Mark's 5 Things: Weekend #3

Hockey is back in Adelaide and the Adrenaline looked pretty good! Even though they lost their second game of the the two game set vs. the Sydney Bears, they looked like the better team all weekend.

Here are five things to take away from the weekend: 

It's not what you do, it's when you do it.

 

Sometimes penalties are needed, but the real challenge comes in knowing when to take them. We took some unnecessary penalties this weekend at crucial times, causing any momentum to be stripped away and giving it to Sydney. The flip side to this is that our defence is performing well, only giving up 1 Power Play goal from 8 chances. It's not the best way to test the regidity of our defence though. 

 

 

The first line partnership of Greg Oddy and Tyler Grove is coming together perfectly, combining for a total of 5 points. The first line was also responsible for all 3 goals scored across the weekend, with Steve Best and Andrew White joining in the fun. 

 

 

Three weekends into the season,  three split results. The structure of the league means that you often get a second shot at your opposition following a loss, especially when playing in Adelaide. The opposition coach will no doubt have a notepad full of strategies ready to use against you the very next day, not to mention a bench full of guys aching for revenge. They will come harder, and faster than the day before, and we need to be ready for that. 

 

 

It wasn't at all that our offence was lacking, we outshot Sydney 90 to 81 across both days (including a massive 53 shots on Sunday). The problem was Sydney Bears' goalie Kamil Jarina. Jarina was enormous in goal, and combined with a bit of luck stood in the way of a series sweep. 

 

 

 

A huge crowd turned out for the first home game of the 2015 season, and our boys relished in the atmosphere. The crowd were huge in voice. Well done Adelaide.