GAME 41: BWL VS OLL

 

BLACK WINGS LINZ 8 - 1 OLIMPIJA 

STRONG FIRST PERIOD BUT THE BLACK WINGS SIGNAL DEATH FOR THE DRAGONS IN PERIODS 2 AND 3

TAVŽELJ VIBES SEEM TO HAVE RUN OUT 

Lineup changes:

-71 Mehle

-98 Tomaževič

+29 Vodlan

+72 Mašič

Things we did well:

- Although we didn't do it in the kind of textbook fashion that I have been learning about in classes run by a current Liiga video analyst and former AHL assistant coach (yes, despite my nascent Sumo addiction, I am still taking hockey very seriously for both my and my readers' benefit!), we did manage to dissect a diamond-formation penalty kill to score a PPG in P1.

A diamond PK is as shown above. It is set up with the two middle penalty killers expressly tasked with stopping the side-to-side passing that teams want to do to create high danger chances and to get the goalie moving laterally. 

Now, we didn't go high to low quickly as this former Toronto Marlies assistant coach suggested; nor did we switch from 1-3-1 PP spacing to a 3-2 spread, which is something else he recommended. We did cause havoc by a low shot by Červeny from the left circle coming back out for Sabolič on the right circle to score with a screen from Bonino.

- We played an accomplished and well-fought first 20 minutes. Hang on, why's there 60 minutes in a hockey game?!

Things we didn't do well:

How long have you got? How about letting in 8 unanswered to start us off?

Even pregame I felt that we should have started Kolin. Horak needs a rest and Kolin is actually marginally better, in my opinion, with his lateral movement. Linz like to force goalies to do this and test their capabilities, so even outside of the rest aspect I would prefer Kolin in net here. Pulling Horak at 6-1 down was too late, as well. I would have done that at 4-1 to try to kick the team into action, but AT didn't seem to have the stomach for that move (it's obviously easier for me to say this from the sidelines rather than to have to deal with the personalities directly involved on the daily).

Linz ran rings around us in P2 and P3. I wish I knew what changed or what was said in the P1 interval, because *oh boy* did it work for them. See below for Linz goal breakdowns:

1st - P2 1911 - low point shot tipped by Lebler in front. No contesting or stick lifting for their star player and leading scorer. I am not an expert on defensive placement, but you may want to have someone on that guy.

2nd - P2 1634 - 2 goals on 4 shots in P2. To be fair, it's a gorgeous pass to the back post, followed by a much simpler pass to the net front and in. Ege and Gregorc get split and it doesn't look good. Again, I don't know their assignments, but I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be leaving the low slot wide open, given that is the place of highest danger chances.

3rd - P2 1214 - PPG - lovely passing from the right hand point to the left circle and then the back post. Horak does very well to save the first attempt but the net front man is there to dig it in the second time.

4th - P2 420 - PPG - similar to one of KAC's goals on the weekend, with a back wall deflection meaning Horak is committed the wrong way for a fortuitous rebound and he can't recover in time.

5th - P3 1425 - I wrote that "Linz are walking around our D-zone like they're on a pleasant picnic in a field full of flowers". Right circle shot and Horak is beaten blocker side. We challenge for offsides...

6th - P3 1413 - AT challenges for offsides when there is really no point. 4-1 and 5-1 is not a big enough difference to warrant that when it's a marginal call. It fails and we get a delay of game penalty that they almost immediately score from. Again, easier for me to say it from the sidelines, but come on now - that wasn't worth the risk and we got duly punished. I wrote "quit the game! Throw the controller out the window!". Amusingly, friend of the blog F13 also wrote to me that he "rage quit" on the game. I am sure many fans felt similarly by this point. Horak gets pulled for Kolin, finally.

7th - P3 1136 - 3 on 1 rush chance given up while chasing a goal, from which they score. 

8th - P3 2.5s left - Kolin beaten over his glove. The icing on the cake for the Black Wings.

Main takeaways:

- I don't think AT is coming back next season. He's been riding Horak in a way that seems to suggest he is coaching for his job next year, which I think is the wrong thing to do. Kolin is excellent and will not stick around if he never gets to play. If I was coach I would start Kolin in all our away games and keep Horak for home games, in order to keep the latter fresh for the play-ins (where we would not alternate goalies).  AT managed to unlock something in the team from later December to late January, but we have been absolutely blasted by two playoff teams and I don't think our leadership team, new and old, will accept that.

- Talking of coming back, I am seriously worried about retaining key free agents if we end the season with a whimper. If you were Nick Bonino, for example, why would you stay here other than to have your family feel settled? He could have his pick of any team in Europe (e.g. some slick Swiss league team) and does not need to settle for getting killed 8-1 on a Sunday afternoon. I desperately hope he stays but I cannot blame him if he chooses to go elsewhere.

- Crnović should not be starting over Hebar or Bohinc. I was a big proponent of 44's earlier this season, as I liked his carry-ins and smooth skating on zone entries. He has been showing none of that in the past few weeks. All he's been doing is taking a guaranteed penalty every game and it was the same today, with a swift PPG to show for it. It is far more valuable to be giving 22 and 86 ice time to develop their games than to roll out 44 at this point and on this evidence.

- Unfortunately, we are veering towards last article's cursed vision of the future rather than the blessed one. Bolzano up next is a brutal fixture, but we have PIV and INN this weekend that absolutely have to be wins to set us up for any chance at play-in momentum.

GAME 40: OLL VS KAC

OLIMPIJA 3 - 6 KAC 

RED JACKET RUSHES SLAY THE DRAGONS

KAC GET TWO REVERSE SMASH BURGER GOALS

FIRST BIG LOSS UNDER TAVŽELJ

Lineup changes

+ Ćosić

+ Tomaževič

-- Mašič

Stars of the game

* Lukaš Horák - we let in 6 and he was still comfortably our best player. It could easily have been 9 or 10. 

** Rok Kapel (A) - he's really been reinvigorated by AT. He's gone from frequently flopping around the ice earlier this season to showing off some serious skill and scoring regular points. Here, he did all the hard work for Mahkovec, who tapped in a goal.

*** Jan Ćosić (A) - it was great to see 14 back, providing his usual snarl as well as an assist on our first goal with a visionary pass that put a lot of trust in Kapel - which was, thankfully, amply rewarded with a goal!

Stats

Focusing on KAC's goals, 5/6 were in the low slot. Now, as we've established, this is the most dangerous place to shoot from - but clearly we need to work on preventing entries to this zone and chances. As it turns out, multiple of these were on advantageous breakaways for KAC. The team urgently needs to reflect on why that kept happening. Was it KAC just playing a high line defensively, with a view to rapid transitions? Were we turning it over too often and a bit sluggish after some time off? Were they cheating for offense and we weren't able to punish them for that?

1st goal - either a clever set play or a very lucky rebound (judging by the shooter's reaction, it was the latter!).

2nd goal - turnover for a 2 on 1. Bohinc lays out but they find the back door pass. KAC are faster and more decisive.

3rd goal - PPG - PK gets sucked in to the left circle/corner area (from KAC's perspective), they overcompensate once the weak-side (where fewer players are) point pass goes out, which leaves space on the formerly strong-side (where more players are) for a deflection that would have been a back door tap in anyway.

4th goal - precise D-zone exit from KAC catches us flat-footed for a 2 on 1. They win the puck on the boards and shift it to a man hitting the neutral zone with speed, anticipating the breakout. Back door pass once more. Gregorc was taking the pass but they thread it through again.

5th goal - another one where we get sucked in to the left circle/corner area, freeing up a late joiner to receive a central high slot pass all alone.

6th goal - they establish O-zone presence with a quick transition and a 1 on 2 rush. They circle back to let others enter the zone, send it low left circle and then it's just a high snipe from a tough angle.

