YouTube Tuesday

Some fight videos have slowly been making their way to YouTube. First up, Elgin Reid taking on Yannick Tifu.



If you remember, Reid was thrown out of the game for not having his jersey tied down. The Blades were already down a defenceman and the loss of Reid was a big blow. Of course, they still went on to beat the Jackals.

Next up, Evgeny Timkin and his foolish decision to fight Big Benn Olson. There really wasn't any chance for poor Timmy.



Now, another fight with a Cyclone, this time Mathieu Roy. He didn't do much better than Timmy.



And, last but not least, Francis Lemieux mixing it up with a Road Warrior.



The Blades take on Gwinett tonight and tomorrow. The Gladiators couldn't be coming into town at a better time. Although they started the year off very strong, their recent seven game losing streak has allowed the Stingrays to jump ahead of them in the standings. With Pistilli, Staal, and Lawson back in town, tonight and tomorrows games are looking like their going to be fun.

Don't forget, tonight after the game, everyone will be able to go for a skate with Santa. Tomorrow you can skate with Santa and the Everblades. The team also announced that children under 12 get in free when you purchase an adult ticket tonight or tomorrow. I might need to go buy earplugs before the game.

Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Cyclones (12/4/10)

The Everblades had their second game in as many nights against the defending Kelly Cup champion Cincinnati Cyclones. The Cyclones proved Friday that they wouldn't roll over and take a steamrolling quietly. Tonight was no diffrent.

On top of that, Drew Larman and Kyle Lawson were out with what Kevin Reiter, the Blades radio announcer, called a stomach bug, and Mike Kennedy and Alex Imbeault were placed on the IR list.

Because of that, the Blades had to play two players short.

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Once again, the Cyclones opened up the scoring, slipping one past goalie Jaroslav Janus two minutes into the game. The Cyclones held that lead until Alex Hutchings evened things up 1-1. Minutes later Hutchings was able to give the Blades the 2-1 lead thanks to a too many men call. The Cyclones answered back seconds later to tie it up once again. There were cries from the Blades that it was scored with a high stick. During the chaos, Mathieu Roy got into it with one of the Cyclones.

The goal stood, and Roy and his new friend went off to their respective boxes. Play resumed for a short while. then one of the Cyclones slashed a Blade, the Blades maintained possession during the delayed call and at some point during this time former Everblade Benn Olson was able to goad Evgeny Timkin into a fight.

Anyone who watched Olson fight will know how things went for Timkin.

With both pugilists off to the box as well as the player gulity of the slash, the Everblades were on their first power play of the night. The boys didn't disappoint when they were able to convert with Alex Hutchings third goal of the night to take the lead 3-2 lead an earn Hutchings his first professional hat-trick.



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About 30 seconds later, Matt Beca was able to get a dirty goal during a scramble to give the Blades the 4-2 lead. Francis Lemieux followed that up a few minutes later on the power play to make it 5-2. When the buzzer sounded the Blades left the ice with the comfortable lead, and two periods to go.

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The second period was for the most part back and forth. Both teams put up strong defenses, and were able to stay out of the box for the most part. The Cyclones were able to narrow the lead to 5-3 around the 16:00 mark, but the Blades were able to hang on after that, and left the ice with a slightly less comfortable lead than before.

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The third was similar to the second period, although the Cyclones really began to apply major pressure. The Blades managed to hold them off, including going on the penalty kill for the first time all night. The final score in the game was 5-3 and the Everblades had won their sixth straight. You can see the game sheet here.

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Some thoughts:
- How weird is it that what happened to the Blades Friday (no power play opportunity until the third) happened to the Cyclones this game? The refs were different though so maybe it's just an odd coincidence.
- I don't want to take away from Alex Hutchings great night, but this game is proof that whomever ends up on a line with Lemieux and Fadden is going to benefit. First Imbeault, then Pistilli, and now Hutchings are finding success with those two.
- The win puts the Blades in 2nd in the Division and 4th in the Conference.

Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Cyclones (12/3/10)

The Everblades have been rolling along on this road trip, and have managed to put together a four game win streak. They've defeated some of the most offensively dominant teams in the ECHL. Cyclones players aren't really making a mark in the stat categories, but they have been playing some good hockey lately.

Oh, yeah, they kind of won the Kelly cup last season.

(There was some crazy issue with the radio feed, I ended up listening to the Cyclones feed of the game from the middle of the second in)

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All that aside, the Blades have been playing some good hockey lately, and have been very dominant. That didn't stop the Cyclones from notching the first goal of the game. They managed to hold the Blades off for quite awhile. Around the 12:00 mark Jared Staal evened things up with his second goal of the year. Francis Lemieux gave the Blades the go ahead goal, his eigth of the year, at the 18:47 mark. The final score at the end of the first was 2-1. For the first time in a long time, the Blades actually led the SOG 13-7.

