Brampton Takes Game 1

Game one of the Mann Cup went last night in Brampton and the home team did not disappoint. New Westminster got out to an early 1-0 lead but after almost nine minutes of solid defence and some missed chances by Bramton, the Excelsiors finally tied it up. That goal sparked their offence and they went on to score three more in the first to take a 4-1 lead into the first intermission.

In the second period, it was more Brampton as they got two more goals before New West netted their second to end the second period scoring. New West seemed to find some life in the third and tried to mount a comeback but they came up short against a tough Brampton defence backed by a solid performance by Cosmo (who had help with some lucky goal line bounces) and lost 8-5.

The first ten minutes of this game was by far the best. Action was going both ways and the defence on both ends allowed very little. Brampton had trouble getting their first goal after hitting the post a couple times but when they did they got a couple within a couple minutes and that seemed to take the steam out of the Salmonbellies and that lead to more quality chances for Brampton. Brampton seemed to totally dominate the second half of the first period. The Salmonbellies power play was ineffective as well. They seemed to be flat footed and didn't get Cosmo moving around enough. The Salmonbellies regained their composure late in the game, after the game got a bit ugly, and showed glimpses of why they were the best team in the country during the regular season.

I confirmed something last night, something that I was thinking on for a few games now: it is hard to keep really focus on a game when dealing with a two year old as well. Although my son was relatively behaved last night, I found that I struggled to really pay attention to the game so my analysis is not as in depth as I would have liked. We'll try again tonight.