So, you can see here that two things were responsible for 4 of the 6 goals. Like school kids playing football, we got caught chasing / watching the puck twice. We also allowed two 2 on 1 breakaways goals. Those can be the two things we focus on preventing against Linz today, as they will certainly have scouted that and will be looking to take advantage (unless they're playing some gigabrain meta-game where they expect us to correct those two things and thereby attack something else - but I'm probably overestimating ICE league strategies by this point).

2 on 1s will happen to the best of teams, but it does seem like giving up breakaway chances is happening too much for us. It'll be up to the coaching staff to decide what that's down to and to try to fix it before it undoes our chances at a decent play-in and playoff run.

Shots-saves at 5 on 5:

P1: 6-5 (OLL G, KAC GG + PPG)

P2: 9-12 (OLL G, KAC G)

P3: 8-9 (OLL G, KAC GG)

Pretty even, yet the score told a different tale - the quality of chances given up was far in KAC's favour.

Shooting %: 3/24 for a surprisingly good 12.5%.

Save %: 30/36 for 0.833 (I know this isn't technically a percentage but I've seen so many NHL save stats in this format that I prefer 0.833 rather than 83.3%).

PP: 0/2

PK: 1/2

Not a night to remember for special teams.

Game flow

P1

1806 Horak's rebound control is wobbly and KAC nearly pounce (geddit?).

1804 GOAL KAC - a one-timer shot from Olimpija's right circle goes well wide outside the right post. Horak still moves for the save, leaving him well out of position for a lucky bounce rebound on the other side. KAC score on their second shot.

0-1

1602 GOAL KAC - and now they score on their third shot! 2 on 1, Bohinc goes down but the pass to the back post finds its way through and in.

0-2

Saying we're having a slow start doesn't really cover it!

1533 A slick backhand 180 by Beričič is pad saved.

1123 GOAL OLIMPIJA - a wonderful pickup off the boards on his off-hand side by Kapel, whose ensuing shot squeaks through the goalie's armpit area and leaves a tap-in for Mahkovec. Great pass by Ćosić but even better puck control by Kapel.

1-2

The cameraman positioned next to me in the West stand packed up his stuff right before we scored. The ironies of life!

Tomaževič is seeing time on the 4th line with Beričič and Pance, as Sodja is still out. He ends up hitting his head twice tonight, though, which is worrying given he was off with concussion-related symptoms.

630 Sabla with a big open ice hit in the neutral zone, yes please!

548 Červeny with a menacing hit into the boards, KAC player is clearly rattled as he goes to the bench yapping at Rudolf.

457 Great glove save by Horak through a lot of traffic.

432 Pad save by Horak on a slick set-play by KAC (point to right circle to low slot).

325 PEN OLL Pance for interference. Looked a pretty soft call and it's an offensive zone penalty, never a good one to concede (defensive zone penalties are easier to stomach as at least you're trying to prevent a goal scoring opportunity).

PK1 is Gregorc, Ege, Bonino, Beričič. Ćosić and Atwal are the PK2 d-men. Bičevskis comes on for Bonino but Beričič stays out. I'm not sure if this was an intentional double-shift for 10 or whether they couldn't get the change.

127 PPG KAC - 3s left on the PP, they get a tip from the low slot. KAC are certainly being efficient tonight - this was their 2nd shot on the PP.

1-3

53s left PEN KAC - trip. Another one of these penalties that straddle a period break. They are nowhere near as useful as having 2 consecutive minutes, at least for us. 108 PP time left for P2.

P2

No shots in the PP. KAC at 5 on 5 is like them having a PP though, at the moment!

We are flat and disconnected tonight. I hope we haven't lost our AT momentum.

1706 Huge stop by Horak with a blocker save on a rapid rush chance for KAC.

1611 Ćosić hits a KAC player trying to enter the zone. Well done! Make it hard for them!

1443 Pad save by Horak - rush chances galore for KAC!

Refs twice refuse to call boarding on us.

1323 Beautiful move by Kapel on a 1 on 2, where he spins, goes through a defender then switches around for a backhand shot that's saved. It drew audible 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the crowd - not a common occurrence watching Olimpija, to be fair!

1257 GOAL OLIMPIJA - great pace from us! A 3 on 2 sees it go from 96-19-12 at the back post. As for Bičevskis and Lavoie, G for Simšič. At 2-3, we are back in this!

2-3

1122 GOAL KAC - KAC are making their shots count. It's another 2 on 1 rush - and KAC get a reverse Smash Burger goal. I wonder if any of their fans tried to redeem it?! Just like that, it's back to a two-goal deficit.

2-4

543 PEN OLL - Crnović trip. Atwal does a chicken dance to a KAC player who wouldn't fight him after a nasty accidental impact on Horak in the net.

Lots of close shaves on this PK.

248 PEN KAC - holding on Sabla. Gregorc is the PP1 QB with Mašič out.

KAC's PK is quite spread out, and they are able to smother us. In unfortunately common Olimpija fashion, they get a shot on goal before we do. We actually don't get one at all, so both our PPs end with 0 shots. Ouch.

A very stylish P2 interval set of fan goals for the Dubai holiday competition - a lady does a backhand straight down the middle first time and a man does a moonwalk celly after a goal on his 2nd try. Easier to pull off on ice, no doubt, but a good effort nonetheless!

P3

1418 Kerbashian hits a KAC player forcefully - nice to see more physicality tonight from the team, although it may just be frustration at the impending loss.

1214 Kapel gets pushed back into the D-zone and gives it up for a 2 on 1 that Horak saves. Is that four 2 on 1s we've given up tonight?

1132 GOAL KAC - centring pass and a top corner shot for ANOTHER reverse Smash Burger goal! You couldn't write this stuff! At 2-5, this is essentially game over.

2-5

252 GOAL KAC - a high shot from a tight angle sneaks in.

2-6

This is the first embarrassment of the AT era.

152 GOAL OLIMPIJA - Pance from th eleft circle, assisted by Lavoie and Ege. Makes the scoreboard look slightly better.

ENDS 3-6.

Lavoie gets MVP for his two assists.

Final thoughts

KAC outclassed us here. It's a time-worn tale of a team going on a break and coming back looking lethargic and disconnected. I really hope this is a one-off and an unfortunate catching of a red-hot KAC rather than the Tavželj new coach bounce momentum coming to a standstill. Let's explore the two extreme scenarios potentially ahead of us:

Blessed - KAC were just really good. We finish the season strongly against tough opponents. Winning glosses over the unpopular appointment of David Rodman as assistant coach, and he ameliorates the coaching capacity available to the players. Our PP returns to form. We use this momentum to defeat our play-in opposition and really compete for the championship in the playoffs proper. We retain some star free agents for a more put-together run at the Cup next season.

Cursed - we continue to look dishevelled against a murderer's row of opponents in our finish to the regular season. David Rodman's arrival sours the fanbase and kills off the good AT vibes in the playing squad. Our PP goes back to being moribund, à la Karhula. We secure our play-in place, nevertheless, but get bounced by our opponent. We feel like we've wasted a season of this powerful squad and lose key free agents.

Linz and Bolzano coming up will be real tests for us, but we should be fine for a play-in finish regardless. As friend of the blog NG said to me, if we finish 8th we'll at least get a guaranteed final home game.

P.S. I found it hilarious this week when at work we were asked to test out Microsoft's Copilot AI. I, of course, asked it about strategies for Olimpija in the playoffs. It ended up citing this blog twice out of three sources ^^ and yet if you Google search Olimpija Hockey Blog the site doesn't come up! The miniature tragedies of modern day life, eh?!

Farewell Miha Zajc (and hello David Rodman)

FAREWELL MIHA ZAJC 

I watched 4 days' worth of Grand Sumo highlights yesterday, which I took as a sign that I needed to fabricate something hockey-related for me to do. I was in increasing danger of writing about Yokozuna Terunofuji's shock retirement mid-tournament and the disappointing performances from the two Ozeki who were looking to get promoted to the top rank. Thankfully, I took Socrates' advice to 'know thyself' and I managed to stop before I became tempted to start a Sumo blog.

