Bittersweet Ending to a Storybook Season

Hello fellow Jackalope fans. I wish I was blogging with better news, but unfortunately the Jacks fell in Game Seven of the Southern Conference Finals to the Allen Americans by a final of 4-2. We will discuss this heartbreaking loss, review some highlights from this season, and maybe talk a little about the off season.

First, lets begin with the game last night. To be completely honest with you, the Jackalopes looked flat and sloppy from the time the puck was dropped in the first period. After watching the first period play out, I kind of had that feeling deep in my gut that the Jacks would fall to Allen. Obviously, that feeling proved to be correct, and I will say with a straight face that the better team won last night. Do I think overall the better team won? Absolutely not. But, in the most important game of the season for both teams, the Americans proved to be the better team when it counted the most. Now they get to do something in their first year of existence that the Jacks haven't been able to do in thirteen years: Make a trip to the President Cup Finals. Good for them, and even though I did not agree with many of their tactics throughout the series, I will root for them since they will be representing the Southern Conference. Lets go Allen! Take care of the Rush!

Now lets go ahead and get to the actual game, shall we? Like I already pointed out, the Jacks looked flat from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. I guess all of the energy put into forcing a game seven after trailing three games to one finally took it's toll on the boys, which is completely understandable. The first period was actually kind of interesting for the simple fact that both teams looked kind of sloppy. In fact, even though Allen was the only team to find the back of the net in the opening frame, I wouldn't say that either team really played better than the other in the first period. Whelan scored the only goal of the period at the 17:02 mark to give the Americans the one goal lead heading into the first intermission. The assists were awarded to Lukin and Bowers. Chris Whitley stopped all twelve Odessa shots on goal, while Joel Martin stopped twelve of the thirteen that he faced in the opening frame. The Jacks were also 0-2 on the power play, while Allen went 0-1.

The second period gave Jackalope fans a glimmer of hope that the Jacks might be able to come back in the game when Collin Circelli scored at the 15:22 mark on the power play to cut the Americans lead down to one. The assists were given to Sebastien Thinel and Mike Ramsay. However, the Americans would stun the home crowd once again when they regained the two goal lead off of an Odessa turnover in their own zone with less than one minute remaining in the period. Musitelli was credited with the goal, with the assists going to Fairbarn and Wooddisse. This was probably the real back breaker for the Jacks in the game. Joel Martin stopped 12 of the 14 Allen shots on goal that he faced in the middle frame, while Chris Whitley turned away 11 of the 12 Odessa shots on goal. The Jacks went 1-1 with the man advantage in the second, while Allen went 0-1.

The third period is where everybody, including myself, was expecting the Jacks to come out on fire and make things interesting. But, the exact opposite happened as the Jacks might have played their worst third period all season long. For most of the period, the Jacks had only one shot on goal. That will NEVER get the job done, but obviously the boys were simply too gassed to pull off some more of their magic that we fans were so used to seeing throughout the season. Allen would break just about every heart in the ECC at the 6:35 mark when they would score a power play goal to take the three goal lead in the final frame. Yellow Horn tallied the goal, with the assists awarded to Graham and O'Nabigon. I will say that referee Ryan Hersey NEVER should have called Circelli for hooking in the first place, especially after letting so many things go uncalled. Calling something so ticky tacky in the third period of a game seven is just ridiculous in my opinion. I'm not necessarily saying that it would have mattered, but you just don't make that call in such a huge game. Shame on you Ryan Hersey! Jeff Pierce would then score the Jacks last goal of the season in the dying seconds of the third with Martin pulled for the extra attacker. The assists went to Kory Karlander and Sebastien Thinel. Then, all of a sudden, Hersey decides to make things look fair on paper when he finally called Allen for tripping with seconds left in the game, knowing Allen had already sealed up the win and the series. Joel Martin stopped 10 of the 11 Allen shots in the final frame, while Whitley stopped 3 of the 4 Odessa shots. Allen went 1-2 with the man advantage in the third, while Odessa went 0-1 (even though I don't consider thirteen seconds much of an advantage).

The final was 4-2 in favor of the Americans, and they were headed to the Black Hills to take on the Rapid City Rush in the President Cup Finals. I will once again say, congratulations to both teams for making it to the finals.

Even though this loss really hurt, and boy did it ever, I am still a very proud Odessa Jackalope fan. I love this team so much, and I will continue to support it as long as we have a team. Even though the boys didn't achieve their ultimate goal of finally bringing a championship to Odessa, they should still be extremely proud of all that they accomplished this season. From having a franchise record 101 points in the regular season, to earning the Governor's Cup, the boys have nothing to be ashamed of. I still believe that the Jacks had the best team in the entire CHL this season, but obviously it just wasn't meant to be for the boys. Now it's time for things to get boring for us Jackalope fans as the off season has finally arrived. Things should start getting interesting, though, in the next couple of months with the Summer Conference and player signings being announced. I can't wait for that to happen.

Finally, I will close this post with thanking those that read my blog. I know there are only a few of you, but I truly do appreciate you showing interest in what I have to say. I would especially like to thank some of my fellow CHL Forum posters in jacksfan1975, clovis, and Dustydevil for sharing their views and opinions with me throughout the season. It has definitely been a fun season, and I truly enjoyed interacting with these guys. Also, I would like to say that I will continue with my blog throughout the offseason. Any time I hear anything that I find newsworthy pertaining to the Jacks or even the league, I will more than likely post about it on here.

With all of this said, until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and there's always next year! ;)