Can't Break Them

Commandos turn the tables on the Bearcats, handing Truro just their fourth regulation loss of the season, 2-1 the final. For a team that likes to play the run and gun game, Dieppe tightened up about as efficiently as you could ask for, working as a five man unit very effectively, not running around and consistently backing each other up in all three zones without overcomitting.

You name it, the Commandos faced it. Right off the bat was the fact that they were up against the #2 team in the country, a team that pretty much demolished them 8-2 in Truro last weekend. Then - and I hate saying this only because I would never want their job - there was the consistently inconsistent officiating that actually had both head coaches asking for explanations more than once and being none too pleased with the answers they were getting. I also have an issue with a coach demanding his players "give no respect" to the opposition, as was heard from the mouth of a certain member of the Truro coaching contingent this afternoon (classy stuff, I know). If ever the a team felt like the road team at home, the Commandos were it today... and in a way, they played what many broadcasters like to call the "solid road game".

The four key things that brought the Commandos the win were the types of things seasoned veteran teams - like Truro - often take advantage of to win games of this nature. First off, in a game that afforded Dieppe few solid offensive chances, the Commandos converted when they needed it most. Secondly, they were also rock solid on special teams, going 1/2 with the man advantage while going a perfect 4/4 on the PK. On the one man advantage where the Bearcats generated their best scoring chances of the afternoon, Connor Wilkinson was there in spades. For that matter, the third key factor in general was Wilkinson - today's first star - who stood tall when called upon, making himself look both very big and very confident in the Commando cage. Lastly, they did not lose composure at any time in this game. When the calls weren't going their way, when the Bearcats started to press heavily in certain stages of the second and third, and after the Bearcats scored to make things exceptionally interesting midway through in the third, they adjusted and regrouped.

They also had a couple of breaks go their way, with the Bearcats hitting no less than three posts/crossbars and coming dangerously close to tying things up with a loose puck behind Wilkinson that the collapsing Commandos barely managed to clear out of harms' way at the last possible second. You need a little luck to win sometimes and Dieppe was rewarded for their hard work with just that, enabling them to leave the ice for their last game of 2012 with their biggest victory of the season.

Oh... and did I mention that this victory came without their number one defenceman in the lineup? Merry Christmas, indeed.

Dieppe is now off until January 3rd, when they travel an hour up the road to face the Miramichi Timberwolves, aka "that team that jumps up and bites everyone in the ass". The turnaround the T-Wolves have made in just one year - from missing the playoffs last year to second in the division at this point - has been nothing short of remarkable. With the "real" season coming up starting in early 2013, how will Miramichi respond to the heat being turned up a notch? For that matter, how will the Commandos? We start to get these answers in two and a half weeks.

Buckle up... we're in for an interesting ride in the MHL.