3 Jared – This kid logged more ice time than everyone else and kept his performance at the same level the whole game. You can see in the videos some nice back checks and diving blocked shots.
2 Johnny – Johnny did indeed provide the scoring in the playoffs that the Alliance were hoping for. Unfortunately, no one else stepped up their game.
1 Darrin – Darrin was by far the Alliances best player last night. But he could only stop so many breakaways, rebounds and open looks. Maybe Bobcat’s philosophy on defense was right. Maybe if the defense had some serious scoring capabilities then it’d be ok to pinch in as much as Borges wants them to, but they don’t, and it cost them. Darrin kept them in it as long as he could.
The D not being able to score was not the problem last nite. We lead the entire league in goals scored even with this lack of scoring from the D.
Here's a thought....Maybe we score more goals last night if some of our best wingers actually PLAYED IN THE GAME.
If they play last night, we easily win. But they didn't/ couldn't/ wouldn't play and it cost us the game. And they let the entire team down in the process. IMO.
Dont turn this into a defense vs offense debate. Billy the defense sucks. Its a combination of things with talent as the foremost reason, but we blow as a group. No way around that.
All four goals were absolute garbage plays that happen but really shouldn't.
The first goal is on a defenseman who ran past a ball that was at a stand still. Apparently that's something that can be done. Though that goal was compounded by our center smelling the daisies instead of playing his position.
The second goal was on two defenseman who decided to cover the same guy. Let's leave the guy in the slot wide open! Wee!!!
The third goal was on a penalty kill that happened because a dman was in the box, warranted or not.
The fourth goal can't be generalized, that's on joe.
That's not to say the offense is anything great either. They may be better than our laughable defense but that's the aids is better than cancer debate, they both stink. Our entire offensive attack last night was gain the blue line and shoot bombs all over the place. It's not horrible, but our time of possession sucks. The best defense is to have control of the ball in the other end of the rink. Eric would have been nice to have.
With that said, I'm sure the next time we play the north stars at 10 pm we will have a full team. Good for us.
Nothing like building something for 6 months and have it collapse like it did on us last night.
It's great to have the Alliance back.
That's not even mentioning the refs that were against us.
talent isn't the foremost reason. especially not in our last game. we were way better team than them. brain farts always effect our players at the wrong times. Billy an Nick and joe are capable defensemen. most on offense are passable. the players playing last night should have beaten that team. its stupid mistakes at the absolute worst time
Im not making this an offense vs defense debate. Obviously our offensive players are better than our defensive players. No question. My only point is dont blame the defense for the loss when offensive players dont even show up.
And Im not trying to single anybody out, but consistancy with guys showing up has been a problem all season. Regular season games are one thing. We all miss them at times. But I just thought that for the playoffs we would have our entire team. Is that too much to ask for?
Thats why this loss is so frustrating. We easily beat that team if everyone plays. Maybe even win the whole thing. Now we will never know. But hey, who cares, right? We always have Saugus hockey to fall back on...
The captain was informed at the beginning of the season of the players availability. Everyone knew Eric wouldnt show. I'm surprised he even played the 4 games that he did. Ron was on vacation last Monday. I dont know why he missed the past 4 weeks though. As far as me, you know you wanted video more than you wanted me to play.
The real point is that the same players that were playing last night for the Alliance had beaten that team before pretty easily. Be mad at the fact that the team underperformed.
You're missing my point. I am not mad we lost the game.
I am just frustrated we cant get guys to commit to playing on a regular basis. I asked JB if we are going to play next season. He just looked at me and said he didnt know. The reason he doesnt know is because we dont have enough guys who want to play.
Maybe I am wrong, but we probably are not playing next season. Thats what I am mad about. Now do you understand?
Billy the problem isn't not having enough guys. Well thats kind of a problem. But the bigger problem is the guys who do want to play aren't top notch players so when JB does crack and allow others to play, it waters down the team alot. So he tries to keep that to a minimum. But in doing so, if 1 or 2 players miss, then it cripples the team. A team which thrives on running the other teams, and with a short bench, they can't do it.
