Men's A League Weekly Beat - March 19-25th
Submitted by Walax on Wed, 2006-03-29 20:56
Crease Monkeys – The defending league champs are fortunate to sport a .500 record after their first two games. A gut check OT win against a game Blue Collar squad was followed by a flat effort against Portland on Saturday. Team defense is lacking in their early season form – and while this team has plenty of weapons on offense – it’s only functioning in spurts. The game of the week in week 4 pits the Monkeys against Vancouver in Seattle. As teams are jostling for position behind Portland, this should be an interesting game to watch. If the Monkeys are able to come away with two wins in week 4, all will be forgotten about the tough start and the beanie mojo will be flowing again.
Seattle – Seattle earned its 1st victory of the season on Saturday. They were able to dictate the pace of play against Victoria and picked their spots to attack. With a full roster at their disposal, Seattle kept fresh legs on the field against a short handed Victoria and found twine enough to put this one out of reach. This was a much-needed win, as Seattle had to rebound after getting nothing from their first two games. With only four spots up for grabs in the playoffs, every game is huge from here on out. Seattle must have greased the schedule makers – as they have a nice long run in the heart of their season playing in their backyard. We’ll watch and see if this translates into dubyas.
Blue Collar – The Collar squad was unfortunate to come away from their season opener against the Monkeys with an OT loss. BC dominated possession for much of the afternoon – but couldn’t translate the time of possession into enough tallies. They took a one-goal lead in OT – but the Monkeys evened it up and then Collar saw it slip away as a hard Crease Monkey ride lead to a 1 v 1 goal with 8 seconds left in the game. Their 2nd game of the year was another Portland buzz saw. The heart break moment of the weekend had to be in the Collar camp as they dropped another OT game, this time to Kavu. With only 16 goals through four games, Blue Collar will be thinking about where the goals are going to come from. They have arguably the best goalie in the league (in a league rich with net minding talent!), but can’t find the back of the net enough to take advantage. If the goals can come for Collar, this time should get back on a positive trajectory.
Victoria – The Victoria team brought a 10-man squad to Seattle for three games over the weekend and dropped their opener to Seattle 9-5. Sea Spray was typically strong between the pipes, but the horses up front could not muster enough offense to stay with Seattle. This loss wasn’t so bad, but when it was combined with two more notches in the loss column the rest of the weekend, the boys from Victoria Island have to be saying “what happened”. A short bench can make the best teams look average – and average is not a term often used to describe this team in past campaigns. Victoria has three home games on the island in April before coming back down to Seattle in May. If they can even their record over that time, then this trip to lovely Everett will be a blip on the radar.
Men’s ‘A” League Weekly Beat: March 19-25th
By Mark Masterson
|
Rank
|
Team
|
GP
|
Record
|
Pct
|
GB
|
PF
|
PA
|
+/-
|
|
1
|
Portland
|
6
|
6-0-0 (W6)
|
1.000
|
--
|
65
|
32
|
33
|
|
2
|
Kavu
|
3
|
2-1-0 (W2)
|
0.667
|
2.5
|
21
|
27
|
-6
|
|
3
|
Vancouver
|
2
|
1-1-0 (L1)
|
0.500
|
3
|
15
|
13
|
2
|
|
tie*
|
Crease Monkey A
|
2
|
1-1-0 (L1)
|
0.500
|
3
|
16
|
20
|
-4
|
|
5
|
Seattle
|
3
|
1-2-0 (W1)
|
0.333
|
3.5
|
20
|
24
|
-4
|
|
6
|
Blue Collar
|
3
|
0-3-0 (L3)
|
0.000
|
4.5
|
16
|
26
|
-10
|
|
tie*
|
Victoria
|
3
|
0-3-0 (L3)
|
0.000
|
4.5
|
15
|
26
|
-9
|
Portland – Portland is off to a quick start in the 2006 season. They have played half of their season over the 1st three weeks of the campaign – and have yet to drop a game. With this kind of streaking start, the question will be whether they can peak at the right time to take the Everett Smith Cup. It’s hard to believe, but they’ve practically sealed a playoff spot in March. Imagine if the Mariners could do that in May! In week 3 action, Portland dropped a 13-8 L on the Crease Monkeys. After a back and forth 1st half – Portland used a 4 goal surge in the 3rd quarter to start to pull away. Their key was a balanced offense, timely goaltending and good movement inside for some easy dunks. The game against the Monkeys was the appetizer course of what was a three-course meal on their fellow PNLA competition. Portland dropped Blue Collar 12-4 in their nightcap – and then cruised to a comfortable 9-4 win over Victoria in their weekend wrap-up. They have plenty of time to pontificate about this start – as they play one league game between 3/7-5/6.
