Players seem to like to 'go out on top' when they lose.

After last nights win over Kerry Park in Mill Bay, the Victoria Cougars are moving onto the next round of the Playoffs en route to their 3rd straight Championship. Kerry Park was doomed right from the start of the series, unfortunately for them they had no chance. After posting a 8-0 record versus the Islanders this season, the Cougars cruised to a 4 game sweep, ending last night. While seeing the Cougars sweep any series is great for Victoria fans, there is a major problem with some of these teams. Herein lies the problem I have. Why must 20 year old junior players feel the need to 'go out on top' when they know they are about to lose? Prime example, Colton Burt. During game 3 in one of his frequent visits to the penalty box (he leads the league in penalty minutes in the playoffs, no points either) he was heard spouting that he is 20 with nothing to lose. Referring to game 4. Unfortunately for him he picked Liam Carradine to 'go out on top' which amounted to him mugging Carradine from behind and landing a few lame punches. He got tossed, Carradine stood up smiling. Why do these kids think it's cool to get tossed out of a game looking like a complete asshat? You accomplish nothing by trying to hurt another player except making yourself look like an idiot. Leave the game with some dignity, shake hands after it's over. Leave the ice at the end of you career knowing you gave it your all, and don't leave with you tail between you legs because you're not man enough to stand toe to toe with your opponent. By the way, I highly discourage standing toe to toe with Carradine, he's a tough SOB. That wasn't the only situation where Carradine was attacked from behind either. Gowenlock did an Oscar worthy impression of a Lumberjack on Carradine earlier too. I even had people calling him a turtle on Twitter, seriously? "@SASKRIDERS101 #turtlesdontfightback" I really hope you're either kidding or just like to insult people for no reason. How about you come over to me while I swing a hockey stick as hard as I can at your head, if you don't duck I'll buy you a beer, then have you committed because clearly you have something wrong with you. If Gowenlock wanted to fight Carradine like a man, I am quite sure he would have obliged. On another note Gowenlock isn't 20, he will see Carradine next year, after a few games suspension I would guess.

For all the people saying the Cougars players are cowards for not fighting, clearly you have never played for a team that tries to actually win games. The Coaching staff for Victoria teach discipline, and how to win. Which is clear by looking at the Cougars team penalty minutes and league rankings over the last few years. If a Cougars player drops the mitts it's because he has too, not because he just wants to fight. Watch the way they play, after every whistle the opponents are throwing punches and slashing, with Victoria smiling (See: Jo Davie), because they are about to get another PowerPlay. As far as I am concerned, if the other teams want to keep taking stupid penalties all game long, go for it, I like watching the Cougars score goals. With that being said, I don't see the remaining teams doing that as often as the first round. The four teams that will move on, all are coached very well and have solid teams. All of which can win. Playoff hockey is rough, fists will fly, emotions will boil over, even for Victoria. This is why we watch it.

After the Panthers and Glacier Kings series wins this week as well, we are just waiting for the winner of Nanaimo and Campbell River. Next week we will see the best of the VIJHL battle it out for a chance at playing in the finals.

I will have my first round recap early next week as well as my second round predictions to follow.

Let's just hope the remaining teams don't feel the need to hurt other players maliciously because they lose.

First Round Playoff Preview

Well after a crazy night last night, the first round of the VIJHL playoffs are set. In the South Division, Victoria will face Kerry Park, while Peninsula will take on Westshore. The North Division sees Comox face Saanich, and Campbell River face Nanaimo. I will lay out my predictions here, and when the first round has concluded I'll check back to see how close I was.

Victoria vs Kerry Park

May as well start off with the series I know best, Cougars and Islanders. This is probably only going to last 4 games, but Kerry Park has shown us this year they can tangle with the best teams in the league. If any of the two underdog teams facing a possible sweep in the first round, Kerry Park has the best chance to steal a game. With that said, I think it's and outside shot at best. The Cougars have dominated the Islanders all season posting a 8-0 record against the rivals from the Malahat.

Prediction: Victoria 4 - Kerry Park 0

Peninsula vs Westshore

This is probably going to be the roughest series to start the playoffs. Both these teams are hard hitting and don't mind dropping the mitts. If you asked me a week ago if Westshore had a chance I would have said yes, but not now. After the game the Wolves put up against Victoria last week, the Panthers should steam roll the Wolves now. Westshore came into Victoria and played a game like they had nothing to lose, which couldn't be further from the truth. They may have had an outside shot at stealing the series, but that was before the dismal game versus the Cougars. They were dirty, cheap, and played with out discipline. The Panthers can score, and they have a deadly Power Play.

Prediction: Peninsula 4 - Westshore 1

Comox vs Saanich

This is the other series I see only lasting 4 games. Saanich has basically given up on the season. They haven't played well for most of the season and most certainly not lately. Comox on the other hand has been playing very well, and they are my prediction to get into the finals from the North.

Prediction: Comox 4 - Saanich 0

Campbell River vs Nanaimo

This is the one series that I think will go the furthest. Nanaimo started the season very strong and then just fizzled. They don't have the depth that the Storm will carry into the regular season, and have some issues with penalties as well. With that said, I still think they can put up a few wins against Campbell River. If the Storm are able to hold off the Buccaneers in the first round, I'll look to the Storm as the sleeper in the playoffs to steal a series in the second round. Let's see if the Buccaneers can hold them off.

