The one thing that stands out to me is how effective Wheeling was on the power play against us-28%.
The Cyclones penalty kill was at the bottom of the league all season, but picked up considerably at the end. In our last nine games, the PK% was 86% (49/57). That compares with about 76-77% for the majority of the season-which is awful.
The season series favored Wheeling 6-5, but the last game between the two teams was in January.
Over our last nine games we outscored opponents 33-18 and had a 7-2 record. Wheeling stumbled home with a 3-6 record and was outscored 37-26.
Evidently Wheeling doesn't really have an established locker room leader from what I've read. Given that their coach used everything at his disposal and failed utterly in the last 3 weeks of the season to adequately motivate the Nailers, it appears that Wheeling is lacking effective leadership and is ripe for the pickings. Our offense is about as potent as theirs (256 goals for us vs. 263 for them) and our defense is much more solid. If we don't get killed by their power play, we should take this series.
Cyclones in 5.
"The only way David Desharnais will see an NHL game is if he buys a ticket". --donnie hockey
"David Desharnais will be invisible during 5 on 5 hockey. IN THE AHL" --donnie hockey
Topic Locked
Posted - 04/08/2009 : 5:22:08 PM
