Alan#35

Well, playoffs are finally over, and boy was it an interesting ride.

So we finished spring league in 7th place. Our scoring was seriously lacking, and the defense were making simple mistakes that change games completely. Turnovers at our blue line when the puck carrier is the last man back (I hate that), defense trying for some odd reason to block the shot but not doing so and screening me instead, noone watching the slot (high, mid, or low), allowing passes through the middle of our own zone, defense pinching in to try to help the offense and instead causing a breakaway or 2 or 3 on 0 or 1, and my absolute biggest pet peeve: allowing guys to walk the puck out from the corner to the face-off dot and then walking it right in nice and close for a shot. I don't mind getting peppered with shots, in fact I love it. I don't play hockey to sit on my arse all game, and watch, so I definately picked the right team. I just like to face shots that I have a chance on.

I insist I'm a good goalie, but my GAA simply did not reflect that. With a 5-7-2-0 record and an abysmal 4.86 GAA, it would appear there were none much worse than me. We finished 7th place, and a 2 and out seemed likely for our playoff run.

But then, something interesting happened. For some odd reason, my team actually started listening to me. My biggest gripe was to at least have two D skate back with the play. Most of the opposing goals come off the rush, so if we could just have some defense in that area, I told them I would take care of the rest, and they finally listened! (It only took 1.5 years of course, but better late than never!)

We exploded in to the double elimination formatted playoffs. Our first game was against the 2nd place team. And of course, I had to catch a brutal cold just a day or two before this. And of course, the game couldn't have started worse. They came out firing, and got 3 goals in the first 5 minutes. Two were hard stops even at my prime, but the third, well I will say a rookie could've had it. I needed to respond in a big way if we had any business winning this. And I did, and so did my team. Those were the only 3 I let in, despite the ensuing shooting gallery the other team put up, and my team came out with a 4 goal effort and an empty netter to win it.

We battled the third place team in a great showdown, and came out on top, 3-2. We might actually make a good run here.

Then the dreaded Badgers came up. This team is dirty, and lived up to their reputation. They throw the body around (Non-contact league), scrum after the whistle, slash, and push everyone around. On top of that, they constantly yell at the refs for every possible missed call against them, and constantly b*tch at any calls made against them. I hate teams like this, and was determined to win this one. We were up 2-1 when I let in a brutal goal, the last brutal goal I would let in in these playoffs I said to myself. I wasn't in VH position, not even expecting the shot off the rush, but sure enough it came. Again, my team responded in a big way, getting a goal in a matter of seconds to crush any momentum swing.

The refs were good, calling everything they saw, and calling the initial penalty, as well as any reactionary penalty. Their hothead goalie could've used a couple calls, but otherwise, it was a well officiated game. A lot of coincidentals, and our powerplay wasn't much of a factor.
The refs had to call the game with 10 seconds left. Way too much rough stuff. Good riddance. Hoped they would lose their 2nd game and be eliminated. Of course, they were not.

With a GAA of 2.33, and a save % around .94, I was feeling good. I was seeing the puck well, my defense were allowing me to see the shot, and they were actually eliminating the cross-ice pass in our zone off the rush. On top of that, they weren't pinching. Oh I sure gave it to the captain. "See? I told you if you don't pinch, we have a better chance of breaking up their play in the neutral zone, and defending the rush in our zone". Oh well, it was all in good fun, and besides, none of that mattered now. We had just beat the team that had won it all in the regular season, in a hard battle of a game, with minimal shots on them. If we could just muster a few more shots on net, we could beat any team we faced in the finals.

To be continued...


By the way, this is my first blog, so feel free to comment on how good or bad it is