Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Walleye (11/17/10)

After an very unsuccessful week the Everblades were probably very happy to see one of the worst teams in the ECHL come to town. Thankfully, the Walleye were kind enough to oblige the Everblades with some pretty disorganized hockey.

The first period opened with a bang thanks to Alex Imbeault who less than a minute into the game on a power play provided by former Everblade Dominic Osman. Mitch Fadden followed that goal up with one of his own around the five minute mark to make it 2-0. It was pretty amazing, and I wish I had managed to record it. He skated from one end to the other, and slipped it pretty-as-you-please right past the Walleye goaltender. It was a thing of beauty. The Blades maintained most of the control throughout the period. The Walleye, on the other hand, looked really sloppy. Their goalie really didn't do them any favors either. The Everblades SOG for the period was 4. He let two of those four shots in. I don't think it's a stretch to say that was less than stellar goaltending.


(This has got to be one of the coolest photos I've taken)

The second period appeared much more evenly matched. The Walleye were even able to notch one and narrow the Blades lead to only one goal. Two minutes after that goal, Matt Pistilli gave the Everblades the two goal lead once again. There was no more scoring in that period, but I did start to notice things getting more physical. The teams left the ice with the score at 3-1.

The third period saw the Walleye really lay on the pressure. Thankfully, the defense really played well. Whenever they let something slip by, goalie Bobby Goepfert was there to slam the door on the Walleye. Yet another goal by the red-hot Mitch Fadden gave the Everblades a comfortable 4-1 lead. Goepfert continued to make great saves throught the period, although, one was a little too close for my sanity.



What appeared to be a routine stop saw the puck trickle through his pads and nearly cross the goal line (which I have a picture of and will be putting up soon). There was also a scary moment for him when he lost his catching glove.



Now, you would think this would lead to the play being stopped, who would want a goalie trying to stop a puck traveling over 90 mph with his bare hand. Well, the lovely ECHL refs didn't see anything wrong with that, no matter how loud the bench was or how many players on the ice pointed that out to them. It was very scary, but he still played on and even had his hand ready to catch the puck if he had to. It was little heartbreaking to see the Walleye get yet another past him in the closing minutes of the third to make it 4-2.

Overall, the Everblades outplayed the Walleye and Bobby Goepfert showed up when he was most needed. The gamesheet is here. The three stars: 3. Matt Pistilli, 2. Mitch Fadden, and 1. Bobby Goepfert

I'm going to borrow something from one of my favorite bloggers because this song is perfect for Bobby Goepfert.



The Everblades take on the Walleye once again on Friday. It's Swampee's birthday, so remember to bring a card. If you do, you get some kind of voucher for a later game.