Nov 13, 2011 | Steve McGeown | 615 views
Lost: One Novice Timber Wolves Hockey Team...
If found, please return to Grand River Arena in time for next Saturday's Game. Characteristics of this lost team included a 6 game unbeaten streak, including a win over a better Cyclones team, generally a semblance of a usually working breakout system, a knowledge of coverage in their own end, and typically an unselfish offensive attacking game.
Timber Wolves lost to Brantford 99ers badly in a game where both teams were battling for sole possession of 2nd place. They were outplayed on every level, including effort. I had to self institute the 24 hour rule that extended to a week just to report on it....
It just seemed like the entire team was off on this day. That's OK boys, that happens once in a while, the trick is to remember that this experience did not taste too good, and start fresh listening to your coaches and working hard in practices and games. Expectations are higher from your fans because you did so many good things and played so well up to this game against equal and better opponents. That was not Timber Wolves hockey on this night!!!
The lone highlight was Owen Parsons going top shelf after being set up all alone in front of the net by Ryan McGeown. The key here... Ryan moved the puck to a player in a better scoring position than himself, a noticeable rarity on this night. We generally refer to this type of play as a P-A-S-S. It resulting in a G-O-A-L. See the connection? Now as we move on to the re-tier, with a couple of the easier teams dropping down, there will be fewer teams where attempting to beat 3 players single-handedly ever works.
So let's get back to that team play that was so effective prior to this game, and put this one behind us.