"Sorry, I Only Caught the Third Period" said most members of the Moncton Wildcats

What can I say about the Cats performance last night against Halifax? They were flying, came out with a ton of emotion, put a big four spot on the board and were full marks for their effort.

That was the third period... as for the first and second...

If you look closely in the background, you can see Cole Holowenko retreating to the bench

Where do you want to start? The weak play with the puck? Failure to read the play without it? Aloof skating? Non-existent penalty kill? Nary a big save through 40 minutes? I guess that covers about everything. Once again, the third line was their best (including an outstanding four goal effort from Chris Lalonde) and in the latter stages of that second period and into the third, lines two, three and four all kicked it up a notch. I was glad to see Danny Flynn recognise this and give them the bulk of the playing time in the third, even when the score drew ever so closer.

I also applaud him for taking the bulk of the team off the bench and back to the room after the first Moncton goal which, of course, caused a delay due to the Teddy Bear Toss promotion. After the Moose scored to make it 3-0 I turned to the person next to me and said "I would have no issue with them rescheduling this teddy bear toss on the fly right now". If ever there was a time when you didn't want a long delay after scoring, that was it. Kudos to Flynn for trying to make the most out of a tricky situation... too bad many key members of his team didn't respond in kind.

Cats are off until Wednesday, when they return to the Coliseum to close off their pre-Christmas schedule against the PEI Rocket... that same PEI Rocket team that plays like the Halifax Mooseheads multiplied by the London Knights every time they face Moncton, for some reason. Does Moncton not get up for PEI (just like it seemed they didn't get up for a severely depleted Mooseheads team last night)? And if so, why? Hopefully this is not a question we're all asking come Thursday morning. I'm of the "somethings got to give" and "build off that third period" mentality... but I could understand why a person would sit in the stands Wednesday night with their eyes partially covered as well.

Meanwhile at the AJL, the Dieppe Commandos close off their 2012 schedule by facing the #3 nationally ranked Truro Bearcats at 2:30PM. Dieppe is looking to both go into their holiday break with a win and avenge an 8-2 loss to the Bearcats last Saturday night. Anyone who enjoyed the play of Patrick Downe during his tenure with the Wildcats (and I would most definitely count myself among them) should make an effort to get to the rink in Dieppe this afternoon as Downe, now a Bearcats dman, makes what will likely be his last swing through the Greater Moncton area as a junior aged player.