PRE-PRE-PLAYOFFS G47-48 + PRE-PLAYOFFS 1

 

Meaningless Games

I planned on doing a mid-range report on both of these games, but the ICE League data site for Olimpija has been down this past weekend, so I'm afraid it's a mega-token sentence or two each for the meaningless games post-8th-place-security.

RBS V OLL 

3-2 OT

Close-fought game again versus a top team. RBS are definitely one we should hope to get if and when we beat Pustertal in the pre-playoffs. We have caused them trouble all season.

VIC OLL

1-6

Rounding into form at the perfect time, we demolish Dunaj. Apart from more excellent play by Luka Kolin, I enjoyed Ćosić's P3 fight. This was followed immediately by another VIC player challenging Červeny, who refused to drop the gloves and instead pointed to the scoreboard. Love to see it.

OLIMPIJA 1 - 2 PUSTERTAL (AOT)

WOLVES SNATCH VICTORY FROM OUR CLAWS IN OT

LJUBLJANA ZOO LOOKING FOR MISSING ZEBRAS AS REFS LOSE CONTROL

Lineup changes

Bonino returns, no Gregorc due to illness and Lavoie is not on the teamsheet. Bohinc 7th D and no Mehle again, so Tomaževič is on the 4th line.

Stars of the game

* Lukaš Horák (32/34 for 0.941) - played excellently as usual and gave us every chance to win. The only goals he conceded were one trapped under Červeny and a HCP F and a heavily-screened OT shot. Assaulted by his opposite number after the game (from behind, no less - stay classy, Pustertal!), who did apparently get a 10 minute misconduct as a result, but this was not announced at the time. I imagine it will be a spicy one in Pustertal on Tuesday, but we need to keep our composure and demolish them as we have done already and repeatedly this season.

** Nick Bonino (A) /Rok Kapel (G) - Rok is not who I expected to gel best with Bonino, but it's been a pleasant surprise how well they gel together. Bonino did fantastically to secure the puck in the OZ and get it back to Kapel, who hit the slot late and hit the top corner.

*** Kale Kerbashian - KK was constantly trying to make things happen with furious crossover skating and intelligent distribution throughout.

Stats

Shots-saves at even strength:

P1: 7-9 (OLL G)

P2: 6-17

P3: 14-5 (HCP G)

OT: 2-1 (HCP GWG)

What does this show? An even first period and lop-sided P2 and P3. For us to concede in P3 rather than score with that stat line is not good enough (although, to be fair, we did very well in P2 to weather that storm).

Shooting %: 1/37 for an abysmal 2.7%. Pasquale played well (hijo de ****), but we were unlucky with multiple posts and crossbars. Have to do better next game.

Save %: 32/34 for 0.941. Certainly not Horak's fault, especially given how the goals went down.

Game flow

P1

1911 HCP start with intent and it's a net-front scramble for Olimpija.

1810 We let HCP in net-front again - fisticuffs follow.

1751 GOAL OLIMPIJA - one to settle the nerves. it's Bonino who expertly wins the puck back in the OZ, setting up Kapel for a late slot appearance to shoot over glove side!

1-0

1505 Ege locks up a power move very technically, reminding me of Ronkainen before his dramatic fall-off later last season.

1414 Kerbashian to Sabla next front, but nothing comes of it - except Sabla getting a good punch to the jaw in at the end.

1121 Wicked sharp angle backhand by Červeny nearly catches Pasquale out.

956 Bonino has a ricochet net front chance but can't hack and whack it in.

810 Bičevskis is finishing his checks, playoff hockey baby!

758 PEN HCP - slash. 1 SOG, another right after PP ends and a marginal offside call against Mašič, who looked like he had kept it in.

407 PEN OLL - Ćosić for what looked like quite a soft roughing call.

326 Pance hits the bar shorthanded 😱 that would have been such a sweet goal!

Great PK coverage by Pance and Sodja. 13+23 combining!

Kerbashian and Sabla are sent on for the final few seconds of the PP, presumably with a view to transition to offense quickly after the PP ends. Slightly dangerous, but they must sense blood in the water.

131 Sabla marmelises a HCP player; another HCP player swings and misses him.

105 Wonderful passing move by the 2nd line leaves the puck near the goal line, but it doesn't cross.

P2

1626 HCP have been applying sustained pressure throughout the start to P2. Why is it that opposing coaches always seem to be able to successfully make adjustments against us after P1, yet it's almost never the other way around?

831 HCP have double the shots we've had in this period, 5 to 10.

740 Nearly a zebra assist as it hits the ref's skate and carroms back into the danger zone.

625 its 6-13 shots to saves thus far.

