3 VS 4
3 VS 4
Catastrophy, Vol I ?
HIFK 3 Blues 4, 1999-03-25
Blues turned this David vs. Goliath matchup upside down by defeating HIFK for a first time ever in the Helsinki Rink. Obviously HIFK also lost their home ice advantage.
What made the gameplan fail was at least the following:
- the players seemed both tense and unfocused
The often too physical HIFK players did not tackle and had a lot less posession than usually. During the first 30 minutes the players mostly chased the puck and fired a shot at first glance.
The coaches reacted, eventually, and the new combos worked a lot better, but then an marking error by Nieminen left the door open for Ekman who rarely misses a breakaway, nor this time.
Borsato was dressed for the first time since the honourable discharge in the EHL semifinals, but his shoulder is imminently still hurting as he avoided all physical contact.
Toni Mäkiaho returning from a six game suspension was of little help in his current environment.
Outcome of the series- Prediction:
They´ve all been proven efficient lines earlier in the season so WHY wouldn´t they work now ???
Yesterday´s Starting Lines:
My Verdict:
Kultanen, shakier again
- lines all mixed up, again, with several returning players
- G Tim Thomas, posted a bleak performance
I´m still positive the HIFK players will regain their composure as they still after all are a better team in ALL areas of the game. My word to the coaches is, though: stability in the lineup is what we need now forget all reshuffles and use the following lines:
Tuomainen-Nieminen-Mäkiaho
Hurme-Sihvonen(/Borsato)-Caloun
Kortelainen-Baker-M.Ruutu/J.Ruutu (when suspension ends)
Kalto-Ahonen-Laaksonen
Caloun / Hurme / Tuomainen
Kortelainen / Baker / Nieminen
Kalto / Sihvonen / Mäkiaho
Heiskanen / Ahonen / Laaksonen
Kultanen / Karalahti
Lydman / Rafalski
Siren / Rajala
Thomas
Karalahti, solid offensively, architect for goal #1, ***
Caloun, 1+1, a bit impatient,
Borsato, tied the game - traded pain for gain
Hurme, worked hard, as usual
Tuomainen, ailing, but stayed out of the box
Kortelainen, unlucky, but industrious
Baker, failed to impress
Nieminen, lost great form of late, responsible for 3-4
Kalto, filled his checking role well
Sihvonen, should be on the two top lines
Mäkiaho, rink rusty, victim of wrong call leading to 0-2
Heiskanen, filled his spot
Ahonen, carrying out his designated 4# line centering job
Laaksonen, got deservedly benched in period 2
Rafalski, has had clearly better nights
Siren, invisible, but few errors
Rajala, ok, no lethal mistakes
Lydman, did not impress this time