Tlačové správy

The Royal City Redshift are battered and bruised. They've been to war and back, time after time after time. They've accomplished what many thought impossible yet there is still work to do. That work started today with game 1 of the II.4 quarterfinals. The Redshift, being the top seed, have home-ice through the playoffs were in front of a sold out 10,000 fans for today's game. Les Dangereux were in town and they live up to their name. They're not a flashy team but they're dangerous. Take the lightly and you'll end up on the wrong side of 3 points.

The Redshift would go with Radosta in net and the usual mix of veterans and rookies. The start however, would not be in their favour. Despite outshooting their opponent 10-6 in the opening frame the Reds were down 1-0. It was then that their true colours came through.

"He woke us up. Plain and simple. I won't repeat what was said, but he was right. And that's why he's our captain" said Antoine Slater the Reds' leading scorer about Braden Debeau.

Debeau assisted on a goal by Zabka early in the second which was quickly matched by a short-handed goal by their opponent. Debeau reportedly once more blasted his team during the intermission, not letting the coaches even speak tactics. This was uncharacteristic of the normally calm captain, but he was right once again. The best leaders however, don't have to yell. They lead by example, and he continued to do so.

The Reds tied it up at 2 minutes into the third with Debeau making a dandy pass for an open-net tap-in. With six minutes left to go he was at it again. Another assist made it three on the night and the Reds had their first lead, 3-2. They held on after adding an empty netter to win 4-2 - albeit an interesting one.

In the end, the fans left happy. All 10,000 of them treated to a thrilling game. Full of hits and the grit you come to expect in a playoff series. However, those who are closest to the team, weren't so thrilled.

"It's inexcusable" said Debeau the game's first star. "We are the team to beat. We must play like it. There's no reason we should get behind in our own rink. It's simply not right. It's our rink. It's our fans. It's our win."

"You know you have an experienced set of guys when you don't even have to say anything between periods" said head coach Wilson. "They just took over themselves. All I had to do was tell them when to go out. Made my job easy, but again, it shouldn't come to that. Management will have meetings this weekend to determine the plan for the rest of the series. We have some serious thinking to do."

Rumour has it that management is going for the final blow on Monday, not leaving anything to chance. Their newly recruited veterans to carry the workload, in preparation for next year's Cup Winners' Cup.

"I won't confirm or deny that. All I'll say is we want to get them into more games before the season is over. We need to get them feeling good in the uniform and clicking. They'll be a large part of our success (or failure) in next year's international competiion" said canucks357.

The Reds will play on Monday when they hope to end the series. Should all things go to plan they won't know for sure who they'll be playing in the second round, but fans are worried. This year has been a tough one on the players. They're tired and banged up. Many think they don't have what it takes to claim the playoff title. Many think this may be their first and only win in the playoffs... there's lots of doubt among the faithful. But the players aren't phased, they're focused and if that's any indication based on past results, the wins shall follow.

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