GAMES 21-22-23

GAME 21: LINZ 4-2 OLIMPIJA

Goals

P1

BWL - MacWilliam passes to Quince, who loses it - MacWilliam tries to stop on the boards but a player gets away a pass to the low slot and they score.

P2

BWL PPG - Off MacWilliam's unsportsmanlike penalty, the PK gets pickpocketed behind the net and can't stop the puck from going across the net-front. Knott is there at the back post to receive the rebound of Kolin's pads. Kolin missed a poke check.

BWL PPG - This time off Brennan's unsportsmanlike penalty (which was 2+2 after a BWL player got a roughing penalty with TJ). It's a really nice one-timer from the top of the right circle. It was tough for Kolin. Two PPGs from unsportsmanlike penalties. Fool me twice... 

OLL - Pance from Meyer and Petan. Meyer takes matters into his own hands and weaves his way in and out of a central position, before going wider to find Pance at the back post with Petan screening Tirronen (their goalie). It gets reviewed, but it's a good goal. 

OLL - Kirichenko from Petan and Sabolič. Right after the end of our PP, Kiri fires a long range shot in. Pance was on the screen. We needed a goal there and got it belatedly.

P3

BWL ENG - 40s left, Brennan and Simšič get beaten to the puck in the NZ and Lebler scores from the pass. At the end, fights break out, involving Sabla, Meyer, their goalie and a defender. Not a good look, but I sympathise with their frustration. 

MacWilliam Scouting Part 2

P1

Passes to Quince, who loses it - MacWilliam tries to stop on the boards but a player gets away a pass to the low slot and they score.

Makes an OZ pass, pinches high successfully.

Accurate backhand pass that facilitates a zone exit from the boards.

Keeps the puck in the OZ, activates up ice to keep the play alive, dumps in for re-entry.

Takes a 2 min penalty for tripping. This was a soft call, it was a two-way collision.

Makes a massive hit to end P1 in the OZ; distinguishes himself in the scuffle after.

P2

Knocks St Amant over in the DZ off the puck, then sits him down when he tried to hit back shortly after. 

2 mins unsportsmanlike pen at end of the above sequence?? The PK can't stop the puck going across the net front and it goes in at the back post. Fiery play is good, but too much is playing with fire.

Makes a successful pinch to keep it in the OZ, net front denial at the other end.

Wins 2 board battles in DZ and pressures when teammates can't clear.

P3

Makes a helpful backhand OZ pass.

Destroys net-front D in the OZ and flings the puck into the danger zone.

Prevents DZ re-entry.

5 on 5 DZ clear.

Facilitates zone exits x3. 

- All in all, a good night marred by being involved with two goals conceded. Taking the unsportsmanlike penalty was especially disappointing.

Thoughts

• Gregorc and Crnović were playing better in front of our net. Maybe they are taking some tips from MacWilliam in practice, as their blocking was much better.
• I'd like to see us try more adventurous carry-ins down the centre of the ice, rather than always being on the outside looking in
• Ćosić had a beautiful carry-in during P3, slinking past multiple defenders. I hope he tries more of that!
• We had a couple of really poor PP efforts, which sunk our chances.
• The main sinker was the unsportsmanlike penalties, though. It's such a shame - we should let our play do the talking, especially when it's Brennan and MacWilliam, both of whom are great players. I can understand a surprising unsportsmanlike call happening once, but twice is unacceptable. These guys are professionals - I hope they remember to act like it more consistently from now on, as this game was lost on the back of two people who need to be more selective with their words in the next few games.
• We really should not be losing to a lowly team like BWL, even if they have talent on their roster. Hopefully we can learn some lessons from it, at least.

Coach Cooper Post-Game

"The other team played well, their goalie was great and special teams were good. We fought and competed hard, but lost our composure a bit. We played ok, but the difference was probably that we lost our composure. Penalties are part of hockey and we have to deal with chaotic situations. We've got to be focused and ready. We lost our focus a bit and couldn't execute on the PP as well as we have done previously this season. Losing our composure in the second period cost us this game. We competed and battled hard, but the puck didn't go in for us tonight and their goalie made good saves."

- This is another 'New Olimpija is old Olimpija' echo, in that over the past two previous seasons we frequently got 'rattled' mentally by physical opponents, leading to mental errors resulting in penalties and goals against. Hopefully, it is a one-off rather than a return to a pitiful pattern. 

P.S. Meyer was at least temporarily injured on a breakaway that looked like a clear penalty, but which was not given. Coach Cooper clearly said "it was a f-ing penalty" to the linesman closest to him right after; I have to say, I wholeheartedly agreed! Judging by our woeful PP efforts tonight, though, it would not have made much of a difference.

GAME 22: OLIMPIJA 6-3 PUSTERTAL (Student Night)

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/593219115/Three-certainties-in-life

Stars of the game

* Horák - Welcome back 💚

** MacWilliam (G) - He was headhunting HCP players all night and scored a very important goal to put us up 5-3, just as it looked like HCP were getting back into the game.

*** Kumanović (G) and Bukovec (2A) - It was really nice to see two unheralded guys make an impact on the scoresheet tonight. Both have been working hard to do the right things on the 4th line; I was happy to see them rewarded tonight.  

Goals

P1

OLL - Brennan from Gregorc and Bukovec. A point shot through a column of traffic goes straight in.

HCP - A one-time shot from near the blue line goes well wide, wide enough for it to rebound over the other side. Horak almost gets there, but he can't get enough of it on his blocker and it goes in as the goalposts come off their moorings. There is a review, but it was deemed to be going in anyway. For someone as skilled as Horak, this is actually quite a good tactic, if it was deliberate - shoot wide for the behind-the-net rebound over to the other side, making it incredibly difficult to make two huge lateral movements.

P2

OLL PPG - Simšič from Mašič and Brennan. This was a really nice tip from Simšič off Mašič's shot. I called for him to be off the powerplay units, but with all our injuries we don't have much of a choice. Glad to be proven wrong in this instance, though!

OLL BURGER GOAL - Simšič from Brennan and Mašič. 21s later and it's the same trio! Simšič has absolutely no idea about this one, but the puck bounces off him, ricochets off a defender's stick and goes over Pasquale. They don't ask how, they ask how many! Just like the Smash Attack leadership after seeing so many students in tonight...

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/232168988/Joe-Exotic-Financially-Recover

OLL - Kumanović from Bukovec and Mašič. Great pass from Bukovec on the boards to Kumanović on the HCP right circle, great shot from Kumanović into the back of the net. He got it off his stick quickly and beat Pasquale blocker-side. Mašič did well to win a board battle (an astral projection of NR appeared in my room as I was writing this and said "for once") to get Bukovec the puck for the pass.

HCP - We get a bit trapped in our zone and HCP find tons of space down the middle for a shot that beats Horak's glove. He was screened, too. This is what Jack Han (hockey coach I admire/learn from) refers to when he talks about overwhelming the defence as a great scoring strategy. If you possess the puck long enough in the OZ, the defenders will tire out enough that any system they are trying to enact melts away into Halo-style 'objective: survive' hockey. This opens up a lot more in the way of space and opportunities for the attackers. (This references a type of mission objective in first-person shooter games when the game will throw tons of enemies at you that are impossible to fully defeat, so you simply have to try to survive until the time limit runs out. Call of Duty Zombies was a bit like this, back in the day - I miss playing that with my friends at school break time on our iPod Touches!)

https://tenor.com/en-GB/view/survive-objective-objective-survive-meme-halo-gif-23930265

P3

HCP - I missed this one in the game, as it happened so quickly. HCP shoot from near the blue line and it goes in off the post. Horak never saw it, with defenders in his way.

OLL - MacWilliam from Sabla and Pance. Pance and Sabla do a good job of forcing a turnover on the forecheck. Sabla goes for a backhand shot coming from behind the net, which Pasquale saves. The puck trickles out wide to MacWilliam, whose late arrival at the party is in fact perfectly-timed. He flings the puck underneath Pasquale's pad for a very important goal. On the replay, Pasquale was giving him a lot of respect by going high to prevent a bank-in shot. I think that, on reflection, he will regret not choosing to cover the lower-half of the net more carefully instead, especially for a defender's shot. It shows the beauty of what I bang on about regarding the NFL's evolution and counter-evolution of tendencies. Before, wide-angle shots could go in if you shot high. Now, the top of the league expects this, so goalies ensure they cover the high shot when they can. So, to counter this development, you start shooting low. If this gains popularity, then goalies will stay low and reopen up the high shot, and on and on and on... I realise this might sound mega boring to some people, but I love this stuff 😆

OLL ENG - Petan from Horak! I love that Horak got an assist on his return. He makes a pad save, which rebounds onto the boards and happily finds Petan, who scores the empty-netter from the right-hand side of the NZ. Horak was already raising his hands in celebration as soon as Petan acquired the puck.