Back to hockey - Miha Zajc left the club 10 days ago. The team released a two-sentence statement, translated below:

"Olimpija Ljubljana Hockey Club and Miha Zajc have mutually terminated their cooperation. We thank Miha for his contribution and effort in the green and white jersey and wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

The LinkedIn-ification of corporate life has left us with these brief 'future endeavours' messages. Now, as I've said previously, this is not just an Olimpija thing - almost every organisation in the modern world does this. It's easier to default to this and get the interaction over with than to explain why or recount the good times with the person involved. To me, people are worth more than this. What about their character, the way they impacted others? 

This man was a former captain of the club. He has been with Olimpija, on and off, since 2011. Was there really nothing worth commenting on from those 14 years? Let me repeat - this is much less of a complaint to the club and much more of a complaint about Western/European/human society today. The club are just being professional with this statement. For me, what we as a globalised society deem professional should incorporate more humanity. The club hasn't done anything wrong here, but we as a whole should try to do more to appreciate those around us, whether they are coming or going.

Now, I don't know what was happening behind the scenes - this year, he was frozen out. For all I know, he could have been turning into a locker-room issue (EDIT - and I have heard rumblings of this type of thing...), and that's why the club were a bit short with him at the end. I assumed he wasn't playing much because he was carrying a nagging injury, but it seems that that wasn't the case. With Červeny, Lavoie and Sabolič coming in, Kapel gaining the trust of the coaching staff and the reworking of our centre depth (Tomaževič, Bonino and Kerbashian) freeing up Simšič to play wing, the starting spots have been squeezed. That goes without mentioning Pance's important role as a penalty killer and provider of skill/spark. This kind of hyper-competitive environment is how it should be - and I really respect the club for keeping Mehle, Beričič and Sodja together. Development for the future is just as important as how we play now (and those guys are great to watch - particularly 10 and 23 on the PK). All that contributed to a situation where Zajc wasn't finding a place. 

Was it defensive issues? He was on the PK3 last year, so I wouldn't immediately dial it down to that. Would it have been nice to keep Zajc in reserve for the playoffs? Sure! Do I understand him for wanting to play and find ice time somewhere else? Definitely! Personally, I would have played out the rest of the season and enjoyed staying with my long-standing teammates for that time - but it wasn't my decision to make. 

Anyway, here's a bit more on #88's time since I started watching HKO last season (yes, it has only been that short!). I don't know the guy personally, so it's going to be more impersonal than I would like for a farewell message. No matter, it won't be hard to make it longer than the official one!

2023-24

36 games, 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points and a +14.

Last season, Zajc mostly played on the top line alongside Maris Bičevskis and Trevor Gooch. This was an effective group for Olimpija, with Gooch in particular scoring the joint 2nd highest points in the league. Now, I am thankful that we strengthened our depth at centre, as Bičevskis wasn't suited to being the 1C, but these guys drove much of our later season success.

Zajc himself was what I would call a 'werewolf player'. Some nights (and forgive me for not analysing the shape of the moon when he registered multi-point games - even for me, that would be a bit much), he was an absolute multi-point monster and some nights he looked very human. As I wrote in the blog's first article, 'Welcome to the 24-25 season':

"Miha Zajc (27, SLO) - the definition of streakiness. Had some monster games (e.g. 3G 2A) and then disappeared for weeks on end (and even had to be publicly told to keep his stick on the ice near the net by Gooch). Hoping for more of the former than the latter!"

I had intended to go through every game last season to find the big games, but the ICE League's website is brutal for it's lack of tab-opening and refreshing to the current season, so alas that won't be happening. Suffice to say, scoring and form are such tantalising and ephemeral elements in sport. Why do some strikers in goal-based games go without goals for ages, and then suddenly 'the  ketchup bottle' opens and goals flow like a raging river? If I knew that, I would be getting paid a lot more than I am now! 

2024-25

28 games played, 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points and a +5.

You can see that something changed this year. He played almost as many games, but didn't get anywhere near the same opportunities and ice time as last season. As we become more competitive and as Mr Lefebvre's financial backing has bolstered our recruitment capabilities, people are going to fall by the wayside. Unfortunately this happened to Miha Zajc. All that remains to say is that I wish him all the best in his future endeavours...

LOL

Just kidding, obviously. Thank you Miha, for everything you put into the club, for all your monster performances and for the joy you brought fans, especially those who wore 88 on their backs. Best of luck with finding a new club - I hope it's one that doesn't bring you up against us!

ADDENDUM - David Rodman

I have been asked to add a comment on the blog about the negative fan sentiment towards appointing David Rodman, another Jesenice man, as assistant coach to AT. I have been explicitly told that some fans plan on not turning up to the next game in protest at his hiring. I do not have a dog in this fight, so to speak, as I am not from here, but I do sympathise with the club. In my view, we should be looking to build the best team we can for the long term. As ŽG and I have discussed, signing Slovene players and coaches to form the foundation of the team is the most sustainable way to build this success, as foreign players are far more likely to be transient Dragons, moving on after a season here. If we entirely avoid personnel from Jesenice, that won't be possible. Personally, I just want the best coaches and players we can find - but I do acknowledge that hiring from local rivals is going to be a tough pill to swallow for many local fans.

EDIT: Thanks to some loyal followers, I have been given a bit more information on the man. In that case, where he was essentially a brazenly dirty player against us for years, I completely understand the negative fan feelings and it is an unusual appointment, to put it mildly!

P.S. By the way, watch 1:55-2:10 here. This is how I want us to play - a big hit in the D-zone and a successful rush off the back of that.

https://youtu.be/JeBXEQG4MDk?si=lH7i0b2dWoGMJhqQ

P.P.S. Most importantly, out of all of this, Zajc leaving means our LPP Bus advert is out of date!! ^^ (He's on the left, just after the concertina join on the 'bendy bus', as we would say in England!). Photo by yours truly on a bleary-eyed morning commute!

GAME 39: ASI VS OLL

 ASIAGO 2 - 3 OLIMPIJA 

DRAGONS MAKE IT HARD ON THEMSELVES BUT GET THE WIN

KERBASHIAN LIGHTS THE TORCH, ČERVENY FANS THE FLAMES AND BONINO BURNS DOWN THEIR HOPES OF VICTORY

Stars of the game

* Nick Bonino (GWG (game-winning goal)) - I feel like it's easy to forget how lucky we are to have signed Nick Bonino. He has fitted in so well at the club that you almost take him for granted, already. Let's agree not to do that! His work on the penalty kill was crucial, his goal yanked us out of our slide towards OT and his leadership and dedication to defending our lead (and net) in the closing seconds of the game were exceptional. 'TFC' in cricket means 'thanks for coming', and is a kind of derogatory assignation to someone who did nothing in the game. I sincerely want to thank Bonino for coming to Olimpija, in the complete opposite sense to that of the cricketing acronym. He is everything to this team!

** Kale Kerbashian (G, A) - Now, I can't go saying all that nice stuff about 63 without giving KK his flowers, too. This game was a call-back to his early season form, where he looked like the maestro conducting the Olimpija team in attack. He has still been doing that, but just in a less flashy way. Today was flashy. His assassination of a goal sparked the team into life after a difficult start and he manipulated the Asiago defence into losing their shape just enough for Červeny to bang one in from his usual left circle office. I suppose I should take this opportunity to thank everybody for letting me have his OnkoMan jersey - I appreciate it! If you see me at a game and you like the blog, come and say hi! If you don't like the blog, leave me alone! ^^

*** Lukaš Horák (34/36 for 0.944 - I have this as the exact same statline as last game!) - A theme of these stars of the game is outrageous skill being commonplace. Horak, of course, fits this bill magnificently. Saves that many goalies across the league could not even attempt are basically default moves in his arsenal. He bails us out so, so often. Gratitude is the key to happiness, people - appreciate our squad for the greatness they put on show! As much as I love 61, I do want to see Kolin worked into the rotation more to keep Horak healthy. Perhaps Kolin was just being saved for the Slovene Cup games this week.

