Working Overtime

Well, that was about 41 more minutes spent in a rink than what I expected this weekend.

First, there was last night. Does anyone out there still think this series with Victoriaville will be a cakewalk? Even if you break through their 1-3--------1 (the last one is the guy behind the Tigres net) you still have that large mass of humanity (and one hell of a goalie) named Brandon Whitney to contend with. Just to keep score, that's a shutout loss and a win in OT... on a powerplay goal no less. Again, I ask... anyone see a dominating Moncton win coming anytime soon? I just hope to see a win in Victo between now and Friday to get the series back to Moncton.

I mentioned before this series that if something was to happen to Dimitrij Jaskin, this series would become infinitely more difficult for the Cats. When I said that, I was thinking something along the lines of injury or suspension (which ironically, could be coming as I'll discuss in a little bit). I wasn't expecting the piece of Velcro posing as a hockey player known as Carl-Antoine Delisle to enter the equation. Yannick Jean has his team playing very systematic hockey. So systematic in fact that when the Cats won a defensive zone faceoff in the first period last night, the Tigres retreated into the 1-3-1 immediately as if the linesman had dropped a grenade instead of a puck in the faceoff circle. Another part of the plan was for Delisle to pull a page from the book of Kory Baker and follow Jaskin around the ice like a lost puppy dog. Essentially, thanks to this ploy, Jaskin is not a factor, although I would love to see the big guy start to gravitate more towards the middle of the ice, taking a second Tigre check with him as well as creating more room out there for a puck carrier like Danault or Veilleux, as he did at least once in the first period. That doesn't happen alot, though. And look at the results. It's not hard to figure out who the key cog on the Wildcats roster is. Yannick Jean just happens to be the first coach to key in on him to this degree.

Speaking of Yannick, he's apparently not happy with the refs or the Wildcats game play over the course of the first two games. I have to admit, he has a point to a degree. The game was not well officiated, with a couple of very dangerous plays not penalized in order to seemingly make up for earlier, borderline calls. As well, I wouldn't be surprised if Jaskin is suspended for some amount of time after the run he took at a Victoriaville player (who it was exactly escapes me at the moment) in overtime. The hit was high and clearly charging. It was actually very reminiscent of the hit Jaskin laid out on Ryan MacKinnon against Rimouski last month, except this one wasn't from behind. With all that being said, Jean is off the mark in three regards. The amount of "head hunting" the Cats are "employing" is not nearly as severe as he makes it sound. Although the officiating was subpar, it was subpar for both clubs. Finally, his comments that Whitney "had to be good" because of the powerplay chances afforded Moncton is clearly the remarks of a person who is not thinking before he speaks. Case in point: the overtime period. Before the eventual winner (admittedly on the powerplay), the Cats were pressing very heavily in Victoriaville territory while playing five on five. In one sequence, I counted six Wildcat shots on goal and no less than three quality chances in a continuous even strength sequence that lasted about a minute and a half. Of the 16 Wildcat shots in overtime, I'll take a guess and say at least 12 came while even up and 8-10 were of the "dangerous" variety.

Jean is a great coach who's come a long way in this league. However, there are still times when he has to remember to hold his tongue. I can understand at least part of his frustration and in a few regards, his complaints are justified. That being said, he went too far with his comments. If he's trying to deflect attention away from his team's loss, he's going about it the wrong way. The league should - and no doubt will - step in a reprimand the Tigres bench boss accordingly.

Game 3 goes down Tuesday night at the hockey rink that looks from the outside like it should be housing a furniture store, le Colisee Desjardins. Play like they did last night and the Wildcats should control their own destiny. As well, catching Brandon Whitney on an off day would go a long way... I'm not particularly holding my breath on that, though.



Meanwhile in Dieppe, the Commandos were such a fan of overtime, they decided to play it for the better part of two periods. They were also a fan of not going home for the summer either, as Mark Simpson proved to be the hero of the day on offense, accounting for all of the Commandos scoring in their 2-1 victory over Woodstock in Game 4. This series has been a Bizzaro World of sorts for Dieppe, a team that was full marks in five on five situations all season long while dealing with sometimes inconsistent special teams play. In this series, five on five action has made all the difference. And until today, it was not a positive difference for the Commandos.

Today was just a good old fashioned playoff battle, a thoroughly entertaining contest for those who made their way to the rink. The Commandos proved to themselves all over again that they could hang with the Slammers on even terms, working their man on man defensive assignments with great effectiveness. Special teams remained a strong point however, as Dieppe ran their penalty kill to a perfect 16/16 in the series, boxing out Woodstock in outnumbered situations with precision. Like the Wildcats, they too were afforded a powerplay opportunity in overtime (actually, a 5 on 3, the first time I've ever seen that happen to a team that deep into overtime) and made no mistake when given the chance.

Then there was the effort between the pipes.

I think most people felt before this series that if there was one thing the Commandos didn't have to worry about, it was the play of Connor Wilkinson. Unfortunately, over the course of the first two games, it became the primary concern. So much so, that Alex St-Arnaud got the start for game 3 in Woodstock on Friday night. Today, it was back to Connor... and for Connor, it was back to business. The 19 year old simply put up his best game of the season. The guy who was in nets for Game 2 was fighting a losing battle... as well as fighting the puck. He was not reading the play well and was having a very tough time tracking the puck. He just didn't look comfortable out there. Today, Connor Wilkinson looked like he could've gone five overtimes. Facing elimination, trying to redeem himself and his teammates and up against a formidable counterpart in Simon-Pier Chamberland (who was no less brilliant for the Slammers today), to say the Commandos netminder had a tall order to fill today would be an understatement. It wasn't pretty at times, but it was effective. And it was more than enough. And if he can do the same on Tuesday night in Woodstock, maybe I have to leave my Thursday night open.

I can't say that would bother me. I'd probably just be sitting at home with a rum and coke otherwise anyway.