Wildcats @ Maineiacs - November 13 / 07

[senators19]

Well our pp is a bit better but still not good enough but that was an exciting finish.

[Arnold Slick]

bobosinclair said:

Powerplay for almost the rest of the period. Should see a certain amount of time with 6 on 4.

Last minute magic...??

Not so much.

What an incredibly frustrating loss, holding Lewiston to under 20 shots and still losing the game. It seemed that PP early in the 3rd really killed a lot of the momentum we had from middle part of the 2nd period onwards. Overall I thought we played pretty but just didn't get any bounces.

[Sébastien]

Another loss.

Riopel played ok. Didn't have much chance on any of the 3 goals, but couldn't come up with the big save to not give Lewiston the lead. Is it just me or did he seem very hesitant in his net? Did not look comfortable. But then again, when you don't play in almost 2 whole weeks...

Bernier played amazing for Lewiston. Without him, Moncton scores 2 or 3 more goals and wins this game.

As long as this team takes 8 penalties in a game, they wont win. Their penalty kill simply sucks too much to do that. Bathurst can pull it off simply because they have the offensive power to compensate, but the Wildcats surely can't.

Labelle getting some ice time on the powerplay, played a good game. But please tell me why Sill was centering the line with Mardquart? Why isn't Magnan insterted there to wake up the big guy like last year and Labelle centering the 2nd line?

Speaking of Magnan, he played another great game. Two goals, couple of chances, played well defensively. I was very skeptic about him getting the captaincy, but as far as on ice leadership and performance, no doubt he earns it.

Like I said earlier, why aren't Wilson and Baca not on the ice? Two 18 year olds who definitaly play better then Herr, Gomes and Boyle, all 19 year old players. Lewiston crashed the net often. Baca can clear up the front, being a big guy and using his body. Another roster move that simply does not make any sense.

Basically a lack of finish, undisciplined play and a horrible pk does the Wildcats in tonight. Lets go for a big weekend coming up!

[senators19]

Mangan gets the third star but I thought it could just as easily have been Sill or Barberio. They both had excellent games. I would have like to have heard what Brannon said to the ref after the too many men call to get chucked from the game. Probably calling him the same names I was here.

[senators19]

bobosinclair said:

Another loss.


Like I said earlier, why aren't Wilson and Baca not on the ice? Two 18 year olds who definitaly play better then Herr, Gomes and Boyle, all 19 year old players. Lewiston crashed the net often. Baca can clear up the front, being a big guy and using his body. Another roster move that simply does not make any sense.

I like Baca as well but he may not have helped his cause with the last game against Chicoutimi. I thought it was his worst game as a cat. Just a thought.

[Sébastien]

senators19 said:

bobosinclair said:

Another loss.


Like I said earlier, why aren't Wilson and Baca not on the ice? Two 18 year olds who definitaly play better then Herr, Gomes and Boyle, all 19 year old players. Lewiston crashed the net often. Baca can clear up the front, being a big guy and using his body. Another roster move that simply does not make any sense.

I like Baca as well but he may not have helped his cause with the last game against Chicoutimi. I thought it was his worst game as a cat. Just a thought.

I agree, but if you look at it that way, Pianosi and Gomes should both have been sitting their good share of games because of very mediocre performance. But they're always in the lineup, and always get a lot of icetime.

So what if a player has a bad game? Everyone does. Remember that Baca is the leader on the defense squad with a +/- of +5 I think.

[curtis]

I believe Boyle is only 18, and Wilson is 19.

[Arnold Slick]

senators19 said:

bobosinclair said:

Another loss.


Like I said earlier, why aren't Wilson and Baca not on the ice? Two 18 year olds who definitaly play better then Herr, Gomes and Boyle, all 19 year old players. Lewiston crashed the net often. Baca can clear up the front, being a big guy and using his body. Another roster move that simply does not make any sense.

I like Baca as well but he may not have helped his cause with the last game against Chicoutimi. I thought it was his worst game as a cat. Just a thought.

He looked lost out there on a few occasions vs. Chicoutimi and also made a bad line change that led to Barberio's penalty and Pare's PP goal to tie the game. Of course Eastman didn't help on the PK when he got caught too far up ice which led to the 2-on-1 and the goal. But I'm not shocked that Baca was not in the line-up tonight. Also just to correct Bobo...Boyle is 18.