Thoughts

MEYER-BOYCHUK-SABOLIČ

POLEI-PETAN-MAHKOVEC

SIMŠIČ-QUINCE-KAPEL

SODJA-BERIČIČ-PANCE

It's been 10 weeks since we last had our full-strength forward lineup. I would still have Mehle over Simšič, but let's keep it Coach Cooper-esque.

SABOLIČ-QUINCE-PANCE

SODJA-PETAN-MAHKOVEC

SIMŠIČ-BERIČIČ-MEHLE

BUKOVEC-BOHINC-KUMANOVIĆ

Now, I like seeing increased opportunities for the likes of Sodja, Beričič, Mehle and Bukovec/Kumanović. Whilst it was a curious novelty, I do not like seeing Bohinc playing 4C (although it was fun to see him towering on the forecheck) 😆 Clearly, they did not have much of a choice. As such, it was pretty fantastic that we managed to beat the no1 team and one of our bitter rivals. On paper, we should have beaten Linz and lost the HCP, so it's an interesting reversal. This is why you shouldn't bet on sport, it's unpredictable! That's what makes in interesting!

With that said, we need Boychuk back. Thankfully, Meyer returned in the next game, with Bohinc going back to defending.

Unfortunately, as you'll see next up, our injury-depleted lineup was more obvious in against Graz...

GAME 23: OLIMPIJA 0-1 GRAZ (Ladies' Night)

Goals

P3

GRAZ PPG - With 2:03 left, Simšič gets called for holding. I didn't see it well enough, but it's one of those where I think the refs need to be really careful about calling it, as it could decide the game. It did - in 3 seconds, Graz won the faceoff and scored. It was a central, long-range shot that caught a late deflection from either Gregorc or one of their players. 

Thoughts

I think a point each in OT would have been fair, but as Euro Hockey Hub pointed out, sometimes it isn't fair and that's just the way the season goes, in its ups and downs. Despite it being 0-0 for most of 60 minutes, it was an exciting game with lots of chances. We needed to score on one of our 4 PPs. It's low-hanging fruit, but our PP not working on Ladies' Night is appropriate toilet humour for a loss like this. Graz played well under their new coach, but it's disappointing that our last 6 games have gone WLWLWL. Yet, we have played a bit of a murderers' row of teams, so we shouldn't be too disheartened with our inability to sustain winning. We are due for one tonight against FTC, at least!

Simšič sadly didn' score, but he was involved in multiple chances to continue his uptick in front of the ladies. MacWilliam missed this game, which forced a grim chuckle from me. I hope it's not anything serious, as otherwise it'll be like when Červeny came in as an injury replacement for Kerbashian and then promptly got injured himself. 

Game 20

 

VILLACH 2 - 3 OLIMPIJA

JOSE MOURINHO HOCKEY SECURES REGULATION WIN

DRAGONS POUNCE ON TURNOVERS TO PUNISH EAGLES

https://giphy.com/gifs/roma-jm-mourinho-jose-leGtI4JDAzrWo7jquD

Lineup changes

MacWilliam on 2nd pair, Petan to 1st line with Meyer and Mahkovec. Quince to 2nd line with Pance and Sabla.

Stars of the game

* Luka Kolin - I suggested some adjustments to his game last game and it seemed that the coaching staff was already cooking on that front. He stayed in his favoured lower stance, but he more aggressively came out to attack scoring chances (when possible), closing the gaps on the spaces for high shots. He frequently got something on those higher shots, as well as flashing his glove like Horak and deftly utilising his blocker right up until the final second against Hancock looking for his hat-trick and the equaliser. VSV were singing his praises post-game (making excuses, a little bit - especially the post-game commentator who didn't shake Coach Cooper's hand).

** OZ turnovers leading to goals - Mahkovec to Meyer, Beričič to Mehle, Pance... I am so proud of all of these guys. Mahkovec looked dangerous with the puck on his stick, Meyer scored two goals (one disallowed), Beričič was sensational on the PK and was trusted with being on the ice at the very end of the game, Mehle finally scored and Pance got us the winner, defending his new teammate at the end and interviewing very well, to boot!

*** Andrew MacWilliam - Well, now, I enjoyed scouting his performance very much (see below). He is such a good defensive role model for the rest of the unit. He was laying out, putting his body on the line, over and over tonight. He was doing his best to defend and control the net-front area, something which this team has struggled a bit with. Not naming names, but it was really pleasing to see someone aggressively preventing chances and regaining possession in the net-front, instead of just standing around and watching the other team score. On this small sample size, he seems a great signing to help replace Halbert.

Goals

P2

VSV - Kolin makes the first save but his two defenders, the usual suspects of Crnović and Gregorc, are just standing around for the rebound, which goes in. I honestly don't care anymore if this is too harsh or not, it feels like it's always these two who act completely powerless in these situations over and over. Ćosić and Bohinc are available.

OLL - Meyer from Mahkovec. Mahkovec's pressure on the forecheck creates a turnover as he deflects a pass. Meyer pounces and gets it off his stick quickly for a 5-hole bullet. 

OLL - Mehle from Beričič. Beričič pickpockets a defender on the forecheck and turns to make a fantastic back post pass for Mehle, who elevates his shot to find the back of the net. Take note, Quince! I'm really happy to see Mehle score, as he seemed a bit snakebitten in front of goal. I hope the plug has been pulled and we'll see a few more along the way shortly.

OLL - Pance. Another pouncing on a turnover - his first shot is saved, but he elevates the puck over the goalie's pad off his own rebound. Take note, Quince x2! Evergreen Pance's silky skill still lighting up the scoreboard makes me all fuzzy inside.

P3

VSV - VSV gain the middle of the ice through a lovely peel-in play at our blue line. From that, a cross-ice pass goes from circle to circle and the resulting shot beats Kolin's blocker, as he is not able to get fully set in time. One goal behind with 10 minutes to go!

What I liked to see:

• I asked last report where our vaunted PK had gone - well, it came back with a vengeance tonight! We are back up to 2nd in the league off the back of this performance alone. It came with a blank on our PPs, too, but at least we kept things even.
• Luka Kolin going 51/53 for 0.962. ZG and I agreed that it was surprising how many shots VSV had, as it didn't seem so lop-sided on first viewing. Nevertheless, Kolin did so well and evolved from his previous performance to deny more shots. You can't ask for more than that. One thing to note, though, is that this mini-evolution is more of a quick-fix than a full resolution. By coming out more aggressively whilst remaining in his favoured lower stance, he opens up more danger regarding a lateral pass. Yet, there is no one solution and he made a strong improvement, so well done him.
• Seeing Meyer bank one in from behind the net was very cool, even if the goal was overturned for a Petan high stick. He took advantage of what I was advising Kolin against doing, dropping too early and leaving the high shot open. A shame it didn't count, but it proves players are good enough in this league to exploit high gaps.
• We flipped our recent P2 script, going 3-1. This absolutely had to happen after a scoreless P1 and I'm so glad it did. That all of them came off forced turnovers in the OZ was the cherry on top.

What I would like to see:

• We need to control possession a bit more going into future games, but I actually really like this defence-first and counter-attack second style of play that Jose Mourinho made his own in the football world. Coach Cooper in the post-game said that "We want to defend first", which shocked me. His entire system, as briefly explained by Halbert a few weeks back, seems to be securing as much OZ possession as possible. This is done with a view to overwhelming opposing defences by trapping them in their zone and peppering them with salvos of long-range shots with traffic and tips in front. I would love it if we really did defend first, but I don't think we really do. At least the intention is there! 
• With 2:06 remaining in P1, Quince could not elevate the puck over a flat-out goalie's arm. I would like to see him do better with that kind of chance next time. Luckily, our other big chances were scored on from then on.
• Get Simšič off the PP units. We had 3 minutes left of a 4 minute PP and he very obviously high-sticked a PKer in the face in front of the linesman. Very foolish. This team does not get better with him out on the ice, to be frank, so why we are giving him more special teams time is beyond me. Mehle is someone who should be out there over him every single time on the PP.
• Mašič came out of the penalty box and didn't fully commit to his sweeping backhand turn-and-shot motion, à la McDavid's goal of the season in the NHL so far. Trust yourself and go for it next time, Bine! Also, try to judge the bounce of the puck better at the OZ blue line, please - Kolin had to save a 1-on-0 against their best player because of you...

MacWilliam Scouting

I tried to keep a note of the impactful moments (positive and negative) that MacWilliam, our new defensive signing, had. He's another 35 year old Canadian who used to play in better leagues, as well as for Coach Cooper at RBS. He has pedigree, as a former Maple Leafs draft pick and player. His AHL resumé is particularly impressive.

P1

• Two nice DZ passes with his backhand that evaded the forecheck.
• Big NZ hit
• Helped out in last-ditch defence of the net, broke his stick laying out to deny the net-front space.
• Made a successful zone clear whilst on PK2.

