Team Houston Hitmen

Comments 06/17/2010
I finally put the pictures I took at the Team Party up on the website. Sorry it took me so long to get it done. Have a good summer everyone.

GC

Comments 03/16/10
Well the Hitmen season is over after our trip to Dallas for the Semi-Finals. The first game Saturday was awesome with the Hitmen facing McKinney for the fourth time this season. McKinney is one of those very good teams that the Hitmen have been unable to defeat all season. But this time the Hitmen would not be denied the win and after three hard fought periods of excellent hockey the Hitmen were victorious beating McKinney by a score of 6 to 1. Scoresheet

Game two on Saturday saw the Hitmen facing the Texas Aces of Coach Mills. What an incredible game this was. The Aces are another one of those teams that have given the Hitmen fits this season and while the Hitmen would eventually lose this game, they wouldn't make it easy for the Aces. After three periods of top-notch, head to head ice hockey, the game was tied 3 to 3 at the end of regulation play. The overtime period also ended at the 3 to 3 tie, so the game would be decided in a shootout. The Aces were able to squeeze a goal in past Hitmen goalie Tyler Bradford while the Hitmen were not able to get a shoot-out goal against the Aces goalie Alex Miller. The Aces win 4 to 3 and received 2 game points, however, because of the Hitmen tie in regulation play, the Hitmen received 1 game point. Scoresheet

Sunday was a new day for the Hitmen and all that was needed to make it to the finals was to win against the days opponents in the Texas Aces of Coach Clarke and the Odessa Jackalopes. The days first game pitted the Hitmen against the second Texas Aces team. This Aces team had defeated the Hitmen in two previous regular season games this year but on Sunday the Hitmen wanted to win. The Hitmen's play on Sunday morning was slow and sloppy compared to Saturday's play, but the team managed to pull out a win against the Aces with a final score of Hitmen 2 to Aces 1. Scoresheet

The only thing standing in the way of the Hitmen going to the Championship Finals was to beat the Odessa Jackalopes. In the two previous matchups the Hitmen had defeated the Jackalopes which may have led to a little overconfidence on the part of the Hitmen. The Jackalopes had been having a bad weekend having lost all of their other 3 games in the semi-finals. The Jackalopes were well motivated to win and had nothing to lose by turning on the afterburners on their game play. The combination of the Jackalopes determination to win coupled with the overconfidence of the Hitmen led to a surprising upset victory by the Jackalopes 4 to the Hitmen's 1. Scoresheet

With the unexpected win by the Jackalopes; the Hitmen were left with only 5 game points for the semi-final weekend. The opportunity for the Hitmen to move on to the Finals now rested on the outcome of the game between McKinney and the Texas Aces of Coach Mills. If the Aces won then it would be the Aces and Hitmen competing in the Championship Finals. Unfortunately for the Hitmen, a surprising win by  McKinney resulted in a game point tie of 6 game points for both the Aces and McKinney sending them both to the Championship Finals to face each other again. With only 5 game points for the Hitmen after the loss to the Jackalopes, the Hitmen season came to a close.

Some Additional Personal Thoughts
What happened to the Hitmen on Sunday? The games played Saturday where some of the best I've ever seen the team play. They were fast, accurate, and on their game. They beat McKinney for the first time all season and then fought Coach Mills' Texas Aces to a draw in an unbelievably intense game. This was the high powered Hitmen team that we had been expecting to see. But what a difference a day makes.

On Sunday it looked like a whole different team. The intensity and fire of Saturday's games was gone. The guys were slow and sloppy. Nobody seemed able to handle the puck and move it down the ice, and most everyone had forgotten about the concept of passing the puck. The Hitmen managed to squeak out a win against the Texas Aces of Coach Clarke, but just barely. Saturday's Hitmen team would have made very short work of  Sunday's Texas Aces, but on Sunday they were very evenly matched. The Hitmen won, but it was a nerve wracking experience for the parents.

I don't even know what to say about Sunday's game against the Jackalopes. Sure the Jackalopes were motivated to win and willing to let it all hang out on the ice to make it happen; but Saturday's Hitmen team would have been able to handle it I think. Sunday's Hitmen team just couldn't get it together. What happened? Was Tyler too tired in his fourth game of the weekend? Maybe. How many games can a goalie play well before fatigue becomes an issue? But how effective can a goalie be when the defense seems to be asleep on the ice in some critical situations? And where did the offense go? You can't win if you don't score and you can't score if you don't make smart plays. Smart plays means being in the right places at the right times and passing the puck up to player with the best advantage, and that just wasn't happening on Sunday.

I guess, in the end, there is really no fault to assign. The Hitmen simply had a bad day at a critical point in the season and it cost them a Championship opportunity. It happens.

Overall, the Hitmen had a good season and the boys had a good time playing the game of ice hockey. As hockey parents, what more could we ask for?

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