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Nibs' tune up hits sour note

If Nibs wants to win his first Stanley Stick as a starting goalie, he's going to have to put Sunday's disaster behind him.

The neophyte netminder, who played himself into a starter's role after opening the season as the third-string backup, faltered in the second half as his side's defense squandered a five-goal advantage to lose the final tuneup before next week's Championship opener, 20-14.

His potential teammates are hoping it was only a speed bump in his otherwise remarkable emergence as a solid shotstopper. The absence of former stalwarts Lobsterboy and Pig Farming Goalie through mush of the season's second half opened the door for Nibs to climb the depth chart. For the most part, he's responded.

"I've just been playing more, and that's built my confidence a little bit," said Nibs, before Sunday's game.

"He's getting better and better," said Paul One. "He's got a lot more confidence and that's what he has to do, put the nerves aside and start playing with confidence right from the opening draw."

"His work ethic is a lot better than it used to be," said Gump, who unstrapped the pads to give his successor apparent an opportunity to hone his game heading into next week's pressure cooker finale. "I think he's in better shape. It used to be when he played in goal he'd be great through the first half and then he'd get tired."

But Sunday's second half collapse wasn't his fault, as his defense abandoned him and the ball luck which had kept juicy rebounds off opposing forwards' sticks early suddenly turned, fates that are unlikely to be repeated when road hockey's biggest prize is on the line.

"You know your defense is gonna be amped up," said Cowboy Bill.

And his mates will be looking to Nibs to turn the heat up as well.

"He's gonna face some intensity and scrutiny like he never has before," said Cowboy Bill. "It's different than playing in the regular season."

"It's extremely competitive out there," said Unabomber, who played only his second game since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for six weeks. "Everyone is working way harder than they have for any other game in the season, mistakes can't be made, everything has to be stopped."

"He'll have to make an adjustment to the pace and intensity of play for sure," said Paul One.

A tall order, but one he's ready for, said Nibs. "It's a bit of pressure. I'll just play hard."

FOR A VIDEO PREVIEW OF THE STANLEY STICK, CLICK HERE

Nibs' opponent at the other end of the court will be another backup-turned-starter, Billy Idol.
With Pig Farming Goalie apparently retired to help around the house after the recent birth of his daughter, Lobsterboy mysteriously AWOL, and Gump only available for one of the two games, the roadsters faced a difficult decision to determine starting goalies for the Stanley Stick. A proposal by Colonel to recruit ringers was roundly rejected. So the pads have been passed to the backups, who've steadily improved through the season and seem equally matched.
Gump will play forward, a role he seemed to relish in Sunday's prelude, with a gritty performance on the forecheck that created a number of scoring chances for his victorious team.
Lobsterboy, after twice backing out of verbal commitments to play in late-season games, will be out of luck. If he bothers to show up.

Other roadsters expected to miss the first leg of the championship series are Lak Attack and Cowboy Bill, both of whom will be honing their fitness for the finale by running a marathon. They'll be included in the card draw and distributed to their respective teams accordingly.

Posted by jaysuburb at April 27, 2008 08:45 PM