P2

• Tied up the net-front man on PK
• Laid out to attempt a block on PK
• Got turned around by the net, allowing a slot shot that Kolin saves on PK
• Back to 5 on 5, made a good misdirection backhand pass to evade the forecheck again.

P3

• He pushed an attacker out wide, making the resulting shot easier on Kolin.
• A forceful and accurate stick from him breaks up a DZ entry
• He carried the puck into the OZ and made a dangerous pass across the slot
• He helped out with PK defending.
• He was out on the ice for the empty-net coverage, showing big trust already. 
• He helped deny these EN chances, particularly with a diving zone clear that made the opposition forward so angry that they got a 5 minute major for slashing, well-deserved because it came out of nowhere and was violent. Pance immediately defended him, which I loved to see.

Overall, I was really impressed with MacWilliam. The one negative I saw was on the PK and was a tough situation. Everything else was really positive - he might be a late contender for my jersey this season, as I love a commanding presence on defence (miss you, Pavlin!).

Post-game interview tidbits

VSV's Hancock - Kolin stole the game (I don't fully agree with that, but he played well!). 

Pance - It was a very difficult and close game. VSV never give up. We knew what we had to do, but we stepped back a bit in P3. Overall, it was a great fight and we deserved the win. They had the better stats, but we were more efficient. Kolin had an unbelievable game, he saved our asses in P2 (lol). We made a lot of turnovers and have to work on being outshot by so much.

Cooper - It was a really hard game, our goalie was outstanding, PK was great. It was a gritty game, not a ton of scoring chances but the ones we had were quality. We tried to stay calm and composed; this is a tough building to play in. 

We talk about defence every game, we want to defend first (!). We want to stay calm and keep playing our game, kill another penalty and make big saves. It was probably Kolin's best game of the season. He stuffed a breakaway, 6 on 5, PK, even the last second save at the end there. He had a big win last weekend v Bolzano and it's nice to see him performing well because it's tough as a backup goalie with the starter out. He's now filled in excellently for us in two games.

(An Austrian reporter who sounded mega arrogant said 'Laibach are good this year...what is the secret of this change this year?) We've brought in good people who are smart, composed, competitive athletes. Lots of veteran guys who've won. Our Slovene players are hard-working, fit players who care about winning (slightly damning with faint praise here, Coach...). We have an aggressive system that everyone has got behind. We take a game-by-game mentality, defence first(?!), but we have skill and scorers, too. It's nice to see it working for us, it's been good fun so far.

Final thoughts

We are back on track. Now to obliterate Linz this afternoon!

GAME 19

OLIMPIJA 2 - 5 KLAGENFURT

KAC PUT ON A POST-P1 STRANGLEHOLD

DRAGONS CAN'T FIND ANY FIRE TO FIGHT BACK

P2+P3:

https://imageresizer.com/meme-generator/edit/Homer-strangling-Bart

Goals

P1

KAC PPG - Our PK gets caught cheating over to the left side, so when a KAC pass finds its way across to the right circle, we are in trouble. Gregorc finds himself in no man's land, in between getting closer to block the shot and going further back to contest the net-front. The resulting shot gets parried in by the net-front man, under Kolin.

OLL PPG - Meyer from Brennan. Meyer walks up and slaps one in from the KAC right circle. Quince with a good screen on the goalie.

KAC - KAC find loads of space on the left side of our DZ, resulting in a 2 on 1 and a shot that grazes Kolin's left shoulder from the OLL left circle. Was this taking advantage of a line change? It was shocking how much space they acquired in our DZ so easily.

OLL PPG - Petan from Kirichenko and Sabla. It's a beautiful left circle slapshot that flies in over the goalie's left shoulder. The Austrian commentator on the highlights calls it a "real powerplay festival" thus far. I'm glad to see Petan score, as his noticeable impact in the very early season had waned somewhat recently.

P2

KAC PPG - They score a slapshot of their own. Kolin again goes low when they go high.

KAC PPG - A beautiful tip on a long-range shot, extremely difficult for Kolin to adjust to. Our PK were getting run ragged, again.

P3

KAC ENG - Empty-netter with 1:24 left.


Loss Dissection

Let's start with a quote from the Seattle Seahawks' Head Coach, Mike MacDonald, talking about their loss to the rival LA Rams:

“We’re going to be seeing a lot of these guys,” Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said. “We’re going to see them twice a year, possibly three. To me, it’s who evolves best from game to game? Who learns from it? Who grows the most is going to get the advantage every time we play. Every time we play it’s been an absolute knockdown, drag out fight.” Seahawks still believe in Sam Darnold — after another dud in a big game, should they? - The Athletic

I think this applies to our loss to KAC. Beating Bolzano convincingly made me think this team had turned another (positive) corner, but this knocks that idea back a bit. I am still learning the game, but currently, I don't feel like we have been evolving very much. In my limited view, Coach Cooper came in with a brilliant scheme to start the season. This scheme of committing super-heavy to offense has worked very well, for the most part. Other teams have started to exploit the weaknesses inherent in this scheme, though (tons of space in behind, for example). 

We have largely kept on doing what we were doing. This has resulted in some great wins (e.g. Bolzano last game) as well as some thumping losses (e.g. KAC this game). 

Committing to a vision is all well and good, but if that vision cannot adapt to what it sees in the proverbial mirror, we are going to keep having these topsy-turvy results because some teams are not good enough to punish us on the day and some teams are. I hope I'm completely wrong here, but it's vaguely reminiscent of banging our head against the wall, or headbutting repeatedly in a fight. We are doing damage to the opponent, but it's doing damage to us as well! Does this make any sense? Who knows! Read on, dear friend of the blog! (I was happy to see that Coach Cooper said post-game that we didn't have enough 5 on 5 offense, at least, as I fully agree with that.)

Next up, some pontificating on Kolin's greatest strength (lower-body agility in the butterfly stance) being his greatest weakness!

I'm no goalie expert, but from what I read about in The Athletic and elsewhere, the goalies at the top level have to keep evolving their game, otherwise their strengths become weaknesses as shooters work out how to take advantage of their preferences / tendencies. Luka Kolin is not an NHL goalie, but he and Miro Seppanen, our goalie coach, may want to incorporate more of that philosophy into their work (they know way more than me and are surely working on this already, but humour me on this).

At the moment, Kolin is extremely strong on the ground, in the butterfly position (legs on the floor). Almost nothing beats him along the ground. However, high level goalies are starting to stay higher for longer in order to keep out the high shots that have come as a response to goalies across the world becoming much more comfortable in the butterfly position. Not every league has people that can shoot high successfully, but it's clear that KAC were able to do that.

Now, I don't think they should have been awarded the penalties they received to give them an opportunity to shoot high, but that's a different matter! Kolin has massive potential to be a very successful goalie, but I think he should take some NHL advice (as I'm sure Seppanen is giving him) and try to stay higher in his stance for longer in order to help counter the high shots, which currently are taking advantage of his comfort and excellence in the lower butterfly stance. Jesse Granger of The Athletic writes some good stuff on this topic, as a former goalie himself. Here's a recent instance:

"Not only did Dostál not go into the RVH, he also never fully dropped into the butterfly, even after Blake released the shot. He widened his skates slightly but held onto his edges, which allowed him to react athletically and get a shoulder on the high shot."

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6795873/2025/11/12/nhl-goalies-dostal-vasilevskiy/

Kolin needs to start getting more on these high shots, letting go of his butterfly comfort blanket. I do not have concrete evidence right now, but it is my strong suspicion that part of Horak's greater and more consistent success in this league is his willingness to stay higher in his stance just that fraction longer than Kolin.

Elsewhere, P2 remains our nemesis. It's concerning how teams routinely seem to be working us out and exploiting us heavily in P2 after positive starts in P1. Coaches can harp on about 'playing the full 60 minutes', but if you are getting roundly outcoached in the mid-game adjustments department, it makes it hard on the players. Maybe I am missing something important here, but it seems like this is a real pattern for us over the past few games. The last 4 games, for instance, have gone 0-2, 2-1, 0-3 and 1-4 for us in the P2s. Bolzano was the 2-1 and we notched a comprehensive victory. The others were all losses. 

Coaches cannot be everything to everyone; it seems that Coach Cooper is much better at building up strategies between games instead of making tactical adjustments within games. Part of improving is identifying and working on your weaknesses, though, so I hope we will be the ones who start making the incisive changes rather than the ones who are repeatedly on the receiving end of them.

KAC's movement in the OZ, to be fair to them, was at times mesmerising. Look at the below, for example - how they didn't score in this is beyond me, as they have worked some magic to have two guys wide open in the low slot. Have they just read our defense like a book, exploiting a mix of man-on-man and zone D to perfection? It doesn't make our players or our coaches look fantastic, that's for sure. It's only one instance, but it does represent something of the chokehold that KAC put us in during P2+3.

