Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Walleye (1/29/11)

After a rough loss last night the Blades rolled into Toledo looking for a much needed road win. Although the Walleye have spent most of their sophomore year struggling to find what they had last year, they have been turning things around lately.



The question was, who would want it more?

Starting line: Graham, Paquet, Ibeault, Beca, Lemieux, Goepfert.

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The Blades opened things up right when Francis Lemieux scored his 21st of the year at the 2:51 mark. The Blades kept up the pressure for most of the period.



They were rewarded when they were able to (finally) convert on the power play around the nine minute mark, with Alex Imbeault's 25th of the season. The Blades were able to keep the pressure up, kill two penalties, and pretty much dominate the entire period. When the buzzer sounded at the end of the period, the Blades led 2-0.



The SOG really showed their dominance in the period. They had a season leading 21 shots on net, to the Walleyes 10.

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The Blades kept the pressure up in the opening minutes of the second. They were rewarded 4 minutes in when Imbeault scored his second goal of the game on the first official shot of the period to make it 3-0. That goal seemed to wake up the Walleye who began to respond with a lot of physical play.



It didn't matter though, the Blades responded to that with another goal from Drew Larman to make it 4-0. A few minutes later, the Blades scored once again on the power play with a tip in from Mike McKenzie to make it 5-0. Unfortunately, Toledo finally woke up they ruined goalie Bobby Goepfert's shut-out to make it 5-1, they made it 5-2 secnds later. Luckily, the period ended before the Walleye could get any more goals, and the score at the end of the period remained 5-2.

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You had to hope going into the third that the Blades realized that Toledo was ready to pounce on any opportunity they were given. Too bad the Blades didn't realize it right away.



The Walleye took advantage and forward Tyler Doig netted the power play goal, and a natural hat-trick, to make it 5-3. Thankfully, that woke the Blades up. Imbeault netted yet another goal, and a hat-trick of his own to give the Blades a three goal cushion about a minute after that. You could tell how much that goal took the standing room only Toledo crowd out of the game. What sounded like a raucous atmosphere over the radio broadcast quickly turned to little to no noise. Lemieux added the final nail in the coffin two minutes after Imbeault's goal with one of his own to make it 7-3.



There was no other scoring after that, but there was plenty of action, including a between the benches fight between one of the Walleye and Mathieu Roy. In the end, the Blades won 7-3. The game sheet is here. All photos are from the 11/17 and 11/19 games against the Walleye.

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(Still one of the coolest pictures I've ever taken)

Some thoughts:
- The Blades listed to me! They signed goalie Shane Owen to a try-out contract.
- Imbeault was one of the best pick-up of the off season, the others? Lemieux and Raymond.
- Thanks to Greenville losing in Reading the Blades' win allows them to tie for division lead. Unfortunately, the Royals now move into first in the conference with that win.
- Goepfert had another solid night, timely saves, and he came up big when the Blades needed him most.
- It would be nice to see him get a little more support though, they have a bad habit of forgetting to help him out for big chunks of time.
- I really can't wait until we get a legitimate enforcer (Hendrikx or Fukala I don't care who) back on the ice. It's getting a little absurd.

The Blades have one more game in Toledo Sunday afternoon at 4:00. A win could give them the lead over the Road Warriors and maybe put them in a position to challenge the Royals. I doubt the Walleye will roll over easily. It's going to be good.

Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Royals (1/19/11)

After knocking out the Everblades in the playoffs last year on our ice, the Royals have become a little bit disliked around the arena. The fact that they're second in the conference standings, and one of the few teams in the East with more points makes stealing some wins from them important.

They've been strong over the last ten games, going 6-1-2-1. The Everblades, on the other hand,  have been struggling through a slump that's led to a 3-6-0-1 record in their last ten.  It's not all doom and gloom though, the Blades have been showing signs of improvement. Add to that the return of Cedric McNicoll from Charlotte and Elging Reid from the IR and there are glimmers of hope.