Saugus was the best with 13 guys every week. We didn't have Ron, and Eric missed some weeks but still with 12 other guys you didnt miss them as much.
Is Mike Ward ready yet? Is it time to let Frendon play again?
a Frendon that hasnt played in 6 months doesnt make the cut. but if zack can make the playoff roster after 2 weeks i think Frendon deserves a shot.
Pretty sad that we're this desparate for players. But just think of the possible blogging that could take place.
All kidding aside, if Mike and Frendon want to be on the team I think a few warm up weeks in Saugus wouldn't be a bad idea. When does the next season start in Dracut? Should actually be easier for me to make Mondays when Ariel starts school full time cause i think she'll be in school all day instead of at night.
Sorry to hear the team lost and Brett's prediction of 1 and done came true.
I blame Brett all the way for the loss. He owned that team 3 weeks ago and needed to play in that playoff game.
I know he injured his leg playing ice hockey with me on Friday, but injury or not, IMO Brett would of contributed enough to pull off a victory.
He should of suited up and played D and JB could of focused on offense with Jared.
I watched the tape and I saw several plays where the D rushed the play for the sake of getting the ball out of the zone. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't.
You guys have to understand that 8 of 10 times you have time to look up, survey the ice and then make a hard pass to an open man.
For those 2 times out of 10 you spin around to protect the ball and then work it using the boards.
I have noticed (throughout the season) the D are getting better at moving the ball from D to D to relieve pressure, but now you guys have got to take it up another notch and learn to transition the puck out of the defensive zone to open guys.
This is key if we are going to beat teams consistantly in this league. Sure we'll have some crappy games from time to time, but if we can add a solid transition game to our repertoire of speed and hustle, we become a much more formidable opponent.
I thought those were the North stars we played? Okay then you didn't own that team, but your presence in the lineup would have made the difference between winning and losing... so I still blame you!!!
You should of put Gabe on the bench and made him an honorary coach... would of made Bobcat proud.
Billy, I'm always willing to play. If we wanted to play Saugus / Lawrence / Salem until the next session starts I'm willing to do that too.
As for transition, I think that's been one of our constant weak spots. The D does not have to carry the puck like Bourque out of the zone (although that helps). Instead they need to make quick, accurate passes to the forwards (who in turn need to make sure that they provide a passing lane for the D).
Is it safe to say the post Montreal high we were on is officially over?
I'm sure we will be playing this fall everybody calm down, we need to find another zack who is athletic and wants to play...mike ward should be back too.
Oh Brett where is my head, obviously not in the game... it WAS WPR who said that!
That brings back memories of an old wise friend of mine who had his own take on WPR
He used to refer to him as the "Whackiest Prognosticating Rebel to ever gain the respect of his peers"... "he had the ability to ruffle more ostrich feathers than any person ever could..."
JB since your the captain why don't you chime in & critique each player and tell them what they did good & what you need them to do better this coming season....
Hey guys let's play this Sunday! Mike ward wants to get a game or two in before we start dracut in a few weeks. Zack said he wants to play i think we can get the guys. Let's kick off stats 2012/2013!
Playing Sunday would be fun - where would people want to play this week? Saugus, or one of the outside courts around here (which would probably be 4 on 4 with the size of the court)?
Also, Brett do you know if Darrin or Bobby would want to play net?
1. Both goalies were excellent. I hope to have more matchups like that this year.
2. Excellent job by our D - mainly Nick and Joe (the other one) and Brett in game 2. They definitely helped us to hang on long enough for the win - in the face of the constant offensive onslaught by the dark team.
3. The new guys looked pretty good. Confident with the puck, the right level of physical play, etc. From our team's perspective, I didn't think that they looked out of place.
4. Billy has developed some of that Bobcat style of defense where if you beat him he just grabs you - subtle enough to not get called though.
5. Overall, just a couple of really good games - the best we've had there in at least a year or more.
65 comments:
7-30-12
Just As I Thought
3 Jared – This kid logged more ice time than everyone else and kept his performance at the same level the whole game. You can see in the videos some nice back checks and diving blocked shots.