Apart from the very soft refereeing decisions that gifted KAC 5 PPs in the game, a key turning point was on a shorthanded chance at the start of P2. What started off as a 2 on 1 turned into a 3 on 1, which we fumbled. It's greedy to demand that we score there, but it remains a key moment of which we failed to take advantage. That could have flipped our P2 script, but instead, we succumbed.

Talking of being shorthanded, where has our vaunted PK gone? We are down to 3rd in the league now after this 40% performance. KAC did well, but we need to fight back ASAP to regain our elite PK numbers if we want to return to winning ways.

In more positive news, Ćosić looked smooth once more, particularly evading forecheckers and facilitating zone exits with clear-eyed first passes.

Finally, a belated thank you to the two guys who said hello/thank you to me at the HCB game - you made me look cool in front of my friends 😆 tell me who you are next time please!!

P.S. I forgot to thank TJ (not Brennan) for his explanation of the KAC red dragon story. See below for the wisdom and thanks again!!

GAMES 16+17+18

OLIMPIJA 4 - 1 BOLZANO

YOUNG GUNS BLAST FOXES AWAY

MEYER AND BRENNAN MAINTAIN POINTS LEADER RACE

https://www.alamy.com/a-vector-illustration-of-hunter-shooting-a-fox-image222224984.html

https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-fox-hunt-hunter-gun-caught-image35671515

https://imgflip.com/i/14f0cm

Doomers who don't believe in Luka Kolin (e.g. ED 😆):

https://www.goalcast.com/doomer/

Bloomers who believe in Luka Kolin (e.g. me 😎): 

https://akirathedon.bandcamp.com/album/doomer-to-bloomer-nirvana

Stars of the game

* Luka Kolin - Why be a Kolin doomer when you can be a Kolin bloomer? One bad game does not a bad goalie make, as Shakespeare might have said. Kolin's agility in and out of the butterfly stance is a marvel to behold, meaning that nothing will get past him without elevation (barring one dodgy push over the line tonight). I hope he can build on this confidence going forward.

** Miha Beričič - scored a short-handed goal and was involved with other dangerous turnovers and breakaways in our favour. I hoped he would take advantage of the move up to 3C and he has done, in addition to his usual elite penalty-killing alongside Jaka Sodja. 

*** Jan Ćosić - he looked so much more assured on the ice tonight, like the bulldog we saw glimpses of last season. He defended with menace and seemed to take any foreign presence in the defensive zone as a personal affront. More of this, please! Bohinc should follow this example.

Goals

P2

HCB - a messy goal-line scramble sees Bolzano eventually get the puck over the line, but the goal is reviewed for illegal pushing of Kolin. The call on the ice stands, unfortunately. On the replay, it's Mašič who isn't strong enough to stop the Bolzano forward come in and poke away at the puck. 

OLL SHG - Beričič from Sodja! Wonderful work by Sodja to turn the puck over near our blue line and race forward, finding Beričič who one-times a backhand stab high into the top corner past the goalie's poke-check.

OLL PPG - Brennan from Meyer and Quince. Kolin made a huge pad save to start this move up the ice; it's Brennan who casually finishes it from a central position, with Mašič providing a helpful screen. TJ took it from behind him and scored blocker-side.

P3

OLL PPG - Meyer from Mašič and Quince. Our PP lasts all of 4 seconds as Meyer launches one from the top of the HCB right circle. Quince won the faceoff, Mašič passed to Meyer and we're done! Talk about efficiency! He scores glove side with a screen from Quince.

OLL ENG - Simšič from Sodja. Good work from these two to finish the game with an empty-net goal, after Petan couldn't manage the shot up ice previously. 

Near-Misses

We certainly had our chances - both Mahkovec and Meyer missed seemingly wide open nets. Mahkovec also hit the post. On the other hand, Luka Kolin made save after save in high-danger scenarios, including when defenders (yes, Mašič again) made a complete mess in front of him.

What I like to see:

• Two short-handed goals in two games?! Two Simšič goals in two games?!? What's happening?!?! 😆
• The young guys showing what they can do:
• Kolin back to showing off his elite potential in net once more
• Ćosić looking ready to get back on the 2nd pair
• Bohinc making fewer mistakes
• Sodja and Beričič making key impacts
• Bukovec getting a bona fide scoring chance
• The line combinations being shaken up with the multiple injuries/absences. Seeing Pance on the top line was a real treat. Alongside Quince and Sabla, that was a pretty formidable and gritty first line. Moving Meyer down to the 2nd to join Petan and Mahkovec also made a lot of sense, going for a more skill-based line. Mehle reuniting with Beričič on the 3rd was another sensible move, even if I would have brought Sodja up and sent Simšič down to be 4C. Obviously, with hindsight these changes worked. Even if they hadn't, I appreciate and respect that we are trying different things when under the strain of having key players missing. To beat a strong team like Bolzano amidst all this is a real accomplishment.

What I would like to see:

• More nastiness from our defenders. Kirichenko has been the lone wolf thus far, but Ćosić made moves to join him tonight. Not every defender can defend this way, but Bohinc could certainly take a leaf out of their book and play with a meaner streak. Hopefully our new signing, MacWilliam, can do this, too.
• Continued resilience from the team. This was such an impressive win given how many next-men-up we have had to move around. If we can keep winning big games while we let the likes of Polei and Halbert recover, then we will be in a very powerful position come the tail-end of the regular season.
• Continued rocking atmosphere at Hala Tivoli. Things started quiet in the first period, but got pretty loud in P2 and P3. Hokej was certainly najboljši v živo tonight!
• More collective belief in our players - part of why I was so frustrated with the reaction to Kolin's poor performance against Innsbruck was because I knew that wasn't representative of who he was as a player. Of course, I criticise players regularly - but I keep in mind whether this was a representative performance or not. Crnović doing very little other than replacement-level defending and conceding penalties is representative of his play. Mašič defending poorly is generally representative of his play (I can sense NR nodding his head furiously in the distance, like a Jedi sensing a disturbance in the force). Let's all try to be more careful with our judgements going forward, especially toward young players with high potential.

PUSTERTAL 5 - 3 OLIMPIJA

HURTING DRAGONS SENT PACKING BY WOLVES

SECOND PERIOD PROVES OUR UNDOING ONCE MORE

GOALS

P1

HCP - Bohinc loses the puck behind net. It comes out to the blue line and a rebound off Kolin is bundled in behind Crnovic, again. It's a good forecheck, but we can't be losing the puck like that. I'm a big fan of Bohinc, but this kind of error needs to go if he wants consistent playing time. Crnović, meanwhile, seems to be standing around watching pucks go in right in front of him game after game after game. I am sure it's hard to work out where the puck is in moments like that, but it's not a good look for someone whose hold on a starting spot should already be tenuous. 

OLL - Meyer from Mahkovec. What a strange goal! Mahkovec goes down with four HCP players around him. Whilst seated, he attempts to fling the puck into the goalie, who can't corral it. As the HCP defenders do their best Crnović impression (O_O), Meyer spots the puck lying uncovered and steals in to score. To make things even stranger, the goal is checked for offside. When that is 'inconclusive', HCP challenge for a hand pass by Mahkovec, when he was flailing around on the floor. This is not given, so the call on the ice of a good goal stands. Even better, HCP get a penalty for delay of game, due to the failed challenge! We didn't end up using that PP very effectively, but it was still a nice moment.

OLL PPG - Brennan from Quince and Meyer. A last minute goal as TJ shoots with a deceptive curve of his stick, finding Pasquale's 5-hole from his left circle 'office'. 

P2

HCP - they find an equaliser with a quick pass to the high slot. The resulting shot goes top corner. Kolin seemed to get a piece of it with his blocker, but not enough. 

HCP PPG - Crnović gave this away with an extremely obvious interference. HCP snipe one from the right circle. There's no contest on the net-front screen, either, making it impossible for Kolin. Bad defending all around. 

HCP - a brutal goal, as our PP ends and the penalised HCP player exits the box to score a 1 on 0. It's well-taken, finding the gap under Kolin's right arm, but what a sorry way to concede immediately after a positive PP.  This feels like game over.

P3

OLL SHG - Simšič from Quince. An awfully-timed toilet break from me! Great work by Quince to catch Pasquale around the back of his net and find Simšič for the goal. Couldn't have happened to a nicer goalie...

HCP - it's a nicely worked wraparound pass to the low slot. Sabla was tracking back, but him and the defenders get spread wide and Quince is too late to lock up the shooter from behind. 

