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Idol's confidence comeback

All Billy Idol needed was a shot of confidence.

He got it from a whole bunch of shots. The seasoned shotstopper faced down a barrage of scoring attempts early in Sunday's game, rebuilding the confidence that was shattered by a rough defeat last week and boosting his team to a 20-17 win.

The victory may have been a turning point in his career.

Since being felled by a shot in last Spring's Stanley Stick finale that collapsed his face mask and bruised his eye, Idol admits he's been a reluctant rearguard. Shots from in close made him flinch, shattering his concentration and eroding his confidence.

"I wasn't expecting to play goal today, and to be honest, I was ready to go into retirement (from goaltending)," said the versatile veteran.

But with a newfound discipline to keep his stick down to guard against the easy low shots that eluded him so easily last week, he started strongly in Sunday's rematch, regaining his confidence with each save, every smothered rebound.

"I think you've just got to try to make those first few saves," said Idol. "Your confidence goes through the roof."

Inspired by their revived rearguard, Idol's teammates wheeled and dealed in the offensive zone, their newfound confidence in their goaltender fueling their ability to take risks and press the play.

"I think right from the get-go, we had a pretty good idea this wasn't the Billy Idol of last week," said Elvis. "That sort of gave us the green light to be able to play a little more offensively."

They needed every one of their red light rewards, though, as a mid-game swoon almost cost them the game. After building a formidable lead, their hands turned to stone, their checking in the defensive zone to the ferocity of cold noodles.

"We were getting beat down low, we were losing the battles in the corner," said Idol as he gave up eight straight goals, tying the game at 16.

But the comeback creaseminder wasn't giving up. Diving across the crease, sprawling on his back between the pipes, Idol fought gamely to give his mates a chance to get their heads back into the match.

"Once they tied it up we knew we just had to bear down," said Elvis.

They rewarded Idol's determination with three straight goals.

"Last week I had no confidence, and today I felt really confident," said Idol. "It made the difference."

Posted by jaysuburb at January 25, 2009 09:17 PM