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Both teams started out strong in the first. They traded chances until the 7:39 mark, when Matt Beca was able to put the Blades on the board first to give them the 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later the royals responded to tie it up. The Blades didn't give up though, and Beca scored yet another goal to once again give the Blades the 2-1 lead.Unfortunately, two minutes later the Royals answered back to make it a 2-2 tie. A minute after that Alex Imbeault was able to convert on a power play to give the Blades a one goal lead for the third time that game. Thankfully, no one else scored, and the score at the end of the period was 3-2.

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The second period did not start off very well for the Everblades. They had to begin by finishing off a penalty from the first. Then, a Royals player earned a penalty shot on a hooking call. He was able to get it past Goepfert and make it a 3-3 game. That goal seemed to shake the blades and they scrambled for the next few minutes of play. Thankfully, the hockey gods were on the Blades side and they didn't let the Royals take the lead. Eventually, they woke up, and Mike McKenzie was able to convert on the power play to make it 4-3. Imbeault made it 5-3 about a minute later. At the close of the period the Blades held a comfortable 5-3 lead on the Royals.

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With a whole 20 minutes of hockey left to go, there was no question the Royals would work their hardest to get back. They traded many chances, but neither team was able to take advantage until about six minutes in when Cedric McNicoll was able to convert on the power play to make it 6-3. That power play was thanks to a boarding call as well as several roughing calls made on the Royals. Both teams went back to trading chances until the Royals were able to convert on a power play that was courtesy of a Phil Paquet hook. In the closing minutes the Royals pulled their goalie, during another power play no less, but weren't able to use the advantage in their favor. In fact, it worked against them. Mathieu Roy was able to feed a pass to Alex Imbeault and he was able to fire it into the empty net to earn a hat-trick. The final score when the buzzer sounded was 7-4. The game sheet is here.

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Some Thoughts:
- That was a big win. With Greenville's struggles lately, the Blades can take the top spot in the division and conference with two more wins (and two Greenville losses).

- When someone gets a hat-trick you're supposed to throw your hats! Geez people it's a semi-rare event!

- Matt Beca and Alex Imbeault are going to be in the Reading goalies nightmares tonight. He could not stop them!

- 3 for 6 on the power play! Good to see the Blades get back that aspect of their game, especially against a team prone to stupid penalties.

- It was obvious the Royals were frustrated. They took some stupid roughing penalties and their goalie was chopping at anything that went near his crease.

- Except for the few minutes after the penalty shot the Blades played pretty well.

- Now, I'm the biggest Geppy homer you'll ever meet, but I noticed Bobby Goepfert was not as solid as he usually is, he seemed to struggle at certain points. Hopefully, it was just a bad night.

- It would be really nice if we didn't give up goals right after we score. It's hard to hold onto a lead that way.

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. K-Wings

(I still can't get over these ugly things)

The Everblades arrived in Kalamazoo with three straight wins in hand. The Wings are in the midst of a four game losing streak, and the Blades are 3-0 in their series with them. Is that just what the Blades need to extend their win streak to 4?

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I missed the first part of the fist period because they were having radio issues. Unfortunately, as I was scrambling to get any feed, Matt Pistilli scored his 13th goal of the year 20 seconds into the game.



Eventually, I was able to track down a feed. It was just in time to hear Mike McKenzie score his 6th of the year on the power play. The K-Wings just couldn't get anything in their favor and the period ended with the Everblades up 2-0 on the Wings.

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The second period was quite a chippy affair with 12 separate penalties dished out. In the midst of the penalties Francis Lemieux scored his 5th goal of the year.

About 30 seconds later, defenseman Phil Paquet was taken down in a way he took issue with. Before you could blink one of the K-Wings goons was fighting him instead of the player who pulled him down.