255 Last ditch effort save by Horak. Infrequent line changes are leading to big pressure once more.

In the final 3 minutes, HCP look extremely dangerous and could have scored multiple goals. We do just enough to stop them, especially Červeny, who gets hit and hurt but hobbles back to tie up and stick lift a HCP F in a prime scoring position.

P3

1608 Simšič deflects one at HCP's Pasquale in net, who makes a brilliant save.

1550 GOAL HCP - it looks like absolutely dead-on goalie interference at first glance, with a HCP F sat on Horak's pads. On the highlights, though, it's clear that it's Červeny who pushes him into Horak and keeps him there. Mašič does well initially to stick lift, but is too slow to react to stop the other HCP F from tapping it in at the empty back post. The refereeing announcement after the review, that there was "NO GOAL-tender interference" should probably have been worded more clearly. "The call on the ice stands, we have a good goal" would have been the optimal choice there, bucko. 

Here's my highlights note: Červeny loses inside position and on replay clearly pushes HCP F into Horak and holds him there, trapping Horak's pad. Masic ties up stick initially but the other HCP F is too fast at disengaging, finding the open net. Initial thoughts, including mine and GB's, were that Horak was out of his blue crease and therefore there was no interference.

Here's friend of the blog NR's message to me after the game, a real banger, where I'd called the non-call "insane" (edited for clarity and quoted with permission):

"The goal was clear. Červeny pushed PUS player into Horak, who was then blocked. The issue was Mašič once again as he is proving to be a complete defensive liability. Player watching instead of puck and haven't even tried to beat the player off puck. Crappy way to receive an equalising goal. However, we totally let off gas after 1st period where we were extremely dominant team and with each period PUS was hungrier for the win. But they also played very dirty, avoiding tons of penalties due to bad refereeing (for example clear tripping on Čošić, foul on Sodja in OT,...) and the events at the end of the match were a disgrace. Pasquale showing no sportsmanship whatsoever, going after Horak once he had back turned. A very clear sign of no respect of morals that people hold ever since middle ages (e.a. no fight is fair when opponents back is turned). IMO this should have resulted in a game ban at least and as we know that refs are usually against us, monetary fine would give at least something.

Painful loss and really hoping we can go to game 3, but at least an entertaining game to bring a coworker to as his first hockey match. Pustertal was the end of us last year and I'd hate to see it this season too, especially since the trend of beating them in the regular season and then losing in pre-playoff seams to repeat. Really hoping that we can get past them on game 2 and bring it back to Tivoli. The best thing (beside our goal, which was actually phenomenal) was the crowd and I'd love to see even better atmosphere on game 3."

Well said, sir. NR has been homing in on Mašič's defensive play this year; it's something I need to keep more of an eye on as things progress.

1152 Ćosić hits the bar :(

1115 Sabla's shot is well saved.

928 PEN HCP - holding.

115 HCP hit the post!!!!

OT - it's a 16 minute period break for a full 20 minute OT rather than the usual 2 mins for a 5 min OT.

1938 PEN HCP - trip. Come on, men!

It's Lalonde as PP QB, joined by Kerbashian, Bonino, Červeny and Sabla. 

Refs miss some trips, or refuse to call a 5 on 3 in a playoff game. It still counts, you amateurs!

1510 GOAL HCP - screened blue line shot sails in. OTW HCP.

Post-game - Pasquale slashes/trips Horak from behind?!? 

- Whether or not Pasquale will be suspended is making my head hurt tonight. Per G, a referee friend of the blog, the 10 min misconduct awarded after the game concluded is simply a clerical write-up by the referee and once he signs the game book, it's done. G does not expect a suspension for Pasquale. Now, we'd love to be pleasantly surprised, but I trust G's judgement here. A crying shame but not overly surprising given how the ICE League have tended to treat us (e.g. publishing Pasquale as a "Game Hero" today despite knowing what he did post-game. Thank you to NR, ŽG, F13, KB and others who supported me and the team on that comment page!).

Final thoughts

Fans who wished for revenge on Pustertal instead of an easier game against Vienna, be careful what you wish for!

We played better than them, but that counts for nothing if you don't convert the win. After being so good in OT for most of the season (9/11 on the season going into tonight) and having beaten HCP 4-0 in the regular season duels, you would expect to come away with the win. We did not. That MUST be rectified on Tuesday, otherwise this season will end abominably and the club may struggle to attract the players and fans it needs next year. If we don't do much after getting past the first round, that's fine. But we HAVE to improve on last year. This squad deserves to go further than that.

