ESTERO, Fla. – The Florida Everblades added three points to end their season this weekend. Playing a set with division rivals the South Carolina Stingrays; they won on Wednesday, lost on Friday and lost in a shoot-out on Saturday. With the results of this set with the Stingrays, the Blades slid backwards into the sixth seed position for the playoffs. Their first opponent will be the Kalamazoo Wings. They will start the best-of-five series on Tuesday at Germaine Arena in Estero. The first two games will be in Florida; the last three will be played in Kalamazoo (as needed). This will be the first playoff meeting ever for these two teams. In the regular season, Florida finished with a record of 4-1-0 against Kalamazoo, so this will give the Blades a good morale booster to start the post-season. In the set against the Stingrays, Florida played pretty well during the Wednesday game (that they won). On Friday night, the first two periods were unfocused and sluggish putting the Blades down by a score of 5-1 at the end of the second period. A renewed vigor brought them close, but they lost in regulation 5-4. Saturday night was a disappointment as they should have won this game. Too many errors and missed opportunities, including a one minute 4-on-3 power-play in overtime. Florida lost 2-1 in a shoot-out. This is the 13 straight post-season for the Florida Everblades. They have made the playoffs every year since their inception in the 1998-99 season. This is definitely not their strongest team. While many of the players are skilled, there is not enough focus on the “team game”. They players seem to want to play independently of each other. That will definitely not work in the post-season. Here are some “suggestions” to increase their chances of success in the post-season: 1. Play solid hockey the entire 60 minutes of the game 2. Improve your puck control and possession time 3. Improve your passing techniques 4. Skate faster to the puck 5. Shoot the puck – don’t pass excessively 6. Focus, focus, focus – play like there’s no tomorrow because there may not be for you. FIRST PLAYOFF GAME: Tuesday, April 5th, Germaine Arena, Florida Everblades host the Kalamazoo Wings. Contact the writer at: sharon.weatherhead@prohockeynews.com
Related
You must be logged in to post a comment.