The long trip up highway 63 can be rewarding or real drudgery and its proving to be the nemesis of Bonnyville's Junior A Pontiacs as they dropped another game to the Ft. McMurray Oil Barons in overtime by one goal. The final score was 4-3 for the MOB who now leads this round of the playoffs by three games to two.
The Pontiacs return home for the next game in the RJ Lalonde arena on Monday night at 7 p.m. and its a do or die situation. In fact, if they want to advance to the next round, they'll have to win the next two games, one here at home and the final back up in Ft. McMurray.
Can they do it? The odds aren't great for them although each game has only been decided by one point so if they can come together and play as a team they may be able to pull it off. But, they will have to adjust their style of play a bit and try a few different strategies.
Over the playoff series a few of us have noted that a lot of rushes have been wasted because there doesn't seem to be a plan when they get there. It's like a dog chasing a car who finally catches up to one and then wonders OK, what do I do with it. There still seems to be too much dump it in the corner then chase in after it, fight like hell for it, then try to fire it through the crease hoping it'll bounce off someone. There needs to be someone out front in the slot causing a disturbance, setting up a screen or there to poke in an errant puck. That can't happen with all three forwards fighting for the puck along the boards. Someone needs to be the centre man working the triangle in front of the net. You can't depend on those long passes out to the point or all the way across to the other point to work. There's too many opportunities for the opposing team to pick one of those up and clear the zone or start their rush to the other end leaving our forwards in the dust and defense men struggling to get back to defend their goalie.
In this strategy, the pattern at left shows the relative positioning for the centre man. The triangles at either end allow him or her to be out front if a pass comes out of the corners or cut down the lane of opposing teams to get out of their zone. If the action in the corner gets too much for the wingers, the centre man could pinch in and help but the other winger should come over to the centre position to be prepared for the clearing pass. The defensemen on either point will block any sideline clearing passes and are still able to make goal shots from those positions. Does it work every time? Perhaps not but it is an alternate to having too many players scrambling for a puck along the boards leaving the entire front of the net clear and nobody there to take a shot or cut off the lanes for the opposition. I picked this idea up from my friend Brian Conacher who played for the Maple Leafs the last year they won the cup (1967) so it's an old tactic but sometimes that's what you need.
I'd certainly be trying it out in practice with a full scrum.
At least it would be something the other team wasn't prepared for. Just a thought.
The sixth game goes MONDAY night at the RJ Lalonde. Puck drops at 7 p.m. Fill the rink and come prepared to make some NOISE! Go Pontiacs.
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In the meantime, I see the Cold Lake Ice Junior B's are on a tear in their league. They swept round one against the Titans in three games scoring 45 goals against two for the opposition. Round two was a four game sweep against the Wainwright Bisons with 28 goals score versus six for the Buffalo Bunch. The finals are now underway and the ICE has a two game lead over the Lloyd Bandits with wins of 4 -1 and 3-2 in their last two outings. The next two games are in Lloyd on Wed, Mar 16 and Friday, Mar 18. Both games are 7:30 starts.
Congratulations to netminder Dustin Hyde who picked up his second NEAJBHL league award as the 2010-2011 Goaltender of the Year while Dallas Ansell who has also seen time in a Pontiacs uniform won Rookie of the Year.
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This entry has been dominated by hockey so I'll take a short break, take of the team shirt and be back with more general information and I've got lots. Dave.
