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)
* 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...
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!)
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
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