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The Blades opened up the period right, thanks to Mike McKenzie who notched his seventh goal of the year at the 1:43 mark to make it 3-1. At that point the Cyclones woke up started to really put on the pressure. it paid off when they were able to get one past goalie Bobby Goepfert to make it 3-2 nine minutes into the game. The Cyclones continued the pressure, but Goepfert stayed strong, and the Blades saw the period end with them still up 3-2 on the Cyclones.

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The Cyclones continued the pressure. It really looked like they were going to get a chance.

Then they called a penalty for holding the stick on the Cyclones. The Blades had the one man advantage for the first time all night. You read that right. The Blades didn't get a real power play (incidental penalty 4 on 4's don't count) until the third.

One of the best power plays went on the attack and you better believe they converted.

Mike McKenzie got his eighth goal of the year, and had his third two goal game.


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The Cyclones just couldn't get it back and the Everblades earned their fifth straight win. The final score was 4-2. You can see the score sheet here.

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Some thoughts:
- How awesome is it to see guys stepping up in Alex Imbeault's absence? Can you believe what's going to happen when he gets back?
- I'm thinking McKenzies little drought in the first couple of games of the season was him giving all the other players a head start. So nice of him.
- Mitch Fadden is an assist machine. Not sure how long his point streak has been, but it's getting up there.
- Same old same old for the last few games. Beasty goalies, Amazing forwards, solid defensemen.
- The Blades are now tied with Gladiators in points, and one behind the league leading Road Warriors.
- The top three teams in the entire ECHL? All South division teams. Methinks whiny Cincinnati radio broadcasters need to worry less about the lack of physicality in the South.

YouTube Tuesday: ECHL Goalie Fights!

I'm guessing the Everblades are going to make a signing announcement sometime today or tomorrow. That's been their pattern lately. Until then, enjoy some ECHL goalie fights.

I recommend turning your sound down now, some of these videos are extremely loud.

First up, from the 07-08 season is David Shantz (stats) taking on Dan Turple of the Gwinnett Gladiators:



Now, Dan Turple (still a Gladiator) taking on Jonathan Boutin of the South Carolina Stingrays:



And a pretty good find from either the 06-07 or 07-08 season, Cedrick Desjardins (just acquired by our new affiliate the Lightning) of the Cincinnati Cyclones takes on Joel Martin of the Elmira Jackals:



And one final one, although technically not an ECHL fight, was too good not to include. I love how all the players stop the minute they realize there's a goalie fight. This video is from the days of the Elmira Jackals UHL days. Tyson Gajda of the Jackals takes on Shawn Conshafter of the Roanoke Valley Vipers:



One of the last things on my hockey bucket list is to see a goalie fight. I've seen a hat trick in person (Bucky's this season), I've seen Sidney Crosby score (in overtime!), and I've seen my Penguins lift the Stanley Cup a few times. All that's left is a Kelly Cup for my local boys and a goalie fight. Is that too much to ask?

News and a Goodbye

I have no idea why I forgot to mention this earlier, but Milan Gajic will not be retuning to the Everblades next year. He has signed with the Victoria Salmon Kings.

Last season was rough on him. He was injured very early on, and it took a long time for him to heal. When he finally did come back he put up some spectacular numbers. If you take a  look at his stats it not hard to imagine that without the injury, last season could have been one of the best of his professional career.



As I have said many times before, it's sad to see any of the players leave. To see such a solid forward, and such a nice person leave is almost painful. I don't blame him for choosing to play in Victoria, he's spent three seasons playing for them, but I'm still sad.

In some less depressing (for me at least) news The Florida Panthers have signed an affiliation agreement with the Kelly Cup Champion Cincinnati Cyclones. It also appears the Cyclones chose not to announce they're no longer affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens. They instead chose to change their website to omit the Habs and include the Panthers. I guess they thought no one would notice?

The South Carolina Stingrays also announced they have extended their affiliation with the Washington Capitals for another season.

I'm really expecting the announcement of a new signing tomorrow. The last time I was in Venice they announced the affiliation with the Lightning. I'm sure the announcement tomorrow will be a good one.

YouTube Tuesday

There is no video more appropriate to post on this YouTube Tuesday than the highlights from game 5 of the Kelly Cup Finals. Major congratulations have to go out to the Cyclones, their players, staff, and fans. Two cups in three years is quite an accomplishment, and coming back from being down in a series twice is even more amazing (pretty much steamrolling what was the best team in the ECHL during the regular season, is not to shabby either).



