Mr 85% - Five things from w/e 25 September

It was back to earth with a bump this weekend, as our mini-winning streak was brought to a crashing end, but there’s always a lot to learn from defeat, so here’s the top five things I have learnt from the weekend.

Another Image from @snapperjakeo - just as well he doesn't read this blog or he'd want royalties ;)

1. The results didn’t matter – Going into two Challenge Cup games against two top teams could have provided a big morale boosting sweep, or more evidence that this year will be tight again but no harm done. Losing by a couple in either game didn’t cause me too much concern, nor to hit any panic button.
2. The injuries did matter – We can reflect on the hit on Franzon later, but with Davey only being spotted in towards the end of Sunday’s game, it seems we are down to rotating only four D. With our goal against racking up, our Defence already looked shaky, so we’ve got a tough week of adjustment ahead. City Taxi for Sarich anyone?
3. Those GAA stats are poor reading – If we exclude the CHL games we’re conceding 4.3 goals a game (4.6 if you include those four games too). That’s not going to be good enough to win anything, and compares to a figure of circa 3 last year. Paul Thompson’s “Mr 92%” is currently more like “Mr 85%”.
4. That refereeing decision – Rule 85 of the IIHF rulebook seems to state that unless it’s an obviously serious injury requiring immediate medical attention then the Stripes should expect the player to make his own way off the ice, and only stop play when the ‘injured team’ has possession. So did the three officials not see Franzon’s apparent concussion, or assess it as not serious enough? In hindsight they should have blown up earlier, but Franzon was doing the normal ‘Hockey hard-man’ approach of just getting on with it, so I can see the call either way. Maybe DOPS – that’s Player Safety remember – should look into it, as surely you should err on the side of caution?
5. Those Hyped up enforcers – On first glance Brian McGrattan and Patrick Bordeleau looked more Kevin Westgarth than Paul Bissonnette, and that’s cool with me. Let’s hope they are both import slots wasted, rather than just jet lagged and rusty.

I’ll leave you with one final thought about the Hockey World Cup, just in case it’s passed you by. Our boys (i.e. Team Europe except for those from Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic – catchy title heh) are in the first game of the final tonight. It’ll need to be another miracle on ice to beat a very deep Team Canada over three games, but maybe just maybe…  World Cup Final games  are September 27, 29 & Oct.

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