Rocket vs Val Dor

[North Shore]

justin12 said:

Did Maloun even get a shift tonight? or was he scratched?

He did not see much ice, I think 3 shifts, I only saw Cliche once.

[hockeydog]

malouin played in the first, but dont think i saw him after that. i still dont understand why cliche dresses over and over,,

[North Shore]

hockeydog said:

im not sure what they were reviewing. it was icing, mckinley was not over center, but i think they were looking to see if the puck hit the post on the way by the net, as it took a very funny bounce too the left.

No question he was not over center but one linesman signalled it was tipped when it was shot and waved the icing off. Not sure if that is reviewable or if they have the cameras for that type of review.

[Score]

hockeydog said:

malouin played in the first, but dont think i saw him after that. i still dont understand why cliche dresses over and over,,

I know Malouin had a shift in the 3rd period. He coughed the puck up and VD went down the ice and had a opportunity to score. That was his last shift I think.

I expect to see him gone at the trade period.

[Score]

Thought that tonight was a solid game till the end from both teams. The Rocket slacked off a bit in the early 3rd, but hung on well enough for the win.

Love the way the McKinley-Lachaine-Gallant line played.......real solid game.

Also like that Lockey was given a chance up on the 2nd line......hope it continues.

Actually like all the line combos tonight......

A 4th line off MacLean-Coon'come-Paynter will be a nice line too....when Paynter's hand heals.

I agree about Cliche......he should be gone at the deadline too.

Lafleur played well, kicking out 30 saves.

[coreyapple]

My prediction came true - Rocket by a goal.

Malouin had three shifts, I think, and made bad giveaways on two of them.

Lachaine had his best game as a Rocket ever, and was fully deserving of a star.

My kind of game - both goalies were solid, and both got stars.

Lafleur had no chance on the one goal that beat him, and had one of his best games between the pipes that I've ever seen.

Good all-around effort by the team, nice atmosphere at The Morgue.

Gallant-Lachaine-MacLean had a terrific shift midway through the 3rd period, too bad they couldn't pot a goal....but they did later on, so it's OK.

BUT:

That review at the end was ridiculous, and this is where hockey really blows it, in comparison to other sports.

First of all, it wasn't icing - it was an intentional offside.

McKinley DID cross the red line before he shot, he shot wide (definitely DIDN'T hit the post), and they didn't blow the whistle right away....because it wasn't icing, of course.

However, the Rocket right winger (who??) was offside when McKinley shot the puck, it was a touch-up offside situation, and when the Rocket right winger touched the puck and then put it in the net, it created that intentional offside.

The rule states that with the goalie out, touching the puck on a touch-up offside constitutes an intentional offside, therefore face off at the other end, and time put back on the clock back to when the offside occurred.

Ridiculous rule, especially the putting-time-back-on-the-clock part, but that's what it is, apparently.

Folks, they wouldn't have put 6 seconds back on the clock had it been an icing call, would they, nor would they have waited till the other Rocket player touched the puck.....would they? Of course not.

Where hockey really blows it is in NOT telling the fans WTF the call was.

In football, after the referees huddle, review the play on camera, make everyone wait, they then return and say something like..

"The receiver had one foot in bounds, one foot out of bounds, when he made the catch, therefore it's no catch"....so at least the fans know WTF is going on.

In hockey, they hold up the game, keep everyone waiting for EIGHT minutes, then they tell you........NOTHING!

Do they think the fans are so dumb that we don't even deserve an explanation?

Dumb, dumb, dumb!

Anyway, in spite of that replay fiasco, good game at The Morgue tonight, and the good guys won!

[section20ernie]

hockeydog said:

we sawalot of changes in the rocket game tonight. much more motion and quicker puck movement and much better at getting out of our own end .. lafleur played well, finally. team looked alot better. lachaine had his best game ive seen as a rocket. and i was impressed once again with maclean. hopefully a sign of things to come.

Ton of changes... and for the better. This team has come a long way in the three weeks since Guy took over as coach. The team looks like a team, they play like a team and lines are rotating.

200% improvement over where we were before Guy came in, and it will only get better. The team was much better defensively, much better breaking out of their own end and great effort too.

Liked what I saw last night a lot.

[flipper]

The review was to find out when the whistle had actually been blown. The time keeper did not hear it, and the clock did not stop.

Offsides, icings are not reviewable under league rules.

[hockeydog]

your right flipper. and i am still not convinced that puck did not hit the post. it took a crazy bounce to the left. it was in my direct line of sight, it was very close..

[hockeydog]

but i also agree they should announce what the review is, and it seemed to take way too long.