I joked with my security guard that if we get bounced 0-2 in the pre-playoffs by HCP after winning against them all 4 times this season (2 OTWs, 2 Ws) that I'd delete the blog - please don't make me do that, OLL 😅

Per friend of the blog JK, HCP's second goalie has the second worst save % in the league this season. So, if by some miracle Pasquale is indeed suspended in the end, SHOOT THE PUCK, FELLAS!

EDIT:

NR, on fire at the moment with great takes, pointed out that regardless of goalie suspension we need to prepare to demolish them in Pustertal on Tuesday night. He also very fairly highlighted that the ICE League's "Fair Play" emphasis looks pretty hollow after rewarding someone who essentially committed assault on another player with the title and publicity of "Game Day Hero". As I told him, though, remember - it is Win2Day's Fair Play. A gambling company telling you it's fair, hmm.... The house always wins!

A final note on the season ticket prices...

Whether I missed the extra 20% off for previous season-ticket holders in the initial announcement or they only added it in later (I only saw it publicised on the team's IG stories later on), the initial look of a 50% increase in price doesn't stack up. It actually works out as very similar to last year (180-216 for regular season and 250-256 for playoffs). Mr Lefebvre DM'd me in response to my story about the price increase, which I really appreciated. He said that they are making a big push to bring in elite talent and be really competitive next year. It's a fine balance with looking after fans and looking after the team, but I believe he is doing that and doing it well. He admitted that they will communicate more on this front, which I also appreciate. 

I had a sad react from another backroom staff member to this story, which I found a bit perplexing. I obviously want to support the team, and have already bought my playoff season ticket for next year because I believe in Mr Lefebvre's vision. However, I am not a club employee (yet 😉😉) and can thus freely express my opinion that I am not bothered about the concerts and fanzones that were mentioned alongside the price increases. I want a good product on the ice, first and foremost, which is what they mentioned with "a more ambitious team". As my colleague (also SA, funnily enough) said, if the team is no good then no one will turn up to the concerts and fanzones. Please note, though, that I would happily lose some of my independence to gain an official role with the team, so hit me up please OLL staff!!

Ultimately, I hope people support the team so we can go big-game hunting this summer on the transfer market (and coaching, potentially, as I don't see AT back if we get bounced by HCP).

 

GAME 46: OLL VS VSV

OLIMPIJA 2 - 4 VILLACH

VILLACH OUTDUEL US IN FINAL HOME GAME

PINBALL WIZARD MAHKOVEC CAN'T STOP EAGLES

Lineup changes

Still no Bonino, out with illness. Mehle also remains absent, so Vodlan plays again. Crnović and Lalonde (making his rapid debut) are in for Bohinc and Hebar. Lalonde is on the 2nd pair with Gregorc. Ćosić and Ege are the 3rd pair.

Highlights 

- Shawn Lalonde made a good impression in his debut, with an assist, multiple shots on goal and a bone-crushing hit on an attempted VSV power-move. Welcome, sir - keep the hits, shots and points coming!

- Scoring 2 PPGs is always nice - especially Mahkovec's pinball moment, which managed to deflect off both VSV defenders and in. 

- It was great to see Kapel finally extinguish his post-hitting demons and score a goal tonight.

- My friend and I found it highly amusing that VSV's Hancock was immediately called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after scoring. It looked like he had some choice words for the referee, which was funny because up till that point they were strongly favouring VSV.

- Finally getting awarded three P2 powerplays after a barren and downright unfair P1

Lowlights 

- I felt for Horak when we conceded in the final second of the game on a 5 on 3 penalty kill. He was not happy.

- Prior to the above, Žiga Pavlin's trip with 2:07 to go killed our chances at chasing an equaliser (it was 2-3 at the time). Accidental, but brutal. Pavlin has a long reach, but he has been getting called for trips a lot this season.

- Talking of trips, the aforementioned P1 saw at least two clear missed tripping calls on Villach that helped put us in a difficult situation from which we were ultimately unable to extricate ourselves.

- A Karhula-esque too many men call with 27s remaining, leading to the last-second conceded PPG.

Weird Stat

Kapel missed a wide open back door chance at the exact minute and second (P1 18:45) that he hit the post in the previous game. A slightly insane coincidence, but at least he's consistent!

Stats

You can see VSV's blue wall of chances concentrated on the right hand side of this shot chart. By contrast, our chances in yellow are much more diffuse. In essence, this explains the result and score. More concentrated shots closer to the net will leave you with a weightier scoresheet than less concentrated shots from further away.

Shots-saves at even strength:

P1 - 12-12 (VSV PPG)

P2 - 6-14 (OLL PPG PPG, VSV G)

P3 - 3-8 (VSV G, PPG)

Not a flattering statistical showing for us, even if our two PPGs were very welcome and long overdue.

