Game 4 tonight
After games 1 and 2, when coach was saying they played so well but couldn't get chances and blah blah blah, I thought yeah right. Especially the 7-0 blowout in game one. But he was right. They did play well. They played their asses off last night, but Calgary is just that good. At one point Spokant said "it's like there's 5 Americans on the ice, and 15 Hitmen". They had some chances, but couldn't make it happen.
"We have to come with the same effort and we have to find the back of the net," Hiller said of trying to extend the series. "We have to play hard, we have to get to the net and we have to score. I think guys are frustrated. We have a lot of guys who've scored a lot of goals this year; it's not going in, and when that happens you put extra pressure on yourself. We have to try and relax and come to the game and enjoy it."
"We aren't happy with the three games here," Reddick said. "We have to look at the positives. We know we played a good game and we thought we might have out played them."
"We've never given up all year," Toll said. "Right now we have to look at it one game at time. We win (today) and we go back to Calgary and who knows what happens. It was a tough night, we outplayed them, I felt we deserved to win and we didn't get it. But it's huge improvement from the two games in Calgary. We have to do the same thing tomorrow and hope the bounces go the other way." (Tri-City Herald)
You're right Pokey, look at the positives. Played hard, very hard, never giving up. Guys like Todd Kennedy had a spectacular game. Spencer Humphries!
But the Hitmen were so good at blocking all the lanes, clogging the neutral zone. Yikes.
Alan Caldwell summed it up quite nicely:
The Ams played well enough tonight but as in the first two games, they are not able to penetrate to the net to get scoring chances. Meanwhile Calgary kept executing their game plan - shut down the Tri-City attack and take advantage of their scoring chances when they get them. Alexander Pechurskiy started in net for the Americans tonight and he was....OK. Two of the goals - the 2nd and 3rd goals - were a little on the weak side. But he did keep Calgary off the scoreboard in the 2nd and 3rd periods, giving his team a chance to mount a comeback. The fact that they didn't isn't his fault.
As I said last year after the Rockets got up 3-0 on the Hitmen: we all know it's is over and Calgary will be the 2009-10 WHL champions. It is so hard to come back from down 3-0 even when the series has been close; in this series, the Americans have 2 goals in 3 games and have yet to even have a lead at any point in the series. Logic suggests they aren't going to win 4 in a row. They have a reasonably young team though, perhaps they can do what Calgary did - use this loss as a learning/motivational tool and come back stronger next year. (Small Thoughts At Large)
Do I believe they can win one tonight and prevent Calgary from claiming the Championship on their ice? Yes. Can they win 4 in a row? Unlikely. I love my team, but I'm also realistic. Yes, it could happen.
“I thought we came out and did what we wanted to do,” said a slightly flustered Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. “Get a lot of pucks toward the net, get the building into the game. When I looked up, I think we were up 10-2 in shots, so we did what we wanted to do.
“I thought we tested (Martin) Jones more in this game than we did in the first two, so he was the difference. Hockey is a game of bounces and we’ve had our share throughout the year, but we certainly haven’t had any in this series.” (Calgary Herald)
So it's back to work tonight for the boys. Playing for pride, playing to play again, all that stuff. I love this team, win or lose and there's a whole hell of a lot to be proud of.
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Totally unrelated, but if I don't post it now I'll forget.
"My goal for next year is to make the team in Carolina. I firmly believe that I can play up there if they give me a chance and I'm hoping at training camp I will get one. But I know I will have to produce."
That's from a brief interview with Drayson Bowman over at Canes Country.
Hey gorgeous. Photo by LTD.
7 comments:
There are a lot of positives to look at. The Americans are playing on a mental level that had been absent for a large portion of the regular season. The never quitting, blocking shots until the last second, hustling their asses off work ethic is awesome. It started to come back in the Kelowna series and seems to have snowballed into where they are now.
Calgary has no weaknesses. They have size, speed, solid offense and defense and practically impenetrable goal tending. The comparison of boys versus men has some validity. My impression is that the Hitmen are mentally a few clicks ahead of the majority of the Americans. That's age and experience for ya.
I have a hard time imagining another team beating Calgary in the Memorial Cup. I mean, the Americans got where they are because they are that good. It's not just a fluke. And the Hitmen had the Ams looking downright foolish at times. When the Ams made a mistake, the Hitmen capitalized nearly every single time.
Back at the trade deadline I said that I thought Bob didn't want to sell the farm because he knew this wasn't the year. I still stand by that. The prices were so high and Brandon and Calgary were loading up. He probably saw the reality of the situation. This team really needed another one or two defensemen, but I don't think selling off the future (which is what he would have had to do) to go up against the likes of the loaded Eastern teams would have been worth it.
Unlike the asshats on the message boards, I don't think this team overachieved. I also don't blame the coach. There is nothing you can do when you come up against a team that is so much better than yours. I wonder if they would be blaming Don Hay if Vancouver happened to win the Conference and they got slaughtered by Calgary just as easily? Because you know they would.
This does make me excited for next year. Losing Toll and Lazo will hurt, but there is so much talent stacked up on this team you can't help but be optimistic. The last two years, people thought the Americans were going to fall apart after losing Price, Pickard, Pro, Reese, Yellowhorn and Fadden. Yet, they've gone farther this year than they ever have. I know I'm just stating the obvious, but I think it's pretty apparent they'll be just fine.
Lastly, I hope Ows starts tonight. Alex was okay last night (other than the SHOCKING 5-hole goal), but if this is going to be the last game of the season in front of the home crowd, Drew deserves it.
word.
And there were TWO slutty 5-hole goals. right in front of me, I wanted to flip out.
I was happy to hear Alex got to play, but I agree; Drew should get the start. That way, you can whisk Alex off the bench, package him up, and ship him off to me in time for my birthday. Because there's nothing that would make me happier than opening my mailbox to a delicious Russian goaltender who doesn't speak a word of English.
Sorry, ulterior motives. I mean, I like Drew, but Alex was my first love - you don't get over that. =] Anyway, wearing white and sending love from Pittsburgh - let's go Ams!
Sorry, have to edit: It's been a shitty day, it's shaping up to be a shitty night, and nothing cheers me up more than my boys (Pens, Ams, and 'Yotes alike). And I'm not including the one I'm dating because he's the source of my misery at the moment. Or part of it, at least.
Well said Spokant! As much as I want to see the boys hand the Hitmen a defeat, I am impressed at thier efforts so far. Honeslty, since Drew will be returning next season, I think starting him would be the sensible thing to do. Not only because he has a rep to defend, but he would have to spend the summer knowing he was pulled from his last two games. He at least deserves the chance to finish (barring a win) his amazing season on a positive note!
So I'll respond here since you read it, spokant. My post on the message board I didn't mean it to come across as I think they would win this series if coach changed such and such because I don't. After watching them last night I know that ams don't have a change of winning this series- nobody has that kind of luck, good or bad. I'm not doubting them it's just fact. I guess I just question some of the decisions that have been made but in no way do I think he's a bad coach or is any of this his fault. Just wanted to clarify that! :)
I also agree with everything else you said. I am SO proud of how far they've come this season and never thought even a week before playoffs that they'd make it this far. Drew Owsley is a HUGE reason why this team has come this far and for that he should get the start tonight.
Mikaela - I had not read your comment when I posted that, but I understand what you are saying. By no means do I consider you part of the asshats. :)
I think all of us, from the fans to Bob Tory, were a little shell shocked by how good Calgary is.
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