I remember the things that were being said going into Montreal last season. "Has he ever had a good tournament?"; Will he ever score the'big' goal?"; And my favorite: "Will he be focusing on offense or defense this year?".And truth be told, he answered all of those questions. It was by far his best tournament he ever had. He scored when we really needed the goals, he created some turnovers in the offensive zone and even had a big shootout goal. With Griff, he was probably our most productive player in that tournament. The Saugus success had finally translated.
But sadly in just a few short months the perception has changed. He has become the man 'running' around with cement bricks on his feet. The one time sniper has lost his edge. Its official. Saying he has lost a step is underselling it.
But to me, the scariest part of what we have witnessed is the lack of results we have seen with his right hand man. They used to be the most dominant pair we had. The chemistry was unmatched. But the combination has combined for what, a couple goals all year?
Its time for a shakeup. Saugus' Toast is better than this. He has more in the tank than this.
I think.
Call it rust, call it lack of confidence or even call it competition. It doesn't matter. We all know you should be able to carry our scoring, at least a little. We have all seen you be better than this. The last two weeks should be your wakeup call. If not, this is it! (Micheal Jackson style)
No more excuses. Excuses are weak. We know you have better to offer than what you've given. Prove me right.
"3 and 7. And its the best looking 3 and 7 I have ever seen!"
Ok, on to more positive things. Maybe..
Last night was a fantastic win. A win that, quite frankly, we needed badly. Winning really is a great feeling isnt it?
We were short handed. The only thing we had going for us is that we had Brett's moral support from the sideline. And we still came through. Hats off to Borges for lasting for almost the entire game without subbing. And Jared, I loved that block, how WPR didnt mention that is disgraceful. But instead of rehashing yesterday's win, I'd rather look ahead to what needs to be fixed. Despite all of our faults, we can play with anyone in this league. Let's play to win something baby!
We got the win, but we have to admit we were somewhat fortunate. We scored 3 quick goals and did nothing else for the rest of the day except sit on the lead. Guys, Icing has its value, especially when we lack subs. But, I think all of us fall into this trap of "lets ice it and we will be ok". Icing it just gives the other team a free entry into our zone, and lets face it we have times where we couldn't get the ball out of our zone to save our lives. The truth is the best way to protect the lead is to make plays. Making Passes. Taking shots. Playing smart hockey. Thats how you protect leads. And I know we cant do any of those things and it's easier said than done, but icing it isn't the only option. Though, it's better than forcing something. My point is if you give teams enough "free" entries into our zone they will score eventually. Especially when you consider the way our defense and goalies have played.
Passing, grrhh. Not to sound like Ron but we need to shoot more. And it does sound like a funny thing to say when we out shoot every team we play, but we need to be more aggressive with our shots. Now, Im not saying we should take the Nick Burton slapshot happy way of shooting, but we seem to burn ourselves with that extra pass at least a few times a week. In the long run, aggressive play is not the quality that will hurt us. Its the indecisiveness.
Is Borges coming back on d?
Bye week coming up. Let's clean up our game and kick some butt in 2 weeks.
19 comments:
Steak and eggs nick! Good recap.
I'm in for Saturday, let's get Johnny a billion goals and he'll be back.
And did everyone else have their cell phone explode when jb sent his text?
That was an exhausting text to send! I had to send it in three parts because my phone exploded when I went to send it. I think we all have smart phones with e-mail. I might have to go with that from now on.
Steak and Eggs!!!
3 parts!? I literally got 15 text messages. lol.
yuck, a couple spelling errors in there...i should have proof read.
My cell phone exploded too.....
I could play on Sat as well, but it would have to be in the afternoon.
In my defense I had a slight hangnail on my pinky finger so......what do you expect!?!?
I'm in for Saturday! Anytime works but football all day (yes jared every single football game is on Saturday) and Pats are on at one. Just saying but I'll do whatever!
Nick and Brett - I will attempt to explain this once more. The reason is one of two things: 1. I have completely lost all ability. 2. I haven't adapted to playing in Dracut.
Lets forget number 1 since I strongly doubt that's the case and if it is then we're toast anyway.
So what's different? First, a bigger rink. I haven't gotten used to the extra running yet. Even playing in Saugus it takes a few weeks to get conditioned for running for me. This will take longer due to the bigger rink and the fact that the pace is quicker.
Secondly, I have been late each week and havent had a chance to shoot beforehand, especially while running. So when I am shooting and the ball is rolling off of my stick, that to me is rust.
To me, thats the problem. I am still in position, still getting open. Still playing well defensively. Its just a matter of getting my offensive game down. You can look at that as excuses, thats up to you. Because there's either reasons like i mentioned as to why i can't take a simple wrist shot anymore, or i simply have lost all hockey skills.
