I had to wait a couple of days to write this for fear of alienating and offending every single reader (all 3 of you) I have. I was not in a good mood Wednesday night and after allowing a full day for my thoughts to percolate, I think I can remove all emotion and be a little more reserved.
It Must Be November
As any Rampage fan can tell you, November has been a cursed month the last 2 seasons. In 2008, the Rampage lost 16 games in a row from late October to early November. Last season, the winless streak was 11. In 2010, the streak now sits at 1, and if the team doesn't play with a little more organization and fire, will grow to a high number again.
Boxscore
Wednesday's game was a full blown embarrassment. Most fans will place the lion's share of blame on Al Montoya. Yes, he played poorly. Yes, he needs to be better. But to place anything more than 33.33% (repeating) on Al is unfair. This was a team effort. Al wasn't good. The defense was worse. The forwards weren't any better than the first two.
The Marlies were routinely allowed huge spaces in the Rampage zone to operate both with and without the puck. The defense was on it's heels the whole game and at least 4 of the goals allowed were wristers or slapshots from below the tops of the circles with no Rampage player within 5 feet of the shooter. Montoya needs to save a couple of those, but even with the best AHL goalie in net, the Rampage lose that game.
The offense was as disorganized and sloppy as we've seen under the Edwards regime. Lazy passes, horrific clearing attempts, multiple players occupying the same space. There was no flow whatsoever. A lot of this can be contributed to the injured players coming back and many players playing with new line mates and some can be contributed to players not playing natural positions (Tikhonov, Watkins). Just fix it, Ray. The level of play we all saw Wednesday is not acceptable at any level.
Thoughts
- Might have been the worst game of Brett MacLeans professional career. Uninspired, bored, sloppy, and couldn't stay upright to save his life. I know he'll bounce back, but he needs to be a leader on this team.
- I love both of these guys, but for my sake coach, please don't pair up Ahnelov and Stafford anymore. I know your hands were tied due to Yonkman missing the game due to personal reasons, but they were awful together.
- I'm pretty sure Andrew Ebbett may be approaching 2009 Mikkel Boedker status in my hockey universe. Since there were under 3K at the arena, I'm pretty sure he heard my offer to buy him a plane ticket back to Phoenix.
- Ortmeyer is still impressive. Playing hard, hitting, and putting the puck on net. Great addition. That said, he'll probably be scratched now that Yonkman is back. Silly vet rule...
- Al Montoya knows how to play goalie folks. He's just inconsistent as hell. Which means he's an excellent choice to backup Matt Climie and play one out of every 4 games. He's had 2 awful games and 2 excellent games against great offenses. It's no coincidence that in the 2 awful games, his defense was garbage.
- First extended roadie of the season coming up. 2 games this weekend in Abbotsford and a weeknight contest vs OKC next week. get 3 out of 6 points, I'll be satisfied.
Let's hope for a weekend of hard played and competitive hockey. The new players excuse only lasts so long. If they play hard (and well) and get outplayed, I can't complain. It's when they quit and give me BS effort that I get ornery. That said, I fully expect the team to bounce back and play well this week. Now, don't make me a liar, boys. LET'S GO RAMPAGE!!
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