Sunday night's loss to Stuffed Chrus was the perfect storm of defeats: there was a soul-crushing element, a heavy dosage of heart-break, and a side of gut-wrenching of epic proportions. Most analysts, including Bill Clement (circa 2008), are referring to the loss as a "microcosm of the Red Army season", and as Tarik El Bashir so aptly defined it from his twitter account, "There were ups, there were downs, and in the end, there were totes more downs."
So let's try to get some answers. If last game really was a microcosm of the season, let's break the action down to understand exactly what went wrong, when it went wrong, why it went wrong, and most importantly, how to fix the problems. So without further ado, here are a few of the moments from last Sunday's contest that not only defined a game, but a season as well.
-First period, under five minutes remaining. Stuffed Chrus leads 3-1.
After surrendering the first three goals of the game, the Soviets finally capitalize on their offensive chances when Mark Hendricks finishes off a strong rush to the net. Immediately, wind is restored into the Soviet sails. However, on the ensuing shift, Tony Horton makes a no-look drop pass towards the point, which is intercepted by Chris Celenski (though intercepted phrases it nicely- the pass was from Horton's tape to Celenski's tape) and Celenski has a clear cut breakaway going the other way which he promptly deposits home.
Now, we can't be too hard on Horton here. It was an honest mistake, and heaven knows how many times we get on players for not using the points enough. The mistake was made with the best intentions, but it is the timing and riskiness of it all that kills us... and the Comrades. With a few minutes to go in the frame and your team just scoring a goal, the mindset has to be throw the puck on goal. Not only that, but Horton had a lane to shoot the puck (albeit on his backhand) and Hendricks was setting a screen. Even if the puck is stopped, Hendricks could have come up with a rebound to stash home or earned a faceoff in the zone. The point is, you have to know who you are playing, and Stuffed Chrus has too many weapons to justify throwing a puck into space hoping it lands on one of your defender's blades. You can be comfortable around dogs, but you have to be smart around wolves.
-Second period, midway mark. Score tied 4-4.
The Red Army has just scored three straight goals to storm back and tie the game. They are owning the puck, blocking shots, and enjoying long stays in the offensive zone. Then, they stop doing all of those things. The defense unravels, the forwards rush the puck, and the shots aren't blocked by anyone, defender or goaltender. The game becomes 5-4, 6-4, and 7-4 in the blink of an eye, and all of the hard work that had gone into tying the game (roughly 11 or 12 minutes of good hockey) is nullified in one and a half bad shifts of hockey.
Unlike the previous example, there is no lone scapegoat in this case. Instead, there are eight (I will spare the goalie because is not on the roster). All four defensemen and all four offensemen, for whatever reason, deemed it acceptable to take a few minutes off after playing inspired hockey. That will happen, it shouldn't, but it does. Complacency seeps into Mother Russia's veins with the meanest of feats. The disease this season has evolved, and for lack of a better term, become rabid. When being scored on in seasons past, it was an instant wake up call. The troops recovered, rallied, and responded. This season, when being scored upon, it doesn't register. So another goal against occurs. Then another. And another. By the time the Comrades make their patented late game surge, the damage has been done.
-Last minute of 2nd period - first five minutes of 3rd period. Stuffed Chrus leads 7-4.
Immediately following Stuffed Chrus' seventh tally, Ben Breiterman takes the puck near center and races the length of the rink to score a goal in what would be the final play of the middle stanza. To open the period, Hendricks converts on a breakaway after beating a defender and then moments later, converts on another breakaway after Scott Hoefer delivers a 100 foot pass.
If we are going to keep this "microcosm of the season" tag line valid, then we need to send some positives the Red Army's way. By my math, with a record of 2-6-1, the Red Army wins just under 25% of the games they play (if you take out the overtime loss, it is exactly 25%). So, since I wanted to do four defining moments, one of them had to be a good one. To me, this five or six minute sequence was the finest five or six minutes of the season. A good team (golden a year prior) has a stranglehold on the game and supplied back to back to back daggers heading into the 3rd period. But, before the horn can sound to end the period, a great individual effort by Breiterman decreases the lead to two and has a statement feel about it, like "Not so fast, this division technically is still ours 'til somebody eliminates us". Then Hendricks, while pseudo-cherry picking, scores two quick goals to start the third and gets Uncle Mo right back on Mother Russia's side. The Red Army, because of players like Hendricks and Breiterman, have quick strike potential. They also have players like Horton, like Steve Hand, like Drew Kelley, that do dirty work and open up room for others. They have a team of players that, when everyone does their job, is pretty damn tough to beat. Of course, you can't have people clocking out early or showing up late.
-Third period, 29 seconds remaining. Score tied 8-8.
Celenski skates the puck out through center and passes the puck off to a teammate. Celenski, who was being guarded by Hendricks, continues skating and heads to the front of the net. Hendricks, stops skating, watches the puck, and allows Celenski to float into the high slot completely untouched. Celenski receives a pass and delivers the knock out blow, firing a high wrist shot into the net.
We love Hendricks. He scores goals, he makes plays, and he's fun to watch. But make no mistake about it people, the reason the Red Army didn't even got one point out of Sunday's meltdown was because of #18. There is absolutely no reason to allow Celenski to become that wide open. It was a dropped assignment. Hendricks has said he wants to focus on his defensive game this season, and by the looks of it, Hendricks has 20/5000 vision. Hendricks has said in the past that he thought the Red Army could compete with some of the golden teams. Well, it's time to start putting your money where your mouth is, and that means playing at both ends of the rink. It means that no matter what the score is, how much time is left, or how much gas is left in the tank, you find a man and you cover him. Everyone knows that in the Empire that is the Red Army, Hendricks is emperor.
Well right now, Rome is burning.
No comments:
Post a Comment