Bearing down

In three days, the OMHL playoffs for the summer season begin.

We found out who our opponent will be last friday afternoon.  There was a bit of confusion as three teams tied for second place in terms of points. When we left the rink wednesday night after our win over the Jailhouse, we were under the impression that we would be playing them again this wednesday night in the first round of the playoffs.  With the three way tie however, that changed.  Now we'll be playing the team known as Top Gun.  They're a good young team, with a very solid goaltender.  

To tell you the truth, I was very happy to hear that was who our first round opponent was going to be, because I honestly don't want to see that Jailhouse team again unless I absolutely have to, which would be in the Championship game, provided that we both make it that far.  I like the first round match-ups though, and with the experience on our team, I like our chances.  Our guys have all been there before, and a lot of them played in competitive college hockey programs...  So a few men's league playoff games won't phase them.  Now some of the younger teams might get a case of nerves pre-game, I've seen it myself a few times, and with a team with our experience, it works in our favor.  

So for the next few days I'll be thinking about how their guys play, where they like to shoot, what their moves are, their preferences in our zone.  It's like I said, they are a good young team, and they've got all the moves.  The thing about them is that they play like a team, they don't have any standout players and the stick together, and stick up for each other.  They'll be a tough team to beat, but we're all looking forward to the challenge of playing them.  If we play our game, play smart and hard, and bear down every shift of that game, we'll be fine.  If we don't bear down, we're fucked, plain and simple.