THOUGHTS

• Pustertal are easy to hate after their consecutive seasons of sending us home in the pre-playoffs; of course, as soon as we get good, they are the team that gets even better.
• One positive thing about them, though, is their commentator. I appreciated his efforts to occasionally speak in English and I think he does a very good job as a solo presenter.
• Although we lost, I think this was a positive encounter overall. Without the likes of Boychuk, Horak, Polei, Halbert and Kapel, we were far from full strength. Yet, we kept things close - outside of a 3-0 second period, we were 2-1 in P1 and 1-1 in P3. This proves that we can hang with these guys and I look forward to facing them when we are healthier. If we can keep up with them at the top of the table, we will not have to face them in the first round of the playoffs, which will be a mental boon against mental boom (gaming term for losing the mind game convincingly against an opponent).
• The few OLL fans who made the trip were impressively loud.
• HCP still did some of their usual bullying, too - Mašič, in particular, was getting victimised by HCP's forecheck.
• Life is more than just outward appearance, and I've mention this before, but wow - HCP's coaches are comically ugly. They are like Disney villains out here 😂 They certainly know how to coach, though. I was really impressed with how they prepared for us. You could see that they had taken into account our tendency to flood the OZ with numbers, particularly in terms of simultaneous entries (e.g. 4 players crossing the blue line at the same time). To counter this, they aggressively defended high up at the blue line, hoping to deny entries and force turnovers, instead of sinking deep to defend more safely. It was a high-risk, high-reward strategy to take advantage of what we like to do. Spoiler alert, it worked! I need to keep learning how to analyse hockey at a high-level - maybe we have been doing a lot of this and I just haven't noticed. I did notice HCP, though, so fair play to them. We need to work out how we can adjust to take advantage of their counterplay - that's where the real fun begins!

https://tenor.com/en-GB/view/anakin-this-is-where-the-fun-begins-star-wars-lets-begin-gif-17501807

OLIMPIJA 5 - 6 INNSBRUCK (OT)

SHARKS BITE BACK AGAIN IN THE DRAGONS' DEN

SLEEPY SECOND PERIOD LEADS TO ANOTHER DOWNFALL

GOALS

P1

OLL PPG - Quince from Meyer and Mašič. Quince scores off a rebound with a powerful backhand. I love his fishing celebration on the big screen!

OLL PPG - Quince from Mašič and Meyer. 1s left on the PP and it's Quince in the net-front zone again!

P2

HCI - They enter the zone confidently and shoot past Horak from a wide angle, glove-side. I feel like we're missing a big, brutal, stay-at-home defenseman to blow someone up who is trying to do this kind of thing. Mašič and Brennan are finesse players not capable of that and it's them who let this happen.

HCI - Just over one minute later, they score again. It's nice movement in the OZ, possibly a set play. A fly-by tip is not picked up and they score off it. Again, it feels we are missing defensive-focused defenders. We have loads of guys who can score, but if we can't defend, what's the point?

HCI - Simšič can't cover a back post pass, leaving the shooter with a wide open net. Is it going to be another 6-7 loss? HCI are cutting us open in the NZ and our DZ.

HCI - Another one! They're going through us like a hot knife through butter! It's a one-timer shot from a central position that beats Horak's blocker.

OLL - Brennan from Mašič and Quince. TJ goes bar-down (bar-deezy, in Toronto), taking matters into his own hands from his left circle 'office'. We later have a goal overturned for goalie interference, which was a dubious decision.

P3

HCI - Horak nearly keeps it out but accidentally blockers the puck in.

OLL PPG - Boychuk from Mahkovec and Petan. As our 5 on 3 ends, Boychuk scores back post.

OLL - Brennan from Quince and Mašič. 4 assists for Mašič now! Brennan from the right circle this time. The cool-off in scoring points didn't last long for him!

OT

HCI - with 11s left, HCI score the OT winner. TJ can't track back sufficiently at the back post and Horak chucks his stick away in fury.

THOUGHTS

• Firstly, sorry this is so late. I was pretty furious with how little the security guards seemed to care about my safety, as teenage idiots were throwing coins at my head during this game. What was I doing to warrant this behaviour? I was sitting on my own and writing in my notebook. When I tried to do the right thing and report it, rather than deal with it myself, the boss was absolutely unbothered. Thankfully, the younger security guard I first dealt with was at least suitably embarrassed for their lack of action/care - I was told to wait to get hit again before they would give them a warning. Ooh, shiver me timbers! That'll teach them - shall we let everyone in the stands know that you have two free shots at throwing metal objects at other people's heads? That would make for an interesting fan experience, wouldn't it?! 
• I may have got myself in a bit of trouble with the club again for posting about how 'hokej is not najboljši v živo' if the security guards don't care about fan safety, but it's the truth. That's their new tagline, 'hockey is better live', which I totally agree with, aside from this situation. I used my club contacts to express my dismay and was told that things would improve, so I hope that is the case going forward. In the meantime, thanks to JB and others for telling me to sit near them till the security can work out how to do their jobs. It's crazy that there needs to be some informal mafiosa-style protection for other fans instead of just having the guys paid to look after people do it, but living in Montenegro taught me that this kind of thing ends up making up for a lot of modern society's failings!
• VBT pointed out that "with higher attendances, more people with no supporter culture come as well". Hopefully they can work out how to behave properly, otherwise the extra ticket money will be coming at too high a cost, in my opinion.
• Onto the game, what a stinker. P1 seemed like the start of a cruise-control win over a much worse team, but then P2 slapped us silly. HCI must be our 'banana peel' team, as we keep slipping up against them. What did they do well? They seemed to have made adjustments in the first interval to start taking better advantage of the gaping space we leave behind us when we commit heavily to the OZ. We weren't able to readjust well enough to win the game, unfortunately. 
• To be fair, we did have injuries to deal with (not to mention overturned goals!). Tian Hebar was playing forward on the 4th line, like a kind of Oliver Kylington in the NHL (another D who got forced into playing F). Still, we should be beating these guys convincingly and we did not. Perhaps this performance, in combination with the injury to Halbert, prompted the signing of Andrew MacWilliam, a 35yo AHL veteran who played for Coach Cooper at RBS in 22-23. He doesn't score many points, so let's hope he's as advertised by the club - physical and uncompromising in the DZ. It had started to occur to me that, although our defenders mainly fit Coach Cooper's system of points-scoring, offensive players, we do still need some proper stay-at-home defenders, which we don't really seem to have outside of the young guys like Bohinc and Ćosić, who aren't getting much playing time. Macwilliam's signing will hopefully assist with that, but we'll see.

25-26 ROUNDTABLE BOYS RETURN

 

ROUNDTABLE BOYS RETURN

FEAT. ŽG, NR + ED

Please enjoy the following roundtable discussion conducted at the Mini Golf café next to Hala Tivoli. This took place last Monday 24th October, so keep that in mind! You have heard my opinions on all things Olimpija, so now's the time to amplify the voices of other enlightened fans! I will jump in with edits/comments when I fancy it, but otherwise it's the roundtable boys in full flow. Responses have been edited for clarity, any mistakes are mine. ZG and NR return from last season; ED subbed in for GB, who couldn't make it this time. All involved are Olimpija fans, in case that wasn't obvious. 

Illustration of how the Roundtable Boys and I looked during the discussion:

This is from Neon Genesis Evangelion, a programme I found too stressful to finish! https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/226/gendoposecover.jpg

Who has impressed you the most so far?

ZG - Brennan, his scoring! I didn't know he could score that many points.

NR - Brennan is the flashiest on offense and he does a really good job on defence. I didn't know what to expect from him but the team runs well now. I also forgot how good Horak is, to be honest. I'm enjoying remembering that now!

ED - Apart from Brennan, I like Kirichenko. He makes Atwal look even worse from last year. He hits really hard and doesn't make any big mistakes. I also like Polei's character as someone who doesn't take any BS and protects his teammates.

Who do we need more from?

ZG - Halbert is my choice, but he is scoring points now. He can score at both ends, as we've seen... 

NR - Some of the new players were not very visible at the start, but they have at least been quiet workers. Meyer's passes have been fantastic, though.

ED - Boychuk. He saved us vs KAC but was out of position when we conceded the 2nd goal. He does tend to come in when we need him, but as the marquee signing of this group you would want him to be more dominant in games. (EDIT - ED called it, as Boychuk saved us versus RBS with a late goal!).

ZG - Boychuk has stepped back a bit, I think, because Brennan and Meyer have been doing so much offensively that he doesn't need to be the star of the show right now.

Thoughts on Coach Cooper?

ZG - I am impressed most by how he has changed the mentality of the pre-existing players on the team. They seem to play with more passion now. One thing I don't like is that when we have a big lead, I think he plays the 3rd and 4th lines too much. Then, in P3 you barely see the 4th line, or Mehle stops being sent out... 

