Last night's 5-4 Val d'Or victory over Moncton last night was flat out frustrating for any number of reasons. If I could do some power point presentation or bring out the sock puppets, I would find a flashier way to explain it. Unfortunately, Blogger has yes to master the "sock puppet application feature", a travesty in this, the 21st century, so point form it is.
- The shots were lopsided and the territorial advantage was in the Cats favor. Nothing more frustrating than popping eight past your opponent one night then running into a hot goaltender the next. I mean, when one sucks they're all supposed to suck, right? The confidence from the night before (8-3 win vs. Rouyn-Noranda) was clearly there early on, with the Cats taking an early 1-0 lead and a 7-0 advantage in shots in the initial stages. Then it got a little tougher, not only because Francois Tremblay made a few excellent saves, but...
- Passing wasn't as crisp on a few occasions last night. Want to know what gives me fits when I'm watching a game? Bad passing... and last night wasn't the worst I've seen, but it wasn't the best. The game against the Huskies was a lesson in proper passing procedure as given by the Wildcats. Last night was a regression... soft passes, passes just off the mark, no look passes, a couple when two players were almost perfectly parallel (and standing still), and trying to move it up with two or three opposing sticks in the lane. Not every pass is going to be tape to tape, but at least give yourself a fighting chance and be aware of who the pass is heading towards before you dish it off... and do everything you can to make it a pass your intended receiver can do something with. It got a little nonchalant at times last night.
- There was seemingly less dump and chase in this game... as if Moncton - a bigger, physical team in their own right - was trying to take that game away from an equally physical Val d'Or team. This edition of the Wildcats plays better when they dump, chase and cycle... protecting the puck with their bodies and grinding it out along the wall until an opening appears for a scoring opportunity. That wasn't happening as much last night.
- Val d'Or shut down the Cats PP. There were not many moments in that game where there wasn't two white and green shirts getting very up close and personal with the guys on the point for the Cats. They also played their angles about as well as you can for being that far out to challenge. Once again, to go from 5/8 on the PP one night to 0/5 the next can be frustrating... but as Danny Flynn has said before, special teams come and go. The Foreurs made sure they went away quietly last night.
- Simply put, Val d'Or capitalized on probably 80% of their breaks in the offensive zone. I was watching them in warmup last night and although I'm familiar with the players on the roster, none of them - save Anton Zlobin - stick out as a star player in this league. It's definitely scoring by committee, as evidence by their having 5 players with at least 11 goals so far this season. No big names, just a group of decent players who consistently capitalize. And last night they converted on almost everything... and at the best possible times as well.
That felt like the type of game the Cats probably win 8 times out of 10... however, it would probably be one of those games where if they did win, it wouldn't be quite as satisfying given some of the finer points mentioned above. Please note the word "referee" was not mentioned once in relation to the outcome of that game in the above synopsis (that being said, the third Val d'Or goal should've been waved off in my opinion... but at least we got to see a mini-meltdown from Alex Dubeau. I love goalie meltdowns!).
On another note, the Foreurs' blueliner (and Fredericton product) Matt Murphy is quickly becoming one of my favorite defensemen in this league. He does not look at all look like a 17 year old, both physically and in terms of game play. As well, I wish the Cats could find a way to get Kris Hodge in uniform on a nightly basis. Given the makeup of this team, I totally understand why he's sitting out, but for my money, he just does too much out there to keep him in the stands, and I will be disappointed if he (or Stephen Johnson) get shipped out at Christmas if this becomes the really gross "go for it at any and all costs" season I'm afraid it might become. Finally, to all those who picked Kyle Haas to score (and unbelievably, I do know one person who did)... hope you bought your lottery tickets for last night.
Elsewhere, the Commandos went into Campbellton and quickly built a four goal lead after 20, cruising to an 8-4 win, their third in a row. The Chiasson/Graham/Blanchard line kept tearing it up with a combined 12 points (4 each) and captain Ryan Langan popped two for the cause as well. After a bit of a lull a couple weeks back, Dieppe appears to be heating up once again... as evidenced by their bus apparently catching fire on the way home last night as per head coach Jeff Leblanc's twitter. Sounds like everyone is alright... probably just really tired and cranky this morning. I know I'm always tired and cranky after a drive from Campbellton... and that's taking all fires out of the equation. Commandos get back at it Sunday at 2:30 at the AJL against Bridgewater.
Also, the Monctonian continues today with one more round robin game followed by playoff action. Semis and finals go tomorrow. Crowded stores and parking lots, or watching some great midget players in action? I know what I'd choose... if I could... stupid grocery list.
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