2 Johnny – Johnny did indeed provide the scoring in the playoffs that the Alliance were hoping for. Unfortunately, no one else stepped up their game.
1 Darrin – Darrin was by far the Alliances best player last night. But he could only stop so many breakaways, rebounds and open looks. Maybe Bobcat’s philosophy on defense was right. Maybe if the defense had some serious scoring capabilities then it’d be ok to pinch in as much as Borges wants them to, but they don’t, and it cost them. Darrin kept them in it as long as he could.
I usually agree with WPR, but not this time.
The D not being able to score was not the problem last nite. We lead the entire league in goals scored even with this lack of scoring from the D.
Here's a thought....Maybe we score more goals last night if some of our best wingers actually PLAYED IN THE GAME.
If they play last night, we easily win. But they didn't/ couldn't/ wouldn't play and it cost us the game. And they let the entire team down in the process. IMO.
Dont turn this into a defense vs offense debate. Billy the defense sucks. Its a combination of things with talent as the foremost reason, but we blow as a group. No way around that.
All four goals were absolute garbage plays that happen but really shouldn't.
The first goal is on a defenseman who ran past a ball that was at a stand still. Apparently that's something that can be done. Though that goal was compounded by our center smelling the daisies instead of playing his position.
The second goal was on two defenseman who decided to cover the same guy. Let's leave the guy in the slot wide open! Wee!!!
The third goal was on a penalty kill that happened because a dman was in the box, warranted or not.
The fourth goal can't be generalized, that's on joe.
That's not to say the offense is anything great either. They may be better than our laughable defense but that's the aids is better than cancer debate, they both stink. Our entire offensive attack last night was gain the blue line and shoot bombs all over the place. It's not horrible, but our time of possession sucks. The best defense is to have control of the ball in the other end of the rink. Eric would have been nice to have.
With that said, I'm sure the next time we play the north stars at 10 pm we will have a full team. Good for us.
Nothing like building something for 6 months and have it collapse like it did on us last night.
It's great to have the Alliance back.
That's not even mentioning the refs that were against us.
talent isn't the foremost reason. especially not in our last game. we were way better team than them. brain farts always effect our players at the wrong times. Billy an Nick and joe are capable defensemen. most on offense are passable. the players playing last night should have beaten that team. its stupid mistakes at the absolute worst time
Im not making this an offense vs defense debate. Obviously our offensive players are better than our defensive players. No question. My only point is dont blame the defense for the loss when offensive players dont even show up.
And Im not trying to single anybody out, but consistancy with guys showing up has been a problem all season. Regular season games are one thing. We all miss them at times. But I just thought that for the playoffs we would have our entire team. Is that too much to ask for?
Thats why this loss is so frustrating. We easily beat that team if everyone plays. Maybe even win the whole thing. Now we will never know. But hey, who cares, right? We always have Saugus hockey to fall back on...
The captain was informed at the beginning of the season of the players availability. Everyone knew Eric wouldnt show. I'm surprised he even played the 4 games that he did. Ron was on vacation last Monday. I dont know why he missed the past 4 weeks though. As far as me, you know you wanted video more than you wanted me to play.
The real point is that the same players that were playing last night for the Alliance had beaten that team before pretty easily. Be mad at the fact that the team underperformed.
We have four defenseman Brett.
I think comparing a regular season game to a playoff game is insane.
But yeah I'm sure mutiny was going balls to the wall against us on a random Monday in January.
Darrin was awesome and we scored three goals. That should be enough, I'm sorry. The defense didn't show up either.
so all things being equal, you guys weren't going. "balls to the wall" either.
You're missing my point. I am not mad we lost the game.
I am just frustrated we cant get guys to commit to playing on a regular basis. I asked JB if we are going to play next season. He just looked at me and said he didnt know. The reason he doesnt know is because we dont have enough guys who want to play.