[Arnold Slick]

curtis said:

I believe Boyle is only 18, and Wilson is 19.

They're both 18.

[senators19]

make15 said:

senators19 said:

I like Baca as well but he may not have helped his cause with the last game against Chicoutimi. I thought it was his worst game as a cat. Just a thought.

He looked lost out there on a few occasions vs. Chicoutimi and also made a bad line change that led to Barberio's penalty and Pare's PP goal to tie the game. Of course Eastman didn't help on the PK when he got caught too far up ice which led to the 2-on-1 and the goal. But I'm not shocked that Baca was not in the line-up tonight. Also just to correct Bobo...Boyle is 18.

I think Boyle has been improving lately as well but still has a long way to go. Eastman really looked bad on that play but overall he is one of our better defencemen. I would play him before Pianosi most nights. And of course anybody before Gomes almost every night.

[Arnold Slick]

senators19 said:

make15 said:

He looked lost out there on a few occasions vs. Chicoutimi and also made a bad line change that led to Barberio's penalty and Pare's PP goal to tie the game. Of course Eastman didn't help on the PK when he got caught too far up ice which led to the 2-on-1 and the goal. But I'm not shocked that Baca was not in the line-up tonight. Also just to correct Bobo...Boyle is 18.

I think Boyle has been improving lately as well but still has a long way to go. Eastman really looked bad on that play but overall he is one of our better defencemen. I would play him before Pianosi most nights. And of course anybody before Gomes almost every night.

Agree on all counts. Let's not forget that Boyle lost a year of development with injuries last season. I liked him in training camp last year but this year it was quite apparent that he had gone almost a year without playing hockey. He keeps improving and I still think he can be a decent 5th/6th d-man, but he still has to be quicker.

[Sébastien]

make15 said:

senators19 said:

I think Boyle has been improving lately as well but still has a long way to go. Eastman really looked bad on that play but overall he is one of our better defencemen. I would play him before Pianosi most nights. And of course anybody before Gomes almost every night.

Agree on all counts. Let's not forget that Boyle lost a year of development with injuries last season. I liked him in training camp last year but this year it was quite apparent that he had gone almost a year without playing hockey. He keeps improving and I still think he can be a decent 5th/6th d-man, but he still has to be quicker.

I fully agree. The more I see Boyle play, the more I'm impressed.

IMO, Gomes and Herr should be the ones going in and out of the formation. Gomes is being #5/6 at the same level as Boyle and Pianosi as of right now. That being said, we haven't seen enough of Wilson to have a really good idea of his capabilities, but in the limited time tha we have, I was pretty impressed.

[hockey1981]

with the arrival of Tolles on the weekend, someone will be odd man out

[sportsmaniac]

The Asylum
Lewiston 3-0 Against Moncton at the ABC this Year

[senators19]

bobosinclair said:

make15 said:

Agree on all counts. Let's not forget that Boyle lost a year of development with injuries last season. I liked him in training camp last year but this year it was quite apparent that he had gone almost a year without playing hockey. He keeps improving and I still think he can be a decent 5th/6th d-man, but he still has to be quicker.

I fully agree. The more I see Boyle play, the more I'm impressed.

IMO, Gomes and Herr should be the ones going in and out of the formation. Gomes is being #5/6 at the same level as Boyle and Pianosi as of right now. That being said, we haven't seen enough of Wilson to have a really good idea of his capabilities, but in the limited time tha we have, I was pretty impressed.

I agree that speed is what really holding Boyle back right now. Wilson is a steady D who does not make noticeable mistakes but also does nothing spectacular either which will probably keep him sitting most nights as things settle out.

I do think Pianso has improved his play the past month. He is doing the simple play now instead of high risk plays.

One thing I would like to see all the D do is stand up more at the blue lines. The only one who does not bail too quickly is Baca. Our forwards are fast enough that they can get back to help if the puck does get past the D in the offensive zone. In the defensive zone they are backing in so quickly that they can not reach the puck if it is loose and can not get any power behind a clearing attempt if you know what I mean.