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Even though I was out of town for most of the weekend, I still managed to watch almost every second of the first round of the post-season (thank you B2), and I gotta say, some real impressive showings.

So with that said, I’m droppin’ the Thumbs Down portion of the Thumbs this week (even though a couple guys probably didn’t have their best showing) and am gonna keep things positive. Too many good things over the weekend to leak any negativity into a Monday.

So onto the thumbs up…

- Sick, sick, sickidy sick Air Gait from Andy Secore.

- Casey Powell, period. Scored from all over the rug at crucial times too. My fave goal from CP though had to be that one in the second period (I think). He beat about three Minny defenders within a super tight five foot radius and changed direction on a dime about four times, rifling one past Nick Patterson, who had the best seat in the house to watch Powell weave his magic. Best first step deeks of the year, especially when you factor in he did it like four times over on the same goal. If it wasn’t for AI’s record breakin’ season, CP would definitely be this year’s MVP, and that’s outside of his monster showing on Saturday night.

- Matt Vinc. The St. Kitts stud has not only officially arrived in the NLL, he’s already one of the league’s top tenders IMO. Such a clutch showing against Minny, including a first half that saw him post 21 saves while only allowing five. Add his name to the list of junior tender studs finding a place in the NLL.

- Yanks Greg Peyser and Jarret Park combining for 25 loosies in a game that looked like they were gliding on the rug as if they were on skates (and obviously ice). Peyser has been a horse over the last two games and is turnin’ a ton of heads around the league.

- And how could I not mention Jeff Ratcliffe. He’s been great off the ball all year (trust me, cuz I’m sure most haven’t noticed), but The Rat was finishin’ at an old school pace against the Swarm, including just a sick crease finish that was as good as anything he’d ever done with the Wings.

- That is why Darris Kilgourgot Mike Accursi!!! They mighta lost that trade long term, but God damn did Accursi show up on Friday night. I’ll say it again too, if Rochester didn’t have Mike last year, they wouldn’t have won the title. This long time vet has become the biggest difference maker in the past two post-seasons.

- Mike Thompson dealt with a ton of heat, especially early, but kept that game close when he needed to. Can Buffalo win a Champion’s Cup with Thompson between the pipes? I think so (and yeah, I was wrong about a bunch of other stuff from that link, but don’t read those). Outside of tryin’ to score one himself late, costing the Bandits’ some much need posession, he looked just fine in the W.

- Before running into some nagging injury issues, Kevin Dostiewas a leader on our first even Money Ballers. His goals were huuuuuuge on Friday night. How did it take so long for this guy to find a real starting gig in this league??

- Nice showing by Jamie Rooneyfor sure. Scored some big goals and definitely made sure that he was gonna help Nooch post some digits. So did a number of other guys on the Wings, but with only one goal comin’ outta their own end (and zero of the draw), they just didn’t have enough in the tank to edge the Bandits.

- Wow, Jamie Shewchuk just keeps producing even when the chips are down. I thought he’d be a good pro player, but never this good this fast. Played well beyond his age for most of the year, including the Calgary loss that knocked his crew out. Was definitely one of the lone bright spots in the second half of Colorado’s season.

- I mighta semi-nixed him in The Money Ballers last week (I didn’t really though), but what a gamer Kaleb Tothwas on Saturday night. Two massive goals in the first half to keep the Necks in the mix, and then his goal in the fourth period all but sealed the deal in a big fourth period comeback (props to TK too for setting up that last one in bad ass fashion). That was classic Toth, which Calgary will need again this coming weekend against the Jax.

- Steve Dietrich had a decent game, but what really impressed me was the play of Calgary’s D. In my pre-season shakedown, it was the Necks’ pretty young, untested D that I thought might do ‘em in this year, but that was furthest from the truth on Saturday night. It was a relatively high scoring game, 15-13 final, but it was the Rigger’s D late that limited Colorado’s chances and looks and was about as clutch as any late goals the Necks scored. Kudos to Terry Sanderson for bringin’ that crew together.

- Dan Dawsonis a full-out freak once the playoffs hit. Yeah, he’s a gamer all year, but this guy just takes it to a whole new level once it’s make-or-break time. He almost single handedly kept the Jax within reach when it looked like the Stealth were gonna run away with that West semi, but when you’re sitting on the bench and watching Daws do everything in his power to win, you’ve got no choice but to do the same. That one goal he scored in the second half, where he had one hand on his stick all while crashing (aka, being manhandled)to the rug and then going top corner on Cosmo… words cannot describe. And even though pointstreak doesn’t show it, I’m pretty sure that goal had Walt yanking Cosmo on the bench for a couple to recompose himself.

- Colin Doyle’s behind the back feed to a streaking Frank Resetaritswas the nastiest dish I’ve seen all year. Although watching Doyle backup the Jax’s monster sized D into their own crease (and creating crazy space)was classic, that pass to Resetarits was Paula Abdul insane.

- Jeff Zywicki is the best forward in traffic in the game today. Nothing spectacular (that I can remember as far as finish), but Zywicki puts it all on the line every shift, every game no matter who’s clubbin’ him in the back of the neck. That kinda grunt work is almost unseen from some teams in this league.

- Even though Matt Disher got run outta his crease early, Dish’s second half showing, especially during the game’s only two power-play opportunities, was what made the difference in the Jax’s shocker win. When those two penalties got killed and Disher saved everything thrown at him, I knew the Jax would come away winners. It was a total game defining performance. Derek Keenanmighta lost the Disher trade long term, but if the Lumberjax somehow win the Cup this year, that deal will make Keenan look like a genius.

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