NR - Thank God it doesn't look so difficult for us on the PP anymore! Although it happened in the KAC game, I am not so afraid of getting scored on as I was in previous seasons. Cooper has applied his strategy into our team and it has worked fantastically. All that remains is to show some capability to readjust when others start to figure out our system (EDIT - as it appears Innsbruck have...).

ED - I was a bit sceptical about his system. I didn't really notice it in preseason but now it's falling into place. It's layered, with no-look passes working well. I think Ćosić should play more and Crnović should play less. Ćosić is more consistent and Crnović is less consistent. Crni scores just enough to stay in. I don't like playing G.Hebar in net, either. I have some concern over the continued success of our PP, too, as we seem to be devolving into 'the TJ show', overly-relying on him to make things happen.

ZG - Would Cooper leave if he got offered somewhere else? I don't think the DEL would do it, it would be AHL or higher. I think he likes the project here and wants to build a great team, like the RBS dynasty of which he was a part. The team surely wants to keep him as long as they can. I wonder what his contract is like?

What are our realistic chances this season?

ZG - As we are looking right now, I would say we can get to the semi-finals of the playoffs. HCB, RBS and HCP are the other teams in a tight top-4 with us.

NR - We should avoid the pre-playoffs this year. It won't be a successful start to this new project if we end up there again. Pustertal are a bit of a curse for us at this point. We took Petan from them, who scored on us last year, but I still think they'd play better playoff hockey than us, given the chance. As ZG said, there are 4 quite equal top teams, but another could step up. A resurgent AVS? Can you ever count out RBS? It's too early to say but at least automatic playoffs then it's just down to the form on the day and the opponent. I think this year is too soon for us to win it all. 

ED - If we can avoid HCP in the pre-playoffs, that's a good thing. I think it's quarter-finals or all the way. Of course, it depends on injuries. We haven't been very lucky to begin the season (EDIT - e.g. Sabla and Sodja, then Kapel, Polei, Halbert as the first two return...). It also depends on how others adapt to us and we re-adapt. Playoff hockey is completely different, but we have grizzled Canadian veterans this time around. That should help.

Thoughts on the new players 

Boychuk

ZG - Point-wise, I am not so worried. I didn't expect point-per-game play from him. Sometimes he is playing in the shadow of Meyer and Brennan, but it suits him because he's on the older side. He doesn't need to be in the spotlight, but he can step up when we need him. He's performed as I expected him to. He's not Ty Ronning of the DEL (EDIT - ZG is a big fan of Ronning's ^^), so although he comes with name-recognition, he is not a light-the-league-on-fire kind of guy anymore.

NR - He's been good and he's a better option at 1C than last season's (EDIT - no KK slander here, please!! ^^). He's not the flashiest, but he does the job and thats what matters. I don't have any major concerns.

ED - I think he came over-hyped at the start and I expected more from him. Like I said, he always steps up when necessary, especially in shootouts. Others are not so focused on him now, so we can shift our emphasis off TJ/Meyer and onto him if we need. 

Petan

ZG - I remember him from his HCP days. I didn't know he was this good! He's played great on our 2nd line, you can't expect any more from him. Atwal and Ege were both awful imports from HCP last year, so I didn't expect much from Petan. Thankfully, he's been showing off his Canadian skills and I hope he will stay for 2/3 seasons here (same for Boychuk).

NR - The best thing is that he's no longer on HCP! He was the most noticeable player in HCP matches against us in the past. He's done a lot of smaller work that goes largely unnoticed for us, but he does it well. Maybe I wanted more from him, but mainly I'm just happy we have him and not HCP!

ED - His role is different with us than with HCP. He's making the 2nd line better, especially Mahkovec. He gets a lot done properly and makes those around him better. 

Polei

ZG - A great, physical player. He does the dirty work in front of the net. I didn't know what we were getting with Polei, but low expectations mean he's been a plus addition for sure.

NR - I feel quite similarly, I didn't have a clue where he was coming from, but I like the physical work he does - and it's clean physicality, too, such as the huge, clean hit against RBS. I really like that we have someone with his skillset who can defend his teammates. Notice that he seems to be a locker room 'glue guy', as well - he often hands out the MVP mask in the locker room, too...

ED - There's still potential in his game to get better. He lifts the spirit of the team and seems to make a big impact in the locker room - him and Petan stay to the end to welcome all the players back into the tunnel. The whole team seems more connected and happier than last year. 

Meyer

ZG - His passing is really oustanding. I knew he was an excellent player from his RBS days, as well as his time in Sweden. His vision and passing impress me every game. It's Dončič-esque (EDIT - big words from a Slovene!). He's added so much to our PP.

NR - He was quiet in the first few games, but he's been racking up points ever since. I think he's great, his advanced vision does a similar job to Bonino's passes. It's not a 1:1 comparison, but Meyer is high-level.

ZG - Meyer is better for our team than Bonino was, because others weren't anticipating Bonino's passes. Now, we have players and a team that can work with each other at a high-level of offensive play.

ED - I like his agility - it always seems to be others chasing him. I really dislike his lack of celebration, though - it doesn't seem like he's enjoying himself! He looks bored, show some energy! ^^

Quince

ZG - He came to us from the DEL, where he scored 0pts in 15 games. Therefore, I wasn't expecting very much out of him. Before the DEL, he was in Slovakia; their league isn't as good as ours. I saw this and thought he'd be another Bičevskis (EDIT - i.e., a sound defensive centre who doesn't offer much offensively). However, he's been playing fantastically! He's adapted well to the team, doesn't make big mistakes and looks happy with his role as 3C. It suits him well and Cooper seems to trust him.

NR - I don't have much to say. He's another quiet worker who does his job. He's not a handicap to the team, his role suits him and the team well. As long as the results keep coming, I'm satisfied! He's made Simšič and Kapel look good (ZG - not Simšič! Get rid of Zajc 2.0!).

ED - He's not made too much of a positive/negative difference, but he's consistent and keeps the 3rd line working so the 1st and 2nd can rest. He's definitely made Kapel look better, Simšič is Simšič.

Kirichenko

ZG - He's another I didn't expect a lot from. He wasn't good on PIV. I don't know where they got the money from, they are trash! Anyway, he's been doing a great defensive job, he's a physical player. He isn't scoring many points, but Brennan has been doing so much that Kirichenko isn't as needed. He's doing the dirty work and I like him.

NR - He's been making eye-catching huge hits, making Atwal look even worse. I want him to score more, as his shot is good. He's been a bit unlucky in that respect but he is defensively good, especially with his physicality. The only thing I don't like is that 2 or 3 times now he has made blind passes from behind the net, resulting in turnovers (like Mašič did last year (EDIT - I knew NR couldn't resist a swipe at Bine's performance last year ^^)). If you get rid of that, he's a great player for us!

ED - Atwal is Kirichenko from Wish (EDIT - a website full of rubbish things). He makes big hits and protects Horak. He doesn't need to be the main point-producer on D, like when he was at PIV.

Halbert

ZG - He has some offense, he's started to pass more noticeably well. He turned it over too much at the start, but he's established his role in the team now and consequently has not been making as many overly-risky plays. Offensively, he's been finding empty space to pass and score to good effect, especially in the slot. He has a nose for scoring even though he's a defender. He's been mixed overall but is ascending. I hope he can stay here for a few seasons, he's at a good age (30).

NR - Similar to Quince - there isn't that much to see, but he does what he's here for. Aside from early turnovers, he's not been that physical but he has contested the boards and wins some of those battles. Unlike Ege and Atwal, he hasn't been a useless handicap to the team.

ED - He's scored a few goals but conceded some own goals. He's an ok defender and looks better because he's got Gregorc and Crnović playing behind him. 

ZG - Gregorc and Crnović look like they're made out of wood sometimes. They score occasionally but do not look good enough for this level anymore. I'd easily have Ćosić and Bohinc over them.

Bukovec

ZG - If Mehle's future is in the top-6 (1st/2nd line) then Bukovec has a role on the 4th line. I don't think he's got top-6 potential, but he's great for the 4th line. He hasn't had enough ice time yet.

ED - He's a big guy, plays a physical game. Offensively, he's still got work to do.

ZG - He only played for Celje previously, so he doesn't have much experience yet.

NR - He's a very chill guy - perhaps a little too chill for a rookie? I'd like to see him play with more energy and then the ice time will come.

Brennan

We felt we'd discussed TJ enough at the start, but we summarised with "he's great" and "we like his white stick" 😂

Favourite moment of the season so far?

ZG - Our big wins at the very start were amazing, but I love to win against RBS and Hala Tivoli was rocking for that game. I've never seen it so full in my life, only in videos from the past!

NR - The RBS win. The atmosphere was just 'wow'. Pance said it was a playoff atmosphere and I have to agree. To get a win after 11s in OT has be the best moment thus far, but early hype-inducing wins were good to see, too.

ED - RBS, sure, but also the Erasmus student game. It's a good way to fill up Hala Tivoli, even if the students don't really know where they are or why they're there...