PP: 2/4 An uncharacteristically high 50% (affected by a one-in-a-million Mahkovec double deflection).

PK: 2/3 for an uncharacteristically low 66% (affected by a fluke-y last second 5 on 3 goal).

Shooting %: 2/26 for 7.7. Lower and lower.

Save %: 37/41 for 0.902. A quality start despite the high goals allowed.

Main takeaways

I'm not going to read too much into this one (another uncharacteristic element to this game). We suffered from some blatant missed calls in P1 and appeared as if we had expended much of our energy on that fantastic win over BWL on Friday. We were right there with Villach until the Pavlin trip with 2:07 left: I fancied our chances to tie it up. I believe with more rest and more even officiating we would beat Villach - even without Bonino as our key cog on the 2nd line.

Lalonde looked very handy out there; I look forward to seeing more of him over the coming days and (hopefully) weeks. Based off a single viewing, I would rather have him signed for next season than bring Atwal back (no offense, Arvin - and best wishes for a speedy recovery! (He has never read a single article anyway, lol)).

Two more games to go - let's strike a balance between ensuring we stay healthy and retaining a rhythm/confidence in our game as we head into the pre-playoffs.

GAME 45 - OLL VS BWL + ATWAL'S REPLACEMENT ARRIVES

 

OLIMPIJA 2 - 1 BLACK WINGS LINZ (OT)

DRAGONS FINALLY CLIP THE BLACK WINGS

HORAK HOLDS FIRM WHILE PANCE AND MAŠIČ STRIKE

ENORMOUS TURNAROUND SINCE LAST TIME WE FACED LINZ

LINEUP CHANGES

Bonino is out with illness, no Mehle.

Lavoie is demoted to the 4th line, but remains on PP1. I'm curious to know what has caused Lavoie's plummet down the lineup; rumours of attitude issues would go some way to explain this.

Bičevskis goes up to 2C to replace Bonino, Beričič to 3C and Sodja as 4C.

STARS OF THE GAME

I'm going to do what the uninspired teachers do and give my first star award to multiple people:

* Lukaś Horák (26/27 for 0.963), Žiga Pance (G) and Kale Kerbashian (A) - all three of these men are extremely intelligent and superbly talented hockey players. All three were vital to our victory. Horák's GSAx (goals saved above expected) must have been at least in the 2-3 range; Pance made such a savvy drive to the net to receive Červeny's pass for the late game-tying goal; Kerbashian expertly denied a goal-scoring chance at one end and created Mašič's overtime winner at the other. Possibly a bit harsh on Bine not to include him here, but Kale did all the work and that's what I want to recognise. 

Honourable mentions: if anybody actually reads the game flow section, you will see that two names pop up frequently - Kapel and Ćosić, both at their respective ends of the ice. Confident displays from both of these players, who rightly play with a bit of swagger.

PREVIEW CHECKLIST

Here's what I thought we needed to do to beat BWL, as we did...

Were we more physical? Emphatically, yes. Ćosić the standout, as expected, but the likes of Ćerveny, Lavoie, Mahkovec and even Mašič and Ege also got involved. Really pleased to see this. Lots of finishing checks, denying zone entries (Ćosić in particular, what a beast) and stick lifts in front of net. I'm glad I'm on the same wavelength as the coaching staff - we urgently needed to improve in this area and clearly they agreed, worked on it over the break and executed to great success in the game. *Chef's kiss*

Did we employ more speed and deception? Yes, sir! On offense and defence, we were more deceptive (e.g. Ege's backhand, no-look pass to evade pressure and create a chance the other way). This helped us exit our defensive zone and transition to offense more smoothly, quickly and dangerously. Well done, fellas! 

Did we win, as a result? 😉

While I would love to position myself as some gifted hockey savant, these aspects above are fundamental in good hockey, especially around playoff time. Still, I sincerely admire AT's work with the team to infuse this within their play over the break.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS

- To do this without Bonino was seriously impressive. Well done to Bičevskis for filling in as 2C, Beričič for 3C and Sodja for 4C.

- This game makes me believe AT should get the chance to have a full season next year - but only if we swap out Rodman for a specialist powerplay coach. AT is demonstrating his chops as a leader of men and this kind of turnaround/resilience is good enough for me to want him back. However, just him on his own may not be enough for the leadership group to evade the temptations of a bigger name coaching hire in the summer. That's why I think that pairing AT with a dedicated PP assistant coach would make a lot of sense - you get the best of both worlds, with an incumbent who has proven he can lead and a new influence who can help with our offense. In that sense, it'd be like an NFL situation such as in Seattle. Mike McDonald is the defensive-minded head coach, like AT - and they've just brought in Klint Kubiak as the Offensive Coordinator. Let's do something similar - keep AT, but hire someone with skills and background in offensive play to assist. I need to attend a practice session, but I honestly don't know what value Rodman is adding at this point, other than being another coaching body (and a lot of fan resentment). Let's replace him with someone who can add real value to the team and help us break down opposing defences more efficiently and effectively.

