State of the Loons; 30 Games in...

"It's official, our hopes are officially up," Czepiel told reporters last night after watching the Loons sweep the grueling back to back against Dayton and Calgary. Prior to facing Dayton on Sunday, Czepiel tweeted that the upcoming games against two of the top CCHL teams were  - "make or break", and the Loons responded. What was most impressive about the two games was how the Loons fought through adversity. On Sunday the Loons controlled the game and heavily outshot Dayton, but with ten seconds left and the Dayton net empty, the Musicmen were able to tie the game at 2 and send it to overtime. Instead of getting down and letting the game get away from them, Coach Janney was seen screaming at his players prior to OT and it worked. Just 35 seconds into overtime, Bobby Ryan tipped home a Giroux wrister giving the Loons a 3-2 win. On Monday, Janney watched on as the Loons fell behind by two goals early, but were able to fight back. Capeside wore the Chinook down in the second period, tied the game late in the third and pulled off the win in the shootout.

Janney was quoted after Monday's shootout win, "Everyone is waiting for this team to collapse, but not here in this locker room. We have a great mix of guys that work well together and can contribute in all areas of the game." The Loons are winning with a balanced attack throughout the roster. After 30 games there are only 4 Loons who are minus players, trailing only Seattle in goal differential with a +23. GM Czepiel - " I would be lying if I were to say that we expected this amount of success- this fast. We went into this year with modest goals. We wanted to become financially sound and reshape the roster to get younger and more talented. As amazing as it is to have 22 wins at this point, the season is 82 games not 30. Our focus has to remain on the future and long-term success. We do not want to be a one year wonder and we will continue to look at our roster and make moves that are for the best interest of the team."

Czepiel continues to try and restock his draft picks and it has been rumored that newly acquired Giroux is being dangled in trade talks to add a younger center that can play long term with Captain Dubois. The league is quickly approaching the half-way point when UFA signings are allowed to be moved. Will pending UFA Niskanen or seldom used Niemi be moved? Maybe Czepiel will just enjoy the success, but we doubt it.