ZG - In the playoffs, I want real fans only.

Least favourite moment of the season so far?

ZG - The HCI loss (6-7 OT) felt really bad, but it's only one game. I also didn't like the KAC game when Brennan couldn't play due to neck stiffness. He was sorely missed on the ice and the team didn't look ready to play without him.

NR - HCI - even without half the team playing, seemingly, and the other half not 100%, it was a lazy game. We scored when we were firing on all cylinders, but got scored on when we weren't. It was still entertaining, though. A loss had to come at some point!

ED - I agree with HCI. It's not because we lost, but because the difference in a couple of days when we won away and lost at home was too much. We can't afford to have such a big difference in our play from game to game against the same team. More consistency is a must. Last year we really needed the points we kept dropping in these slip-up games and I hope we won't be feeling their absence this time around. For now, though, we are looking quite safe in the upper half of the table.

GAMES 13+14+15

 

KLAGENFURT 3 - 4 OLIMPIJA (PENS)

OLIMPIJA CLING ON FOR VICTORY

DRAGONS SCAR KAC ON PENALTIES

I know Scar is not the best comparison, but KAC=cats, I mention clinging on in the title but reverse the expectation that KAC would be Scar... and being the bad guy is fun sometimes. https://screenrant.com/disney-lion-king-scar-ways-he-couldve-won/

Lineup changes

None! (EDIT - I forgot that Brennan missed the game due to neck stiffness right beforehand. Oops!)

Stars of the game:

* Marcel Mahkovec - Marcel scored two NHL-level goals tonight. Enough said.

** Zach Boychuk - our knight in shining armour comes to our rescue once again, with a goal and the winning penalty.

*** Lukaš Horák - it's the same story, but it never gets old: he kept us in it to win it.

Goals

P1

KAC - With 55s left in the period, Ćosić pinches high up the ice and leaves space that KAC immediately take advantage of. Petan and Bukovec try to get there but can't and the KAC player beats Horak's glove. EDIT - As we found out from Boychuk in the bottom report, this is the Olimpija system - aggressively defend to keep the puck up the ice. It can go wrong and leave space in behind, though, which we are continually seeing. Conceding in the last minute hurts, too.

P2

OLL - Mahkovec with an awe-inspiring solo effort, where he weathers a big hit, navigates through defenders and still beats the goalie's blocker. 

KAC - A wraparound try unfortunately finds the tiny gap underneath Horak's pads for the 5-hole goal. He would have wanted a defender's stick there to disrupt that attempt, but it's a well-taken goal for KAC.

P3

KAC SHG - Maybe I care too much, but I had my head in my hands for this one. I was watching with my Mum and just cut any conversation we were having for a while there. KAC take the puck up the ice and manage to extricate it very effectively/unexpectedly with a big swing of a skate from a crush on the back boards into the slot / net-front area. A messy clash follows where Horak cannot freeze the puck and it eventually gets bundled in amidst poor net-front defending by the offensive-minded PP unit. Horak was incensed, as was I. This kind of goal can be such a deathblow, as I expected it to be. But the game and the PP wasn't over yet...

OLL PPG - Mahkovec from Halbert. Marcel strikes back in the same PP with a beautiful one-time shot that got him Alex Ovechkin (greatest goalscorer in NHL history) comparisons from Evan Polei after the game. Halbert with a wicked pass across on the assist, too.

PENS

Boychuk scores and nobody else does!

Overall thoughts

What a resilient win! This was such a tight game, made even tighter by conceding the SHG.  I loved seeing Kirichenko enforce his will on the game with multiple moments of physical dominance. I loved seeing Mahkovec take over the game twice with attacking magic. I loved seeing Boychuk bring it home for us and I loved seeing Horak shut the door on KAC's penalties. Let's cut the SHG and keep the rest, then replicate this in the playoffs because this was absolutely a playoff-esque atmosphere tonight and it reflects very well on the team that we came through that adversity to win.

FERENCVAROS 4 - 7 OLIMPIJA

DRAGONS BITE BACK AGAINST FEISTY FTC 

MEYER HAT-TRICK HERO AMIDST PLENTIFUL PENALTIES

Meyer on scoring his hat-trick:

Just joking Nico!!

https://emojiisland.com/products/neutral-face-emoji-icon

From the kung-fu game Sifu, referencing my previous 'ninja' designation for Meyer. I realise kung-fu and being a ninja are different things, but I am comfortable with saying that they are in the same ballpark.

Lineup changes

None! Sabla and Sodja are still out. Gregorc is now wearing a C on his chest, which I hadn't noticed before. I saw Gregorc zooming off on his scooter this week and he seemed to recognise me, giving me a real 🤨 on his way past. He followed my blog from early on and I have never meant to offend him - I gave him defensive player of the year last year (albeit begrudgingly, lol). It's not personal - for me, as you all know by this point, Bohinc and Ćosić should be playing over Gregorc and Crnović. I can understand wanting to keep Gregorc on the 3rd pair as an experienced, steady veteran, but I would still personally prefer both young guys to be out there. Gregorc is a great presence to have in our D corps and I am sure his experience brings a lot to the team. It's not my choice, obviously, but at this stage of his career (and with a fully healthy team) I would have him as 7th D and Crnović as 8th D. I guess nobody competitive would ever like to hear that said about themselves, so I'll just have to deal with the 🤨🤨 looks. The cost of having opinions, eh?

Stars of the game:

* Nico Meyer - He nearly had four goals and drove so much offense tonight. Cool, calm, collected and a crack scorer. He is a former ICE League champion and he carries that demeanour with him. 

** Marly Quince - You can tell he has a lot of trust put in him by the coaching staff. In big moments, he is sent out onto the ice. Are you not entertained?! Scored two important goals and fought hard all evening. 

*** Nate Halbert - Continues to pick up the offensive D-man slack while Brennan and Kirichenko have cooled off, point-scoring-wise. 

Goals

P1

OLL -  Meyer from Boychuk and Mehle. Backhand magic as Mehle and Boychuk both back-pass for Meyer to bang one in from the low slot. 

OLL - Halbert gets stuck into a hack-and-whack melee in the net front and jabs the loose puck in.

FTC - Pance misses the puck with his hand mid-air in the NZ and Kirichenko is unable to close the gap as FTC spring a 1 on 0 that leads to a blocker-side goal. It was hard to tell, but it seemed like the FTC player concealed his release well, like a sneaky seam bowler hiding the angle of the ball until the last moment in cricket, which helped him beat Horak, who looked like he had partly-initiated a shift to flow to the far post.

P2

OLL - Mahkovec from Pance and Petan. Mahkovec tips one in from Pance's long-range shot after we circulate well to mix up their defensive coverage into a line of screens on the goalie.

FTC - Bohinc commits a killer turnover in our DZ, passing it too close to Beričič instead of out in front of him. It goes through Miha right into the welcoming embrace of Braeden Shaw, who scores 5-hole goal on Horak. Playing young D-men will lead to mistakes that they need to learn from. I am confident that Bohinc will learn from this. I anticipate that some might say 'hang on, why don't you say this for the older players, too?'. Well, the likes of Gregorc and Crnović are old enough that they should know better by this point already! 

OLL PPG - Quince from Meyer and Mašič. After a few fairly agonising PPs, we finally score on one. Quince tips in a Meyer shot.

OLL - Meyer from Beričič and Kirichenko - Meyer gets a 5-hole goal of his own from the FTC right circle.

P3

FTC - Poor DZ coverage means Braeden Shaw finds himself freely available and scores once more. Horak is furious, Ćosić looks injured and Petan gives up a penalty almost immediately after.

OLL - Quince from Simšič and Mašič. A nice swivel pass from Simšič goes to Quince, who puts the puck into the back of the net, which comes off its moorings in the process. Thankfully it stays a good goal on review. Surviving the penalties and getting up to 6-3 was a huge pivot point in this game, but it wasn't over yet! 

FTC - Braeden Shaw with a hat-trick as he snipes one from our right circle. He has looked so dangerous all evening.

    

OLL ENG - Meyer hits the empty net for his hat-trick. Maybe it's the fact that it was an ENG, but he doesn't look particularly happy about it. 

What I liked to see:

• A resilient penalty kill, despite the refs handing out penalties like Halloween trick or treat sweets.
• Another high-scoring performance against a lively team.
• Mehle doing good work on the top line, both in offensive creation and defensive denial. I hope he can keep a top-9 role in the team once Sabla returns.
• I enjoyed the shots of the FTC fans chomping on Langos. It's been 20 years since I was in Hungary, but Langos made such a good impression on me that it lasts to this day!

