Spot on RC - especially about CJ Lee. The kid really impressed me last night. More on him in a bit...
I came early with my son to watch the warm ups, and was glad to see these guys as a team - meaning they all just looked like the got along great and as a very cohesive unit. There seemed to be a very strong bond between them. During warm ups, Pirri was laughing and had a smile on his face the entire time. Kennedy was mixing it up with some of the guys too. Given the struggles that this team has had over the past few seasons, it was great to see them so jelled. Pirri is also an absolute sniper. As the team was running thru its drills York was stoppijng virtually all of the shots...and Pirri netted at least 8 in a row. I can also say that he is thin (sizewise). During the warm up he was standing next to the glass and had his jersey sleeve rolled a bit so you could see his wrist and part of this forearm, and he is very thin.
As for the game, my impressions was that they played well in the first, but kinda as Appert says in the Record interview, just to much dangling and trying to show or make a perfect pass. They should have shot way more in the 1st and this game never would have been a contest. In the 2nd, came out on fire and netted 2 quick goals on intensity and just putting shots on goal. At that point, I was ready for them to have a huge 2nd period. Dont get me wrong, they played great. Even 5-5, they had SH trapped in their end for some long stretches and almost looked like they were on the power play. Totally controlled the game. I did think though that they played down a bit to the opponent's level and their speed and effort ebbed such that they got outworked from time to time. 3rd seemed like a carousel to the penalty box, and some was ticky tack but none the less just bone headed - and it cost them as SH stayed aggressive and just out worked them to tie it up. RPI dominated the overtime.
Some other thoughts - York is the real deal, but my god, some of the rebounds were huge. He just seems always in the right place, but those rebounds will hurt us over the course of the season. Appert said that he thought Pirri worked hard all game, and again maybe its me, but I didnt see it. He looked extremely comfortable and christ the kid knows how to find the net, but I didnt get the impression that he worked nearly as hard as the rest of the team. There were times that the SH forwards seemed to be able to skate by and around our D. Overall, I thought the D played pretty well and with a chip when needed. The game was pretty chippy and I think that it got our guys out of sync a bit (hence the 3rd period parade to the box). I like D'Amigo. Not afraid to scrap it up a bit and just drive hard, although it did seem like he might have expected some other things on the ice at times (for example got called for an offsides because he drove the blue line expecting his teammate to get the puck deep but didnt make that play). I'm sure that stuff will work itsself out the more they play together. Back to CJ Lee - RC was spot on...this kids was all over the ice. At one point in the 3rd, he controlled the puck for what seemed like 30+ seconds (carried it in skated / stickhandled between players, had a shot, picked up the deflection in the corner and just kept control and moving). On this board, we keep mentioning our 2 draft picks, but this kid is going to be a real contributer. I can also see why Kennedy is the captain. He took a shot off the inside of his knee at one point and was visibly hurt, but never went down and 10 seconds later drove into the corner against 2 SH guys, mixed it up and came away with the puck. I love warriors.
In all, this is a fun team to watch. Lets not forget how young these guys all are. There is some great, exciting hockey in store for a while. Yes, they almost let this one slip away, but this team is good - and actually probably much better than they even believe.
1 last note - I sat in Section 7 last night towards the top, and there was a bearded gentleman with a cap with all kinds of pins in it basically keeping his own scoresheet and had USCHO printout of the SH roster....was that any of the posters here ??
Sorry - 2 other things just thought of...they band was great. Even my 12 yr old son commented. He was hysterical when the ref took the ice before the warm up and the band went wild on them. Classic. The other is Puckman. The dude is a classic as well. Again, my kid thought that was the best and wants to bring a camera next time we go to get a pick with him. Nice.
I still remember I was at the Governor's Cup, he completely laid out a Colgate player, and I knew right there he was going to be a fun player to watch for 4 years.