[wallee]

good result for the guys , nice to be able to celebrate a win.

offensive was moving very good tonight. putting locke on with latal and kanny was great. i liked that line the best out there.

we are still having major d problems. how many 3-1, 2-1 breaks. couldnt keep track. against a better team and we would have paid.

good game from lafluer, this should build some confidence back in him.

look for another win tonight....keep it positive guys, one game at a time.

[joust]

Enjoyed the game last night. The team played as that. A team. For the 1st time on a long time they looked as if they knew what they were doing out their. Looked like an actually team playing a system. Good job to all the players and to Guy. Finally, a game that a fan can leave and be happy about. Nice work to all.

[juniorcormier16]

Can't believe the turn around on this team the way they played last night looked like a contender. Played good very good actually defensively. Glad to see the 3rd line playing good lachaine played a very good game as well as gallant very pleased with the game last night lets hope they can keep it up as they take on some hot teams in the next couple of weeks with Moncton, bathrust and Cape Breton. Go Rocket GO keep er up and u will be right back into it

[juniorcormier16]

On Another note. I suspect that paynter was out of the line up due to inj to his hand he suffered in Lew?

[IslandersHKY]

I agree the game was very entertaining last night especially the first period which was a lot of back and forth and the Rocket had some great chances that either just missed or didn't get the shot off.

As for the game I still put the win in the context of playing a weaker team coming off CB loss the night before but I was very impressed with the way the Rocket looked last night.

For the first two periods their defensive play was much better with keeping VdO to the outside and getting sticks in front of shots. The Rocket had a very good breakout last night and were agressive in the forecheck something we never really saw under Jean.

As well this was a game won on the play of our 2nd & 3rd lines when our top line wasn't really effective again something that we never used to see. And I loved the actual coaching I saw last night, Chouinard having positive of constructive conversations with the players, adjusting to give our top line less time since they weren't playing well and giving our 3rd line more time since they were.

Individually

Lachaine had a tremendous game and I am so glad that "The Media" had the 3 stars right because he certainly was one last night. All game he was flying out there making things happen and he was the one who created the winning goal.

Lafleur looked different than any game I have seen him play this season. He looked comfortable he was smooth and his reflexes looked sharp. He made some big saves look easy last nigh especially late in the game and I had the feeling he could have stopped another 10 - 15 more if needed. Solid game allaround from him and that is the way Lafleur needs to continue playing.

Main had a great game defensively and offensively last night. He looks like a good fit for Lessard as he is so solid defensive and he really was smooth with his breakout passes.

Really glad to see Locke get his chance to show what he can do on that second line and I think he looked good. Him and Kana especially played well last night and created some chances. Latal had an off game but our second line now looks like a line that can be dangerous.

Gallant took some dumb penalties but he was a little more involved in the play than he normally is and even if Lachaine set the winner up it was Gallant who placed a great shot for the winner.

As well it was only limited ice time but I thought Maclean and CoonCome looked good last night they unfortunately just kept passing the puck to Cliche who couldn't make anything happen. But put Paynter on that line and it should work pretty well. And for a 4th line in a close game they good some decent ice time I think 3 or 4 shifts in the first, 3 in the second and 2 good ones in the third.

On the negaties side I thought Morrison had a horrible game last night and really looked disinterested. Walker wasn't much better which is why that top line wasn't very effective.

Lessard wasn't very good either and made 2 bad mistakes in the third that almost cost us the game.

As for Deighan and Malouin I think they got the ice time they deserved last night. Malouin had a few so-so shifts in the first, and a few in the second which looked like it wasn't his night and after a bad mistake in the third I was fine with him riding the bench last night in a close hockey game. Same goes for Deighan although I think he was actually worse. Malouin just didn't play well but Deighan made several bad giveaways and 2 unneeded icings, mistakes which could have ended up costing us big time. So I really don't understand why he got more icetime than Malouin although it still wasn't very much. The being you talk to them about it and give them a chance to be better next game and you make sure you give them ice time when they are playing well.

As for the McKinley icing. I had a pretty good view of it but also went back and watched the video (2:10) and it was clearly icing with the linesman right there signally icing. The problem was the linesman wasn't quick enough on the whistle so Lachaine had the puck about to shoot it by the time the whistle blew. Anyway I was thinking great move by Chouinard to reward the third line by putting them right back out late in the game but that was a bad mental mistake by McKinely because he just need any extra couple feet and also had Lachaine open wide. I understand he wouldn't want to throw it across the middle (even though Lachaine was open) but late in the game like that you have to make sure you gain the line before you throw it down no excuses.

In the end it didn't matter the the Rocket earned a much needed and very entertaining win. The key will be to keep things rolling.