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<div align="center">ON THIS MORNING'S BROADCAST:
Game 42 of Season 30 of the SMJHL....

Halifax Raiders VS Montréal Militia
5 VS 4</div>

COOTER: Well, folks, we're breaking a little from our format this morning.
BARTON: Wait -- we are? I don't know about this.
COOTER: It was your idea!
BARTON: Oh, you mean doing the phones and social media first!
COOTER: Duh, man. What did you think I meant?
BARTON: I don't know, listen, I don't like change. You remember the one time you tried to get me to switch to the medium roast Chock Full 'o Nuts instead of the New York Blend? That was une goddamn catastrophe, as they say in the Q.
COOTER: Fortunately, we're not doing anything that dramatic today. But let's talk about the game, man! Look at Halifax! Totally different team three weeks in.
BARTON: Eh, kind of. Different problems, anyway.
COOTER: Ah, c'mon. They've tightened up their PK, they've gotten tighter with their overall discipline, and it's paying off. This was a high scoring game last night, but almost none of it was because the Raiders couldn't keep control of their players -- they gave up only two total powerplay opportunities to the Militia last night --
BARTON: -- yeah, and the Militia still managed to produce on one of them --
COOTER: OK, true, but Halifax really contended against Montreal without increasing their hit numbers or upping total PIMs, turning the second period to their advantage. It's a shame they couldn't make more of the nearly twice number of shots on goal they had against Montreal in the 3rd, but they locked Montreal down after two early 3rd period goals and got the job done.
BARTON: That whole second period was really wacky, by the way.
COOTER: Super wacky.
BARTON: But less of us on the game, and more of you guys out there listening in. Phone lines again are 800-XXX-XXXX -- please be kind to our interns operating the phones this morning, they've probably had at lot less coffee than you -- or if you're too grumpy to speak, you can always tweet us at @CootsandBarts with your comments and questions.
COOTER: We've had a few come in this morning already, so we'll actually start out with the folks participating from the Twitter-sphere. This one is from @BlueLineBeaut, and reads --

Quote:@BlueLineBeaut writes:

"2nd period was like a game of pong w/ all that nt icing going on -- did ever1 forget how 2 pass? @CootsandBarts"

BARTON: Your guess is as good as mine, BlueLineBeaut. I mean, they're not wrong?
COOTER: The thing that kills me about all the no-touch icing that happens in the second period of this game is that there is legitimately no reason for it. There's just over a minute of ice time around the 11th minute of play where Halifax does get a powerplay --
BARTON: -- which gets converted into a shorty by Montreal, of all things, with a beautiful goal by Vikstrom.
COOTER: Yeah, but the irony is that at no point during Montreal's penalty kill do they ice the puck, which would be understandable, it's only when playing actual five-on-five. So can I explain why for the first half of the second period, Montreal's defense seems to collectively forget how to pass? No, not really. I do know, though, that despite the way that icing can potentially break up a team's momentum, Halifax scored three times during that same period.
BARTON: Montreal scored twice as well, though.
COOTER: Alright, so maybe whatever kind of backwards-ass strategy they employed in the second produced offensive opportunities, but considering most of the puck-dumping came from Montreal's defense, I'm going to attribute the decision to play the way they did to their overall defensive strategy. And now, with the clarity of hindsight, I can say with certainty that the Militia's defensive strategy in the second failed, and failed miserably.
BARTON: Next comment -- this one is from @hotdogfrank5:

Quote:@hotdogrank5 wrote:

"1/2did anyone else see Pel reaching over w/ her stick from bench to knock over water bottles 2/2 lined up on Montreal's side of the aisle?"

COOTER: Is this guy for real?
BARTON: Do we still have the old Clarkson clips? Can we roll them?

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COOTER: Is there anything else that really needs to be said?
BARTON: Well, did you see her interfering with Montreal's water bottles?
COOTER: Did you?
BARTON: It's bad practice to answer a question with a question.
COOTER: Speaking of which, do we have someone on the phones Jerry? We do? Great, put them on through. Paul B, from Sherbrooke on the line, how you doing Paulie?

