Sydney’s Joey Haddad, Swamp Rabbits advance to semifinals
SYDNEY — A Cape Breton hockey player is one step closer to the ECHL’s Kelly Cup.
Joey Haddad of Sydney and the Greenville Swamp Rabbits advanced to the league’s semifinal on Saturday, defeating the Indy Fuel 3-1 in the best-of-five Eastern Conference quarter-final.
The Swamp Rabbits, who are based out Greenville, N.C., opened the playoffs with a 2-0 win over Indy last Tuesday, before taking a 2-0 series lead with a 3-1 victory on Thursday.
The Fuel extended the series with a 3-2 win in Game 3 on Friday. Greenville wrapped up the series with a 3-2 victory on home ice on Saturday.
In four playoff games, Haddad recorded two goals and three points with six penalty minutes and a plus-1 rating. He’s currently tied for second on the team in points with Greg Meireles, Shawn Cameron and Liam Pecararo.
During the regular season, Haddad was fourth in team scoring with 14 goals and 37 points in 62 games. He finished the campaign with 144 shots on goal.
In the other Eastern Conference quarter-final, the Florida Everblades and South Carolina Stingrays series is tied 2-2. Game 5 was played Monday night in Florida but the result was not available at press time.
Meanwhile, in the Western Conference quarter-final, the Allen Americans swept the Utah Grizzlies 3-0, while the Fort Wayne Komets and Wichita Thunder played Game 5 of their best-of-five series on Monday. The result was not available at press time.
A schedule for the semifinals will be released in the coming days.