WEIRD STATS

- Per ŽG, we were 0-12 since 2021 against Linz. Now, we are 1-1 against them in the 24-25 season.

- We had a double-up on near-misses:

Rok Kapel - hit the post twice. This man is properly "snakebit", as a Red Dead Redemption character would say. By my reckoning he has hit the post this season over double as many times as the next man, Lavoie. His resurgence continues, though - he's playing with real confidence, which is wonderful to see after a challenging start to the season.

Nik Simšič - had his 2-on-1 pass attempts broken up twice. Take a shot, Nik! Easier said than done as usual, but it was frustrating to not even test the goalie on two prime rush chances. It's ok to be selfish sometimes...

- We are now 9/11 in OT this season - a sensational upgrade on last year (5/11), good for 82% (versus 45%, a 37% increase). That's almost automatic and something that should give the team a lot of confidence now that the pre-playoffs and playoffs are approaching.

- I realise that I didn't put this anywhere else, but keep in mind, last game against BWL we lost 8-1 - this time, we controlled the game and limited their chances far better.

NORMAL STATS

Shots-saves at even strength:

P1 8-8

P2 3-6

P3 4-6

As you can see, a low-event game in terms of shots on goal, but a pretty even one that we contested very well against a strong team that we have long had major issues against.

Shooting % - 2/24 (incl. OT) - 8%. A bit lower than average, but Tirronen, the hulking Linz goalie, is notoriously tough to score on.

Save %: 26/27 for 0.963. Outstanding as usual from 61.

PP: 0 for 4. The 4th was a bit of a messy one, with some 4 on 4 before the PP. Still, you'd want to be scoring on one of these opportunities at least.

PK: 2 for 2. Excellent, although we were lucky to avoid one going in when the net was wide open.

GAME FLOW

P1

1845 Kapel hits the post/crossbar on our first shot. It's been something of a speciality of his this season, unfortunately!

1600 We give up a 3 on 1 after an O-zone turnover and a fast transition from Linz. Not something we want to repeat.

1425 Ege with a nice deception on a D-zone exit, leading to a shot on goal. He backhand reversed it to a waiting player who hit the neutral zone hard.

1411 Juicy hit by Lavoie. Keep 'em coming, boys!

1321 Two very poor failed zone exits, which leads to an extended pressure sequence for Linz that we are lucky to withstand. Vodlan in particular whiffs on an extremely simple zone exit at the blue line. On a human level I want to see him get more ice time to get a proper chance to show what he can do, but on a team-focused level you won't be getting on the ice if you can't manage stuff like that. It's a little thing but it can be the difference between a win and a loss. This time of year, that counts.

1228 Červeny finishes his check with a resounding hit into the boards.

1220 Mašič shows good strength to force BWL Knott wide on a power move. Really pleased to see this, well done Bine! Preview checklist is being activated so far!!

1100 A crisp left to right pass on the blue line sets up a powerful Bohinc one-timer that is pad saved. I really want to see him blast one in before the season is over.

1014 Mahkovec with a good hit on the forecheck. 

814 We are contesting well in DZ and NZ with Linz, but seem to be struggling to make regular line changes. Jack Han, the Liiga video coach I am studying under, has shown me research saying 40 second shifts are the most effective for chance creation and neutralisation. We consistently exceed that, and our play suffers the longer these guys exhaust themselves on the ice. That short of a shift may not be realistic to regularly repeat in this league, but shorter and sharper shifts are definitely something for us to think about as we move forward.

740 Kerbashian with a brilliant forced turnover in the OZ and textbook crossover skating to give him a burst of speed to spread the play.

639 PEN BWL - interference.

Despite being demoted to the 4th Line, with Bonino's absence Lavoie plays on PP1. They still believe in his offensive potential, then, if not the rest of his game, apparently. 

PP1: 72, 9, 19, 55, 65.

PP2: 15, 13, 70, 12, 8. A pretty handy PP2 there, even with Bonino and Mehle out!

Linz seem to be on a box PK rather than the usual diamond formation. I wonder if this befuddled us a bit, as we were pretty ineffective against it. 

315 Ege with a decisive stick lift net-front.

221 Ćosić with a great pinch at the OZ blue line.

