Doing the right things at the right times

Welcome to the Meek division standings... is that Tatarnic's forearm on the left?

The Commandos skated away with another two points this afternoon, defeating Campbellton 5-2 and moving nine points ahead of the Tigers in the hunt for the final playoff spot in the Meek. It was a solid win... a few hiccups here and there and some difficulty with exiting the defensive zone, but for the most part, Dieppe was simply the better team and controlled the territorial play. What impressed me more than anything was how the Commandos responded after both Tigers goals. Simply put, they shrugged it off and kicked things into gear, hitting the Campbellton line with speed, distributing the puck with great accuracy and at the same time throwing up a wall at their own blueline.

Danny Chiasson went out and basically did his thing... which is to say he picked up three assists and made life very difficult for the Tigers in all three zones, upping his lead in the MHL scoring race to eight. The first d pairing of puck rusher Alex Clark and puck mover Justin MacDonald kept the game in Dieppe's control for the most part while on the ice, while everyone from 1-18 put in solid efforts to pick up the W. Alex Snow continues to impress by playing the game with a high level of intelligence, a fine mix of skill and physicality and flat out great positioning. Considering he's a 17 year old in a 19/20 year old's league who didn't see a minute of action until last month due to injury, his impact in his first handful of games has been nothing short of impressive. He even popped home the insurance goal to boot... not a bad day at the office, I'd say. When called upon, Connor Wilkinson was there, stopping everything he could, including a pair of big saves in the second period while it was still anyone's game.

Combined with Miramichi's loss in Amherst and Woodstock's win versus Bridgewater, the Commandos remain tied for third in the division, with one point separating the three New Brunswick rivals. One point also separates fifth from eight in the MHL... which means almost every night, there's a crucial game on the docket. When the league is able to sell itself simply through this much parity, everybody wins.

Dieppe heads to the Dartmouth Sportsplex to face the 3-23 Metro Shipbuilders on Tuesday night, in a game that defines the saying "look beyond the standings". Two big questions loom for this matchup; first off, will Dieppe control this game like the rosters dictate they should? Secondly, will this be the Commandos last game at the Dartmouth Sportsplex? In my opinion, if this league has any sense of well being, the answer to the last question, unfortunately, is yes.