Perfection

So we played our second game of the very young season in the OMHL against the Chiefs, a perennial powerhouse.  Now, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I REALLY like how we look after our first two games.  Our first game was a grudge match, plain and simple, we wanted to kick the shit out of those bastards after the bullshit from the summer, we wanted to remind them that they won't have the same success over this season that they had over the summer season. (The Jailhouse lost again last night just in case anyone was wondering...)  Every single player in our locker room, to a man, before the puck dropped last week wanted to crush them, give them a lesson in humility...  And we did.

Enough about last week.

This week, against the Chiefs, we were perfect.  Absolutely perfect.  The guys played their hearts out in front of me, they forechecked, back-checked, they were tenacious, they dug in the corners, they blocked shots, and made all of the right plays.  Smart, heads-up hockey, from buzzer to buzzer.  I think that I may have seen ten shots, maybe less.  Our defense was absolutely flawless, impenetrable.  The guys were amazing last night out there on the ice in the defensive end.

As for our offense, it is fucking clicking.  The line of Jake, Rob, and Josh dominated.  They were relentless, they cycled well down low, threading passes to each other with amazing precision.  Even our defense got in on the act with a nice goal, and some very nice assists.  One goal in particular stands out to me, Jeff, playing D on the right side was about ten feet inside the blue line when he received a pass, and with pressure from the opposition mounting, threaded an amazing pass to Josh, who one-timed a quick little snap shot past the Chiefs goaltender, everything about that play was perfect microcosm of how the game went for us last night.  We were short a man last night, and had to move one of our regular D up front, and he scored twice, right now, everything is clicking for us.

Like I said before, it's early in the season, incredibly early, but I like the look of our team very much, and we are basically the same team, minus two players, that played all summer together.  The guys are comfortable with each other, they play off of each other perfectly, and they are getting to the point where they know where everyone is going to be on the ice.  The D knows when they can slide down from the point and take a chance on potting one, and the guys up front recognize those situations, and are able to get the puck to the right place at the right time for our defense men.  

You can feel the excitement among the guys, everyone seems to know their role, and everyone, so far, has excelled at his respective roll.  The mood in the locker room pre-game is always light, and we're always joking around, staying loose before we head out to the bench.  But the guys clearly know when to bear down and get serious, and in the first two games, they've been very "details" oriented.  We have depth at every position, in fact, we haven't even seen a few of the guys that are on our roster play yet, a 23 year old defense man, and a 40 year old veteran forward, who are expected to be regular players for us.

Right now I am full of optimism and excitement, I like how things are shaping up for us, and I love how the guys are playing right now, but how could I not, we're 2-0-0, and have scored 14 goals, with only 3 goals scored against us... 

Like I said though, it's early.