Game 6 vs. Westfort Maroons

While I don’t like losing, sometimes it’s a necessary evil. Most of the time you learn more from a loss than you do a win. You also have a tendency to dwell on a loss more than a win. That probably has something to do with why they’re so educational. We always tell our players not to disrespect their opponents by thinking we’ll win just by showing up. I think we’ve had some slow starts because that mentality has crept in a little. Guys setup for the faceoff and then wait for things to go our way. Meanwhile, all the play is in our end. Eventually it takes a line of players to say “Okay, we actually have to go out there and earn this” to turn the tide. Looking back at our game against the Canadiens, I can credit them for playing a really good game but I felt like we had too many “passengers” in that game. They had more guys who were willing to earn it than we did, and it showed. Yes, this is a talented Elks team but against any Midget A team hard work will trump talent every time. This isn’t a mind blowing revelation but after 10-straight wins it’s a good reminder.

We’re Gunning for Each Other

Tonight we played the winners of the Westfort Fall Classic Tournament, the Westfort Maroons. Admittedly, the thought had crossed my mind that I wanted us to show what would have happened had we been in the finals but they won that tournament for a reason. They’re a really good team. And with their 4-1 record and they’d be gunning for us too. As long as our record is however-many-wins and zero losses, I’m expecting every team to have that little extra jump against us, trying to give us our first regular season loss.

For a Guy Who “Can’t Shoot”…

They game started out pretty tight checking. We managed to get some good scoring opportunities but lost the handle in a lot of cases. It remained scoreless until Jesse Milani would clear a puck out of our end to Eric Donaldson. Eric made a good move on a d-man and then found himself alone one-on-one and scored the first goal of the game at the 11:11 mark of the game. Even though Eric considers himself more of a playmaker and specifically not much of a goal scorer or shooter, the kid can do all three of those things. In typical Eric fashion he came to the bench and said that that wasn’t a very good shot. I had to laugh since I had just finished mentioning his over-the-top humbleness in regards to his own scoring ability to the coaches and players on the bench. As I’ll often say, “Be confident, Stupid!”

Hockey Can Be Thankless

The 1-0 score held for quite a while in the second and we were playing some really great hockey. Tonnes of scoring chances, great defensive play, great passing but we just couldn’t bury one past Maroons goaltender, Valee Quachegan. It was a very strong period by the guys in purple but it was the Maroons who got the only goal of the period. A point shot that went wide turned into a play on the other side of the net that Alex Smith would pop in with 3:15 remaining in the period. Hockey can feel unjust sometimes but we couldn’t let the breaks frustrate us. We’d have to work to get this win.

Keep Plugging Away

We had to make a slight adjustment to our offense. It took a few shifts but once we did, Gordie Gaudette would find himself with a great scoring opportunity and he’d score on a wrister to make it 2-1 about 3 minutes into the third. Gage Bechard and Lucas “Steady As She Goes” Bava™ drew assists on the play. Gordie’s brother, Jordan Gaudette would score the insurance marker with a top corner snip from the point with five minutes left in the game. The Maroons had some moments of sustained pressure on us late in the game that drew some tense moments as they tried to get back in it but when things broke down, Jared “Red” Foulds™ was as solid as ever including making saves on deflected shots.

 

I was very proud of this team after this win. They brought the effort for every minute of every period and played their most complete game to date. Nothing came easy tonight but they didn’t get frustrated. They just kept playing the same way, with some minor tweaks here and there, but they didn’t give up and the didn’t stop believing that we’d eventually get rewarded.

Current Record: 6-0-0 (12 Pts)