Sunday July 15, 2001
Six Nations VS Burlington
With Jamie Taylor and Greg Tregunno in Arrows uniforms and Chuck
Doxtater suiting up for the Chiefs, this is becoming a very interesting
rivalry. These teams didn't face each other until after the trade. The
Arrows demolished the Chiefs in Burlington, and escaped with a one-goal
win in Ohsweken. Six Nah has many more proven weapons, but the Chiefs
are gelling into a very useful little team all of a sudden.
--> Arrows to win, but don't be surprised if Burlington wins one.
St.Catharines VS Toronto
On paper, it's St. Kitty in a walk. But not so fast. This is an
under-achieving bunch of A's, and the Beach Boys are showing late
signs of getting their act together. In the end, though, a hot goalie
(Matt Vinc of the A's) beats a struggling offence (Toronto). Toronto
scored an impressive win in Whitby down the stretch, but the Warriors
are in a deep, deep slump, so it's hard to know how significant that
really is.
--> St. Catharines, and it's largely up to them how long this series
lasts.
Orangeville VS Peterborough
Just the Lakers' luck to draw a team designed to stuff their unique
style of play. Evans and Self are very capable to bulling the ball home
against tenacious Northmen checking, but can they do enough of it to win
a seven game series -- particularly as both Peterborough stars have an
unhealthy fondness for racking up the penalty minutes. Greater depth and
discipline will be the difference for the HornHeads.
--> Orangeville. The Lakers will likely win a game or two, as they
always seem to, but this series could also turn into a sloppy
blowout.
Orillia VS Whitby
Orillia is the hottest team in the league right now, and Whitby is
struggling. But the Warriors aren't that bad, and the Kings aren't
necessarily this good. But Luke Wiles is THE BOMB, people, and Orillia's
supporting cast is playing much, much better than Whitby's lately.
--> Orillia, but this one could easily go the distance.
Thoughts? Comments?
Six Nations VS Burlington
A fascinating match up if Daley, Taylor and Tregunno were all still
wearing Chief colours. So it seems Burlington have defaulted this series
before it begins. But I would not count out a feisty effort from the
underdogs. What is needed for an upset:
1)
Duncan Ross taking his already great play to a new level
2) obviously great goaltending from the Chiefs
3) an Arrows club which can't handle adversity due to the late
lineup changes
4) Jake Henhawk struggling big time
5) Burlington winning four close games.
St.Catharines VS Toronto
Defence! defence! and more defence! This will be 1914 trench warfare.
Goaltending and special teams will decide this affair.
There will not be many 5 on 5 goals in this series, thus weak
goaltending will be disasterous for either club. The power plays will be
crucial but an offensive penalty killing unit could be the turning point
in many games. Don't be surprised if one team goes to the Orillia
defence to combat shorthanded goals. Advice to Toronto, retire your fast
break. Most times you won't beat the A's down the floor and all those
low percentage passes will just mean a big possession time advantage for
the Double Blues.
For St.Catharines, an interesting psychological situation. They've
overachieved in the playoffs two straight years. This season they were
most people's pick to finish first. They responded with a disappointing
second. This post season they are expected to win it all. Likewise, Matt
Vinc came out of nowhere to astound us all last summer. This time he is
counted on to always be great. Can the Athletics handle this pressure?
Especially when the Beach Boys and John McLellan have something to
prove?
Can't disagree with Mr.Knight more on this call. A team which loses at
home to Mississauga and gets routed in Burlington cannot be counted on
to determine their own destiny alone. I see this one as a toss up.
Another Battle of the Somme.
Orangeville VS Peterborough
The most intriguing match up of them all. Orangeville clearly should be
favoured. Their consistency throughout the year really must be admired.
The Lakers have the stars, yet they don't have the offensive edge. One
look at the 4, 5 and 6 scorers on each team shows Northmen superiority.
Peterborough really need McIntrye, Hobbins, Wasson or Croswell to step
up a notch. I'm not talking about the odd good game. What is needed is
consistent offensive production, three or four points every game, to
take the pressure off Evans and Self. A return by Ryan Sharpe, not
permitted to play by his Owen Sound hockey team, would be a huge boost
to the Green Machine. Yet this series is really about psychology and
nothing else.
Orangeville are defending champions and they have the confidence to go
with it. With such confidence, they can overcome bad goaltending, or a
super star performance against them. They can also count on timely
efforts from unlikely sources and finding a way to win in overtime.
The Lakers, on the otherhand, suffer from an inferiority complex. Still
this team surprised many in last year's playoffs. They cannot be taken
likely. Also Jamie McIntyre has played his best in the past, especially
against Minto Cup winning Whitby shooters. He has the ability to make
average Northmen shooters look like what they are...ordinary.
This is another toss up.
Safe money obviously on the titleholders. But I look forward to seeing
if Peterborough can shake that championship confidence. It really is the
only thing standing between them and an upset win.
Orillia VS Whitby
If I had money to put on one team advancing to the next round, it would
be on Six Nations. My second choice would be Orillia. A couple of
reasons.
First, the Warriors have been a major disappointment. Their offence has
fizzled out dramatically.
Shannon and Morrison are great. Their supporting cast has gone AWOL. One
can forgive those suffering from injuries but the whole team hasn't been
injured! Second, veteran goaltender Mike Miron has a score to settle
with the Whitby Warriors. He also has something to prove to all those
who said he was nothing more than a Jr.B goaltender. I won't be
surprised to see
Miron silence all his critics. An inconsistent Whitby offence, plus a
determined last year goaltender spells an Orillia victory.
