Congratulations Trenton Titans! No, I'm not off my rocker, I know the outcome of Game Six of the Northern Conference Finals. However, I chose to focus on what the Trenton Titans organization and players have accomplished over the past eight months! Geoff Berman, Brian McKenna, and the rest of the Titans organization assembled a first year hockey franchise for the city of Trenton that we all should be proud of! An organization that finished its inaugural season with a 37-29-4 record despite the constant strain of player call-ups and injuries. Not bad for a team that was picked for last place in their division by most of the media covering the ECHL at the start of the season.

We should be proud of coaches Bruce Cassidy, Mike Haviland, and Kjell Samuelsson who pulled together dozens of talented players and molded them into an ECHL contender. We should be proud of the Titans players who swept the heavily favored Richmond Renegades in the Northern Conference Quarterfinals and rallied from behind to upset the Hampton Roads Admirals in the Semi-Finals. We should be proud of the team that broke the top-seeded Peoria Rivermen's undefeated playoff run in the Northern Conference Finals with two hard-fought come-from-behind victories. We should be proud of the team that got closer to the Kelly Cup than 24 other teams this season! It's certainly okay to have WANTED more from the Trenton Titans in the playoffs, they set the bar pretty high for themselves. It would be selfish for us to have EXPECTED more. Congratulations to the dozens of players who were Trenton Titans for the 1999/2000 season! We hope to see some of you back in a Titans jersey next season and expect to see many of you on AHL or IHL rosters in October. Congratulations Titans, Job Well Done!

He led the Titans offense at the start of the season and again during their playoff run: Cail MacLean is the Titanic's Titan of the Month for April! The inaugural season of the Trenton Titans finishes right wear it started with Cail MacLean earning our Titan of the Month honors. Just like he was during the first few months of the regular season, Cail was the offensive backbone of the Trenton Titans during their first playoff run. In fourteen games, MacLean notched 10 goals and 5 assists as the Titans upset the Richmond Renegades and Hampton Roads Admirals, and threatened to do the same to the Peoria Rivermen. Cail finished the postseason with 6 power play goals, 2 game-winning goals, an active 6-game goal scoring streak, and an active 9-game point scoring streak. In the 1st Annual Trenton Titans Fan Awards, a fan poll conducted by The Unofficial Web Site of the Trenton Titans, MacLean was named the Titans' "Most Valuable Player" and "Best Forward". Thanks again Cail for another Titanic effort!

April 6th through May 10th was the most intense 5-weeks of Titans hockey yet !!! The Trenton Titans began the 1999/2000 East Coast Hockey League Playoffs with nothing to lose as a sixth-seeded underdog expansion team, already exceeding the expectations set for them at the beginning of their inaugural season. However, the nineteen players on the Titans' postseason roster (and defenseman Chris Feil in spirit) knew they were capable of achieving a higher level of success than first-round elimination. The Titans arrived in Richmond for Game One of the Northern Conference Quarterfinals on April 6th and quickly sent a wake-up call to the rest of the league. Despite being heavily outshot, Trenton notched 3 power play goals (MacLean, Skrobot, Whitchurch) and one even-strengther (Hall) while Taras Lendzyk stood tall against his former team, stopping 39 of 41 shots for the 4-2 victory over the Renegades! Lendzyk stood on his head two nights later at Richmond, making 35 saves as the Trenton Titans shutout the Renegades 3-0 with a pair of goals from Dave Risk and another from Cail MacLean. The mighty Titans and shell-shocked Renegades made the long bus trip north to play Game Three the following night at Sovereign Bank Arena. This time, it was Bujar Amidovski who was magnificent in the net, stopping all 30 Renegades shots for a 2-0 victory. Sergei Skrobot and Stewart Bodtker's goals turned out to be more than enough to finish off Richmond and send the Titans to the Northern Conference Semi-Finals!

While the sixth-seeded Titans were sweeping the third-seeded Richmond Renegades, the fourth-seeded Hampton Roads Admirals narrowly escaped the fifth-seeded Huntington Blizzard 3-2. The Semi-Finals began on April 16th at Hampton Roads with Taras Lendzyk continuing his excellent goaltending with 33 saves on 34 shots. However, Admirals netminder Jan Lasak was one notch better (although he faced 13 fewer shots) and posted a 1-0 shutout over the Titans for a 1-0 series lead. Two nights later, the Admirals staked claim to a first period lead in Game Two, but the Titans came fightin' back with goals from Mike Hall and Scott Bertoli. The game remained tied 2-2 from the second period all the way into the second overtime period when Jerry Keefe notched the game-winner for the Titans at 3:09, knotting the Semi-Finals at one game apiece. Taras Lendzyk recorded his third victory of the playoffs with 38 saves on 40 shots. The game marked Trenton's first victory all season at the Norfolk Scope. Game Three took place two nights later at Sovereign Bank Arena where the Admirals again posted an early lead. Despite goals from Whitchurch, MacLean, and Mader, the Titans were unable to recover from the four goals on 29 shots that the Admirals notched off of Bujar Amidovski. With the 4-3 loss, the Titans were facing playoff elimination for the first time in franchise history.