Stats

That left side cluster at the low slot / net-front is the highest concentration of chances I have seen in these shot charts, at least since I realised they exist a couple of months ago. I thought it was us, since we've had so many home games recently. It's actually Asiago! So, it shows we weathered a storm of chances and have improved in our stick-lifting and engagement in front of goal. They did score twice here, so there's work to be done, but specific goal analysis is down below. 

Now, you can see that we scored two goals in that exact spot on the right hand side, so the hockey gods giveth and the hockey gods taketh away. 

Shots-saves at even strength:

P1: 11-13 (OLL GG, ASI GG).

P2: 16-3. To not score in this period, with such dominant outchancing, is something we can't afford to do against stronger teams. It's that classic sporting thing of failing to capitalise on chances just being guaranteed to come back and bite you in the key moments. Mercifully, it did not happen today - but we can't put ourselves in that position when the play-ins/offs come around.

P3: 8-9 (OLL G). Closed out effectively and surprisingly later in the period, after I felt sure OT was on its way.

Shooting %: 3/39 for 7.69%. This was always going to be low with a scoreless 16-3 second period at 5 on 5. Their goalie did make one insane save on Mahkovec, so we were unlucky in that regard. 

Save %: 34/36 for 94.4%. Same as last game - a pillar of consistency!

Game flow

P1

1857 GOAL ASIAGO

Asiago hit us straight down the middle of Mašič and Atwal, just like last game. It's nifty stickhandling but comes off as weak team defence. I sang Atwal's praises recently, but that doesn't prevent me from saying that if he wants to assume this role of 'tough guy', then he should be doing what the likes of Radko Gudas would do for the Anaheim Ducks and hitting that attacker into oblivion instead of wafting a stick at him. It's another goal where a fast neutral zone transition catches us unawares. Something to keep in mind for the play-ins/offs, as other teams will be watching. Don't worry, I'll stop myself from waxing lyrical about the NFL's potential impact on the Belichickian meta-game we are neglecting of tendency building and breaking (but the offer is still there if the coaching staff wants!).

1-0

1620 triple save sequence from Horak.

938 Big entry hit from ASI 57 on Kapel that sends him spinning. We should try more of that!

836 GOAL OLIMPIJA - Kale races up the ice after pickpocketing a board battle for a 2 on 1 with Sabolič. He keeps it and rifles the puck over the goalie's glove. Yowza! Like Ezio Auditore da Firenze in an old Assassin's Creed game (don't buy their next one, Ubisoft must suffer for their gaming sins), he's in and out before you know it!

1-1

548 GOAL OLIMPIJA - Červeny 1-2s with Kale for yet another left circle snipe! Their new Finnish goalie, Kaarlehto, really should have had that, but the force of Červeny's shot squirms in through his defences. No matter, it's in! As a wise man once said, "no takesies backsies!".

1-2

206 GOAL ASIAGO - a point shot finds an ASI forward in front of Horak and all alone. Let's not sugarcoat it, this looks pretty awful on Hebar and Crnović, who were both caught way off on their right side of the rink chasing the puck - and then neither of whom thought to get back anywhere near the goal. Perhaps in AT's system somebody else should have dropped, I do not know. I don't think I am too out of line to suggest it may have been one of the defenders' responsibilities, though. The ASI F knocks it through Horak's 5 hole on what seems to be a rebound. These moments of really hanging Horak out to dry have thankfully become rarer since AT took over, but wow - it certainly happened tonight. There's no excuse to be playing like juniors.

2-2

P2

1427 PEN ASI - first penalty of the game, for a slash on a Mahkovec breakaway.

1421 Mašič gets tripped almost right away but it's not called. This is one of those frustrating ones where it would be called at 5 on 5, but the refs feel like they'd be piling on the team on the PK if they called it during a PP. You should still call it, Lord knows we've had those called on us enough times!

ASI's PK look ready for Červeny's left circle slot (admittedly, after he's already scored from there once, lol). They are smothering him at every opportunity. It's overall a good job from them in limiting what we're trying to do. They've clearly done their homework, which is why we need to play the tendency meta-game by...I'll stop myself!

1140 Kaarlehto makes a quadra-save sequence on the floor! Mahkovec gets robbed by a glove save on the line (later reviewed but there wasn't enough to overturn the no goal call), two further shots, and then a Bohinc shot that really should have been elevated more. If so, the goal was secure - Kaarlehto was fully laid out by that point, but Rožle could only hit his flailing glove.

1059 Kapel's solo drag and shot is blocker saved. Rok has been reinvigorated under the Tavželj regime and on the second line with Mahkovec and Bonino (admittedly, two excellent linemates to have). Whether it was just getting fully healthy or something mental, it's worked - and he's making an impact every game. I just hope he can squeeze a few more goals in, as he keeps hitting the goalposts recently.

848 It's currently 17-2 shot differential OLL-ASI at the moment, including special teams. And yet, no goals to show for it, so it counts for little!

653 PEN OLL - Bonino high stick.

547 Fantastic pad save from 61 on a very late accidental deflection off Crnović - pure class and stops what should have been a certain goal. A mix of good positioning and great reactions contributed here.

400 PEN OLL - Mašič for elbowing. 72 has the right idea, here - he aims to hit the attacker in the neutral zone, but he goes way too high and flails his elbow out into the guy's face. Can Červeny, Sabla and Bohinc teach him how to hit properly, please? 

ASI got 6 shots last PP, so it's a bad idea to give them another...

301 ASI PEN - hooking. 4 on 4 for 101.

P2 ends - we needed a goal from that. Our 4 on 4 and 1 minute of PP ends with zero shots.

P3

1832 Sabla turns it over in the defensive zone, passing straight to an ASI player - thankfully, Horak is there for the 1 on 0 smothering save.

1751 great double save from 61 - an elegant pad through traffic and an aggressive positioning to swallow up the follow up chance.

1529 PEN OLL - Bičevskis slash. He's seemed a bit ill-disciplined since his return. Perhaps it's him being conscious he needs to make up for his lack of full match fitness post-injury comeback? This stuff is not the refs, this is us being undisciplined.

1128 Lavoie gets dispossessed from behind, showing a lack of awareness, which springs a momentary 3 on 1 on Horak, who saves. Bailing us out once more!

This is too even, at the moment. We need to be in more control of this game, given the opposition.

1113 PEN ASI - high stick on Kale.

1054 Mašič's run of bad luck continues, as he breaks his stick on a prime chance.

1002 Gregorc's shot is  blocked by Kale, an unfortunate (and probably painful) one!

Zero shots on a PP when we really need a goal is also painful. We've only got ourselves to blame if we don't take the win this time.

6 - it's messy and it looks like OT is on the way.

529 GOAL OLIMPIJA - happily, I am almost immediately proven incorrect! Maybe I should state that it looks like I won't have an amazonian, hyper-intelligent model walk into my life in the near future who doesn't expect me to pay for all our dates and actually puts in a modicum of effort?? Hello??

Back to hockey (and, sadly, reality) - it's a great move from the second line. Kapel from the right side goes to Mahkovec down low, who hits Bonino in front of net. Two tries and it's in!

2-3

427 PEN ASI - roughing on Pance. A PPG would be a great finisher, but we look very indecisive with our zone entries and only get 1 shot on goal over our two PPs in P3. Ouch. 

Luckily, ASI are themselves indecisive on whether and when to go empty net.

51s left they finally do go EN.

Gregorc with a key stick to stop a back post shot.

3s left PEN OLL Gregorc slash. Bonino takes the reins and kills the last few seconds for the 4 on 6.

ENDS 2-3

Final thoughts

We made this harder than it needed to be, but we got what we came for. It's worth noting that these penalties were not like the tiki-taki RBS game's - these were our own fault. Learning opportunities!

AT said in the post-game that "the confidence in this group is that we kinda manage to find a way to win games" - I couldn't agree more. Such a sea-change from when we 'kind kept finding a way to lose games'!

