Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

THE PHANTOMS DOUBLE UP THE SCORE TO PUSH LOSING SKID TO 2 GAMES

GAME 5 RECAP





Note: Score should read 5-2

Game Summary

The Pirates suffered another home loss at the hands of the Phantoms pushing the losing streak to 2. The Phantoms struck early scoring 2 quick first period goals. Caught reeling and trailing in the game the Pirates couldn't generate much offense. The Phantoms, who take their queues from parent club Philadelphia, were hitting everyone in a white jersey.

After Auvinen buried a powerplay marker, the Phantoms would come right back and score to get that goal back. Tempers flared in the 3rd when Norton took exception to a Klotz late hate and they squared off, which resulted in Norton pounding on Klotz for about 30 seconds before the Refs broke it up.

The Pirates had a scary moment as well when Pirates forward C. Morrison took a high cross check to the back of the head, from Zac Rinaldo. Morrison was helped off the ice and taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation. With Morrison's past dealings with the injury bug, if he was out long term it would be another setback in his career.

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

PIRATES HALT SKID WITH BIG WIN OVER PROVIDENCE

GAME 6 RECAP





Coaches Take

Coach, what did you do differently tonight to get the Win?

I think we were more hungry, you know we lost 2 and didn't want to make a habit of it. We had a good practice the other day and everyone showed up today committed to getting a win.

What was your reaction to seeing your star goaltender drop the gloves with a known agitator?

*Chuckles* Let me tell you something, when it happened I was more worried for Hamill's safety then Sundin's. He had what, a good 4 or 5 inches on him. Hamill is lucky the refs came in when they did because I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of Mikael's bombs.

Your defense played a lot better tonight, would you say they are finally gelling as a unit?

Certainly, most of these guys came in here this season with very little chemistry together. We've been working at it and making sure they communicate and after awhile it just becomes 2nd nature. I'm really impressed with how they are maturing out.

What about Pattenden? A healthy scratch four straight games now?

You see there you go, ruining a perfectly good interview with a ridiculous question. Are you some sort of Pattenden fan boy or something? I'll say it now so I don't have to ever repeat myself, Steve will earn his ice time when he can show to the coaching staff that he is willing to step-up and work on his defensive game and that is all I'm going to say on the matter.

Thank you for your time Coach MacNeil.

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

TEAM LEADERS AFTER 6 GAMES

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

SUNDIN SHUTOUT BACKSTOPS PIRATES TO VICTORY

GAME 7 RECAP





GAME SUMMARY

In the first of back to back games in St. John's the high flying Pirates came out and scored a very big powerplay goal early in the game. The Icecaps couldn't handle the Pirates forecheck after the first goal and that led to two undisciplined penalties. Portland couldn't capitalize on a 5 on 3 however and the game would continue.

The much improved Pirates defense were clearing pucks and making smart outlet plays to support Sundin. The game turned nasty when the frustrated Icecaps took to running Sundin. In one play Chiarot ran full speed, and didn't brake and rammed into Sundin. Sundin went flying, hitting the net and his helmet came off because of the contact. Chiarot quickly had to defend his actions because Norton immediately dropped the gloves and a brawl began. That wasn't the end of the hostilities as other brawls would break out throughout the game, with 5 fights in total throughout the game.

The Pirates would come out the victors however, earning Sundin his first shutout of the season. Get set to play the Caps in 2 days and we'll have to see if the hostilities will remain between these two clubs.

FIGHT RECAP
Norton vs. Chiarot (Win)
Rundblad vs. Maxwell (Win)
Janssen vs. Gregoire (Draw)
Norton vs. Forney (Win)
Schlemko vs. Machacek (Win)

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

POWERPLAY GOES TO WORK AS PORTLAND CRUISES TO VICTORY

GAME 8 RECAP





Game Summary

It was all Portland tonight as they bury the Icecaps by a score of 5 to 2. Coach MacNeil announced he will be starting Pogge despite Sundin coming off a 2-0 shutout. He also announced that he was changing up the lines to look for more chemistry.

It seemed to work perfectly as the teams two Finns connected on 2 of the teams 5 goals. The powerplay was also working as G. Morrison would bury his 4th marker of the season and Cooper would finally get that monkey off his back with a beautiful backhand shot. With 3 of the 5 goals scored on the One-Timer the Icecaps couldn't manage much of a response.

A scary incident happened when D. Norton would level M. Flood along the boards with a devastating hit. Flood would remain motionless on the ice for several moments before being helped off the ice by trainers. There was no call on the play, which was deemed a legal hit.

The win pushes the streak to 3 games and finally sees the club push over the .500 mark for the first time this season. The team will now travel back to Portland where they will get set to face Chazz Michaels, and the Manchester Monarchs.

LINES:

Forwards

MACLEAN - HOLOPAINEN - AUVINEN
C.MORRISON - NUBERG - COOPER
BLAINE - THOMAS - G.MORRISON
VOLPE - BELLINI - MILLER

Defense

RUNDBLAD - SCHLEMKO
WEBER - NORTON
PATTENDEN - JANSSEN

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

LEAGUE NEWS

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

PIRATES CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE AGAINST MICHAELS

GAME 9 RECAP





Game Summary:

Familiar rivals Portland and Manchester squared off in the first game of a Home & Home series. The Pirates were hoping for a different result from the teams previous 2 meetings where Chazz Michaels was almost impenetrable.

