Clock Strikes Midnight
Yellowknife (CP) After flirting with coming back from a 3-0 deficit, the clock finally stuck midnight for YDP who bowed out to the mighty Rovers 5-1 in Game 7. This was a tail of two series as the Rovers dominated games 1-3, then YDP did the unthinkable and started 3rd string goalie Jean-Sebastian Aubin. Aubin stole games 4,5 and 6 giving YDP a home game 7. With the home team winning two of the first six games, home ice advantage was an oxymoron. After holding the Rovers to only 13 shots, JS Aubin crapped the bed and surrendered 5 goals ending YDP’s miracle run. While it was simple to put the goat horns on Aubin, it was the same guy that stood on his head to give YDP this remarkable series.
While no one outside of Penetrator Nation expected this series to go beyond 5 games, YDP showed a lot of poise and brought the fear of god into Baffin Isle. ‘We fought a good fight especially with our win in Game 6, but our inexperience was severely exposed by the Rovers in Game 7,’ said Wong, ‘not having Robbie (Niedermayer) and Sheldon (Souray) was a huge loss to us, but we won’t hide behind our injuries.’
Joe Thornton was the star in Game 7, its this reporter’s humble opinion that Kris Draper was the series MVP. In limited ice time Draper lead the Rovers to three of their four victories. ‘Draper is an amazing player,’ said Boyle, ‘we have Robbie (Niedermayer) but with him injured tonight we didn’t have anyone to counter punch Kris’s play.’
While no one outside of Penetrator Nation expected this series to go beyond 5 games, YDP showed a lot of poise and brought the fear of god into Baffin Isle. ‘We fought a good fight especially with our win in Game 6, but our inexperience was severely exposed by the Rovers in Game 7,’ said Wong, ‘not having Robbie (Niedermayer) and Sheldon (Souray) was a huge loss to us, but we won’t hide behind our injuries.’
Joe Thornton was the star in Game 7, its this reporter’s humble opinion that Kris Draper was the series MVP. In limited ice time Draper lead the Rovers to three of their four victories. ‘Draper is an amazing player,’ said Boyle, ‘we have Robbie (Niedermayer) but with him injured tonight we didn’t have anyone to counter punch Kris’s play.’
The loss ended YDP’s 4th campaign and by far their most successful. YDP qualified for the playoffs as the #2 seed of the Howe Conference by winning the Calder Division and finished the regular season 6th overall. While the boys weren’t successful in advancing to the conference finals, these playoffs have showed us that YDP has the individuals to win games on their own. It also showed that without proper coaching and a full line up, this team could be blown out of the water by anyone.
'It's been a great season,' said Wong, 'I'm gonna take a few weeks off and then meet with my scouting staff and go over our draft and off season strategy.'
posted by Howard | 9:05 PM
2 Comments:
The Pens have shown that they'll be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. You've got your team on a track that I figure will eventually culminate in a Kings Cup... my fearless prediction. Congrats and on to RHL17.
Thanks for the compliment but I think your squad will be deadly next season. With about 9M in cap space left, you only need 2 more forwards to essentially round out your team. My fearless prediction is you'll make it at least to the conference finals. I think Vegas is giving me 1.5-1 odds on that :).
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