PatrickDiCaprio.com

We played in the hockey playoffs last night and unfortunately we lost 6-5 to AAA Advantage. It was a tough game and we played well, they just out skated us in the end. Here’s a quick recap:

They came out fast and scored 2 goals in the first 28 seconds of the game on a few very aggressive face off plays. Once we got the hang of their speed and passing, we were able to put in a goal of our own near the end of the first period. They started off the 2nd period with another quick goal, which we combated shortly after with a wrap around and a rebounder to tie the game at 3-3. They took the lead again late in the period on a power play. In the 3rd period, we tied the score again on a short handed goal. They answered back shortly with their 5th and 6th goals. We brought the score back to 6-5 with about 3 minutes left in the game, but the scoring opportunities shrank in the last minutes as they started playing keep away instead of hockey. With about a minute left, one of our guys got a penalty and we had to pull the goalie just to be at even strength. We had a few good shots, but their goalie stuffed us on every one as the seconds counted down to zero.

Unfortunately our loss means our season is at an end. This was most likely the last game I will ever play with this Clayton team as it looks like the company probably won’t be sponsoring a team next year, mainly because they have recently laid off almost everyone that has played for our team. I was talking to one of the other captains a few weeks ago, and it looks like they have room for me on their roster for the summer. It’ll be weird playing with a totally different group of guys. The season starts next week, so I guess we’ll see.

So we took the ice last night for the first round of the league playoffs last night. We finished the season in 7th place out of 8 teams, mostly due to lack of participation at the games. I think once in the last 5 games we had more than 8 guys show up.

We came out victorious, defeating the #2 seed Bear and Grill with a score of 3-1. We had a squad of 11 guys and played extremely well. Their goalie was the only thing saving them from our barrage of shots. Without him, it would have been a blowout. They seemed frantic on the ice for most of the game as we out skated, out passed and out shot them.

As a result, we are slated to play the #5 seed AAA Advantage Monday @ 10:30 in the semifinals. We lost to them 2-1 in our first meeting this season, and then tied 3-3 before losing the shootout in our second meeting. In both cases our team was extremely short handed. I know in our last meeting we had 6 guys to their 15 and we controlled most of the game. They really only have one offensive weapon, which we have been able to neutralize in the past. With a full squad, we should easily take them down and move to the finals.

If you don’t have anything to do, come on down and watch. It should be a good time.