An early Monarch goal by Kolomatis put the Pirates behind early, not exactly where they wanted to be. Despite throwing 12 shots on net they still couldn't beat Michaels. Thomas tied the game in the 2nd with a great effort, hustling to a rebound and batting it in past the sprawling Michaels. The Pirates continued to pour on the offensive pressure but an odd man rush in the 3rd lead to a second Monarchs goal. Legein would put the game away with less then 3 minutes to play with a laser from the top of the circle.

As the final buzzer sounded, Coach MacNeil could only be left scratching his head as his team is yet to beat the Monarchs this season. With 3 more meetings during the regular season they will have to work to even the regular season series or risk giving up valuable points.

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

LEAGUE NEWS

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

Also forgot to add:

D. Rundblad was called up from Portland (AHL) to replace D. Morris. J. Aldridge was activated to replace Rundblad.

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

DIFFERENT NIGHT SAME RESULT MONARCHS DROP PIRATES 3-1

GAME 10 RECAP

[bthomp05]

Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

Tough couple of losses. Big trades happening, great to see

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

NOTE: Well after a well played 1-0 Shutout win I was about to write down stats when the game froze on me. Furious I didn't have the heart to watch another Sim so I just autosimmed the game. Unfortuately, the game resulted in a 5-3 Loss, which sucks. I feel a little jipped. So what do you guys feel I should do? I think I'm entitled to one do over, where if I am losing I can replay the game to get the win since I'm technically being cheated of a win. If it's not that big an issue I'll just stay the course.

Anyways, once again it was against those bloody Monarchs, I am really starting to hate this team.

Game 11 Recap

@ Manchester
5-3 Loss

Goal scorers:
Nuberg (1) from Cooper, Maclean
Holopainen (4) from Blaine, Weber PPG
Maclean (3) from Janssen, Cooper

D. Norton was injured by Clifford (had a misconduct) and will be injured for the next 3 months with Post Concussion symptoms.

Now I really hate this team!

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

LEAGUE NEWS



The face of the Phoenix Coyotes (soon to be Las Vegas) continues to change as many mainstays in the organization are being shipped out. During a layover in games for both Phoenix and Portland, management made some more trades to secure picks and bring in fresh young talent. It has been a pretty busy few days.

Korpikoski was shipped to St. Louis for a young prospect sniper in Ty Rattie. Although rated highly he isn't proven in the NHL and could be a bust, so management is taking a risk. The reassurance pick was also nice but with St. Louis projected to finish top 5 in the conference it might as well be a 5th.

Phoenix wanted to sign their young star but was at the maximum roster limit, so aging veteran A. Aucoin was placed on waivers, where he was promptly picked up by another young rebuilding franchise the NY Islanders.

The move allowed Phoenix to sign Rattie to a 3 year deal worth .710M. The youngster has been ripping up the WHL leading all players in scoring playing for the Portland Winterhawks.

Phoenix then traded the veteran winger R. Whitney for a younger more studier defenseman in S. O'Bryne and a mid round pick.

The Rangers unexpectedly sent premiere backup netminder M. Biron through waivers which management of this young team jumped all over. Although current backup J. Labarerra has struggled this year it wasn't expected he would be cast out of Phoenix so readily. That wasn't the case however as he was placed on Waivers and claimed by the Oilers.

In the wake of all this movement Portland forward M. Auvinen has been called up to the big club to provide support for the 1st or 2nd line. This will allow for either Klingberg or Cosgrove to rotate back into the Portland lineup. Phoenix has also sent rookie E. Volpe back to Major Juniors after his 10 day trial expired. The move will allow the highly touted prospect to see big time minutes in the OHL with the Sarnia Sting, rather then be limited to less then 6 minutes a night in the AHL.

Both Phoenix and Portland will have a chance to tinker with their lines amidst all the player movement in 2 days time as Phoenix is home to Montreal and Portland travels to Springfield.

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

NEW LOOK ROSTER DOUBLES UP SPRINGFIELD

GAME 12 RECAP





GAME SUMMARY:

After quite the shakeup throughout the entire organization the Pirates came out sporting some completely different lines. The fresh look team sparked a huge offensive showing as the Pirates would rout the Falcons by a score of 6-3. The newly formed top line accounted for most of goals, registering 3 while the 3rd line, defense, and powerplay tallied the other 3 goals.

While the offense was unquestionably there, the team lacked the discipline it normally was known for taking a season high 6 penalties. Because the penalty kill was on the ice for most of the 2nd period; including one 5 on 3, they didn't play that well as all of Springfield's goals came via the Powerplay.

Coach MacNeil iced the following lines during the game:

Forwards:

C. Morrison - Holopainen - Cooper
Blaine - Thomas - G. Morrison
Maclean - Nuberg - Cosgrove
Bellini - Pouiliot - Miller

Defense:

Yonkman - Schlemko
Weber - Pattenden
Aldridge - Janssen

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Re: Transcending Expectations: The Coaching Career of Neil MacNeil (NHL 12)

TEAM LEADERS AFTER 12