"Lets forget number 1 since I strongly doubt that's the case and if it is then we're toast anyway."
Seriously? Our success as a TEAM hinges on you? Look, i know Im not arguing from a position of strength (we are 3 and 7) but thats so delusional. We won this past week without Brett, we have won without jared. Those two players have been more valuable than you have been. You're not like taking Kobe off the lakers and neither are they. We win as a team and lose as a team.
And look, you're a valuable player. We're not where we are because of you. We're 3 and 7 because of your bad play, my bad play and everyone else too. We all can improve.
But seriously no one is bigger than the team.
Nick, that's not my point. In fact, you're proving my point. We have very few highly skilled offensive players as it is. Take out any of us and the task becomes that much more difficult. It's unrealistic and probably impossible for two or three people to carry the offense solely. So it's not that I am saying if it's simply me not playing well then you have no chance. Take out any of the top four or five guys offensively and it becomes very hard to win.
Stupid iPad cut off my closing sentence. The only way for us to win is having everyone playing well.
FYI, Steve and his crew can't make thi Saturday, so everyone else needs to let me know if they can make it for us to play.
So John why has everyone else adapted faster than you to dracut? You've played in what, 7 games now? Why is ron, at the age of 43, able to come in and be one of our best players there?
And don't say because he plays ice hockey once a week. If anything that would hurt him according to your "change of surface" theory.
You are making excuses. Why are you the only one with rust? I don't get it. I dont get why you cant just say to yourself after one or two bad shots or plays "hey, i have to do something different" instead of saying "well this game is a waste cause i didn't get to shoot in warm ups and this rink is 10sq ft bigger than saugus and i'm getting winded from standing in the slot"
Why cant you make in game adjustments? Why does everything have to rely on warm ups before games? You are the only one apparently who warms himself up before the game. We all shoot to warm the goalie up, not to remind ourselves how to run and shoot.
All it is, is 2 bad games in a row. You're not above having slumps none of us are and thats exactly what you're in, a slump. If no practice is whats making your shot so terrible, whats making your passes awful? you've never practiced passing before in warm ups. 3 weeks ago you were making good passes without practicing them and while only playing once a week.
I don't know why i keep posting. It's not like you'll answer any of these questions like a man. I don'tw want answers to any of them i just want you to read them and answer them to yourself. But i'm sure you're just gonna nitpick again because you're thinking "how dare someone be critical of me!!" Just keep leaning on your crutch of "poor me i didn't get to warm up".
If you think you need practice then we're all trying to help you by playing this saturday. So make it happen if you really think lack of practice is your only problem. I'm sure i could get bobby and darrin for net or i'd play net worst case. Then again practicing in Saugus won't help cause its surface is way different than Dracut.
hey brett, I am done discussing it. I have stated my reasons, and at this point don't care if you believe it or not. I've stated i had a bad week offensively, so i don't know what else you are looking for. Positioning i am fine, hockey sense wise i am fine (not making stupid passes leading to turnovers when there is an empty net that can seal the game). It has simply been shooting the puck, and a few bad passes - there have been plenty of good passes. But shooting wise i have not felt comfortable in Dracut yet.
My shot will improve when i start shooting more and my conditioning improves. As for adjustments, i have already decided to rush the ball more and actually felt decent with that on a couple of rushes last game. If my shot follows then my offense will improve quite a bit.
Johnny that was a low blow. I had already said i was feeling rusty before the game and of course when i'm rusty i forget how to shoot on net. You should know exactly what i'm talking about. Funny thing is on that play, i also sent a crappy pass to Jared who was covered. Just like you.
But there's the difference between me and you Johnny. I don't look for excuses. I see the problem and i just fix it instead of saying "oh if only i took one more shot in warm ups ".
Invest in brillo pads Johnny
No. Nick can see his own mistakes. He doesn't make excuses or try to justify everything he does wrong. He's safe
Hey, I just want to know one thing...
Are we playing on Sat or not??
BTW way Frendon thats a pretty crappy theory. It takes 2 to argue, so why would i argue with someone who's not posting?
You're great at stating the obvious.
And i started off not trying to argue with Johnny. I was just trying to get him to stop making excuses and just see his past 2 games for what they were, bad games. But, just like you also do, he just made excuses and comes up with justifications as to why he made bad plays instead of just saying it was a bad game, nothing more, and moving on.
remember when Johnny had a bad game in Montreal because Jared didn't get him breakfast?
well, that breakfast thing was all Jared's fault!!! I didnt eat either. lol.
John, I would argue that you and everyone else's D has been awful. Including me. Standing still is not good d.
Occupying space is generally the last skill to deteriorate so i can see how that's something people hold on to, but its not a skill we want from someone playing d.
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