Pinch definition: Pinch – A pinch is when a defenseman either (a) attempts to hold the offensive blue line when the opponent has the puck and is attempting to clear their zone, or (b) leaves the blue line and pushes further into the offensive zone to play the puck.

135 Simšič with a 2 on 1 breakaway chance. His pass is broken up but the sequence continues and we get a chance with a deflection in front that Tirronen saves.

P2

1854 GOAL BWL -  Linz score on the first shot of P2.  We lose possession with 3 forwards high in the neutral zone, leaving Ege back for a 2 on 1.The Linz forward does a great job delaying, selling the pass and faking a backhand move before shooting high over Horak's blocker. Deception creates offense, as my preview suggested! 

0-1

1750 PEN BWL - hook.

PP2 gets a strong shot off in both circles, one from Kapel and one from Mahkovec. Both saved.

1537 Hebar does a brilliant job of standing a BWL attack up at the blue line, denying multiple zone entries in a single sequence. Really impressive stuff from someone I want to see a lot more of next season. 

1300 Mašič has a high danger chance during a Smash Attack, but it's saved.

1202 PEN OLL - Sodja high stick.

Horak stops a very dangerous chance and a breakdown in coverage leads to a wide-open net that BWL can't take advantage of, with their wraparound pass mercifully sailing right out of the DZ.

950 Power shot by Pavlin. Tirronen takes a couple of whacks net-front at Bičevskis, who must have done something right ^^

841 PEN BWL - crosscheck on Gregorc.

727 Lavoie with a god look but his shot sails wide.

640 Kapel hits the post for a second time! Poor guy!

520 Horak covers a 3 on 2 chance well.

323 A deft backhand pickup by Ćosić that kills off what would have been a 1 on 0 rush chance.

249 Simšič has another 2 on 1 pass broken up, this time with Sabla waiting. Ayayay, we need to be testing the goalie on these chances!

157 Beričič finds Červeny for a deflection chance that goes just wide.

113 Bohinc copies Mašič's good example from earlier, forcing a power move wide to help out Horak.

P3

1839 PEN OLL - trip by Ćosić. 

Diamond PK for us - unlike Tampa Bay, who play with the intent to create shorthanded offense, we opt for a line change when we regain possession and clear. Something to consider in future, perhaps.

46s left in PK - PEN BWL - it becomes 4 on 4, with a holding call on BWL.

We have 1:04 of PP time but BWL get a shot on goal before we do :(

1323 Ćosić with a monster hit to stonewall a zone entry by BWL. With a performance like this, he's making a bid to be my jersey purchase next season (currently planning on Bohinc after getting Pavlin's last year and Kale's this year).

1144 Another hit by Mahkovec; we are noticeably finishing checks in ways we weren't really before the break. Well done AT for instilling this!

630 Great job evading pressure by Ćosić, with 2 BWL players trying to take his head off in the OZ blue line area. Duck, dodge and dive!

554 BWL miss a chance with the back post wide open.

251 Kapel has another high danger chance in front, blocked.

157 Pance is sprung for a rush by Červeny - his first effort is pad saved, but he bundles it in on the second go!!!! We are level in the final two minutes!

1-1

OT

It looks like Sabla takes the faceoff, wins it and immediately changes? Slightly confusing! Afterwards it's Kerbashian, Mahkovec and Mašič.

437 Kerbashian with a sensational stick to deny BWL a sure-fire back door goal chance. He then sets up a move the other way, leading to a give-and-go between him and Mašič that the latter scores on! What a play by KK to win it for us!!! I've already admitted my bias towards him as I know he is a great human being, but as my South African friends back home would say, "gee whiz" - unbelievable play in the biggest of spots by Kerbashian. Look beyond the superficial and you see the immense skill that he deploys for us out there that weaves together the tapestry of our victories. The man's an artist!

ATWAL'S REPLACEMENT ARRIVES

Shawn Lalonde, a 34-year old right-handed defenseman, joined the club today. According to the OLL PR team, they are trying to get him ready to play in the game tomorrow against Villach. 

He has good pedigree, as a former 3rd round draft pick of the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks. He had two full seasons with their AHL affiliate team before playing 5 seasons in Germany's DEL, 1 in Sweden's SHL and Finland's Liiga, 3 in Russia's KHL and most recently 2 seasons in Slovakia. A well-travelled fellow!

He is a like-for-like replacement for the injured Arvin Atwal in more ways than one. Apart from being an experienced RD, he also has 103 penalty minutes in 30 games this season, averaging out at 3.43 per game. He's going to have to clean that up a bit for us, but having a game 'with sandpaper', as they say in the NHL, is certainly useful come playoff time. 

