Back to the Drawing Board

Although the NABHL summer season has yet to officially finish, the Shockers are already back to the drawing board to figure out how to improve for next season. After a mediocre 6th place season finish and then a short-lived stint in the playoffs the boys in the bleu, blanc, rouge have much to work on in order to be a cup-contender for next season.

OFFENSE
The Shockers held one of the poorest goal for and goals per game stats in the league and in turn that makes it extremely difficult to win games if there is nothing going in the back of the net. The bad news, if it could get any worse, is that the Diabo Duo of Steve and Chris will not be returning to the full-time roster which will hurt up front since Steve did lead the team in points. Steve had mentioned to the press that he would consider to fill in as a spare from time to time but cannot guarantee full-time commitment. Chris, however, is out of the question as he has signed his full-time duties to ice hockey. Also, a heart and soul player is also questionable to return, Jonathan Sante, has not guaranteed anything to the team as he will be starting in a new career path starting October. There are also rumors that assistant captain, Andrew Stevens, despite having a disappointing season on the scoresheet is pulling a Mats Sundin and will be leaving his decision to last minute. Which leaves us with the question, who will replace these guys? Well, as much as everyone thought Sal Amato would have been a good fit up front but he has confirmed that he is uncertain he can do a full-time schedule. So with management up in arms about who to get, there has been some serious talks with other teams outside the NABHL to acquire forwards who are not currently on contract.

Points to work on: It is clear that the Shockers had a rather disappointing run for goals for but it is contributed by the lack of shots on opposing goalies. There are several guys on the team with decent to excellent shots and they should start using them even if it is from their own end. We have seen several fluke goals by weird and strange shots that may or may not have been tipped and NABHL is living proof that in this league, any shot can be a goal.

DEFENSE
Unlike the situation up front, the defense should be close to remain the same except for the exception of new acquisition Derek Androlet who has already some experience in the Shockers line-up and then there is the questionable attendance of Greg Emmanuel.

Points to work on: The defensive pairings need to work on getting the ball out of the zone as we have seen the Shockers struggle with this all season. However, it is not all the defense fault, as a successful zone exit takes the cooperation of both the offense and defense.

GOALTENDING
Giancarlo Capaz will make his return to the Shockers as their number one goalie since the Division One Blues have officially moved out of the NABHL and in turn breaking their binding contract with Capaz. Capaz made it clear that he would prefer to stay in the NABHL. However, the team cannot deny the excellent performance of Eric Archambault in the Shockers last game and then there was courageous efforts made by Chuck Ghazarian in two games during the season which leaves management to make a decision on who will be the number two.

WHAT TO EXPECT
The Shockers will definitely have a couple of new faces for next season and expect them to come out firing on all cylinders as the team is disappointed about their abrupt finish of their debut season. On a side note, it has been announced that the Shockers will be handing in the bleu, blanc, rouge for something a little different this upcoming season. This is be their default jersey unless the colors don't work out with the opposing team then you will see them back in the bleu, blanc, rouge but until then here is the prototype jersey for next season.

Shockers Season Comes to a Close

Final Score
Expos 11 - Shockers 4

Despite much hype in the pre-season that the Shockers might just go all the way to the finals in their debut season it concluded quite abruptly last night when they suffered a walloping by the hands of the Expos in the playoffs first round action. Team management did not completely agree with how the NABHL treated the tie between the Ligers and Expos in the season standings which ultimately did not end in a favorable position for the Shockers. The Shockers came out a lot stronger against the Ligers and were sure that they could be the victors had they been matched up against them. Regardless, it is all said and done and as the old saying goes, there is no use to cry over spilled milk.

To the Shockers defense of their short-lived playoff stint, they were a little undermanned in critical battle stations. For starters, young spirited, Chris Diabo, missed out on the action as he was sidelined with prior commitments which in turn played a significant role in the lack of offensive firepower. Goaltender, Giancarlo Capaz, also missed out on the action even though he was replaced with a quite capable replacement, Eric "Archie" Archambault. Finally, Shocker's defensive squad stuggled to keep pace as they were down a man as well. Greg Emmanuel missed the game due to prior commitments.

First noteworthy point of the game would have to be Archambault's performance between the pipes doing the best that he possibly could in the hail of bombshells fired on net from Expos attackers. Second, would have to be assistant captain, Andrew Stevens, bone-crushing with on the Expos' defensemen, leaving the defender dazed and confused on the floor for at least a solid two minutes before being helped up and finding out that his shoulder has been dislocated. He left the game and was later taken to hospital to be treated.

All in all, the team's guns were pretty quiet up in front and were not able to muster up much scoring chances and that was ultimately the team's demise.

Finally, the season has come to a close for the Shockers even though it was much shorter than they hoped for but they should have no shame to not finish in the cellar of the league especially in their debut season. Shockers look to reconstruct the team for next season in the winter.

Good season boys, we learnt a lot and remember, this was only year one of a dynasty that will last forever!

Playoff season starting Sunday

After a heart breaking 7-6 lost to the first seed FW, the Shockers are turning the page on the regular season and looking forward to their first playoff game this coming Sunday.

The team played pretty well considering the limited resources of 5 F and 3 D. The Diabo brothers once again managed to keep the Shockers in the game with their stellar plays. Chris got a hat trick and Steve nailed in two. Sullo got the other goal and this game got the players pushing for the tie until the last seconds. With his 3 points night, Steve Diabo completed his season with 14 Goals and 12 Assists making him the top scorer of the Shockers. On another note, Shocker management was really happy when both brothers showed interest in coming back next season.

