by-play from Coach DeMaio on our WELI.COM webpage.