Two personal notes - one, I am planning on doing a 'Farewell Miha Zajc' article, partly to make up for what I felt was an overly-brief farewell message from the team. I don't know the circumstances for how it went down, and I know I am more sensitive than most others (it's not just Olimpija who mark the end of years-long partnerships with a few short sentences), but I feel he deserved a bit more than that. So I aim to do that for him in our ICE League break! 

Two, talking of breaks, I am taking a break from the blog for the Slovene Cup games. I didn't watch them last year, for whatever reason, and we had a strong run to end the season. As a highly superstitious Celtic islander and former cricketer, I want the same for us this time around. I'll save up some energy for what we all hope will be an onslaught of playoff games!

These last few articles have been fuelled by the KILL KNIGHT soundtrack. I haven't even bought the game, but it's well worth checking out the OST on Spotify if you want some focus music à la Hotline Miami (which really powered me through my undergraduate degree). I wish I was somehow sponsored but you are well aware that I am not, by anyone! Feel free to hit me up, though, Radenska! I love your water! Still not up to the Serbian VodaVoda's levels, in my opinion, but the best on offer here by far! I would also take an EMKA.SI sponsorship. Time to stop the deranged ramblings. See you in a week or two!

GAME 38: OLL VS RBS

 OLIMPIJA 1-2 SALZBURG

BEST ATMOSPHERE IN HALA TIVOLI FOR A LONG TIME CAN'T POWER DRAGONS PAST RED BULLS

GAME RESTS ON A KNIFE EDGE THE WHOLE WAY BUT WE JUST LOSE OUT

REFEREEING CONTINUES TO BE IN FINE FOCUS DUE TO FAN FURY

Stars of the game

* Lukaš Horák (34/36 for 0.944) - I was sitting next to a friend who was at their first Olimpija game. She was marvelling at how good 61 is. It's an important reminder not to take him for granted. This was yet another scintillating performance in a very long list of them. Having said that, I hope Kolin starts in Asiago tonight, as we need to keep Horak fresh.

** Rudolf Červeny (PPG) - Červeny has become a real powerplay sniper for us. I have often criticised the team for simply lining up Sabla in the right circle for predictable shots, because the goalie knows they're coming and can stop them. Now we are frequently going to Červeny in the left circle, but he keeps scoring from there! Just like the last match report, if you can do something well enough that they know it's coming and you can't stop them, it's *chef's kiss*!

*** The Hala Tivoli Crowd - 3,125 people created and enjoyed the playoff atmosphere. I wish we had managed to get the win, but being incredibly competitive and taking RBS to the wire is such a positive step for this team as the play-ins and playoffs approach.

A word (actually, 419 words) on the referees...

Thank you to various friends of the blog, including ŽG and F13 for pointing out that the referee in particular who keeps frustrating us with flagrant non-calls is a former Olimpija 'legend'! 

Now, with the announcement this week that Red Bull will be officially partnering with the ICE League to make a 'media house' (https://ice.hockey/en/news-en/?id10736/211141), it is clear the league doesn't see much issue in the way of clear conflicts of interest. I know Red Bull can seriously help out the league, but it shouldn't happen when they own one of the top teams. Even the Austrian fans were complaining about this! 

More relevant to us, though, is the continued allowance of a former Olimpija player to referee our games. You might think that this would result in some bias in our favour, but frankly it's the complete opposite! As any Olimpija fan knows, we seem to get biased treatment against us from both Austrian and Slovene referees. The Austrians tend to favour their own teams and the Slovene refs don't want to appear biased. As any cursory knowledge of Greek myth will tell you, the thing you try to avoid is the thing that becomes inevitable. We had metronomic calls for RBS tonight for any tiny infringement, including one with 2 seconds to go on Bonino where the RBS player simply got overpowered. There's a difference between a foul and losing a strength battle! On the flipside, Olimpija players like Červeny were getting hauled down and blatantly interfered with right in front of the zebras' eyes and play kept being allowed to continue. 

I sincerely do not want to be a constant ref-basher, as these are all judgment calls by human beings, but they make it hard. The league needs to do some serious soul-searching, training and recruitment in the offseason to ensure some vague perception of parity and justice prevails and disperses this malevolent cloud of fan frustration. I sympathise with the league that there may be a shortage of high-level refs that they can use, but we should ensure that former players are not refereeing games of their old clubs, as they will either be perceived as favouring their old team or they will be so concerned to transcend that perception that they will heavily favour the other team!

In sum, I think we did extremely well tonight to hang with a perennial winner of this league, despite giving up a killer shorthanded goal and suffering through frequent calls for RBS and frequent non-calls for us.

Stats

Look at this absolute warzone of a shot chart! This reminds me of an arcade shooter or bullet hell game's waves of enemies! A good comparator for this clash of titans-esque game.

Shots-saves at even strength

P1: 11-17 (OLL PPG, RBS G) - an action-packed opening period sees it end 1-1.

P2: 7-4 (RBS SHG) - a brutal shorthanded goal is given up on our powerplay, which ends up being the game-winner. I'll say it every time it happens - you just can't let those in and expect to win.

P3L 7-10 - despite a well-organised empty net attack, RBS just about control this period and see out the win (with some officiating assistance, let's say...).

Game flow

P1

929 GOAL RBS - We let RBS enter the zone very freely and they find a man at the right circle who hits home. We need to make them work for it more than whatever that was. EDIT - On the replay, I see that we had 4 defenders against 3 attackers, but our leftmost one of them (Simšič, possibly?) inexplicably decides to go off for a change, freeing up the space for the eventual right circle goal. HELLO!!? Defend the incoming attack first please?!? It's a wicked release from the RBS player that hits the pad-glove gap, but come on now. I think that player was aiming to help the transition once the attack was over, but the problem was that the attack was over - and they scored! This is the type of line-change clanger that happened far too often under Coach Karhula, so let's cut this out pronto, please.

0-1

607 PEN RBS - trip.

413 PPG OLIMPIJA - Červeny! We haven't got many PP ideas, but we don't need them when we can just give it to Rudolf to bang in from the left circle! He beats the goalie's glove, top right corner. Sabolič and Mašič on the assists.

1-1

307 Bad turnover on a change and Horak is there to smother the resulting chance.

Great energy in the building from the fans, which feeds the players and vice versa!

It's getting fesity, with Atwal, Červeny and Gregorc all getting a bit chippy with RBS!

P2

1817 Atwal fight! 5 minutes each. Sadly for people in the West stand, like me, we couldn't really see much as it was right at the boards.

1628 OLL PEN - Bičevskis high stick. They got this a bit mixed up and Červeny seemed to go in, so I'm not sure what happened there.

1423 Pance breaks on the PK but gets his shot glove saved.

1342 Good stick from Bohinc.

1244 PEN RBS - check to the head on Lavoie.

1217 SHORTHANDED GOAL RBS  - oh no... Unfortunately, as friend of the blog NR pointed out to me, it's Mašič who turns the puck over right next to the net (again). The joyous forechecker slides it into the slot for an incoming teammate who takes it around Horak for the SHG. 

We need to talk about Mašič - as NR and I discussed, he is in danger of becoming the 'offensive defenseman' stereotype of being a points scorer (he is second on the team in points) but one who gives up a lot the other way. He's young, but these killer turnovers that lead to goals and losses have to stop. Hopefully Tavželj, Pavlin and the other defenders can help him out. Simplifying his game would be a good start - as NR suggested, sometimes he is trying to do too much when he can just take the simple pass. Sadly, at the moment he is becoming a Predan-esque liability. Last season, Predan started off well but then kept turning the puck over in dangerous areas, eventually losing the trust of the coaching staff and his place on the team. I don't foresee the same ending for Mašič, but you can't rule anything out if these turnover goals continue. He's fallen quite far from my 'Rolls-Royce' assessment at the start of the season!