I'm still hoping for a long series and with more than 10 goals per game.
Six Nations/Peterborough Preview
Friday July 27, 2001
Excellent write up below and desperately needed as I've only seen the
Arrows a couple of times this year and am in no way an expert on them.
It is correctly pointed out that they have an overabundance of talent.
More importantly, experienced talent, players with one last chance to
win a Minto Cup. That extra incentive to win should make Six Nations an
extremely difficult team to beat. However there are issues which should
make us all pause before arguing over where the Minto Cup will be
played.
1) This season has frightening parellels to 2000. Arrows finish first,
waltz through Quarter Final, then run into a defensive minded team with
a hot goaltender. We all know how the story ends.
2) One thing that bothers me about Six Nations is trying to decide how
good they really are. On paper they look the best(like last year's
team) but are they really invincible or is it all hype? The Arrows
haven't played a meaningful game since their win in Whitby last June.
They finished first because, down the stretch, they faced K-W and
Burlington and Mississauga while St.Catharines and Orangeville were
going head to head. Then their first playoff round was nothing more
than a scrimmage. I'm not meaning to make light of Six Nations'
accomplishments to date. My point is that they have not met a proven
opponent in a long time. How can we possibly know how good they are?
3) Inconsistency is another worry. We heard how they didn't show up for
Game One against Burlington. They make that same mistake against
Peterborough and they may not see a Game Five! Let's be brutally frank
here, since the '98 Minto Cup Final the Arrows have been a team of
underachievers. Many have questioned whether they care enough to win a
championship. In two regular season games against the Lakers they were
"no shows" twice. Can the Arrows show up for every minute of every game
over a best of seven series? Considering all the last year Juniors they
have, I have to hope that they will.
To beat Peterborough, Six Nations must simply live up to their billing.
They have enough talented veterans out there who can each win a game
singlehandedly. They must all step up when needed. If the Arrows are
not as good as everyone says, then the veterans must provide the
leadership and find a way to win.
Win or lose what they must not do is give Cole Murray or Scott Evans the
"Aaron Wilson Treatment". It's a game! Go out and win if you're the
best or take the loss like men. A bigger concern I have is that Six
Nations will go out of their way to try and intimidate the younger and
smaller Lakers. The Arrows have the ability to make every fan soar
while watching them. Let's hope they stick to lacrosse.
It may sound like Six nations has been dealt all the trump cards. That
is far from the case.
The Peterborough Lakers have become a very different team over the past
week. The big differnce is now they are playing with confidence. When
they last took on the Arrows the idea was to play your hardest and hope
it's enough to win. Now the Lakers believe that if they play their best
they WILL win. Another wonderful change is the great discipline they
are playing with. That gives them one advantage over the notoriously
wild Six Nations boys.
There are other advantages:
1) A big edge for Game One as this battle hardened crew goes up against
an Arrows team which only vaguely remembers what playoff lacrosse is
like.
2) Cole Murray. The zone defence is a success and the Arrows have yet
to see it. But behind that zone is a young goaltender coming of age.
The Arrows haven't seen King Cole yet either.
3) The Lakers can win in MSG. If you can win a playoff game at the
BunnyBarn then you can win one anywhere!
4) Six Nations can be very undiscipline defensively. This should open
things up for the Peterborough fast break. A breath of fresh air for
Evans and Self.
What to watch for:
-The Arrows have much more firepower than the Northmen. Will it be
enough to bring Murray back down to earth?
-Will the Lakers continue their ultra defensive approach or will they
run the Arrows every chance they get. Six goals a game won't win this
series. I suggest the Green Machine roll every odd man fast break they
get.
-How rough will Six Nations play? The Arrows can be a punishing team
physically. They must keep it clean.
-Jake Henhawk. The most difficult position to place a goaltender in is
to make him watch his team control a game but the opposing goalie
dominate the shooters. You can't imagine the amount of pressure that
puts on a goaltender facing only thirty shots a night and expected to
match his red hot opponent. Kevin Samuel and John Conway could tell you
about that pressure. Will Henhawk handle it any better?
-The Arrows specialty teams. This is an area Six Nations could
dominate.
Prediction:
Oh boy! Anything could happen(we all know that!). I think Six Nations
will get quite a surprise tonight. It will be fascinating to see how
they handle it. The Arrows power play could have some initial success
in this series but I believe the Lakers will contain it the longer the
series goes. I expect Peterborough's power play to continue to
struggle. That will mean lots of Arrows ragging as the Lakers stand
back in a zone and watch. Thus a penalty filled series would be to Six
Nations' advantage. I expect them to play the intimidation game,
especially at home.
Who wins? If the Arrows firepower overwhelms the Lakers early then they
can make short work of them. The way Cole Murray is playing and the way
that zone defence is improving, I don't see anyone overwhelming the
Petes. If Peterborough can get to two wins then they will win this
series. Don't ask me if that will happen in four or seven games. I do
have a sneaky suspicion that the Arrows are going to get a shocking
introduction to playoff lacrosse tonight and it will take them a few
games to adapt to it. By that time it will be too late.
NOTE: Peterborough will be without Brian Croswell this series. He
attended last night's game in Whitby on crutches. A third period injury
in Orangeville has him sidelined.