On Tuesday night, the Dieppe Commandos' season came to a heartbreaking end, an OT loss in Game 5 against the Woodstock Slammers in the Meek Division semi-finals. Since then, I've been thinking of how to recap the season of this club, who were not rated among the championship contenders but nonetheless looked to build off their successes of the previous season. The end result? A 27-20-1-4 record, good for 59 points on the season (and an 11 point improvement over 2011-2012) followed by the aforementioned first round defeat to the Slammers.
Despite the quick exit from the postseason, this team set out what it looked to accomplish more often than not. Even in that Game 5 defeat, with a number of variables working against them (series to that point, quality of opponent and, some would argue, officials) they came within a goal of taking the series to a sixth game back at the AJL despite being down three games to none at one point. As the season progressed, this team became more and more comfortable in virtually all game situations. They figured out on more than one occasion how to win... sometimes in conventional fashion, sometimes not. At the end of the day, it was another enjoyable season in the booth with a great group of on ice as well as off ice personalities.
Rather than go into specific details on my general thoughts on the team (read the archives of this blog for a better idea of those), I thought I'd go through a point form version of how I saw things with the Commandos in 2012-2013.
Best streak - From February 1st - March 3rd, Dieppe went 8-3-0-1 and kept themselves in the race for 2nd place in the Meek Division. Included in that span were key victories over Woodstock and Yarmouth at home.
Worst streak - Probably a 10 game span from September 29th - October 18th. During a time when divisional rivals Woodstock and Miramichi were spinning their wheels, the Commandos could not separate themselves from the pack, going 2-7-0-1 and looking particularly sloppy some nights.
Biggest strength - Much of the Commandos improvement can be traced back to their domination over teams lower then them in the standings. The seventh place Commandos went a combined 20-2 over the clubs ranked 8th -11th in the MHL, the Miramichi Timberwolves, Campbellton Tigers, Bridgewater Lumberjacks and Metro Shipbuilders respectively.
Achilles heel - It haunted them all season and right straight through into the playoffs - the inability to win a game in Woodstock. Between the regular season and playoffs, Dieppe went a combined 0-6 at the Carleton County Civic Center. In the regular season, it arguably made the difference between second and third place in the division. In the playoffs, it arguably prevented the series from being extended any further than it was.
Best game - In terms of complete, 60 minute effort, I'll go with their 5-1 victory over Miramichi back on January 6th. With both teams still neck and neck in the division race and the T-Wolves looking for revenge after a 3-2 shootout loss four nights earlier, Dieppe took control of this game early and despite the relatively close shot totals, never allowed Miramichi to gain momentum with most of those Timberwolves shots coming from the perimeter. Honorable mention goes to their 11-1 trouncing of the Lumberjacks in Bridgewater, but the Miramichi game takes precedence due to importance in the standings at the time as well as difficulty of opponent.
Most exciting game - Easy choice here... the comeback. After falling behind 6-3 in the third, Dieppe would rattle off four goals in just over ten minutes (the final three in just over four minutes) to defeat Woodstock 7-6 on January 20th. Matt Bernier's shot from the point on the powerplay - his first MHL goal - proved to be the winner.
Worst game - On December 8th, the Commandos traveled to Truro without then top scorer Danny Chiasson and key defensive dman Mathieu Martin. Suiting up with 16 skaters, the club opted to throw backup Vincent Charest into the fray and promptly got thumped 8-2 in a game in which Halifax prospect Brandon Pye dominated for the Bearcats.
Season turning point - The December 21st trade of Chiasson to the Summerside Western Capitals. It's not often that a club trades it's leading scorer and winds up more successful afterwards but that in fact was the case in Dieppe. From that point forward, the team took on more of a "winning by committee" type feel. The on-ice attitude of the team seemed to change and based solely on the win-loss record, it was a change for the better. With the Edmundston native in the lineup, Dieppe sported a record of 14-15-0-1. After the trade, the Commandos were 12-9-0-1.
Ironically, this trade, which saw Dieppe also send 5th and 7th round picks in the 2013 draft in exchange for the rights to forward Issac Jay and current Saint John Sea Dog Steven Anderson as well as 4th and 6th round picks in 2014, could wind up being the turning point of next season as well with future considerations coming across the Confederation Bridge at the MHL draft in June to finalize the deal.
Best individual performance - Three stand out here:
The first one goes to Zack Cahill and his four goal performance against Bridgewater on October 28th. Among those four goals was a breakaway tally (Cahill seemed to be good for one breakaway every game this season) as well as the game winner in the second period. Amazingly, it was his first of two four goal games against the Lumberjacks this season. The 20 year old wound up tied for the league lead in goals with 37.
Second goes to Robbie Graham. Joining the Commandos a little over six weeks into the season after beginning the year with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Graham made his home debut on November 11th against Pictou. He made his presence felt late in that game. With Crushers forward Brandon Parsons sent off on a double minor for high sticking at 18:45 of the third and the Commandos trailing 4-3, Graham would waster little time, tying the game up just 23 seconds into the first half of the minor. Not to be outdone, Graham would stuff a rebound past prone former Commando goalie Brandon Thibeau 39 seconds into the extra frame, sending Dieppe off the ice victorious and Graham on a tear that would see him score at a 2 PPG pace during his first month with the Commandos.
Finally, despite the shortened postseason, Connor Wilkinson hung around long enough to put on the most spectacular goaltending performance at the AJL this season. With Dieppe facing elimination in Game 4, the 19 year old netminder - who had struggled in nets during the first two games of the series - bounced back in incredible fashion, reading the play and tracking the puck with outstanding precision. By night's end, the game extended itself into double overtime, Wilkinson had stopped 51 of 52 drives from Slammer sticks, and Dieppe was still alive in the series, winning 2-1.
Guy I would least like to play against - There were three guys I had in mind here, but Joslin Gallant gets my vote. Obviously, I am not a player. I'm also considerably less in shape than anyone in the league (this includes all coaches and most statisticians... though I might be able to outskate Lyndon Pike). Therefore, it should be understandable why whenever I see Gallant lay someone out on the ice, my first thought is always "thank god that's not me". Plus, he's not exactly shy about answering the bell in the fight department... or ringing it, for that matter. On more than one occasion this season, Gallant has done something on the ice that I swear I felt up in the booth (not including getting hit on the back of the head by Stephane Paquette with a Diet Coke bottle). For the record, the other two players up for consideration here were Mathieu Martin and Alex Snow.
Guy who I can't wait to see back next year - I'll go with Alex Snow. The rookie from Baie-Verte, Newfoundland was sidelined with injury until November. However, once in the lineup he more than made up for lost time. As a 17 year old in a 20 year old's league, Snow more than accounted himself in all three zones, putting up 19 points in 33 games to go with 71 PIMS for the fiesty winger. On more than one occasion, Snow had more the appearance of heat sinking missile than hockey player when out on the ice. Combined with a spectacular release and excellent poise, he'll be a fan favorite in the years to come.
And with that, I thank the Commandos for another inviting season in the press box of the AJL. This is a team on the rise and with any luck, they will turn heads in the MHL in 2013-2014. JF Damphousse, Jeff Leblanc and all the staff should be proud of the results of their hard work so far.
Now to get in a few games at the Levesque (and it's awesome little press box) next season...
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