1129 Kapel hits the bar!

844 PEN OLL - Sabla delay of game. The puck goes over the glass in the neutral zone.

428 Kapel hits the post!!

P3

1931 Mahkovec hits the post!!!

1750 PEN OLL - slash by Ege.

1432 Dangerous looking hit to the head on Sabla not called. This is the same ref who didn't give anything for Kumanović being motionless on the ground, according to a friend of the blog (can't find who it was, sorry!).

1242 Lavoie hits the post!!!! The crowd are baying and begging for a goal!

530 Clear interference right in front of the referees on Červeny and it's not called. What are they looking at? Seriously?? He's got a defender draped all over him, hauling him down. If that's not interference, I honestly do not know what is.

1 - we go empty net.

11s left - Mašič falls at the offensive blue line and RBS take over, nearly scoring an empty netter and finishing the game. I don't blame him for this, it was an accident and a pressure situation. The turnover for the SHG is what I am more concerned with.

2s left PEN OLL - Bonino for a very dubious slash.

ENDS 1-2

Final thoughts

We hit the goalposts 4 times tonight, in quick succession. Both goals were down to our mistakes. Despite refereeing controversy, let's focus on what we can control. We were hyper-competitive against a top, top team in this league. That bodes very well for the near and more distant future. On to Asiago, in 10 minutes! ^^ 

GAME 37 OLL VS HCP

 OLIMPIJA 2 - 1 PUSTERTAL

OLIMPIJA CONCEDE EARLY BUT THE WOLVES CAN'T BLOW DOWN HORAK'S BRICK WALL AFTER THAT 

MOMENT OF BRILLIANCE FROM SABLA TO SEAL THE DEAL

Stars of the game

* Robert Sabolič (GWG) - whilst I still miss Žiga Pavlin as Captain (his was my first Olimpija jersey last season), Sabla really took matters into his own hands today and delivered a performance worthy of the C on his shirt. The game-winning goal was something to behold, with a drag from behind that went through the oncoming Pusteral defender, freeing Sabla up to knock in his trademark backhand-roofer. I always find it pretty delicious in any sport when the opposition know what's coming and they still can't stop it.

** Arvin Atwal (G) - I really like how Atwal's game has evolved under Andrej Tavželj. A former defenseman himself, you can see the effect he has had. Atwal still plays hard, but he doesn't veer into penalty-inducing recklessness anywhere near as much as he did under Upi Karhula. As I have strongly encouraged, he protects his goalie and his teammates and unleashes himself when appropriate (and when the other guy is also going to get a penalty). With all that said, he also scored a nifty goal on a 2-on-1, with excellent elevation on the puck to beat the goalie, who had done well to cross over so far.

*** Lukaš Horák (33/34 .970) - wiped the slate clean after the insta-goal and shut the door for the rest of the game, hanging a big 'dneska ne' sign while he was at it.

Honourable mention: Rožle Bohinc. I accept that I have a type - I love watching big defensemen. It's why I got my Pavlin jersey last year. For someone so young, Bohinc is already developing a fulsome skillset that should take him far. He uses his length to disrupt attackers with his active stick, to the point where it's frankly ridiculous how far he can reach to dislodge pucks. He doesn't shy away from hitting, either, which is something I think this team needs more of (and which, with the return of Červeny, we are getting). We've also started to see some powerful point shots from him. I think it's so exciting to see someone with so much potential in our squad, and I hope he stays there for a long, long time. Imagine what he'll be in 4-5 years! 'Some player!', as men across England pronounce whenever they really rate someone!

Stats

The left side shows the waves of offense Horak had to weather. I do enjoy that shot that appears to be from outside the rink at the bottom left. I must have missed Simšič glitching through the boards to shoot that one! Otherwise, it's a similar story as usual - the goals are coming from the low slot and if you get kept to the outside/out of there you will not be successful. I am reading through a hockey coaching textbook to try to level up my analysis here, so please forgive me if I'm sounding like a broken record at the moment in this section! The vinyl selection will be improving, along with the player! Grooves are being pressed! Ok, I'll stop now!

Shots-saves at even strength:

P1: 5-15 (HCP G)

P2: 8-10 (OLL G). We had two PPs here.

P3: 6-7 (OLL G)

As you can see, P1 was not good for us, but we rebuilt ourselves throughout the game like some reverse Zima Blue (watch Love, Death & Robots on Netflix if you haven't already - it's earth-shaking stuff for sci-fi fans).

Shooting %: 2/23 for 8.69%. We were slightly unlucky but pulled through.

Save %: 33/34. One goes in off the first shot and then a shutout from there.

PP: 0/2

PK: 1/1

We could have done with a PPG here, but when isn't that true? With Červeny back, we look consistently a lot more dangerous - if only because we now have someone on the opposite circle to Sabla, so we can just repeatedly go to either one of them instead of just 55! ^^

Game flow

1949 GOAL HCP - we fall asleep right away and let HCP cut through us. It's a cute neutral zone move that leaves a gaping hole between Atwal and Mašič on the back-end for an easy 5-hole goal on Horak in the first 11 seconds. I have to confess, I was slightly late to the game and walked in to the aftermath of this goal! We can't be letting this happen so soon into a game - if only to avoid inserting such a depressing 'oof' into the Mala Terasa anthem-singing!

0-1

1330 There are small moments from Bonino that make you stop and stare a bit. One here was a mid-air backhand clear. An extremely difficult thing to do made to look like it's nothing. It's instructive in illustrating how high the skill threshold is in the NHL.

On a personal note, I was sitting in the widest angle seat I'd ever been in, partly to avoid the unfortunately common instances of people putting their feet on the seats in front of them. It provided me with an interesting view of the HCP point shots and the columns of screening attackers and battling defenders. I would recommend it to people, but I don't want my quiet spots infiltrated! ^^

1110 A big Bohinc bomb from the blue line is blocked. Nice to see, let's hope he scores his first goal soon!

Someone's going to have to tell me, is the second 2 minute Smash Attack only for season ticket holders? I hear sezonska vstopnica in the announcement but I'm not sure. 

359 A high danger chance for Pance right in front goes just wide. It was created by Beričič deftly stealing a puck left behind the net by their goalie.

302 Lovely deception on a zone exit by Kerbashian - a double fake out that sends a HCP forechecker flying into the boards. It's the little things that make the team tick, and Kale is always on his details.

34s left - Červeny has a shot from his left circle 'office' which is glove tipped wide.

P2

1434 PEN HCP - big boarding on Mašič in the neutral zone. He ended up being ok, thank goodness, as if he'd been out we would have only had 5 defensemen.

PP sees a point shot, a net drive and a right circle shot. At least we're spreading things around a bit and trying different things. There's always a balance between doing what you want to do and taking what the PK gives you. Under AT we seem more prepared on the PP than before, so that's a real positive.

1142 GOAL OLIMPIJA - Lavoie and Atwal 2 on 1 sees 19 pass to 20, who brilliantly elevates the puck to score! All recorded beautifully for the social media by Neža! Got to love a well-marketed goal. Bičevskis was initially announced as the player with the secondary assist that was key in springing the rush, but the ICE league site has Mehle instead. I've watched the highlights and it's inconclusive - anyway, whoever it was, well done! You did the unsung, ugly thing that made the celebrated, pretty thing happen!

1-1

1008 Mašič comes back out and shoots just wide, missing out on an opportunity to do what Trevor Gooch did last year and have a barnstorming and scoring return to play, complete with a salubrious celly down centre ice!

624 Bičevskis' stick gets broken by a HCP player but there's no slashing call.

559 PEN HCP - so now they get called for slashing!

243 Huge left pad save by 61.

Atwal protects Horak and gets a big telling off by the refs for it. He's found the line where he can do what he needs to do without taking a penalty for it, it seems! Well done, Arvin!

P3

1705 PEN OLL - Gregorc for holding. Unfortunate but not egregious.

PK minus Sodja is Beričič, Bonino, Bohinc and Atwal, who rudely breaks up the B-team.

Good stick lifts from Ege on the PK2, something I had been calling for repeatedly.

