Bosom

The Great Debate

You can polish a turd..it's still a turd.

You can dress a pig up in tux...it's still a pig.

You can shake up the lines all you want...we still suck at hockey.

Optimizing the lines has always been one of the greatest arguments surrounding the team. Do you go top heavy? Do you balance out the lines considering each player's weaknesses and strengths? It's an argument that you probably found yourself on both sides of.

It's started out with each player suggesting their lines, various suggestions came in, all except the lines we had originally planned on. The lines of Brett-Eric-Nick and Jared-Griff-JB was on no ones radar. No one. Not a single player thought it was the best way to go. Think of that! This was what we were going with. We were planning on going for a championship with lines that no one believed in. Typical Alliance.

So what lines did we go with? The lines the Captain wanted of course.

We were going top heavy baby!

The results spoke for themselves on Saturday, but how would it fair when the competition improved?

Rough Start

This game was, in a lot ways, the wake up call. It was the first game where a real sweat had to be broken. The first game where that "oh crap, we could lose" feeling entered your mind. Not that the game was ever in doubt despite being tied at the half.

If we played this team 100 times we probably win 95 of them. The story wasn't really a potential loss, it was a question of whether it was a sign of things to come. The first line, for the first time, wasn't dominating. For the first time they showed the Alliance defect..the lack of finishing skills.

We have two lines?

Thankfully, this was the only game where the second line seemed to offensively click as an entire unit. Getting 3 gritty goals from Griff, 2 skill goals from Eric and a, um, fortunate goal out of Nick. The second line was on fire.

But I know what you're thinking. Look at the box score Nick! You're biased because you're on the second line. The first line had excellent production. 3 goals from Jared, 2 from Brett and 1 from JB. They even scored on their first shift, yet again.

Two lines. 6 goals apiece. Balance. Perfection.

Not so fast.

The truth is while the second line held their weight offensively, they also played shut down defense, at least before the game got out of hand. That's why this game became the second line's game. They saved us until the top line hit its stride again...which, when they did, blew the doors wide open.

Frustrating Refs

After a bad turnover by Nick, the other team made a quick shot on Darrin that resulted in a rebound. After a battle in front of the net that culminated with a diving save by Nick, Griff charged at the net pushing it way off it's normal set position. It basically put the net facing parallel to the side boards.

That's normal for the ref not to blow the whistle, right?

Instead, he allowed the other team to tap in an easy "no angle" goal. And it stood. My poor plus/ minus.

In the End

This game will be forgotten in the long run. A 12-5 game in the second round? Big deal. But, to me, this game was the stepping stone. It was that game that woke the bear. It was the game that introduced the fight necessary for taking that trophy. No let downs.

60 minutes away from 7-0 and a championship.

We knew it was only getting tougher from here. The focus and determination was on.

Next: The Semis