Prediction: Campbell River 4 - Nanaimo 2

Well that's my first round playoffs predictions, and it seems that the first round my be a short one for 4 teams this year, as there are 4 very strong contenders for the Championship this season. Check back after the first round is over and we will review my predictions, and then move on to the second round.

Player of the Week Drama

Disclaimer!!!
All content on this blog is my personal thoughts and feelings and nothing here should be taken as the opinion of my employers or the teams I am a part of. I am here just to ramble about random thoughts, not to start any controversy, usually. So chill, just read, or don't, I don't care. If I say something you don't like or agree with, tough.




Still here? Good, I have something I need to get off my chest.




Something I have been holding inside for a few years actually. The way the teams in the VIJHL view each other. Its brutal, and dare I say it quite sad. The fans and team personnel from each of the 9 teams are like warring nations that have no love or respect for each other. But instead of fighting it out like men on the battlefield, or the ice, they bitch and moan like children on Twitter.

Perfect example has been the past week. For the second week in a row a Cougars player was selected as the VIJHL Player of the Week. After this was released all Hell broke loose on Twitter. Fans, coaches, owners, and players alike starting calling the whole situation rigged and even going so far as to fake trade requests in order to get POW honors. The coach of the Panthers even said in response to the announcement of the POW, "good job! But other players are playing in the league other than Cougar players #justsoyouknow". This was said over Twitter and he has since deleted the Tweet, but I have a screen shot if anyone wants to see it. Now I can understand fans and even players being upset because they probably don't know how the selection process works, it's even possible that Brian Passmore doesn't know either. But the owner of a team who will remain nameless, but I'm sure you can guess who, ReTweeted this message, endorsing what was said. Want to know which owner? I'll give you a hint, he owns the Panthers. This man KNOWS how the POW player is selected. He has absolutely zero right to complain about a Cougars player being selected.

So now I'll tell you how its done. Every week each team is required to nominate their player of the week, then all the nominations are reviewed by a third party and he selects who he deems to be the best from the previous week. If any team fails to send in their nomination, then that team cannot win POW for that week. Remarkably simple right? Care to venture a guess at who failed to nominate a player last week? Everyone failed, except Victoria. That's right folks, not a single team apart from the Cougars even bothered to enter a name to be considered. Hard to win if you don't play isn't it?

Now with that in mind, doesn't all the bitching and complaining seem a bit stupid? From the outside some people might see favoritism on the leagues part towards the Cougars for selecting their players multiple times in a row. But when every single team in this league knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that they need to submit one single email, with a one paragraph write up on their player, once a week, no one who has any part of any team can complain when they didn't bother to do it.

I have been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty Tweets over the years, everyone from fans of other teams, to coaches, to players, and even owners (again, want to guess who?). This whole situation needs to stop. Fans will continue to do what they do because they are safe behind their silly Twitter wall where no one can hurt them. They also don't need to worry about repercussions because they don't represent the league or a team. Freedom of speech right? But when coaches and owners start belittling people and insulting others it makes the league as a whole look bad.


There are many people in this league need to give their head a shake, all they're doing is making themselves look foolish.

Usurper

Last night the Cougars faced off against the Glacier Kings at home. The game for the most part was forgettable from the Cougars perspective. They didn't play the Cougars game. Even if they made it interesting at the end of the game sending it to OT for the second straight home game, ultimately losing in double OT.

The main reason I call the game forgettable doesn't really have anything to do with the fact that they lost, because they already have clinched their fourth straight league title. They played like a team that hadn't played together. Passes off the mark all night long, dangerous plays in front of their own net, and risky plays where it was one man versus the whole other team. I saw lots of one man missions last night when they had a teammate close at hand.

The goal-tending on the other hand was phenomenal on both sides. Beauchamp was the main reason the Glacier Kings only scored twice, as they many scoring chances even with their low shot count. On the other end of the ice, Michael Hails was unreal. This kid stopped 41 shots, several could easily have been goals. Several more should have been goals. Hails seemingly didn't a back-flip and somehow the puck stayed out.

Last week I was quoted by saying that I think Comox is the favorite to represent the North in the Finals, and I am standing by that. Most people are calling Campbell River the dead to rights favorite. While on paper it might look like that, with last nights win over the Cougars the Glacier Kings are in a solid place to win the North with a game against Campbell River next week. Comox only needs to make up 3 points in 4 remaining games. Two of those games are against Nanaimo who have been inconsistent at best in the last few months.

The Cougars should be able to make it out of the first round of the playoffs against Kerry Park unscathed. They went 8-0 against the Islanders this season and dominated almost every game. Peninsula and Westshore won't have the same luxury in the first round. Both teams have the ability to win, but I think it will Peninsula to come out on top. I suspect that The Storm and Glacier Kings will both leave the first round in 4 or 5 games each. Once the reseeding is done I expect we will see Victoria against Campbell River and Peninsula against Comox. Ultimately leading to a Comox/Victoria or Peninsula/Victoria final. Both would be an unreal way to end the season.

The Cougars are looking to take their 3rd straight Championship, but this is the first year where there is real competition to usurp the Champs.

The playoffs this year should be the first time in a very long time that any of 4 different teams can win it all. I am excited for it to start, are you?