Game Four of the Semi-Finals began as a tight battle with Risk, Skrobot, and Mader posting goals to offset three by the Admirals in first two periods of play. With a 3-3 tie in the third period, the Admirals were one flick of the wrist away from eliminating the Titans. Trenton, however, was only one flick of the wrist away from evening the series. The Titans heard the rally to arms and blasted three unanswered goals (Whitchurch, Keefe, Risk) into the Admirals nets for a 6-3 victory, outshooting Hampton Roads 50-22 in the game. The series headed back down Interstate 95, not to be decided at the dreaded Norfolk Scope, but instead at the Arc Ice practice facility in front of a sellout crowd of, gulp, 500! Bodtker, Murphy, and Keefe each scored first period goals to give the Titans an early Game Five lead. Taras Lendzyk was atop his game yet again, making 30 saves to protect the lead. On Jerry Keefe's second goal of the game, the Titans cemented a 4-2 victory and completed the upset of the Hampton Roads Admirals in the Northern Conference Semi-Finals!

After nearly a week to reflect on the fine accomplishment of reaching the Northern Conference Finals in their franchise's inaugural season, the Titans arrived at Peoria to face a fearsome foe. The top-seeded Rivermen had diffused the Dayton Bombers in three straight games in the Quarterfinals and tomahawked the Johnstown Chiefs in three games in the Semi-Finals. April 30th was the beginning of the battle of David and Goliath. The never-say-die attitude of the Trenton Titans was readily apparent as they battled back from 3-0 and 6-3 deficits to take Game One down to the wire. Despite their valiant efforts, the Titans could not gain the upperhand on the Rivermen who managed to blast seven goals past a previously stellar Taras Lendzyk for the 7-6 victory. The Rivermen offense didn't miss a beat, returning for seven more goals against Trenton goaltending in Game Two. This time, Cail MacLean and Jerry Keefe were the only Titans able to find the net and Trenton fell 7-2.

There was no doubt that Trenton's hole was pretty deep as the team traveled back home for Game Three. The Rivermen remained a pristine 8-0 in the postseason and the Titans seemed to be running out of gas. As Game Three got underway at Sovereign Bank Arena, one thing was clear: the bleeding had stopped. The Rivermen offense that had posted 7 goals in each of the first two games was suddenly running into a brick wall named Bujar Amidovski. As the third period began, it also became clear that Peoria wouldn't need seven goals for another victory as they clung to a 1-0 lead. Jerry Keefe's game-tying goal early in the period made it clear that one goal just wouldn't cut it! The fightin' Titans sent Game Three into overtime where Cail MacLean delivered the game-winner just thirty seconds after the puck dropped. At last, the undefeated playoff run of the Peoria Rivermen was tarnished!

The Peoria Rivermen were not about to allow the underdog Titans the pleasure of tying the series in Game Four with an opportunity to take the series lead at home. The dormant Rivermen offense erupted for five goals against the Titans en route to a 5-2 Game Four victory. Once again, the Trenton Titans found themselves on the brink of playoff elimination. Game Five began with an early Peoria goal to silence the Sovereign Bank Arena crowd. The 1-0 Rivermen lead carried over into the third period with less than twenty minutes separating the Titans from elimination. Throughout Sovereign Bank Arena, one message was still made crystal clear by the fans: "We Believe!" Once again, Jerry Keefe was there to save the day for Trenton, notching the game-tying goal to bring the crowd back to life. Once again, Cail MacLean followed Keefe's heroics to give Trenton the victory. MacLean notched a power play goal and an empty-netter while Taras Lendzyk completed his tally of 39 saves for the 3-1 Titans victory! If the Titans were not going to overcome this latest foe, they weren't about to let elimination happen in front of their home crowd.

Game Six commenced on May 10th at Peoria, with the Trenton Titans fighting for a spot in East Coast Hockey League lore as the comeback kids. As the Rivermen posted a 1-0 first period lead, both teams knew how little it meant with Trenton's track record. But Peoria broke open a 4-2 lead in the second period and held tight to their lead as the expansion Titans battling for one last reprieve. As the seconds ticked away on the scoreboard, the reality that the Titans were simply outmatched finally began to settle in. There was no need for the Titans to bow their heads as the final horn sounded on the Northern Conference Finals. Few can help being impressed by the phenomenal accomplishments of the Trenton Titans in their first season!

BUBBA'S BRAGGIN' RIGHTS And you thought that Bubba was as crazy as a mud bug when things didn't go his way in the Wildcard Round of the ECHL Playoffs. Sure, I got off to a slower start than a Southern drawl, but in the end Bubba was a bit smarter than y'all thought. Bubba said them fightin' Titans would make it to the Northern Conference Finals when even their local paperboys said they wouldn't make it past the Renegades in the Quarterfinals. And Bubba even said they would lose in the Conference Finals despite what his pesky Yankee cousins like the webmaster said. Okay, I'll have to eat some crow (with a little bit of tabasco of course) and say that I wuz dead wrong about them Peoria Rivermen. But just looky here at the Southern Conference where Bubba predicted a Southern Conference Finals between the Lousiana IceGators and the Greenville Grrrowl. Three outta four Conference Finals teams: Bubba has some braggin' rights!

KELLY CUP FINALS One outta two ain't too shabby for pickin' the Kelly Cup Finals! Them Rivermen sure are somethin', but let's see them try to pilot their lil' tugboat on the Mighty Mississippi down in the Bayou! The Louisiana IceGators are gonna swim upstream and have themselves a lil' ol' feast in Peoria! Ya think those Yankee Rivermen stand a squirrel's chance at a Bayou Barbeque against my Cajun 'Gators? The Rivermen will be lucky to win a single game while the 'Gators are nappin' from their feast! IceGators in Five is Bayou Bubba's Fearless Playoff Prediction for this year's East Coast Hockey League Kelly Cup Championship!