Reply To: Diary of a Season 2011-12

[Tom Molloy]

Notre Dame Tournament Update:

Game Played the Winnipeg Avros today who are avery good team. We scored on the first shift 12 seconds into the game and then it was up and down for 40 minutes. We seemed to wear them down with the constant pressure and won 5-2. We got 4 even strength and 1 shorthanded goal and they got 2 even strength. Our pp was moving the puck and getting shots but no goals.

Game two vs Vancouver Fusion:

We outshot them 20-3 the first period and had a 2-0 lead. In the second we got lots of shots but tied the period 1-1 so even though they hardly had the puck the score was 3-1 after two and the shots about 32-7. We again dominated the third but they scored on a careless turnover at our blueline and then they scored again with 17" left on a shot from the corner against the boards that our goalie misplayed. So we ended with a 3-3 tie ousthooting them 52-11. We got 1 pp and 2 even strength goals and they got 3 even strength.

We really couldn't have played much better but what happens is that when you are totally dominating a game the feeling is that you are up by about 5 goals and some carelessness creeps in and players lose a little intensity. I think we have all been in games you lose that you deserve to win and games that you win that you deserve to lose. After the first period I told my asst. coach that I had a bad feeling about the game. We played so hard in our first game of the day that we just weren't hungry enough on rebounds or walk ins to finish. When you have seen thousands of games you start to see patterns like a chess master when he looks at the chess board and recongnize that somehting is amiss. I am to the point now that I can predict a goal about 3-5 seconds before because you see either the defense out of sync or the attackers creating something.

Their goalie had a great game and we didn't finish when we had many many chances. That is the problem with letting teams hang around even though the game is one sided. It is a real challenge for the goalie to keep focused when they are getting a shot every 5 or 6 minutes.

The end result is that we have to beat Notre Dame today in order to be in the top group the championship round. They are 2-0 winning 8-0 and 8-4 vs the same two teams. We know they were beaten earlier in the season by the top team in our league which we are 1-1-1 with. The tie would effect our ranking if we lose.

This is a good tournament with lots of college and university recruiters from both Canada and the USA. My captain who is a Lidstrom like D got kicked in the lower shin with a skate in game one and is in a lot of pain with the shin pad pushing on the bone bruise; so it is hard for her to showcase everything she usually does. We need to make her a big donut to relieve the pressure. She says it only hurts when she skates. Any suggestions are welcome.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'