On Elite Prospects, he is described as a "heavy shooter", "physical defenseman" and "two-way defenseman", meaning he has some offense to his game. That hasn't necessarily been borne out recently, with only 4 goals in the last 4 seasons, but perhaps it can help create offense for others. His best outing in pro hockey was for Kölner Haie in the DEL, scoring 36 points in 50 games (12G 24A) - with 102 penalty minutes 😅. There's a difference between being physical and being a bit silly, and we know Atwal took some time to find that line where he could impose himself on the opposition without gifting powerplays to them. It will be interesting to see where Lalonde falls on that balancing act. I'm not sure the ICE League refs will be as lenient with 'playoff hockey' as the NHL's are, for instance.

In terms of where he'll fit in, I think that although AT likes Mašič and Pavlin as the first pair, with 17 coming back from a serious injury they may put Lalonde right onto the first pairing with Mašič, dropping Pavlin down to the 3rd pair with Ćosić (as they started out this season). Having a hyper-physical 3rd pair is a playoff luxury, so look forward to that! In this scenario, Gregorc and Ege stay together on the 2nd pair.

How do we beat Black Wings Linz? Lessons from their latest loss

According to a trusted source, OLL haven't beaten BWL since 2021. This afternoon, let's look at their previous loss (amongst quite a few wins) and see what works for and against them. I had originally planned for this to cover their three previous losses, but I went to Celje vs APOEL Nicosia last night and I am exhausted from being the Pied Piper for the APOEL boys, leading them back to Ljubljana on the train ^^. I hope this is informative and can provide the basis for future previews. (Disclaimer: Before the tomatoes get thrown, I am not a Celje fan - I was just visiting a friend).

24.1.25 PIV 2 - 1 BWL

What worked for PIV, or what we should copy:

- A fast cycle around the perimeter of the offensive zone followed by a dagger dribble straight down from the blue line by a stickhandling defenseman, resulting in a high danger chance that they should have scored on. Bine Mašič, take note!

- Getting bodies in front of the net, putting the puck in the mixer and being ready for opportunities. Clichéd stuff, but it works!

- PIV took fantastic advantage of a big gap in the neutral zone between BWL's forwards and defenders to hit a transition with pace. This led to a 3 on 2 from which they scored, on a partially screened shot from the left circle. If Linz aggressively forecheck, we need to be cool and calm enough to swiftly exit the zone and have forwards ready for a quick transition to offense. Easier said than done, of course, but we are better than PIV and they managed it!

- PIV sold strong-side pressure and then reversed the flow of play to the weak-side, creating a good chance. Again, relatively basic stuff, but when done off the rush this can really open things up. As my Dad used to tell me before exams, TCUP! (Think Clearly Under Pressure)

- A beautiful wraparound pass to the back post caught Linz sleeping. The goalie is forced to move laterally in his full range twice, opening up acres of net space to aim at. Speed and deception once more are the keys to offensive success, it seems. You can execute with speed and deception when you meticulously plan ahead. I hope AT and the gang have done this as we got embarrassed by BWL last time. If anyone likes eSports, watch the Thinking Man's Valorant YT video on how Team Liquid anti-stratted against Team Vitality in the EMEA VCT Kickoff. I would love to see us embarrass BWL in turn by comprehensively inverting their strengths and exploiting their tendencies as Team Liquid did against Team Vitality. It's just good coaching! (I apologise for my rampant competitive T-sport/eSport addictions filtering through into my work 😅 https://youtu.be/QCY40jzi3sA?si=anmzI057cDedrYlH) 

- Strong net-front presence from their defenders allows for clean-ups of 'puck on net' chances. Linz were looking to create chaos in front of the goalie, but powerful stick lifts and boxing out by PIV defensemen neutralise this attempt. I have long been calling for more of this from OLL, and thankfully Žiga Pavlin's return tonight is well-timed to aid in this regard. We need to establish and maintain dominance in our own defensive danger zones. We can do this by setting the tone early, hitting hard and making zone entries as uncomfortable as possible. Within the rules, we should batter BWL forwards trying to make things happen in the slot and in front of goal. I look to Jan Ćosić and Žiga Pavlin to be the primary drivers of this approach, with hope that the likes of Mašič/Gregorc/Ege will follow their lead.

- PIV pretty successfully weaved in and out on the BWL defensemen, dragging them first wide apart and then forcing them to pinch together. Doing this allowed for more space and opportunity to attack and shoot, unsettling the D-men.

What worked for BWL, or what we should avoid giving up:

- A stretch pass from the D-zone to the O-zone, splitting the two defensemen. I recall them doing this to us, too, so we'll need to squeeze the middle of the ice and give up more on the outside.