What I would like to see:

• Some more obvious in-game adjustments. I may not be skilled enough to tell if some more subtle tweaks were made to respond to what FTC were doing, but I do know that I felt genuinely worried when Braeden Shaw had the puck on his stick, the first real time I can say something like that with Horak in net. Shaw was making him look like a mere mortal out there, so I would have liked to see us more obviously adjust to Shaw's shocking shooting by giving him less space to work with. Will that open up space for other players? Of course! Are those players likely to shoot as dangerously as Shaw? I highly doubt it!
• I would like to see the commentators be able to read the jersey numbers. They had 12 instead of 72 and 14 instead of 74!
• I am worried that our PP, despite doing so well, is relying too heavily on TJ Brennan in the same way as we relied too heavily on Sabla last season. Our success rate will nose-dive if teams can key in on one player to stymie the whole operation. I'm not too concerned but it's something to monitor, as tonight the PP felt laboured and lacking ideas, which is obviously something OLL fans are very familiar with in recent seasons.
• More consistency in the refereeing. Here's Mark from Euro Hockey Hub's enlightened take (edited for clarity, any mistakes are mine):
• I think the amount of dumb slashes set the tone for the season. First few weeks there were some flying sticks and lumberjacks.
• A balance needs to be struck though, a complete non-contact game is not going to get any fans through the doors. At the same time, players need protection from cheap shots.
• Player protection should always be number 1. Consistency is needed in calls during the game. Some slashes are called and some are missed or ignored. What we don't understand as fans is the context on the ice. What's been said (etc.), interpretation.
• Consistency on calls will prevent people from making cheap shots. There's a 'love tap' and there's a 'lumberjack'. One is a physical play and one is reckless. This needs to be understood. Just my opinion on it. We want players healthy and competing each night, whilst keeping the physicality.

Final thoughts

If we can beat RBS on Friday, we can pull away from them as we have a game in hand. Otherwise, I just hope the ICE League and the refs can find a better balance here as it is becoming rather excruciating to watch penalty after penalty being given for light offences all game. As one of the FTC players said in a post-game interview, "hits are part of hockey and that's why we play".

SALZBURG 1 - 2 OLIMPIJA

GREGORC, BOYCHUK AND HORAK SAVE THE DAY

DRAGONS WALK TIGHTROPE AND GET BIG REGULATION WIN

https://imgur.com/gallery/robert-mugabe-is-high-TBstzkt#/t/tightrope (plus logos).

Available at (plus logos and W sign from Google): https://www.amazon.com/MIGHTYPRINT-Comics-Anniversary-Officially-Collectible/dp/B0CZW6HLGY

Lineup changes 

Bukovec swaps with Kumanović, meaning Maks is on 3rd line and Lovro is on the 4th. Sodja returns!

Talking of swapping, the 1st and 2nd pair do a Mad Hatter's Tea Party and "change places!". Perhaps they are unimpressed with Brennan and Mašič's recent performances, so Halbert and Kirichenko get the promotion for now?

Polei is out again, as is Ćosić. Ćosić has a hand injury and Polei - not sure.

Stars of the game:

I think Bukovec correctly identified the three players that deserve praise in his post-game locker room speech (see bottom of the article), but I will order them differently to him...

* Lukaš Horák - as I put in one of my Insta stories (@olimpijahockeyblog), I feel like this was the kind of game where Hory deserved double whatever money he is getting. We didn't prevent shots or control possession very well for most of the game and although there were some blocks, it was pretty much Horak vs the world. Luckily, we know he is talented enough to carry us through those kinds of games, as evidenced again here!

** Zach Boychuk - appropriately for Halloween, Boychuk did his best Batman impression, answering our bat-signal late in the game to put us 2-1 up in emphatic style.

*** Blaž Gregorc - he once more had to step up to play more minutes, as Halbert apparently went off injured, but he also scored our opening goal. A captain's performance! 

Goals

P1:

OLL - Gregorc wisely takes the extra space offered to him by the RBS defence and very cooly squeaks a shot over the goalie's shoulder. He has tried this move a few times in recent memory, but in a huge game it comes off!

P3:

RBS SHG - RBS do very well on a short-handed rush, with their captain T. Raffl scoring, but what a killer after continual PP efforts in vain. Meyer's initial shot is blocked and Brennan cannot get in front of the storming RBS forwards. This leaves Mašič in a 2 on 1; he cannot prevent the brilliant pass across to Raffl, who formidably puts it backhand-high over Horak's glove. Great work from RBS but we can't be letting that happen.

OLL - Boychuk picks up a turnover at our blue line and scores with a rush chance blast! I'll let the man himself explain: (slightly edited version) "I didn't think I had a clearcut breakaway...so I wanted to get it off my stick sooner rather than later... I usually go 5 hole, so my teammates were probably expecting that, but I went high and I was pleased with it".

Overall thoughts

The roundtable boys were prophetic on Monday (article coming tomorrow!), saying that Boychuk makes an impact when we really need one. Well, he did it again! The main focus should be on Lukas Horak, though, as he weathered a storm of shots, right up to the very end. 

Is it crazy to say that I don't think we actually played that well tonight? RBS dominated possession and shot differential (42-25). It's one of those games that RBS would win 8 or 9 times out of 10, but we had Horak in net plus quite a few lucky bounces. One of the RBS players said after the game that "sometimes you play a great game of hockey and lose", which I think is fair. We did have some good, isolated chances, though, so I don't want to pretend it was a completely 'lucky bounce' kind of game.

I also think what he said about "in hockey there will be breakdowns and you have to try to minimise them" can apply to how we think about our performance. I absolutely despise giving up SHGs, it just brings so many bad memories from old Olimpija performances. However, we've managed to concede two in the space of one week, both against top-tier opponents in KAC and RBS; neither time have we let it kill our momentum, which is a pretty powerful statement about the belief that Coach Cooper et al. have instilled in this group of players. 

Obviously, I would prefer we win without conceding an SHG, but the fact we win despite that is very encouraging for what we all hope will be a long and successful playoff run. This game had, as Nico Meyer said mid-game, a full-on playoff atmosphere. We passed the test, but there are points to improve on. 

It makes sense that RBS played their system better than us, though. As Boychuk said post-game, "we play a similar system to them, with Coops (Coach Cooper) coming from Salzburg...The gameplan is always the same, trying to be very aggressive pinching on the boards (presumably to keep the puck in the OZ for as long as possible) and get as many shots as we can...Sometimes you've got to win ugly ones". Well said, Zach!

Special teams does deserve further consideration, though. Our PK has continued to be absolutely outstanding, but I do wonder if our league-leading PP is starting to become a legitimate issue. Another mad thing to be saying, as we are just top in PP%, ahead of HCB, but we are trending down. In the last three games, we have gone 2/11 for 18% (we are at 30% average on the season so far). That's a small sample size but it does show that we are firing at almost half our previous rate of 33% before this week of games. What's more, we have conceded SHGs twice in those 11 PPs, essentially meaning that we have gone 0/11 on using them to give us an advantage in the games. Now, it is natural that putting your offensive wizards out on the ice can lead to a lack of defence, but it's something else that we need to shore up ASAP over the upcoming break.

One final note - the commentators were enormous RBS homers. I understand they are the RBS broadcast team, but I think they would do well to tone it down a bit to try to have some appearance of balance. ŠP and I agreed that while it adds a frisson to the experience if there's a little bit of rivalry incorporated into the broadcast, there must be some professionalism. Neither of us thought there was enough of that tonight and both of us found that frustrating.

Post-game locker room speech reaction

I really enjoy that the club are uploading these to their Instagram account. See below for transcripts and further thoughts.

Cooper post-game locker room speech (slightly abridged) -

"Horak came in here and said 'finally, some shots for me'! In all seriousness, talk about some team defence - gritty, gutsy effort - lots of shot blocking, PK was amazing, Simšič and Quince were animals out there. All the D stepping up for Halby (was he injured?), but just an overall gritty team effort, a well-earned 3 points and we sweep the series." 

Gregorc given MVP by Bukovec (after mentioning Horak and Boychuk) -

"Great job, team effort - that's how we win games". 

My reaction -

Again, I feel like I might be ungrateful / slightly insane to be suggesting this, but surely we should be aiming to control the game and not get too happy with a knife-edge, lucky win? Obviously, it's wonderful that we beat the quadra-champs in their building and in regulation, but as I said above, letting another team do that to us will not lead to consistent success. I'm sure the coaching staff will work on that, but I would have liked to see some tempering to all the back-slapping with a brief mention of that need to keep working on controlling/regaining possession in those types of games. Maybe my Britishness is just not letting me enjoy this win sufficiently, though ^^.

Finally, I think Maks is a great guy, as you know from my Insta stories on the Cewapi encounter, but I do feel a bit sorry for Horak getting the "oh yeah, Hory, you played well, but I'm giving it to..." every time we see the locker room videos 😂 As OHB readers, you know that I don't hesitate to give Horak MVP every time he deserves it, at least!