Now I get it...
I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when the Salmonbellies had a less-than-stellar first period against the Burrards in Maple Ridge. At the end of the first, the teams were tied at 3.But in the second period, they gave away a couple of goals. I still didn't think that in itself was odd. What was odd, though, was that they pulled Disher and substituted Ray Hodgkinson from the Junior A's. In the first place, why did they pull Disher? He wasn't having a bad night. And in the second place, why did they put in a new guy? The Bellies already have a backup goalie. In any case, Hodgkinson let in several goals, but not on his own. The Bellies provided him with no defense. By the end of the second period, the Bellies were down 9-4.
In the third period, the Burrards' shooting streak continued. In the last 10 minutes of the game, however, the Bellies managed to sneak a few past the Burrards' goalie, but it was too little, too late, and the Burrards took the game 15-7.
I didn't quite understand it. The Bellies weren't playing with the full team. Gill and P. Morgan were watching from behind the plexiglass. And the Bellies just weren't up to snuff. After coming home and checking the standings, though, it dawned on me. The Burrards are now tied with the Timbermen for fourth place. I'm not sure how they decide who gets into the playoffs. New West was scheduled to take on Nanaimo this Friday in Queen's Park. A tie-breaking game or a best of three will have to be played between the Timbermen and the Burrards. This is advantageous for the Bellies, because the winning team will be exhausted entering the playoffs, while the Bellies will be fresh. Sneaky. But clever.
I'm not writing this to undermine the Burrards' efforts. They played a great game this evening. They ran hard and shot well. And their goalie, Alex Coutts, was a wall. I'm surprised he wasn't given first star of the game. In my opinion he was the best player out there.
So there you have it: the politics of playoffs. Interesting times ahead.
August 4 Update: Ha! Turns out I was wrong. I found out at last night's game that because, in the regular season, the Timbemen had beaten the Burrards more than the Burrards had beaten the Timbermen, the T-men advanced to the playoffs. The Bellies were just playing a crappy game, and the Burrards were playing a good one.
Labels: Alex Coutts, Maple Ridge Burrards, Ray Hodgkinson, Salmonbellies
posted by Barbara K. Adamski @ 10:09 PM
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