Kavu – Break up Kavu! After a tough 2005 campaign, Team Kavu bounced back from an opening week loss to Portland to bag two wins over Victoria and Blue Collar this past weekend. If they follow the mantra of win the games you should win and steal one or two along the way, then Kavu could find themselves in the playoff mix come early June. Kavu has an intriguing tilt against the Crease Monkeys on Sunday, April 2 as the two Seattle squads jockey for position behind Portland. Watch this space to see if Kavu can keep up the pace following their 2-1 start.
Vancouver – Vancouver started the season in Seattle back on March 11th. An opening season W vs Seattle was offset with a ring in the loss column against Portland. Vancouver should remain in the top 4 jumble all season long and are as dangerous as anyone come playoff time. Week 4 (April 1-2) is light on games, but Vancouver will be in Seattle to face the Crease Monkeys and Blue Collar. A couple wins in Rain City would see them approach the midway point in prime position.
Kavu – Break up Kavu! After a tough 2005 campaign, Team Kavu bounced back from an opening week loss to Portland to bag two wins over Victoria and Blue Collar this past weekend. If they follow the mantra of win the games you should win and steal one or two along the way, then Kavu could find themselves in the playoff mix come early June. Kavu has an intriguing tilt against the Crease Monkeys on Sunday, April 2 as the two Seattle squads jockey for position behind Portland. Watch this space to see if Kavu can keep up the pace following their 2-1 start.
Vancouver – Vancouver started the season in Seattle back on March 11th. An opening season W vs Seattle was offset with a ring in the loss column against Portland. Vancouver should remain in the top 4 jumble all season long and are as dangerous as anyone come playoff time. Week 4 (April 1-2) is light on games, but Vancouver will be in Seattle to face the Crease Monkeys and Blue Collar. A couple wins in Rain City would see them approach the midway point in prime position.
Crease Monkeys – The defending league champs are fortunate to sport a .500 record after their first two games. A gut check OT win against a game Blue Collar squad was followed by a flat effort against Portland on Saturday. Team defense is lacking in their early season form – and while this team has plenty of weapons on offense – it’s only functioning in spurts. The game of the week in week 4 pits the Monkeys against Vancouver in Seattle. As teams are jostling for position behind Portland, this should be an interesting game to watch. If the Monkeys are able to come away with two wins in week 4, all will be forgotten about the tough start and the beanie mojo will be flowing again.
Seattle – Seattle earned its 1st victory of the season on Saturday. They were able to dictate the pace of play against Victoria and picked their spots to attack. With a full roster at their disposal, Seattle kept fresh legs on the field against a short handed Victoria and found twine enough to put this one out of reach. This was a much-needed win, as Seattle had to rebound after getting nothing from their first two games. With only four spots up for grabs in the playoffs, every game is huge from here on out. Seattle must have greased the schedule makers – as they have a nice long run in the heart of their season playing in their backyard. We’ll watch and see if this translates into dubyas.
Blue Collar – The Collar squad was unfortunate to come away from their season opener against the Monkeys with an OT loss. BC dominated possession for much of the afternoon – but couldn’t translate the time of possession into enough tallies. They took a one-goal lead in OT – but the Monkeys evened it up and then Collar saw it slip away as a hard Crease Monkey ride lead to a 1 v 1 goal with 8 seconds left in the game. Their 2nd game of the year was another Portland buzz saw. The heart break moment of the weekend had to be in the Collar camp as they dropped another OT game, this time to Kavu. With only 16 goals through four games, Blue Collar will be thinking about where the goals are going to come from. They have arguably the best goalie in the league (in a league rich with net minding talent!), but can’t find the back of the net enough to take advantage. If the goals can come for Collar, this time should get back on a positive trajectory.
Victoria – The Victoria team brought a 10-man squad to Seattle for three games over the weekend and dropped their opener to Seattle 9-5. Sea Spray was typically strong between the pipes, but the horses up front could not muster enough offense to stay with Seattle. This loss wasn’t so bad, but when it was combined with two more notches in the loss column the rest of the weekend, the boys from Victoria Island have to be saying “what happened”. A short bench can make the best teams look average – and average is not a term often used to describe this team in past campaigns. Victoria has three home games on the island in April before coming back down to Seattle in May. If they can even their record over that time, then this trip to lovely Everett will be a blip on the radar.
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