25-26 GAME 8

BOLZANO 4 - 2 OLIMPIJA

DRAGONS OUTFOXED IN BRUNICO

GOOD START UNDONE BY ILL-DISCIPLINE

https://www.tiktok.com/@arcticfoxdaily/video/7167449025132760363

Lineup changes

I have it on great authority that Sabla is out injured for 4 weeks with a different injury, unfortunately. Brennan is Captain in his absence. Polei and Gregorc were out to heal up after some brutal shot blocks, thankfully neither suffered fractures. Sodja remains out.

The original 1st and 2nd lines are back in place after a swap last game. Pance moves up to the 2nd line to replace Polei, while Mehle is back on line 1 with Boychuk and Meyer. There is no 4th line this game, as Bohinc is listed alongside Beričič and Kumanović. Is Bukovec out as well?

Goals

Firstly, thanks to ED for describing the 1st period goals to me when the stream was down. Much appreciated! I have since watched replays of them.

P1

OLL - Beričič shorthanded goal!!! Beričič enters the zone with speed and purpose after some neutral zone deception sends a HCB PP forward past him. There is a 2-on-1 opportunity with Halbert, but he just rifles it glove side and in. 

OLL - Pance from Petan! Petan swoops behind the net and flings it back into the slot for an approaching Žiga Pance, who scores glove side. 

P2

HCB - An unforunate and unnecessary trip by Pance results in a PPG. Beričič lays out for an impressive shot block, but sadly the puck falls right into an oncoming HCB F, who whacks it in over Horak's glove. 

HCB - One minute after the pad save near miss described below, Brennan turns it over deep in our DZ and HCB strike with a pass to a wide open back post. 

HCB - Fair play, Foxes - this was a gorgeous fast move as Crnović and Ćosić get split and the wonderful pass is greeted with another glove-high shot that goes in.

P3

HCB - Good PK stats can trick you sometimes, as we kill off a penalty just to concede soon after. The puck goes through Simšič in the slot and right onto the proverbial plate of a Bolzano forward, who half-lobs it over Horak's blocker.

Near-misses

P2

Shortly after their first goal (and shortly before their second), Horak saves a rush chance with the puck under his pad - but his retreat takes the puck dangerously close to the goal line. Luckily, he just about keeps it out. If it had sneaked anywhere else, it would probably have unwittingly been kicked in.

P3

At 4-2, Mahkovec hits the post from the HCB right circle and Pance is there to accept the rebound. Agonisingly, he sends it wide, with the net gaping open. This was one we had to score to have a chance to get back into the game.

Loss Dissection

• Bolzano absolutely dominated possession in P2+3, effectively beating us at our own game (remember, Halbert said in a mid-game interview that we want to control and play the game in the opposition's zone). In this way, they are a good model for us to follow - they essentially played a better version of what we want to play. They are us, but a bit further along in the process.
• This possession domination drained us of energy in a game where we only had three forward lines. 
• To compound this, we conceded 7 penalties. These allowed Bolzano to take a hold of the game after going down 0-2, a hold that they did not relinquish. Some of these were marginal calls, but others are ones where we have to know better. I don't think Halbert should have been penalised for roughing, for instance, but equally, his hand should probably not be making contact with another player's face on purpose, even if they are trying to reverse hit him. TJ Brennan exhibited the old Olimpija tendency to get rattled in feisty games, cross-checking a HCB forward to the face for approaching him a little too closely. This killed off our chances of equalising, as it was a 2 minute penalty with just over 2 to go. This kind of ill-discipline consistently set us back and ensured we couldn't regain a footing in the game. It was reminiscent of the Euro 2020 football finals between England and Italy, a game in which the Italians also rage-baited England into silly mistakes that prevented them from creating any rhythm or flow in their attacking game.
• Bolzano packed the net-front area, defending it powerfully and ensuring, like AVS and VIC did, that they kept us to the outside. The Polei freight train being back at the station for repairs made this all the more effective.
• If we want to come back into these kinds of games, we need to be scoring on the 32s long 5 on 3 PP and we need to be putting away wide open chances like Pance's.

Bright spots in the darkness

• Beričič scoring a shorthanded goal - a second shorty for the team in quick succession! 
• Kirichenko's physicality - I loved seeing him knocking guys off their feet. I hope it encourages others to get involved.
• Crnović had some good sequences defensively and performed a trademark weaving carry-in near the end. Why not unleash him a bit more? You may as well, if you are committed to playing him over Bohinc.
• PK did well to limit the damage to 1/7 HCB PPs for 86%.
• We hung with a really good team despite injuries. I am confident that next time we can keep it cleaner and closer. 
• Mašič seemed to be playing as a forward at one point, with Brennan and Bohinc also on the ice. This will have made NR (one of the Roundtable Boys) very happy, as he had called for this positional transition last season after highlighting Mašič's defensive frailties! 😆
• I found it funny that Coach Cooper wasn't hiding his tactics sheets from the broadcast cameras. He needs to follow the NFL coaches like San Francisco's Kyle Shanahan and hide them/his mouth a bit more carefully in future!

https://www.dailydemocrat.com/2021/06/24/inside-the-49ers-will-kyle-shanahan-eventually-give-mike-mcdaniel-play-calling-role/

Final thoughts 

Ill-discipline pushed us out of this game as much as Bolzano's excellent poise, possession and pressure. Give HCB, or any half-decent team, 7 PPs and you will not win. I don't accept that these were 'BS calls', or whatever - we have control over how we act on the ice and we did not exercise that control sufficiently tonight. As I would tell my students after an overly-eventful breaktime, 'you've got to make better decisions out there'. Don't give the refs the opportunity to blow the whistle. Instead of all these flagrant, illegal crosschecks that draw penalties, how about you follow Kirichenko's example and legally knock someone over with a big, clean hit? You're allowed to do it! It helps set the tone and close the skill gap that can exist between forwards and defensemen! Kirichenko's the only one doing it! After such a positive start to the season, let's not revert to old Olimpija, getting bullied out of physical games. 

They only scored on one of those 7 PPs, but the intensity of surviving them over and over again took away our 5-on-5 energy, as did only running 3 forward lines. Where was Bukovec? We could have used a full set of lines tonight. In any case, we have a few days to rest up and regroup before Friday. It would be an important statement of intent to continue challenging for the pinnacle of the league this season to beat Linz, so let's get to it!

Finally, it was another clanger for Sport Europe TV, as 13 mins of the 1st period were not broadcast to fans. Luckily I had the Valorant Champions Paris finals to watch, even if I ended up heartbroken as Fnatic's reverse sweep attempt vs NRG fell short, with Boaster in floods of tears as he walked off into Yin-Su's arms. The beauty of eSports aside, Sport Europe TV has been a disaster so far and I hope they can sort things out. It's getting pretty depressing to deal with so often.

P.S. I thank ZG and ED for sending me information that Tian Hebar and Rožle Bohinc have been loaned to Jesenice in the Alps League. While I am happy that both will get more playing time somewhere (Hebar apparently was getting 1st pair minutes), I am still disappointed that Bohinc has been sidelined by Coach Cooper. He was the most impressive Olimpija defender for me last season and a huge part of my excitement for this season was to watch him continue to develop into what I think he can be - a towering, dominant defender with a booming shot. I hope this is not the last we see of him this season. Hebar, on the other hand, could definitely do with some more time in the defensive oven before returning. I do still think he has a lot to offer this team, too, he's just a bit earlier in the development process than Bohinc, mainly due to a key factor out of their control - body type.