- PIV got caught puck-watching and gave up a rush chance. Awareness of opposition presence is clearly key in preventing goals against.

- Fast passing post-faceoff win, back to the blue line and sideways to the RD (right defenseman), who activates (skates forward) down and whips a dagger pass right into the top of the goalie's crease. This is poked home by two forwards who had successfully contested and overloaded this area. PIV had sent one of their forwards to aggressively pressure BWL's blue line, but this opened up a lot of space behind that player that the BWL RD was able to expose. We should aim to play in a more structured way, pressuring but not giving up that much space if the man gets beaten.

Conclusion

Let's see how we go tonight - I will check back against these points in my subsequent report. I hope AT and the team have had the chance to take their time off (outside of those representing Slovenia in Poland, of course) to study BWL in meticulous detail so that we have the best chance possible of beating them for a change.

Finally, happy birthday to Mr Lefebvre. Quite the power move to be born on Valentine's Day!

Catch Ups: GAMES 42-44

G42: OLIMPIJA 2 - 1 BOLZANO (PENS)

Buzzer beats HCB's last second effort

Sabla and Horak shootout heroes once more

Stars

* Lukaš Horák - penalty king (1). 37/38 in regulation for a 0.974 save %, 3/3 in OT and 3/3 in the shootout. Overall, a 43/44 for 0.977. Horak's on fire!

** Robert Sabolič (A, PEN) - penalty king (2). The forehand-backhand-roof combo looks unstoppable when he gets it right!

*** Andrej Tavželj - this was a big statement win for AT after we got embarrassed by two other playoff teams previously. Bolzano didn't look their usual selves, in fairness, but they're still a top-2 team in the league and beating them in any fashion is something to be celebrated and appreciated. 

Highlights

• Seeing Horak's potent mix of elation and relief at winning the shootout after thinking he had conceded just before time expired in regulation was wonderful. He propelled himself towards the West side fans and launched himself into the boards. You love to see a happy goalie!
• Crnović's deflection goal was a funny one. Even he looked a bit bemused by it! It's not how, it's how many... (Crnović G, Simšič and Sabla A).
• Another stellar performance in OT and penalties. We seem so focused in these formats this season. This is the kind of stuff that gets you far in the playoffs...

Lowlights

• Refereeing - finally there were multiple obvious blown calls for both teams, rather than just us for a change! I suppose in that sense, it's a highlight!
• Kerbashian's net-front scramble goal should have counted. ŽG got some insider info for me that they disallowed it due to Mašič moving the goalie's leg with his stick, meaning goalie interference occurred. As ŽG himself pointed out, there was a HCB defender doing the same thing, so it was a wishy-washy call.
• HCB's buzzer beater - more info from ŽG revealed that HCB scored exactly on 0.0 seconds remaining on review. The refs called the league's head office in Austria to check what to do, and they were told to disallow it. To me, this makes sense - if it's zeroes on the clock, it's game over! However, confusion was caused by the siren only sounding slightly after the puck went in. We've got to be faster on that next time! ^^
• HCB were frustrated at an icing call that preceded Crnovic's goal. I don't understand why, to be honest, but if there was something amiss about that call then it was unfortunate for them. 
• There were further missed calls for both teams on various minor penalties.
• A momentary lowlight was when we thought we'd let in a last second regulation winner for HCB. We do tend to start switching off near the end of periods, so that's something we need to work on. Perhaps shorter shifts would help keep us fresher (more on that later).
• My Mum informed me that she was disappointed that Bonino missed his penalty. Come on, Nick! 😆

Takeaways:

• So, we're not dead yet! Perhaps my prognosis of AT's off-season departure was premature... I still think they'll look to upgrade at HC, unless we go on a deep run. A perfect scenario would be to bring in a big name HC, keep AT as an assistant to provide a Slovene link to the local players and get rid of Rodman (more trouble than he's worth, from what I've seen so far).
• I'm considering doing an off-season series on 'what can we learn from (insert team)'. What could we learn from HCB's play today? They were very efficient at finding passes in the neutral zone that made offensive zone entries a formality. These passes were often stretch passes across the rink, with willing players skating hard to accept them on the far side. We can definitely improve our neutral zone transitions from defence to offense, so let's take a leaf out of their book!
• Friend of the blog NR had an interesting and noble perspective on being disappointed at winning when we didn't really deserve to (due to the icing call that preceded Crnović's goal, the disallowed buzzer beater, etc). I have to say, though, that at the moment I am much more inclined to adhere to the motto of Al Davis (former Raiders owner in the NFL): "Just win, baby!". I don't really care how we do it, as long as we win! Winning pretty is nice, but winning ugly is still winning!