MOOSE JUNIOR B OFF TO SLOW START IN OCTOBER

The first weekend in October was not the start of the month the Metro Moose Junior B team was looking for. Three tough games and the Moose came out behind in all three contests.

The first game of the weekend was Friday night in front of a large audience who where eagerly awaiting the match up of two of the leagues’ top teams. Despite a long delay before the start of the game, the two teams came with a lot of intensity and played a very physical game. With the Moose a little short handed offensively the team needed to tighten up the defense which was tough to do against the Maple Leafs high powered offense. The Moose defense was able to hold the Leafs to less than twenty five shots on goal which has become a goal the team likes to achieve every game. The Moose opened up the scoring in the first period with a goal by Captain Brendan Tracy assisted by Michael Davie who also added a goal later on in the game continuing his excellent play in first season at the Junior B level. Head Coach Craig Doremus said “he has adjusted very well to the higher level game”. Despite the goals from Davie and Tracy and the hard defensive effort, the Moose fell short 4-2 on an empty net goal. Even though the Moose lost the game the entire coaching staff was happy with the effort and commitment to team hockey and truly believed the Moose were a few plays away from coming out on top.

Saturday afternoon the teams took the ice for the second game of the weekend series. The Moose needed a strong effort to avoid being swept at home. The teams’ heart would be tested early as the Leafs got a goal past goalie Steve Laris who struggled all game long to settle in. The Moose were able to respond with a goal of there own when off the rush Brendan Tracy found the back of the net. The Moose did not pay attention to the defensive zone of the ice like the night before which allowed the Maple Leafs to dictate the way the game would be played. The Moose also had a tough time controlling the puck as they turned the puck over a number of times especially in what the team calls the grey areas of the ice. With all the turnovers and soft D zone coverage the Moose gave up a season high in goals totaling 8.The Moose would have been blown out if it was not for power forward Sean McAllister who was back in the lineup after sitting out Friday nights’ game, and he came back like a force and tried putting the team on his back by scoring four goals and getting a few assists by fellow line mate Brendan Tracy who had two goals himself. With the play of the Moose’s top line the game was still up for grabs despite the poor defense. The team was given a big seven minute power play late in the game down by one goal. Unfortunately the Moose were unable to get a goal past the Maple Leafs’ goaltender and for the second straight game the Leafs got an empty net goal. Overall the weekend did not go as planned, the Moose were unable to get any points and received their first two loses of the season. After the game Head coach Craig Doremus told the team they needed to concentrate more on the defense zone and get back to playing basic hockey. This was a good wake up call for the team as they found out there is plenty of work to do if they want to achieve their ultimate goal of winning the league and going to nationals.

On Sunday afternoon the Metro Moose Junior B team went to Staten Island for an exhibition game against Wagner College. The game would be a good experience for the team and a measuring stick for most players as they have intentions of playing hockey in college. When the game was played last year the Moose was beaten by a large margin so this year the Moose wanted to show that they have improved since than. Improving from last years game didn’t seem possible before the game because the Moose were going to play with only 13 players due to illness and injuries to the team. However, when the game started the Moose players played one of their best games of the season. Head Coach Craig Doremus had the team play a trap style of defense to help with the short bench, and the defense worked really well as Wagner struggled all game to get past it and use their skill which was better than the Moose but it was unable to show. The trap worked so well that the first goal of the game was scored by Moose forward Steve Kelly. The Moose added a second goal later by forward Willie Manchester. The Moose was up 2 -0 against a college team with only 13 players something the coaches didn’t think was possible. When the defense of the Moose broke down goaltender John D’Adamo was there to stop Wagner’s attack. Eventually the small bench began showing its effect as the Moose gave up two goals late in the second period and one early in the third. The ended loosing the game 3-2 but that didn’t matter to the coaches because they saw their team play a good team, play them shorthanded and hold them to three goals, something that did not seem possible because of the small bench and they way the team played defense the night before in a league game giving up seven goals. Assistant Coaches Victor and Bobby DiRico said “This is how the team can play defense, and if we had our full team the game would have gone a different way”. The overall weekend was not a successful one in terms of wins but there were a few of positive that can be taken from it. The high powered offense shows no signs of slowing down, and the improving defense shows signs that they can perform at high level we just need to make it more consistent.