The K-Wings were able to respond a minute later on the power play to make it 3-1. Luckily, Lemieux scored his second of the game at the 15:44 mark (remember this) to give the Blades the three goal lead yet again. When the teams left the ice the Everblades led the K-Wings 4-1.

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The third period saw some major pressure from the K-Wings, but the Blades played smart and goalie Jaroslav Janus stood on his head to deny the K-Wings. Francis Lemieux netted his third goal of the game for a hat-trick at the 15:41 mark of the game.


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The K-Wings did score with about a minute left in the period to make it 5-2, but it was too little too late for them and the Everblades came away with their 4th straight win overall, and in their series with the K-Wings.

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You can find the game sheet here.
Photos are from the Everblades vs. K-Wings game on 10/29, you can view the entire set here.

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Some thoughts:
- Lemieux's scoring at 15:44 in the second and 15:41 is pretty cool, so is his hat-trick I guess.

- Matt Pistilli is now tied with Imbeault for goals
- The Pistilli/Lemieux/Fadden line has had two hat-tricks in two games.
- Fadden is slowly building a comfortable lead in points, he's up to 32.
- His closest competitor now? Yeah it's Pistilli with 26.
- Mike McKenzie's had 5 goals in the last three games, think he likes playing with Jared Staal?
- There's actual shot-blocking going on!
- Both Blades goalies have been incredible. Goepfert and Janus are solid just when the Blades need them to be.

Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Jackals

After the Everblades big win against the Royals, a team they had struggled against during the post season, the Blades traveled to Elmira to take on the second best team in the entire league. Did I mention the coach that had been unable to lead the Everblades to victory last season was now behind the bench of one of the most dominant offenses in the ECHL? How about the three former Everblades players that have been putting up big numbers lately?

Needless to say, it didn't look good.



The Jackals opened up the game by applying intense pressure on the Blades. They drew first blood on the power play three minutes into the game. Scant minutes later, Alex Hutching's shot. Unfortunately, he couldn't get it pat the Jackals goaltender. A few minutes later Elgin Reid took on former Everblade Yannick Tifu in the Jackals end. This ultimately cost Reid, as he did not have his jersey secured and was thrown from the game as a result. This was a major blow to the Everblades as they had already been playing short a defenseman since the loss of Kyle Lawson to the Charlotte Checkers. That left the Blades with 4 defensemen for the rest of the game.



The Jackals continued the pressure but eventually the Blades seemed to find their stride and goalie Bobby Goepfert became a goal-tending machine. Around the nine minute mark Matt Pistilli notched his tenth goal of the year to even things up 1-1. Defenseman David Fischer followed that up with his first goal of the season sixteen minutes into the game. Shortly after that the Jackals thought they had the goal that would tie it up, but it was disallowed when the linesmen and referee agreed that Justin Donati had kicked it in. That lucky break gave the Blades the lead at the end of the period 2-1.

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Matt Pistilli opened up the second period right by scoring his second goal of the game two and a half minutes in. The rest of the period was spent in trade of pressure until Mike McKenzie scored his fourth goal of the year around the eleven minute mark.



There was a scuffle as both teams were leaving the ice. One of the Jackals players went after captain Mike Egener. This gave the Blades the power play to start the third.

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The Blades weren't ace, but another lapse in discipline, this time boarding, gave the Blades a second chance on the power play. Mike McKenzie continued his hot streak and scored a his second goal of the night. The Jackals continued to have trouble with discipline (this seems to be a hallmark of Cameron teams, huh?), and it cost them yet again when Matt Pistilli made it 6-1 and earned the hat-trick!


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(Did you really think I could go this long without a kitty?)

The Jackals responded a minute later, but it was too late. The final score when the buzzer sounded was 6-2. The Blades came away with a well-deserved win. They have extended their win streak to three games, moved up into 5th in the conference and are 2-0 so far on this road trip. All in all, the Everblades are playing great and being rewarded for it. Hopefully, they can keep this up.