All season long, whenever the Woodstock Slammers came to the AJL, win or lose, I was left underwhelmed. Great group on paper, strong organization, a coach who has a wealth of big game experience... but still, a beatable team.
Last night that all changed... for the last forty minutes at least.
The expectation in any sport is that good teams turn it up a notch when things really count. The Slammers were that team last night, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win 6-3 in Game 2 of their Meek Division semi-final series against Dieppe. The Commandos - who lost 6-0 in Game 1 on Saturday night - were full marks in the first period, overcoming an early goal from Woodstock's Ian Lewis and pumping three past Simon-Pier Chamberland. They were seeing alot of ice those first twenty minutes... so much so that the score could've been even more lopsided. The Commandos did a fine job of making things tough on Chamberland - who looked a bit shaky in the first period - jamming into high scoring areas, winning puck battles and forcing the Slammers defense further and further back in their own zone. The were sharp on the breakout as well, with Zack Cahill coming close to widening the Dieppe lead only to miss wide on a breakaway opportunity.
Everything was going well... until the bottom fell out.
The Slammers are good enough in that that they can turn it off and on with the greatest of ease... and once EJ Faust scored on a Dieppe defensive breakdown late in the first, the tide immediately turned in favor of the visitors. The second and third periods saw the Slammers put on an impressive display of the game in all three zones. They used their speed, played through and supported the puck effectively and were about as airtight as you would ever want a team to be in their own zone. The Commandos simply could not adjust. Breakouts weren't as clean, puck support disappeared and the dump and chase - a favorite for Dieppe when entering the offensive zone - was taken away from them at every turn. As the game wore down, so did they. Five unanswered goals (including one empty netter) and a disparity in overall play later and Woodstock was back on the Trans Canada with a comfortable series lead.
So this is where we stand. The Commandos knew going into this series that in order to win four out of seven they would have to defeat Woodstock in their own building at least once... something they could not do during the regular season. Now, they have to do it twice in order to advance. And they have to start with Friday night's game.
I've done alot of thinking regarding this Dieppe squad. I go back in the Fasthockey archives and also replay things in my (admittedly, not always sharp) memory. One of the aspects of this team that always comes to mind is that during the earliest parts of the season, they were still learning to lose in order to learn how to win. During the latter half of the season, I saw a team trying to refine their ability to win... something they became rather efficient at. Now that the playoffs are here, the learning curve gets adjusted again. The overall play is more intense. The compete level ratchets up. And a team at this time of year may not look as beatable as it did in November or December...or even February.
That being said, this game wasn't without it's share of positives for the Commandos. As previously stated, their first period was strong. They were a cohesive unit coming through the neutral zone and into offensive territory. They were backing one another up. There were a few great individual efforts as well, and not just from the guys who's names you always hear, either. Alex Clark (who's skating ability is about as smooth as you could want) was as good in the first period as he was all year. Despite the score, Mathieu Newcomb put together a couple of very impressive shifts towards the end of the game. At the end of the day, you cut your losses and take the good along with you and get ready for the quick turnaround.
Finally, although they are the least experienced of the two teams, I'll say this much. Once the Commandos figure out how to do something, they usually don't forget (doesn't mean they always execute, as seen last night, but they remember). If they can find a way to win Game 3 on Friday night on the road, they can turn this series around. The old adage is that the fourth game is the hardest to win... well, sometimes the third game isn't too damned easy, either. Dieppe has to find a way to make it hard for Woodstock to win. They have to make the Slammers feel some adversity... and not just for 20 or 30 or even 50 minutes. They have to control a game from start to finish. And they have to adjust when needed... just like Woodstock did last night.
The Commandos are facing a team they have beaten this year... and stayed competitive with all throughout the regular season. Now it's time to carry that over to the postseason. The playoffs are a totally different animal in that there's not much time to find a way. Hopefully for Dieppe, two days will be time enough.
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