Thursday, January 15, 2009

Terrible....

I don't even know what to say after last nights game. That was a horrible performance by a team that has now had 3 in a row. I feel bad for all the people that paid to see that game last night and had to sit through that. Luckily for those who did at least they got a free Hersheypark ticket out of the deal, cause the game was not worth the $20 you paid to get in.

Neither goalie played anywhere close to respectable last night. Simeon Varlamov allowed 4 goals on 15 shots and Daren Machesney allowed 3 goals on 12 shots. Overall that is 7 goals on 27 shots. That shouldn't happen.

The defense should be ashamed of their overall performance. Sure some guys had decent games but really the entire defense was slow and out of place. And you win as a team and you lose as a team.

The forwards shouldn't be much happier. They need to get back and help more on the defensive end. They did get 38 shots which is solid but how many of those shots even challenged the Rats goalie? Not many which shows why they only got 2 goals.

The more amazing part of these stats is that ALL of the Rats goals came at even strength. They had 6 power plays and had NO GOALS with the man advantage. Hershey also had 6 power plays and also got NO GOALS. That is not good enough. The penalty kill did their job but then when the same players were on the ice at even strength they forgot how to play defense.

Since the second period of Saturday night's game the Bears have allowed 17 goals and have only scored 5. That is not going to get it done no matter what league you play in.

This all started with Albany Saturday night as the Bears blew a 2nd intermission lead by allowing 4 unanswered goals in the third period after going up 2. And since then they haven't even shown up.

Something is a miss with the club right now and something needs changed before it gets out of hand. Maybe benching a couple players that have been playing particularly bad would be beneficial and allowing some younger players who want it more to get in the lineup.

But at the same time we have to keep in mind that this is only the middle of the regular season. I would much rather go through this slump now rather than in the playoffs. There is lots of time to right the ship and I am confident that they will do so.


I am not even going to give my three stars or grade the performance after this game. All three stars played for Albany and the team got an F. Need to know anything else?

5 comments:

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Catherine said...

I've been following your blog since the beginning of the season, and of course last night's game was the first one I managed to get to this season. Ugh. I totally agree with you on all accounts. The fighting got out of hand and they really were completely distracted. I don't know who those guys were, but they certainly weren't our Bears! Do you know what happens with the penalties that were given after the game ended? How does that work?

GM said...

I am not certain because the league can adjust its rules to fit situations but there should not be any suspensions or fines for the fighting at the end of the game.

The only time a suspension would occur would be IF there was an instigator penalty given with 5 minutes or less in the game or overtime.

Anonymous said...

It's great that you are able to keep fans updated, but the common mistake fans do is ASSUMPTION. It's an ethical issue really. Anyways, the point is there are always things that are going on inside of the team that outsiders aren't aware of. One of them would be a player/players not feeling great due to a minor injury or an illness. Sometimes nobody really asks you if you would be 100% ready to deliver a great performance, just give you some pills and hope for the best. Athletes aren't here to complain , right?!

GM said...

Absolutely and you might have hit the nail on the head with the nagging injuries part. Apparently Simeon Varlamov is a little banged up and didn't even make the trip to Bridgeport today and isn't expected to play this weekend.

We as fans NEVER know what goes on behind the closed doors of the locker room. Hell John Walton doesn't know what goes on behind closed doors and he is as close to this team as anyone not on the bench is.

People want to bash Woods and the players for not being intense and caring but we don't know what is going on. Even if it is just a cold or a personal issue away from the rink it can affect a players performance just like it would affect any of our performances at our jobs.

We do all have to keep in mind that we aren't a member of the team and they are aware of everything we are aware of and more. If any of us think this team isn't aware of their struggles or that they don't care than we are nuts.