Well after weeks of pretending that being second on regulation wins is actually top of the league, this weekend we hit the summit on our own, as we finally have a smidgen of daylight at the top of the Elite League.
And yes, while it's early days, compare to this time twelve months ago, when I was fielding questions in the early days of the blog about Doug's position and how bleak things were.
So, what did we take away from that 4 point weekend?
1. Can we play more on Friday nights please?
I'm not saying it's a particularly good night to watch hockey on, or that it's an easy one to sort work around, but what a performance. Superb from start to finish. Not electrifying no, but never at threat, and extremely professional.
2. "Professional" performances are becoming the norm - on the ice.
Well done jobs, well executed plans, good pieces of play. All done to perfection. Not the explosive season that we maybe thought we'd get, but I'd rather have the points on the board at this point. Besides, it's still better to watch than last year.
3. We've learnt the hockey equivalent of parking the bus.
Build a lead, shut up shop. It's something we've learnt recently, as earlier in the season we used to keep on looking to extend leads, take silly calls, and lose leads, but it shows that G has noticed what was going wrong and has corrected it. Even FFR know their defensive duties now, which I never thought I'd say at the end of September.
4. We've got a really good league this year.
There's several teams this year who are good for different reasons. Cardiff and Braehead are explosive rock'em sock'em outfits, Nottingham are quietly doing business (you're third with 30 games left pipe down about mass changes) and we're extremely skilled and focussed. Come the business end of the season, it's going to be extremely tight, and its going to make superb entertainment - if you're not emotionally attached. Oh, and I've left one team out...
5. Thank Christ we only have to face the Caps once more.
They just will not quit this year. Take a pasting, come back on a killer run. Go 2 down at home to Cov? Easy. Go 4 down at home to Fife? 5-5, no sweat. They're probably giving poor CBA an aneurysm while you're at it, but man, you can't help but appreciate them. They're 6th, above the big-in-their-own-minds Blaze in 9th. Good on you. Just don't get designs on the league.
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