After the game, several players mentioned the Shockers could have used an extra forward and D to keep intensity up. The D was composed of always reliable Jasmin and Boucher, Hamelin coming back from back spasm injury had problems keeping up with the young guns. Timing was off and I was running low on fuel at the end of the periods stated Hamelin. I think 4 is the magic number for D’s… Too bad Johnson couldn’t make it and Emmanuel’s didn’t get the permission from his girlfriend… It’s a sad day for the entire family.

Captain Alain Godard has all sorts of problems to deal with… Like finding a replacement goaltender for Sunday’s first game. “Capaz won’t be able to make it! Shit is hitting the fan big time!” were Godard words, “I’m making calls, trying things, but nothing good to report yet… losing wood for sure, running out of wood.” Captain tried to stay positive stating that big names were coming back in the line up. “Drew and Jon will be back from their honeymoon, shit, I just blew their cover… “ Little did Godard know, their dick slapping stories have been going around the press room for a while and everybody knew this was going to come out sooner than later.

Boucher was also concerned with the goaltending situation “This is bigger than the Sundin signing, we’re talking huge game, do or die” “This will be 45 minutes of intense hockey, the Expos are going to give us a tough battle, I hate them, especially Carpman…”

Capaz refused to comment, he was emotionless after he had to back out of the first ever Shockers playoff game. Capaz has to deal with some family affairs before he makes his come back… Hopefully the Shockers will pass the first round. According to Jasmin they will “We’ll win this one for GC, he deserves to drink in the cup… worst to worst he’ll have to drink in mine”

Until then, keep your eyes on the ball and your stick on the floor kids…

Emery syndrome – “Shower me with kisses” – G.C.Capaz

Shockers management have been trying from the get go to keep star goaltender G.C. Capaz happy but it seems like he [Capaz] wants all the spotlights to be turned on him. The high maintenance netminder has been sending all sorts of mix messages the past few weeks leaving some of the players to question his commitment to the team.

Captain, Alain Godard, didn’t want to comment the situation since he’s a huge fan of Capaz. The prima donna [Capaz] stated he needed the night off to be well rested for the busy post-season schedule. The captain [Godard] did mention it wasn’t the best of times to miss a game, he would rather have full rosters and get everybody in playoff mode.

Jasmin was quite colorful when asked to comment the situation. Capaz is a taint and Godard is a taintslave… any other question? Let’s move on and get ready for the last regular season game.

References: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=taintslave

Boucher stated he would be disappointed if Capaz missed the last game of the regular season and doesn’t believe Capaz needs to be rested for the playoffs. “Resting is for the weak… Back in my country they send you to jail for resting. I use to walk 15 miles to go to school and never once, did I stop to rest. It’s one god damn hour, he can rest after!”

Seems like the Shockers will be playing short bench once again and not even sure who will be keeping the nets for them. Nick Sullo over heard that team management was talking to an obscure but talented netminder named Jose Lopez. Story says he never really played hockey but they have a similar game in his homeland, a mix of handball and rugby where the goal keeper has to stop flying fast coconuts thrown toward his net. He was the country number one prospect until he got shelled by a barrage of shots and lost his left testicular. Might be something to consider…

We’ll see how the team does against the number one team of the league tonight

Shockers Lose - FW Remain Undefeated

Final Score
FW 9 - Shockers 4

FW better themselves in NABHL standings as they went on to beat the Shockers 9-4 to give themselves a perfect 8-0 record thus far this season. Shockers, who had been playing this season with a rather over-staffed bench found themselves short manned in this game.

"We had to pull up a defense of forward to balance out the lines, but it was a tough game well played by our defense for being just three guys," noted Jeff Jasmin.

A shocker for the Shockers was the presence of Greg Emmanuel who played Mark Streit style hockey as he was bounced from defense to forward during the game. Emmanuel, still has yet to pot a point this season, but has been consistant in his all-around gameplay.

"I had to help out the guys this game. We gave good effort," added Emmanuel.

Goaltender, Giancarlo Capaz, had his work cut out for him facing several shots from literally all angles of the surface.

"A lot of shots were screens, odd bounces, and top shelf shots, there isn't much you can do in these situations but hope for the best," explained Capaz.

The Shockers had their limited production in the game and was pretty much limited to Big Baller himself, Steve Diabo and assistant captain, Andrew Stevens. Diabo, who leads the Shockers in scoring (15 points), netted a hat-trick to give him a total of 8 goals on the season. Stevens, who has been rather quiet in the points department this season, netted a goal and two assists.

The Shockers will take on the Grinders next week but once again will be down players, this time it is Andrew Stevens and Jon Sante. Shockers will need to take home the 'W' as their season is slowly slipping away from them.

Capaz Makes a Timely Return

It is no doubt that the Shockers are anticipating the return of their number one goaltender, Giancarlo Capaz, who had missed the last two games due to fatigue. Team management gave Capaz two games off to rest up and prepare for what will be some very intense games coming up in the next couple of weeks.

Shockers managed to split the games with one win and one loss without Capaz between the pipes. Chuck Ghazarian filled the pads in his place and had a good first outing against the Blazers but then was bombshelled against the Ratz the following game. Shockers suffered their first loss by mercy rule in club history with the 12-2 shellacking by the hands of the Ratz.

Capaz commented on his return earlier this morning during the team's off-ice conditioning session, "I'm happy to be back, I'm looking forward to getting back out there. Two whole weeks without hockey made me lose wood."

"[Ghazarian] helped us out but having Capaz back brings a smile on my face...like the same smile I'd get if I got a 24 of Tremblay," added Shockers head honcho, Alain Godard.

Capaz will need to be on the top of his game on Wednesday as the under-staffed Shockers take on first place dynamos, FW. Shockers will have a changed line-up as Francois Hamelin, Alain Godard, Ben Ducharme and Chris Diabo will not be on the scoresheet.