Knock two more off the MN! Knock two more off the MN! Knock two more off the MN! Knock two more off the MN! Knock two more off the MN! Knock two more off the MN!
How often do we score six goals…I had to indulge. Last night’s performance finally gave us a cushion and a more relaxed last five minutes than we have been presented thus far in the season. Last night’s game however, was no different than any other game we’ve played so far as far as the team strategy, intensity and level of errors are concerned. This is something I have been trying to reiterate to all the pessimists out there who believe we will be going through our regular post holidays slump. The 2007-2008 HABS have shown a level of play which is modest, tight, cursed with continuous minor errors, but all in all a defensively solid team. Unlike the fireworks we saw early last year, this year’s team has proven to be a lot more evenly spread out with respect to its performance. The level of intensity is high, but not dramatically high where expectations of keeping it up for 82+ games are unrealistic. Furthermore, the random brain farts that have, do and will occur are further masked by a solid defensive core and consistent goaltending.
What I’m trying to say is the way te team has been playing is such that we can keep up with any team, and keep it up all the way to the end. The fact that 14 different players contributed to the score last night is testimony to the fact that this team does not rely on any one player to perform consistently night in and night out to be able to bring home the points. Furthermore we have promising youngster waiting in the flanks to jump in at any time, and the coach has shown that his patience won’t be as forgiving as last year when it comes to under performing and slumps.
I still believe, as I did prior to the beginning of the season, that this team will beyond any shadow of a doubt make the playoffs. Furthermore, as long as we are not faced with a hot team in the first round, and Price continues gradual entry into the number one spot in nets with expected results, this team can finally breach the first round and maybe more. The talent is there, the lines are there, the goalies are there and most importantly the team does not have an Achilles heel. The fate of many top tier teams depend on the likes of Crosby, Lecavalier, Brin D’Amour, etc…but the HABS have the true makings of a hockey team that can continuously and consistently perform for almost 100 games (pre-season and post season). That’s a lot of games to be played with my team’s future on one line’s hands.
On that note, I would like to further elaborate on my views on the impact of the third and fourth lines, with special emphasis on Kostopoulos who deserves some praise for not letting up after making a costly mistake and continuing his inspiring level of play. With the unfortunate break of four days between games, I’ll leave that for tomorrow.
And on a final note, I would like to mention once again the power play. At this point I don’t have to say much, we all know how well we’re performing (2nd in the league with 26.8% - only 0.2% behind first). I was given more than a lot of grief this summer on the boards, when I came in defending our power play and the impact of Souray leaving. I was further ridiculed when I argued that Kovalev and Markov had as much if not more impact on the power play than did Souray (not to take anything away from the Don, his shot was hard, precise and opened up a lot of ice in the slot for the forwards). Now I’m not a petty man, but the type of names I was called and given results I just had to say NAAA NA NA NAAA NAAAA!
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