I think a lot of Everblades fans would agree that it will be pretty awesome when the Blades accomplish this next season.

Friday Links

Happy Friday everybody. As always, enjoy some links.

- The Cyclones have a chance to win the Kelly Cup tonight. A re-cap of last night's game can be found here. They take on the Steelheads tonight at 7:30.

- A very appropriate Wikipedia hockey page "Kelly Cup"

- There are some rumblings coming from the Rochester fan base. This may not end well...

- Here is a great list of the best and worst hockey movies. I'm proud to say I've seen four of the top five. Although it seems to be missing The Rocket: The Legend of Rocket Richard (you have to listen to the movie in it's original French, it's so awesome).

- If you find the business side of hockey interesting, you have to check out CapGeek.com, it's great way to keep track of NHL contracts and cap space.

- They forgot Tim Tebow...


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YouTube Tuesday

Time to get pumped up for game three between the Cyclones and Steel heads. Enjoy the highlights from the Cyclones and Reading series.



I'll try to keep updating the score on twitter (you can check back here as well, the twitter box on the side should show the tweets too).

Kelly Cup Update

As much as I wish the Everblades were in the Kelly Cup Final, they're not, so I'm left cheering for the Cyclones (beating the Royals and representing our conference is enough for me). The best part is they're actually up 2-0 in their series with the Steelheads. Both wins came from goals in the closing seconds of the third period. Can you believe they finished the conference final last Wednesday, traveled to Idaho for games on Friday and Saturday, and won both games against a team that's 5-0 at home? It's almost enough to make me forgive the entire populace of Cincinnati for Skyline Chili. Almost.

(My Sicilian great grandmother just rolled over in her grave)

The next three games are in Cincinnati, including game three tomorrow night at 7:30. You can check out this link to catch the radio broadcast of your choice.

Friday Links

Another Friday, another set of links. I hope the Everblades announce some new soon.

- The Cincinnati Cyclones came from behind in their series with the Reading Royals to win game 7, and advance to the Kelly Cup Finals. They take on the Idaho Steelheads tonight.

- This hockey card belt is awesome!  

- Reason #285 why living in Florida sucks hockey-wise.

- This is one of the most hideously decorated houses I've ever seen. The air hockey table in the kitchen is cool though.

- This reporter was able to learn how to drive a Zamboni! I'm terrible jealous.

- This story on Marguerite Norris, the first woman to get her name on the Stanley Cup, is pretty interesting. You can check out the Wikipedia page on her too. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a book about her. She seems like a very interesting woman.

- I must have this cake at my wedding!

YouTube Tuesday: Kelly Cup Playoff Re-Cap

The National Conference series is all tied up 2-2 thanks to a 7-2 game from the Stockton Thunder. The American Conference series between the Cincinnati Cyclones and Reading Royals is now 3-2 hanks to a huge effort from the Cyclones to win game four 6-4 and win game five 5-0. For some reason, the Royals were not happy about losing two in a row, they seem to have lost their cool. I don't think anyone who was at the Everblades game against the Royals in the early part of the season would forget the three fights in a row, and how much they can behave like a bunch of undisciplined thugs.

Here are three videos of the 5-0 games insanity....










Is it possible the Royals have lost their cool, or are the Cyclones just great when the cards are stacked against them? We won't find out untill 7:35 Tomight. The series between the Steel heads and Thunder will also be played at 9:10 our time (7:10 theirs) tonight as well. If you're interested you can check those game out on the B2 networks like you would for Everblades games.

Kelly Cup Playoff Update

I'm sorry this didn't occur to me sooner.I had assumed everyone would lose interest in the ECHL playoffs once the Blades were out. Turns out, things are getting kind of interesting.

In the American conference, the Royals are stomping yet another team.  They're up 3-0 in their series with the Cincinnati cyclones. A big reason for the Royals getting this far has got to be Matt Dalton. This dude has not lost in regulation in the post season, and he does this all while sleeping on the floor of the team bus.

The Royals take on the Cyclones at 7:05 this Saturday. A win means a trip to the the Kelly Cup Finals to take on the winner of the National conference. You can check out a story on this from a local paper in Reading here.

In the National conference the Idaho Steelheads are up 2-1 in their series with the Stockton Thunder. They had to go into triple overtime for the third game to be decided, eventually leading to a 1-0 win for the Thunder. The next game is Friday at 10:30 (7:30 PT).

If last season is any indication of who will be winning the Kelly Cup, the Royals are a lock. Ask the Stingrays.