When Did We Get a Hockey Team?

Friday Night's Game. Habs taking liberties; PIMs for everybody!; Habs watch playoff seeding (and maybe even hopes) fade; O'Byrne's a joke; X gets 10 for allegedly being a Francophobe. Oh yea, and a shutout for Kari.

Sunday's Game. Bry-Bry (again) with the leadoff tally; jobbing by CalGARY; Toby with a MONSTER shot; more jobbing by CalGARY; Kovy being Kovy; even more jobbing by CalGARY; and Bry-Bry (again) with the final word. Oh yea, and a Greek God goal thrown in for good measure.

Obligatory Stupid Question: Where was this team in October? With all of the different guys that have been moved from the team, I wonder how the chemestry has been affected. Did we dump some malcontents? Did we move some bodies that didn't jive with the of the team, not from any mental issues, but simply years of habit? At this point, you could ask these questions without having to name names, and I'd really like to know.

The Finer Points. Team play. That's the buzzword. Only Boris was a minus this weekend, and only Bogosian was over +1 (+2). There wasn't on line that led, or one line that let everybody down.

"Live together, die alone."

Um, thanks, Jack.

The cycles in both weekend games looked tighter & crisper, but the boys didn't back down from a physical game, either. I've had the recurring thought that we need a little more grit, but watching both games put that to bed. Friday night's backcheck looked a little sloppy at times. But when the average age of your defense is 24, that's gonna happen. Then came Sunday, and all fears were assuaged. Add the recently arrived Mr. Salmela, and we might just have a defense. Then again, that's what we said at the beginning of the year, too. But I choose hope.



Kovy Since the 'C'

Gms	G	A	Pts	+/-	PPG	SOG	Pts/G	S%	Pts/G
23	20	13	33	2	5	90	1.43	22.22%	1.43

Money. As in: "The man is." As in "Show him the." We know what he's capable of. Now, he's proving it. The crowd was LOUD Sunday, especially toward the end.

Goals. We has 'em.
The way I see it, this team is playing against itself. More specificly, the 5-9-2 record of last year's Thrashers. That's .375 points per game. For the remainder of the year, we have 16 games, 12 against playoff (or within spitting distance of a playoff spot) teams, 6 on the road, 6 at home. If we could pull off a 9-7 record over that span (.889 points per game), I will be convinced. I know, a lot to ask. The team that showed up this weekend could do it.