Last night, the Sasquatch left the rink, ready to pack their gear away for the summer, as their 2010-11 Playoff run fell short in a 5-2 semifinal loss to the Legacy. In a regular season that long-time Sasquatchers would rather soon forget (from a win/loss perspective), the team will look to move forward with optimism for the 2011-12 campaign. The 7-18-1 regular season record was a product of a team bringing on new free agents who were experiencing the growing pains of developing team chemistry. The loss of center, Tony Lopez, to injury for half the season also played a significant impact on the team's lack of leadership and success during a long 10 game losing streak. However, as the playoffs approached, the Sasquatch finally got into a grove. They played well and gained some momentum going into the playoffs. With the return of Lopez, the team started to gel and play more as a unit, rather than a bunch of individual players. New comer, Eddie Bello, emerged as the team's "scorer", by notching 34 goals during the regular season, and will look to pick up where he left off next season.
Although the team finished in last place, they were perhaps the second best team in the playoffs. It showed when they floored it against the Slashers in their 1st Round playoff win, as the team dominated the Slashers with a 10-0 victory. In the 1st Round match-up, the Sasquatch outplayed their opponent in all phases of the game, and goalie Mike Gaynor was rewarded with his first career playoff shutout. The semifinal match-up against the first place Legacy was a great game. The 'Squatch showed tremendous heart, facing the division's top team, who by a very wide margin, had the most goals for and the least goals against. Although the Legacy were vastly younger, faster, and more talented, the Sasquatch played them tough and made the Legacy earn their goals. This team displayed the "No Quit" attitude to a "T". Being down 3-0 late in the second period, the 'Squatch rallied to score two quick goals, and almost tied the game in the final seconds of the second period, but the would be third goal was disallowed as the net was dislodged. Up until the last minute in the game, the score was 3-2, until the Legacy capped the game with an empty netter and another goal seconds before the game ended. With the exception of the Legacy, it would not have been far fetched to think that the Sasquatch was the team that nobody wanted to play against in this season's playoffs.
In ending this column, I would have to say, "Yes, was a season that I'd soon like to forget." But, the will always be a season to remember for me. I came out of this season a WINNER, because I met new friends and just flat out had a ton of fun this season! Thanks for everything boys!
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