Westmount Oilers 2007-08 season in review

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Last night was the final game of the regular season for my Westmount Oilers. The good news is we finished in 7th place overall, which means we are back in the playoffs after missing last year (not that any team with a 3-26-1 record deserves to be in the playofs).

Our final record was 8-14-8. We had a chance to finish at 11-11-8, but we lost our final 3 games (6-1, 3-2, and 3-2). Prior to our 3 losses, we tied the 1st place team 2-2 and could (should) have won the game, but two brain farts from my D resulted in some lucky goals. It was a positive, given that they had beaten us a combined 13-3 in our two previous meetings, and they were pissed that we earned a tie.

Our final game was simply a disaster. We had a 2-0 lead, but took several undisciplined penalties on top of the phantom calls the refs decided we deserved. We ended up killing 4 or 5 5 on 3 situations, and gave up only 1 power play goal on the 10 penalties we were assessed.

The silver lining is that the team we played last night is the team we will play in the first round, and with a little more discipline, we can beat their asses. We also manage to avoid the first place team until the finals, if they make it that far.

Stay tuned for the playoff developments...

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Playoffs are now in full swing in the Westmount Senior leagues, and the Oilers were the first team to pull off an upset. We won our best 2 of 3 series and bounced the second place Devils by identical 4-2 scores. Wednesday's first game was our best game of the year, and we benefitted from a short Devils bench.

Last night's clinching game was even better, as we ran up a 4-0 lead, despite one of their better players returning from injury. Held the shutout until about 3 minutes to go when we failed to clear the puck, and I went down on a shot that never made it to the net; in desperation, I lunged for the puck but ended up hitting my defenceman in the nuts with my paddle. The second goal came with 36 seconds to play and I can't even remember how it went in; all I know is my D apologized for not clearing the puck.

So now we await the winner of the Nordiques/Sharks series. We played the Nordiques very close this season and have beaten the Sharks at least twice, so I feel confident with whichever team we play.

I am standing tall and a little further out than what I would usually do; this adjustment seems to be forcing shooters to hold onto the puck a little longer and reducing their shooting angle, forcing a pass that my D are picking off. When they are shooting, I am facing long shots and nothing is going through my body at the moment; my muscles are remembering to close the holes, so no weak goals due to poor body position.

Only goal I regret in the playofs so far is the second goal in game 1, where I failed to recognize the guy supporting the rush in the middle and put the rebound from the first shot on my left right onto his stick. Other than that, my rebound control has been good and I have been able to keep my head in the game without any lapses of concentration.

Four more wins and I will have my first Senior championship.

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Round 2 was scheduled to begin last Friday, but due to a power outage, all games had to be cancelled. So, what should have been game 2 was actually game 1 and that was last night.

Felt good, got a good pre-game stretch. Zamboni driver did a crap job, leaving lakes all around both goals, but that has become almost the norm in my league. Barely a minute into the game, one of my D takes a hooking penalty, and we were already on our heels, as the Sharks have very speedy forwards. The Sharks scored in the first minute of their power play on a second shot that was more knucleball than a shot; it kind of looped into the net and had me handcuffed as I tried to swat at it. On the very same shift, right off the faceoff, they came on like gangbusters, took a shot that I saved, but one of my D had left the trailer all alone in the slot and he banged home the rebound.

We're not even 3 minutes into the game and we're already down 2-0. It was hard to stay positive. The pressure continued, but the Sharks are a fairly predictable team when it comes to their attack, so defensively we were able to control them for the rest of the game. Our forwards, on the other hand, seemed to have forgotten how to pass or break out. Most of our passes were cross-ice attempts that were pretty much all picked off, and, by our best estimate, we got maybe a dozen shots on the other goalie who seemed to get stunned every time the puck hit him, taking a moment to figure out where the puck was. Only problem is we had nobody crashing the net for the few rebounds that could have gone for garbage goals.

In the end, the first 3 minutes of the game cost us, because that was all the scoring the Sharks needed to take the first game of the series. Game 2 is Wednesday night, and game 3 is Thursday night. I plan on playing Thursday night.

I guess we needed a loss to remind us of what we had been doing right and how it can go away quickly if you don't concentrate 100%.

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Plans change... :(

Game 2 of the semis was last night. The time slot before our game was free, so the ice had a good long time to dry and we got a good warmup going. Felt good, well focused, confident that our loss on Sunday was nothing more than a hiccup.

We didn't let the Sharks dictate the pace of the game as much as in the first game; in fact, we were controlling play fairly well. Good exchanges at both ends for the first half of the opening period had me believing not only that we could win, but that we'd possibly dominate the game. I was seeing the puck well, and my early rebound control seemed good.

We scored first and held the lead well, despite feeling pressure from the Sharks. Then, with 90 seconds to go in the first, I only got a small piece of the shot with my trapper, though it felt like I had snagged it. Not so much. Ended the first tied at 1.

10 seconds into the second period, we score on a 55 footer and things are feeling good; we've regained momentum. 7 minutes later, I make the first save on a low shot, but I put the rebound right in the low slot and before I can adjust, it's tied at 2. Second period ends that way.

Needing to win, we forechecked a little more and it affects our defensive play, as I start facing more odd-man rushes, but nothing to panic about. Yet. On a penalty kill (I think), I make one or two saves but can't corral the rebound, so I stay low to try and block a shot that might come through the crowd of legs, then I see my center get control of the puck and start to skate away. I must have had a micro sleep, because by the time I realize that he was stripped of the puck, I am not back up or in position to block the shot. Now we're down 3-2. A few minutes later, on another penalty kill, my defence starts to skate with the puck and tries a clearing attempt that hits a forechecker's legs and I am staring at a 2 on zero. I stayed with the shooter, but he snuck it through my legs as I started my down slide to the right. In a hole at 4-2 with 8 minutes to play. Sadly, we can't muster any decent scoring chances, and our season ends. I am congratulated on a good game, but it feels hollow, knowing that our run to the championship is over.

We host a tournament this weekend, so our consolation prize will be to win 4 games in 3 days. (and beer, lots and lots of beer...)