The run is over.

[diamond_ace 3,112]

Ottawa participated in two series this playoffs. In one, the wild card round against Saskatoon, we didn't lose a game. In the other, the semifinal against Yukon, we didn't win a game. Now to say I was surprised to lose to Yukon would be a lie - they were the best team in the regular season, well ahead of Ottawa, and fully deserve a spot in the final regardless of our late resurgence of recreates. The surprising part, for me, was the sweep. I expected to get a game or two out of them. We almost did, there was one game where we only lost by a goal, but losing is losing and we did so 4 times, eliminating us from the playoffs.

 

The obvious next step is the draft. Saskatoon finished worse than us in both the regular season and the playoffs, which would give them first overall, and we'll then have second. The interesting part is that I'd floated around a trade idea last draft - this year's 1st for last year's 2nd and 3rd - that no one wanted to take. Ultimately, it worked out in my favor that no one took it. The two extra guys would have been nice, but I don't think it would have gained me enough points to get into 1st or 2nd (I thought the rest of our roster was better than it was, but we got cleaned out completely after Beaviss' cup run). We'd either have stayed right where we were, in which case we'd have almost certainly still lost to Yukon, or we'd have bumped up a spot and finished 3rd, where we'd still have had Vegas to face and likely lose - and a pending series with Yukon if we'd won. 2nd overall, as well as 7th and 12th now that there are only 5 teams (plus Yukon's 3rd, likely either 14th or 15th), should enable us to build a decent team. I'll also look to deal some S61 picks for S60 picks, if there are takers for that as well.

 

I do have a certain player in mind at 2, as well as a backup option should that player get taken at 1. Over the next few days (well, whenever I have downtime at the hotel, as I leave for Delaware in about 10 hours) I'll be looking to create a list at least as long as 7 (my 1 and 2 options are similar players so I won't need contingencies for if I get X instead of Y, so it's safe to build just a standard list to 7), and perhaps project from there what scenarios might play out heading toward the 3rd round.