Season/Play-off Review (we're number 1, Mark Streit "4 more years, 4 more years")

It's official the Boston Shamrocks are now the most successful team in the 606hl, becoming the first team to win multiple King's Cups alongside several regular season titles and a Farm Play-off title for the Leprechauns last year.

After a dominant regular season finishing 12 points head of the league and 24 points ahead of the division the play-offs didn't not start according to plan. The Shamrocks gave up the first two games at home despite out shooting their opponents. Patrik Sievy was probably seen to be most at fault but needless the say the team needed to improve as a whole. The team responded by winning the next three finally finding their scoring lead by Simon Gagne who would finish the play-offs as the teams leading scorer. Another close game took the series to game 7, meanwhile the Leprechauns had been knocked out and some of the standouts from the farm team joined the pro team to try and contribute. They perhaps made a case for making the switch permanently next year as Woywitka made an important contribution easing the load on the defence and Bell played a part in getting the powerplay warmed up. The Shamrocks finished the series in decisive fashion beating the Badgers 7-1 with Mark Streit and Tyler Seguin at the heart of the action with 7 points between them.

The Shamrocks moved on to the second round facing the Beefs and looking for revenge for their exit in the year 1 play-offs. The first game was an 3 period epic with Seguin again an important contributor alongside Marian Gaborik who stole the show with the winning goal 117 minutes into the game. The Shamrocks won the next two games taking the Beefs to the brink thanks to consistent scoring and improved goal-tending from Patrik Sievy. However in games 4 and 5 the Beefs turned it around and looked to be on their way to a comeback, again Sievy was at fault and after being replaced in game 5 he didn't return to the starting job. Thankfully the Shamrocks turned it around in game 6 largely thanks to a 3 point night from Simon Gagne and the powerplay contributions of Brendan Bell. The Shamrocks were through to their 3rd play-off final and on the verge of 606 league history.

After a tight series on the other side of the table the Shamrocks were relieved to avoid the Sharks who prevented the Shamrocks becoming double and back to back winners in season 3. Instead the Shamrocks faced the Fumblesaurus Rex who had perhaps underachieved in the regular season based on their squad. What could have been a challenging series never materialised the Rex's top guns faltered perhaps weakened by a tough fought semi final. In the end it was quite easy for the Shamrocks sweeping the Rex and winning by 2 goals or more in all but game 2. Its hard to pick a single player who contributed to the victory, in season 2 Shane Doan and Stephen Weiss played the biggest parts alongside stellar goaltending by Marty Turco. However it was more of a team affair this year. 7 players scored 15 points or more my personal favourite was Tyler Seguin who while strong in the regular season was ended up behind the older heads in scoring. However it seems the play-offs have been a coming of age for the youngster as he finally took his place among the elite players of the team finishing 3rd overall in points.

Questions remain for next season, the powerplay troubles that have plagued the Shamrocks still remain and the penalty kill was the worst in the playoffs. The young goaltending tandem of Sievy and Wedgewood haven't quite cemented themselves as elite goaltenders just yet but Wedgewood will surely continue the starting role he held throughout the regular season thanks to his play in the later half of the playoffs. The biggest questions however will revolve around the future of Jason Arnott and more importantly Mark Streit. When Gaborik, Carle and Pomminville were brought in at the end of last season the Shamrocks were gearing up for a run at the cup before their veterans retired. That failed to materialise last year but after a strong regular season the new boys integrated well and delivered the goods this season. Arnott perhaps is the most replaceable having weakened over the last two years it seems Tyler Seguin is set to move to his preferred position of center next year and lead from the second line. Whether the team can live without Mark Streit remains to be seen particularly as Erik Johnson struggled throughout this years play-offs despite a strong regular season. Maybe like Arnott, Streit will decide to continue playing for a year or two still, however right now the focus is on the present and the Shamrocks can enjoy sitting firmly at the top of the 606hl.