I was initially surprised to find out that we have been running the best PK in the league, but you could definitely see that tonight. This was textbook stuff.

1335 Mahkovec breaks but HCP's goalie knows he wants to go 5-hole and covers it well. What did I say about making tendencies then breaking them, Marcel?! Think about Bill Belichick! Somehow I doubt he will. Ah well. If Coach Tavželj wants me to come in and do a talk on how the intricacies of NFL playcalling translate to ICE League hockey I will happily do so!

10 Sabla playing power forward hockey, finishing his checks twice in one shift.

745 GOAL OLIMPIJA - pure class from Sabla!!! He enters the zone following a high puck, takes it from behind him, drags it through a HCP defender and backhand roofs it past the outstretched glove of their goalie for the go-ahead goal! Unassisted!

2-1

635 Bohinc's length and hitting successfully disrupt a wide-angle attack.

230 HCP go EN and the guy next to me says 'tri-ena' and holds up his fingers, just to make sure.

133 Horak tries an audacious rebound shot attempt on the empty net, but there's no goalie goal for us tonight.

115 Červeny has a shot on the empty net but it's blocked. No ENG but it doesn't matter, we win!

ENDS 2-1

Final thoughts

We all know how games against Pustertal go. It's always closely-fought and a bit grindy. I think we recovered exceptionally well after a nightmare start to close out the game. This is a testament to Coach AT's leadership and to the players themselves. Let's keep piling up regulation wins!

CATCH-UP REPORTS: GAMES 34-36

Firstly, please accept my apologies for the lateness and shortness of these reports. It was a busy weekend of packing and travelling from a distant isle, so I didn't get the chance to fully address each of these games. Normal service resumes this Wednesday!

34 - GRAZ 2 - 3 OLIMPIJA

KOLIN STARS AS OLIMPIJA HOLD OFF A GRADECIAN BARRAGE

BONINO AND KAPEL COMBINE FOR THE DEATHBLOW WITH 37s TO GO

Highlights

- Luka Kolin! As we say in England, take a bow, son! How blessed are we to have this kind of quality available as our backup?! His athleticism makes his trademark double saves look breathtakingly easy. They are not! A very casual 94.6 save %.

- Beating Trevor Gooch doesn't get old, sorry (not sorry)

- 1st goal - Gregorc scores on a screened point shot. Assisted by Ege and Kapel.

- 2nd goal - Efficient scoring is the name of the game here, as Sodja scores on our second shot of the third period. Pance assists and Sodja keeps his stick on the ice in the low slot for the goal.

- 3rd goal and game winner, with 37s left: Bonino's mid-air interception and crisp feed to Kapel, who was aware enough to not just go for a line change.

- Apparently we still have the no.1 penalty kill in the league? Pretty impressive and a testament to our talent in that form of special teams (even if going 50% tonight didn't help their efforts to stay no.1).

Lowlights

- Crnović's delay of game penalty that led to a Graz PPG. He has had a penalty in 3 out of the last 4 games. Atwal has tidied his game up, playing forcefully but within the rules. Crnović needs to be careful, as his flowing carry-in zone entries have dried up. With Ćosić close to returning and Bohinc/Hebar playing well and in need of development, he should be in danger of being the odd man out.

- We got a PP almost straightaway, which proved not to be as beneficial as you'd hope. We looked rusty and, in Karhula-era-style, Graz get the first (and only) shot on goal of our powerplay ;(

Thoughts

Look at this shot differential:

Period 1 speaks for itself... But what incredible resilience and determination on show to emerge victorious! 

Winning even when you don't play that well is a sign of a very good team. This was simply not something we were capable of in the latter stages of Coach Karhula's stewardship of the team. Graz had more possession and pressure; I'll admit, it felt like they were destined to score a winner in the latter parts of the 3rd period. Instead, we held firm and - with two moments of brilliance from Bonino then Kapel - stole the victory ourselves. Stealing may not be the right verb, as we were leading in the game for extended periods. But to come away with a win against an extremely expensive Graz lineup in their own barn is magnificent.

35 - FEHERVAR 2 - 1 OLIMPIJA

VALIANT EFFORT AWAY IN THE HUNGARIAN HINTERLANDS

KERBASHIAN TAKES THE LEAD BUT THE DEVILS TAKE THEIR DUE

Highlights

- Slick PPG by Sabolič and Kerbashian. Sabolič slaps it along the ice to Kale, who angles it in. Bonino was also there at the net-front. It's pleasing to see a well-worked PP after so long struggling in this area of the game under the Karhula reign.

- Fighting till the very end - even in the last few seconds, we were right there in the hack-and-whack net-front mixer. 

Lowlights

- Missed chances: Červeny essentially missing an empty net on a tight angle, Mašič hitting the post, Pance's breakaway being comfortably double-saved, Kerbashian + Sabla's 2 on 1 getting saved...

- 1st goal conceded - Červeny's back-pass is slightly wide of Mašič, who falls over trying to reach it. Fehervar break the other way and score over Horak's glove.

- 2nd goal conceded - Horak let through a not especially strong point shot PPG.

Thoughts

I think this was a good performance against a very tough team on a long road trip. Of course, I would have liked our winstreak to extend for eternity, but I don't feel aggrieved at all and am proud of our efforts.

36 - VILLACH 4 - 5 OLIMPIJA (PENS)

INCREDIBLE COMEBACK WIN FROM 4-0 DOWN

HORAK THE HERO IN PENALTY SHOOTOUT BUT SCARY SITUATION POST-GAME WORRIES FANS

Highlights

- Er, maybe the comeback from 4-0 down to 4-4, taking us to overtime?!

- Something about last-minute equalisers away to Villach... Life doesn't get much better!

Lowlights

- Seeing Horak collapsing and lying motionless on the floor in the middle of his jubilant teammates after saving the final VSV penalty to win the game. They thought he was joking initially, but quickly called over the team doctors and emergency medics when it was clear he wasn't.

- Going down 4-0. Now, obviously we came back from it to win, but clearly it's not sustainable play. 

Goals against

G1 61 screened by a defender 

G2 61 misses a poke and they score back post PPG

G3 Another missed poke, but it's crisp passing from VSV that makes our defenders look lost and the puck end up in the back of the net, past Horak's glove.

G4 Very passive for my tastes, although they were trying to hold their shape on the PK. 61 gets beaten near post PPG.

Goals for

G1 Lavoie shapes up to look like he'll pass, but instead darts the puck inside the right post. This is the type of play we signed him for!

G2 Beautiful PP passing, ticking like a metronome! Bonino provides the killer pass, a backhander that draws two defenders, leaving Kerbashian with a free left side of the net to tuck it home.

G3 Bonino spies a wide-open 5-hole as he roams from the right to the left circle, choosing the perfect moment to slide a shot away and through. This man can play hockey!

G4 Olimpija hit the post twice, so this was coming... Sabla winds up not far past the right side of the VSV blue line and his signature slapshot powers its way through for the late, late equaliser!!! And the crowd goes wild, etc!!! Bonino is seen mouthing "what a shot!". Now, I've made fun of them for often having few other ideas than giving it to Sable on the right side, so perhaps I deserve some humble pie. I'll happily take it in exchange for this equaliser and later win!

Penalties

VSV - 61 saves, blocker.

Bonino - beats blocker! Subtle movement yet effectively throws off the goalie.

VSV - 61 saves, glove.

Sabolič - glove save. I thought he would be the one to put it away!

VSV - 61 saves, glove! We complete the comeback victory!

Thoughts

The team gave an update saying that Horak has been closely examined and appears to be fine after losing consciousness during the victory celebrations on the ice. That's the main takeaway.

As I put on my Instagram stories, though, another takeaway is what I discussed with my taxi driver on the way back from the airport. We've won 6/7 under Andrej Tavželj as interim coach, and have exhibited some seriously impressive displays of resilience and courage under pressure. The team initially said it was speaking to some big names and that a new coach would be in place by the end of 2024. Why would you change something if it's working so well? We only have January and February left, anyway - I say we hold off on the big coaching hire until the summer and let Mr Tavželj (and Žiga Pavlin as assistant) continue to hold the reins till then.