Maybe I am wrong, but we probably are not playing next season. Thats what I am mad about. Now do you understand?
If only there were players who wanted to play but JB wouldnt allow on the team.
Is there a Sunday night league in Dracut?
Billy the problem isn't not having enough guys. Well thats kind of a problem. But the bigger problem is the guys who do want to play aren't top notch players so when JB does crack and allow others to play, it waters down the team alot. So he tries to keep that to a minimum. But in doing so, if 1 or 2 players miss, then it cripples the team. A team which thrives on running the other teams, and with a short bench, they can't do it.
Saugus was the best with 13 guys every week. We didn't have Ron, and Eric missed some weeks but still with 12 other guys you didnt miss them as much.
Is Mike Ward ready yet? Is it time to let Frendon play again?
With a full roster Frendon doesn't likely make the cut, but on a night like Monday he would have helped IMO.
This was the roster in our Saugus League
Jared Griff Mike W
Brett John Frendon
Eric Mike D Billy T
JB Nick
Bobcat Joe
Tony
I think he still makes the cut
I like the fact we are talking about it at least. Who wants to play next season? Who wants to commit? I do.
Nick, put up a poll question. Who wants to play next season?
a Frendon that hasnt played in 6 months doesnt make the cut. but if zack can make the playoff roster after 2 weeks i think Frendon deserves a shot.
Pretty sad that we're this desparate for players. But just think of the possible blogging that could take place.
All kidding aside, if Mike and Frendon want to be on the team I think a few warm up weeks in Saugus wouldn't be a bad idea. When does the next season start in Dracut? Should actually be easier for me to make Mondays when Ariel starts school full time cause i think she'll be in school all day instead of at night.
Sorry to hear the team lost and Brett's prediction of 1 and done came true.
I blame Brett all the way for the loss. He owned that team 3 weeks ago and needed to play in that playoff game.
I know he injured his leg playing ice hockey with me on Friday, but injury or not, IMO Brett would of contributed enough to pull off a victory.
He should of suited up and played D and JB could of focused on offense with Jared.
I watched the tape and I saw several plays where the D rushed the play for the sake of getting the ball out of the zone. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't.
You guys have to understand that 8 of 10 times you have time to look up, survey the ice and then make a hard pass to an open man.
For those 2 times out of 10 you spin around to protect the ball and then work it using the boards.
I have noticed (throughout the season) the D are getting better at moving the ball from D to D to relieve pressure, but now you guys have got to take it up another notch and learn to transition the puck out of the defensive zone to open guys.
This is key if we are going to beat teams consistantly in this league. Sure we'll have some crappy games from time to time, but if we can add a solid transition game to our repertoire of speed and hustle, we become a much more formidable opponent.
ron I had Gabe with me. couldn't find a sitter. knee was good enough to play
btw I don't think I played vs the misfits this season. I think ur thinking of eric
I thought those were the North stars we played? Okay then you didn't own that team, but your presence in the lineup would have made the difference between winning and losing... so I still blame you!!!
You should of put Gabe on the bench and made him an honorary coach... would of made Bobcat proud.
Billy, I'm always willing to play. If we wanted to play Saugus / Lawrence / Salem until the next session starts I'm willing to do that too.
As for transition, I think that's been one of our constant weak spots. The D does not have to carry the puck like Bourque out of the zone (although that helps). Instead they need to make quick, accurate passes to the forwards (who in turn need to make sure that they provide a passing lane for the D).
oh my gosh if our team lost to the north stars we should all burn our hockey equipment and swear to never play again.
some on the team should still do that
john didn't you see the video of nicks pass in the finals?
BTW ron it was WPR who predicted one and done. not me
No, I didn't...did he make a good pass?
Was that a good pass?? Pfftt!!
How could you not watch that video John?????? Are you kidding? Alliance history. Youre even in the movie
Billy a poll is silly. We already know the results
Is it safe to say the post Montreal high we were on is officially over?
