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nour · 06-27-2021, 01:34 AM

When it comes to getting off to a very good start, the Colorado Raptors first game of the S60 SMJHL Regular Season is a pretty good example to follow! The Colorado Raptors came out to a banging start this year, stomping the bird boys out in Michigan by a score of 5-0! Did they lock up a lucky win? Nope! The Colorado Raptors came out and executed a wonderful game plan that left the Detroit Falcons sucking on the teat of defeat! How did they do this? Well, let's break it down!

Deep Offense

You don't score 5 goals in a game without having a lot of depth, and boy do the Colorado Raptors have just that! Raptors veterans really showed up here, with Gonzo Gobbledygook, KEKW Kekkonen, Jack Nishimori, Noel Blanchet combining for 9 points in this contest, what a showing for them! And it wasn't just the veterans who hogged all the spotlight, new baby raptors Gabe Gooney Waters Harrak and Hans Graf showed up as well, with Harrak picking up his first point, and Graf picking up his first SMJHL goal! But this really was a full team effort on behalf of the Colorado Raptors, seeing as they were able to outshoot their opponents 39 to 23! They were just so dynamic offensively.

Strong Defense

On top of being absolutely lethal offensively, the Raptors committed to a very strong team wide defensive strategy that was very effective in shutting down the Detroit Falcons offensive strategy! We've already taken a look at the Raptors limiting Detroit to almost have as many shots as they had, but there are 2 other key moments worth looking at here. For one, the Colorado Raptors played a physical game that absolutely bullied the Detroit Falcons' top offensive weapons, preventing them from getting clean zone entries or setting up in the Raptors Zone, and the hit totals really sell that story, where Colorado out-hit Detroit by a total of 24 to 7! The second point to focus on is Colorado's strong penalty kill, where despite being the less disciplined team, taking 3 penalties, they managed to kill 6 minutes of Detroit Power Play time, keeping Detroit from being able to close the gap in the score and generate any momentum.

All-Star Goaltending

You can have an explosive offense and a strong defensive strategy, but if you've got shaky goaltending, it can negate all the benefits these strengths bring. Thankfully for Colorado, Senji Seteki was more than happy to provide that in spades! The defense did a great job of limiting chances, but sometimes a low shot game can catch a goalie while they're rusty, and prevent them from getting into a proper rhythm. Seteki showed none of these worries here as he was a brick wall, posting a shutout in Colorado's first game of the season. His positioning and puck tracking stood out as major highlights of his, as he stood strong against the 23 shots he faced, rewarding the dynamic offense in front of him with a shutdown performance.

Approved! +5 TPE @nour