The Cup is Coming to Boston (the Original) - Season Review

It's been a long road since the entry draft for the 606 Hockey League but the Shamrocks have been crowned season 2 champions. After a strong showing in season one with a play-off run ended by the eventual champions the Stevenage Beefs the Shamrocks created a season that could be built upon and looked to success in the second season. The Shamrocks GM stated at the start of the year that defence was the team's first priority and it appeared to pay off finishing second in the league in goals against. However the stand out star from this year was clearly the newly promoted first line center Stephen Weiss. When Joe Thornton was traded for Joe Pavelski and Colby Armstrong, a lot of faith was put on the shoulders of Stephen Weiss he took the pressure and turned it into an incredible year leading the league in both goals and assists. Weiss just could not be stopped, while leading the league in goals and assists he also received the most hits of any player by some margin but clearly the youngster has some thick skin and he just kept going throughout the season and play-off's.

Yet it was a year that showed the strength of new blood in the team, as mentioned Pavelski and Armstrong joined the team clearly to help fulfil the GM's defensive philosophy along with that trade came the free agent signings of Derek Morris, Andrej Meszaros, Eric Perrin and free agency surprise Marty Turco. All these transactions had a clear focus on improving the teams defence, the skaters would help fill in the teams perceived gaps and Turco would hopefully lighten the load on superstar Ryan Miller. Yet the GM clearly did not feel the team was complete with free agency signings alone, further transactions including a move that shocked many Shamrocks fans saw rookie of the year Dan Sexton leave for two-way forward Patrick Berglund again a trade heavily focused on defence. Yet while the offensive strength was weakened the rest of the roster stepped up, impressive years from Simon Gagne, the often criticised Jason Arnott and the age-less Vyacheslav Kozlov helped fill the offensive gaps and the Shamrocks turned into a team that played great D and still managed to lead the league in goals scored. This lead to the Shamrocks leading the league for the majority of the season yet as the year dragged on the Shamrocks form began to break and further action was required. The GM turned to frequent trade partners the Nottingham Penguins trading season 1 surprise star Cory Sarich and veteran Miroslav Satan for Shane Doan. While the trade couldn't stop the teams slide into second place in the league it would prove to pay of huge in the post-season.

The Shamrocks play-off success can largely be attributed to 3 players. Firstly regular season assist and goal leader Stephen Weiss, who after a slow start continued his impressive year with a similarly strong showing in the post season. Marty Turco who while backing up first starter Ryan Miller for most the season was ready when called upon with performances to match the strong goal tending of all the Shamrocks play-off opponents particularly play-off surprise Tomas Vokoun. Finally Shane Doan, who was signed late in the season to save the regular season managed to find the form he missed for the Penguins and lead all players in scoring throughout most of the post-season. Yet while it is easy to point out the stars of the Shamrocks post-season it was clearly a team effort that brought the cup back to Bean Town with all players but rookie Tyler Seguin chipping in with at least 5 points and only the 2 players in negative +/-.

The noise of the Shamrocks success will likely continue throughout the season break and into the regular season but while elated with the victory the team must inevitably look towards season 3 and how they can ensure consistent success and look to become the first team to win two cups in the 606 Hockey League.