I'm sure we will be playing this fall everybody calm down, we need to find another zack who is athletic and wants to play...mike ward should be back too.
don't u think a few weeks at Saugus would help Zach. not that it ever helped any one else ever. but Zach could be the first to benefit.
john u really haven't watched it? i will say when I first read ur comment I took it as sarcasm.
Oh Brett where is my head, obviously not in the game... it WAS WPR who said that!
That brings back memories of an old wise friend of mine who had his own take on WPR
He used to refer to him as the "Whackiest Prognosticating Rebel to ever gain the respect of his peers"... "he had the ability to ruffle more ostrich feathers than any person ever could..."
Ah yes Jared..... a.k.a. the voice of reason....
Dude, can I play!?!?
anonymous sounds like Scott finlayson. if that's the case the answer is no
Brett missing everything today.
Dude, you say something about me?
I didn't spend all vacation with Jimmy like you guys did to build up the same hatred for his presence and sayings
JB since your the captain why don't you chime in & critique each player and tell them what they did good & what you need them to do better this coming season....
He should start with you
Good game tonight guys...
Sigh.
I miss playing already
Dare I say, are we gonna play in Saugus on Sunday??
I'd be willing if enough people had wanted to. I usually didn't book games during the summer much so I hadn't really thought of booking it this week.
The other option would be outside in Methuen or Lawrence...
i dont think ill be around this weekend. But im up for some hockey any other weekend
Hey guys let's play this Sunday! Mike ward wants to get a game or two in before we start dracut in a few weeks. Zack said he wants to play i think we can get the guys. Let's kick off stats 2012/2013!
Whose in? Nick help me advertise!
Advertise! Advrtise! Advertise!
IM IN! Let's scratch that itch baby!
Are you thinking saugus or 3 on 3 in lawrence? we could also try that new place in Salem.
Mike D and I are both in.....
in
Playing Sunday would be fun - where would people want to play this week? Saugus, or one of the outside courts around here (which would probably be 4 on 4 with the size of the court)?
Also, Brett do you know if Darrin or Bobby would want to play net?
Tony randomly texted me said he wants to play with us so he could play net
Darrin said he'd play. I vote Saugus if the aim is to get players ready for next season
Okay, so it looks like we have:
In: John, Jared, Brett, Nick, Mike, Billy, Mike W, Zach, Darrin.
Still have to hear from JB, Joe, and Griff.
Out: Brendon (camping this weekend).
We might or might not have enough for 5 on 5 based upon the above list. Would everyone still want to play, and play in Saugus?
Update: Tony WOULD be in, so with Darrin we'd have the goalies covered.
Let's book this thing! Jb and griff will play and we can scrounge up a couple more guys. I want dracut or Saugus too.
Yep book the thing.
I got Reggie to commit...I'm workin on a few others.
in
what about bobcat? we could use a good coach!
4:00 work for everyone? I will call the rink today.
Brett said that 7 would work out better for Darrin, so I will try closer to that time - goalies get priority after all...
I left a message with HockeyTown, so I'm waiting to hear what times are available...
We are on for 7-9 tomorrow, outside rink.
I really didn't expect to say this but I really had a lot of fun tonight. Awesome games.
Frendon didn't disappoint in his return.
I agree with you Nick. Definitely far better than any game we played there last year.
Stupid typo...
Nick, do we get recaps for suguas games too?
No. I wanted to but My laptop crapped the bed and the very idea of writing a recap on an iPad or cell phone scares the crap out of me.
But why no wpr?
General observations from Sunday:
1. Both goalies were excellent. I hope to have more matchups like that this year.
2. Excellent job by our D - mainly Nick and Joe (the other one) and Brett in game 2. They definitely helped us to hang on long enough for the win - in the face of the constant offensive onslaught by the dark team.
3. The new guys looked pretty good. Confident with the puck, the right level of physical play, etc. From our team's perspective, I didn't think that they looked out of place.
4. Billy has developed some of that Bobcat style of defense where if you beat him he just grabs you - subtle enough to not get called though.
5. Overall, just a couple of really good games - the best we've had there in at least a year or more.
Post a Comment