GAME 33: OLL VS VIC

 OLIMPIJA 5 - 3 VIENNA

RUDOLF LIGHTS THE WAY AFTER CHRISTMAS WITH TWO POWERPLAY GOALS

DRAGONS GIFT TWO TO THE CAPITALS BUT OTHERWISE DOMINATE

Lineup changes:

Tomaževič is out with what a source tells me was a bad headache - I wish him well and hope it's not concussion symptoms! Beričič moves up to the first line, leaving everyone else in lines 1-3 the same as last game. Sodja centres the 4th line, with Pance returning from suspension.

Stars of the game

* Rudolf Červeny (2 PPGs) - Not content with delivering presents to the children of the world, Rudolf took charge of Olimpija's sleigh and drove us forward in this game's key moments. Scoring on the PP is something we have struggled with all season, so it was wonderful to see him be so clinical with his chances. That's now 3 goals in his 2 games back - I am rather glad we extended his temporary contract, as I'm sure you are, too!

** Marcel Mahkovec (ENG/PPG, G) - More clinical finishing. Mahkovec is starting to make the transition from being the 'young player of the year' into 'player of the year' contention.

*** Bine Mašič (G, A, clanger of a turnover) - Mašič giveth and Mašič taketh away. A brilliant goal and an important assist were partially negated by a scream-worthy turnover in the defensive zone that led to a goal conceded. Steps to improvement are clear - emphasise and unleash his offensive game while limiting major errors in the defensive zone. We can work this like a classic offensive + defensive NHL pairing, like Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson of the Seattle Kraken. Larsson plays more stay-at-home, while Dunn is allowed to roam more freely. Mašič and Atwal should look to emulate this while they work out how to improve their defence and their offense, respectively.

Stats

I enjoyed our big yellow arrow towards the left goal in the shot chart. We were less concentrated on slot chances, but we're not going to be able to manage that every game. Clearly, we were heading in the right direction...

Talking of shots, Červeny had 10 shots on goal. 10! That was double the amount of the next highest, Mahkovec on 5 shots. We won't be able to funnel our offense through one man every game, but if it works, it works! 

Shots-saves at even strength

P1: 11-7 (OLL GG, VIC GG) - we gave away two goals to Vienna, sadly, leaving it level at 2-2 (even though we outshot and out-chanced them).

P2: 6-10 (VIC G)

P3: 7-7 (PPG, PPG)

These final two periods don't include our 5 (!) powerplays, which contained 12 shots. Vienna had two powerplays, with only 4 saves and no goals.

PP: 3/6 for a fantastic 50%.

PK: 2/2 for an even better 100%. Please can we hum along at 150% on special teams for the rest of the year?! :)))

Shot %: 5/38 - 13.2%. Ticking slightly above average, but I don't think we were 'lucky' here. We dominated the game outside of two major errors.

Save %: 28/31 = 90.3%. A quality start for Horak, although he had a howler that gifted Predan a goal.

Game flow

P1

A positive start, as we have 3 clear shots on goal in the first 2.5 mins.

1612 GOAL OLIMPIJA - Mašič, unassisted! A Vienna turnover leads to a break with support. Bine finds the gap between glove and pad and it's in!

1-0

Červeny gets tripped after a clean hit by a salty VIC player, but there's no call.

1337 An acrobatic pad save from Horak, full stretch to his left.

1309 GOAL OLIMPIJA - Mahkovec, also unassisted! 8 takes it by himself while the rest of the line changes. Coach Chippy would be proud of his toe, drag, release - beating the goalie glove high! True quality on show here. And after the ICE League hyped up Vienna's new goalie, Peyton Jones, on their Instagram page this morning, hoping for another shutout ;)

2-0

737 GOAL VIENNA - an absolute clanger by Horak as he fans on a pass behind the net, misses intercepting the ensuing Vienna pass and leaves Predan, of all people, with an empty net to score into.

Like in football, sometimes this new style of active goalkeeping in terms of passing and playing the puck can break down and look awful. Fraser Forster for Tottenham, for any Premier League fans out there.

2-1

541 PEN VIC - Beričič draws a holding call in front of the Vienna goal.

430 PPG OLIMPIJA - 49s left on the PP and it's Červeny on the receiving end of some good passing from Sabolič. He beats Peyton Jones' glove and Vienna are pulling their 'star' new goalie! I am definitely not cackling to myself about this after the ICE League's fawning post earlier!

3-1

242 Atwal with a menacing hit.

152 The 3rd line of Kerbashian, Lavoie and Červeny combine for a high danger chance across the net, well kept out by Wraneschitz, the well-named new goalie for Vienna.

34s left - GOAL VIENNA - another awful turnover in the defensive zone! This time it's Mašič, who passes it straight to an incoming Vienna player after getting caught in two minds over where to go with his breakout pass. That turns into a 2 on 1 and they pass across to score with ease. It should be 3-0 but we have given them two goals ex nihilo.

3-2

P2

VIC's new goalie gets his skate stuck in the netting at the back of the goal, but we can't take advantage of his flopping around.

1636 Another turnover right in front and Horak is fortunate to be able to squeeze the puck and stop it slipping through.

1351 PEN VIC - trip on Sabla. 1:30 Smash Attack, too.

1138 Mahkovec breaks away at one end, then Gregorc expertly breaks up a chance coming back the other way.

845 PEN OLL - Sabla for interference. An unlucky one for #55, as the little Vienna defender essentially skates his face into Sabla's shoulder, without the latter really knowing anything about it. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes! Why are we giving a penalty for that? I'm not being hyperbolic here - watch the replay and you'll see Sabla knows nothing about this player as he turns around.

844 A brilliant faceoff win from Bonino, the best defensive faceoff win I've seen! He pushes it forward, all the way down to the other end of the ice! You get what you pay for...

645 Big block by Bonino at the end of the PK.

611 PEN VIC - hold on the indomitable Červeny, who is driving so much offense tonight.

517 Červeny - who else - hits the post.

224 GOAL VIENNA - Crnović gets tied up and a wide shot beats Horak's blocker. I don't want to sound like a mediocre North American hockey commentator, but 'he'd like to have that one back' does apply here. Horak would expect to save that one. It's tied, after all our control of the game (for better and worse, it seems).

3-3

101 3 on 1 and we can't even get a shot away! It's good backchecking from Vienna, in the end, but come on Sabla - we need to do better than that.

P3

1453 PEN VIC - trip on Sodja. The master/magnet at drawing penalties strikes again!

1352 how does that not go in?! Sabolič finds Bonino in front of goal, who hits the very bottom of the right post :(

755 PEN OLL - Bohinc with a crosscheck. This was another unlucky one, as it wasn't a hard crosscheck but it did come at the exact point where it would knock the player over. Another learning moment for the talented young defenseman.

617 VIC hit the post. Atwal with an ensuing nasty hit. :)

130 PEN VIC for a slash.

114 PPG OLIMPIJA - Červeny again! Mašič on the assist and Bonino/Bonino's trailing defender with a screen. Left circle, beating Wraneschitz's glove.

4-3

114 PEN VIC - abuse? This is huge for us, as the empty net will be less of a man-advantage.

30s left - ENG/PPG OLIMPIJA - Mahkovec with a relaxed one! Game over!

ENDS 5-3

Final thoughts

This was a really positive game. Why? Because, essentially, it's a 5-1 win. Two soul-crushing turnovers, from Horak and Mašič, should not happen again and are anomalies. Leaving that which should be immediately corrected out, we breezed through this game, against a team directly below us in the table, no less. This showed that, when we don't get in our own way, we are a class above the rest of the play-in teams. As such, we should be aiming to keep climbing the standings and creep into an automatic playoff place by the regular season's end in February. 

Tougher games are coming up, but we're riding a 4-game winstreak and should have the requisite confidence (and healthy players) to match up to anybody.