PAUL B: Hey guys, huge fan of the show. Real quick though, what do you guys think happened to our guys and gals during the 3rd period? I mean, I still can't get over the fact that we outshot Montreal as dramatically as we did and couldn't even put one in the net by the end of the 3rd.
BARTON: Halifax fan, right?
PAUL B: Hell yeah, man, let's go Raiders!
BARTON: Yeah, yikes, sorry for your shitty life choices.
COOTER: Ignore this asshole, man.
PAUL B: [laughs]
COOTER: Look, honestly, I think Hocolate got really worn down by the second period, and while Stephen Harris is a little lacking in numbers to his starter Kirkstone, having someone fresh in goal for the Militia helped them shut the Raiders out on the back-end. Hence, high shot numbers but very little production. Hocolate, on the other hand, got very sloppy with his rebounds, and so while the Raiders put up decent defense during the period without veering towards the physical like they've been doing in earlier weeks, the combined effort wasn't enough to keep Montreal from scoring two more times before the end of the game.
BARTON: Yeah, sorry man, all kidding aside, I'm seconding the sudden influx of bad rebounds on the part of Hocolate, and maybe a less than pro-level handling of the puck in the early part of the period by Halifax's D. They cleaned it up, though.
COOTER: That they did, and in doing so, secured the win. Thanks for calling in Paul!
PAUL B: Nah, thank you guys! Have a good morning.

COOTER: Do we have time for one more?
BARTON: Jerry's giving us the thumbs up, so I guess so. After this one, we'll do our individual unsung heroes of the game, and then review the rest of the highlights after the commercial break.
COOTER: Alright, I have... Martha M. from St. John on the phone, good morning Martha!

MARTHA M.: Hey boys, how's it going?
BARTON: Pretty good --
COOTER: -- we're doing well, Martha, how about yourself?
MARTHA M.: Oh, well, traffic's shit on the 1, but what else is new? Anyway, I don't want to take up too much of your time, so I'll get to it -- for all that the media's been going after her for that one big fight against Kelowna, Iversen and Lindstrom seem to be making a great offensive springboard for the Halifax lines.
COOTER: I'd say you're right about that, Martha.
MARTHA M.: So, what I guess I'm asking here is do you think the downward trend in penalties is a good thing for the Raiders? I mean, we have a reputation as a rough-and-tumble team, but I can't say I'm sad to be more in control of our offensive zones.
BARTON: I mean, it makes for less of a spectacle, to be sure.
COOTER: Yes and no -- I don't think we've seen the end of days for Goon Iversen, or the feistier elements of the Raider's offensive lines. For all the Raider's penalty minutes have been dropping since the line brawl two games ago, I think it's been more about new line chemistry and trying to focus on the finesse elements of their game.
BARTON: And actually, with so much of their shooting support coming from their D -- I believe all the assists in last night's game were delivered by the Raider's defensive line, two a piece for Iversen, Lindstrom, and Banning, in fact -- the way Iversen and Lindstrom have worked on their passing to better complement their forward lines over the last week is impressive.
COOTER: I can't believe your saying something nice about Halifax.
BARTON: I'm in a generous mood.
MARTHA M.: Well, thank you boys!
BARTON: And thank you Martha for calling in this morning. Safe driving out there.

BARTON (cont.): ... and moving right along to our Unsung Heroes of Game 42 of this season's SMJHL, who'd you pick, Coots?
COOTER: I'm actually going to pick a member of the Militia, if that's alright by you.
BARTON: By all means, man, go for it.
COOTER: My Unsung Hero of the game is Montreal's Henrik Vikstrom.
BARTON: The obvious choice.
COOTER: Maybe, but he deserves it. Not officially one of the Three Stars of the game, Vikstrom put up 1 goal, 4 hits -- with zero penalty minutes -- and while his single point doesn't top point performances on his team or otherwise, his goal was the shorthanded goal Montreal put up in the middle of the scrappy 2nd period. I still think that his goal forced Halifax to over-invest energy in the bottom of the second, making Montreal's run at a comeback in the third even possible in the first place. It'll be interesting to see if Montreal keeps him on the fourth line for much longer.
BARTON: If I were Montreal, I wouldn't -- I'd try to get him up with Russet and Jeziak on the third at the very least, see how he does with a slightly more grounded centerman.
COOTER: Only time will tell.
BARTON: My Unsung Hero of the game... I hate to say it, but it's gonna be Greta "The Goon" Iversen.
COOTER: [laughing] That's gotta sting.
BARTON: Yeah, well, she put up two solid points on assists, kept her nose clean with absolutely zero penalty minutes, and while her hit tally could've been higher, I think her efforts on the powerplay goal in the first period can't be ignored. They are a huge part of the reason Halifax got off to a running start, and regardless of how much steam they lost over the course of play, the strong start is what let them go home with the win.
COOTER: You want some mouthwash, bud? You look a little green around the gills.
BARTON: Hey, screw you; I'm perfectly capable of giving credit where credit is due, and this game, the Goon gets it from me.
COOTER: Alright -- we'll be back after a short message from our underwriters with the highlights of the game. Keep sending in those messages, folks!



[includes: story of the game, radio call-ins, unsung heroes, analysis]