Blades Win One, Lose One (5-4 & 6-3)

(These pictures are from Wednesday, they were too good not to use!)

The Everblades continued their home stand against the Trenton Devils Friday and Saturday.  The Blades had to play without goalie Barry Brust (who is still leading the ECHL in GAA) and defenseman Matt Duffy, who were called up to the Aeros and Amerks respectively. Lucky for the Blades Milan Gajic has been making up for all the time he lost while he was injured. He managed to net two goals and an assist in Friday's win, and two goals Saturday.

Fridays game came down to the wire, with the Devils scoring with 13 seconds to go. The Blades did manage to come out on top with the final score being 5-4 (you can find the gamesheet here. You'll notice that once again it was a penalty filled affair, with 20 seperate penalties being handed out. Shea Guthrie, Phil Paquet, and Ernie Hartlieb all notched tallies for the Blades on top of Gajic's two. That win made the Blades record against the Devils 3-1-0 for the season.

There really is only way to describe Saturdays game... Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh. The Blades ended up losing 6-3 to the Devils (game sheet here). An interesting scuffle did break out with Hartlieb and Olson mixing it up at the same time. Gaijic notched two more goals, and Brandon Buck netted the third.

There was a silver lining to this series. Of the 9 goals scored by the Blades this series, 5 were power play goals. This is something the Blades have been struggling with this year. Perhaps they've found the key to taking advantage of the man advantage.

Unfortunately, there is a possible grey cloud. With Barry brust in Houston, and Mike Morrison in Albany, Chris Beckford-Tseu is the de facto starting goaltender for the Blades. He has been struggling with consistancy and I don't think we can look forward to him preforming like he did against the Nailers. I might be wrong (it wouldn't be the first time), and maybe the upcoming road trip is what he, and the rest of the guys, need to get back on to the winning track.

The Blades will be in Charlotte next week taking on the Checkers. After that, they return for a Tuesday/Wednesday series against the Gladiators. They then leave for South Carolina to take on the Stingrays Friday/Saturday and the Gladiators Sunday. For now, enjoy the last of the awesome pictures from Wednesdays game...

Devils Defeat Blades (2-1)

The Trenton Devils came to town and had some revenge, ending the Blades five game win streak. The Blades downfall seemed to come not just from their sloppy play), but from a solid game from the Devils goaltender Gerald Coleman.

You can find the game sheet for the game here. I really do recommend checking it out, the fact that Brusty received 4 PIM is an indication of what kind of game it was. The Devils were obviously out to get him off his game, rushing him and crowding him every chance they got. One of the rushes early in the first led to him being nailed in the head by an elbow, or knee (I can't seem to recall now). Complaining to the Ref got nowhere (I'm pretty sure remember the Ref from past "stupid/incorrect penalties all night" games). Add to that the fact that Elgin Reid was injured in the first. He was in some intense pain on the bench, on they hustled him off the ice the first chance they got. To me, it looked like it was either his right hand or wrist. There hasn't been any move on the transaction wire, or the teams website roster. Perhaps it wasn't as bad as it lookes (I'm really crossing my fingers for that).

There really isn't much else to say about the game. Mathieu Roy took on one of the Devils, and the Blades did manage to score at the 16:14 mark when Mike Bayrack (who is quickly becoming my favorite acquisition this year) got one past Coleman. Unfortunately, pulling Brusty for the extra attacker did not pay off, and the Blades lost their first game in six. I did manage to remember my camera, and got some of these lovely pictures from the game...

(Wet Wednesday means trash can pong and dirty old men hitting on me)

I'm also slowly collecting a picture of every player...

(Captain, Ross Carlson)

(Elgin Reid)

(Chris Capraro, wearing a different number than the Blades list him under)

(Ernie Hartlieb)

(A.J. Thelen)

(Carlson is on the left (I think), and Mike Bayrack is on the right)

(Barry Brust and Thelen)

(Chris Beckford-Tseu)

You may remember I was planning on going up to breakaways to get some scribbles on my jersey. That didn't go well, and my jersey still has the same number of scribbles as it did before. The problem? I'm kind of a huge chicken, I froze every time one of the guys walked past. So, I missed Becks (which I was most upset about), Zanon, Olson, and Hotham. The other part was that some of the guys took some back stairs to leave, eliminating my chance to get some cajones. Hopefully, I can work up some courage before the next Wet Wednesday.

The Latest Drama...

You may or may not have heard about the latest drama to strike the Everblades' blogging world. If you haven't you can find the spark that lit powder keg here. The author of that lovely, and oh so misguided piece of work then reposted it over at Canes Country. Allowing fans of of the big club to get a glimpse of an Everblades fan's mind. One blogger at Hockey Wilderness, who follows the Minnesota Wild, took (understandable) offense at the post, and proceeded to write one of the most beautiful dissections of horrible writing ever.

Regular reader may remember that I have had an issue with that particular person in the past. And it does not not surprise me that he would come up with that misguided attempt at humor. Sadly, I have read a lot from that blogger, mostly from his obnoxious comments last season on the Blades Blog. This season the Naples Daily News was kind enough to give him his own blog. Allow him to speak for the Everblades fans. Now, I don't want to dissolve to sink to childish insults, but it is too impossible not to.

To me, that post is proof of the kind of person he is. He has always been an attention seeker with a love for drama only a 16 year-old could understand. I do fully believe he wrote it thinking we would all die laughing. And that he would be lauded for his magnificent sense of humor. The problem is not all of us are from his generation or upbringing. What is funny to someone his age, is not funny to others. This writing is the result of sadly deluded misogynist. You can't classify women into types any more than you can classify men, Americans, Christians, or lawyers. Although a group may share a common characteristic, like gender, you can't put them into narrowly defined categories. I know that I was raised to be an individual, and I refuse to see others as anything other than who they themselves are.

The worst part in all this is how it makes the Naples Daily News, their writers, and the Everblades organization look. I can only hope that those of you who have come across that tasteless post do not look poorly on us. Woody Wommack, the NDN's beat writer for the Blades, is a wonderful reporter. It truly pains me to think of the impression this leaves upon him. I also feel the need to say that the NDN is a very well respected paper in the area. Like many papers, they seek to give the populace a voice, however distasteful it might be. It is most important to remember that the Everblades have no control over that blogger, or this one for that matter. I can only hope that other hockey fans don't form an impression of Blades fans, or Floridian hockey fans, by one person's rantings.

I will of course remind regulars, and warn newcomers, that any comments left must be approved before posting. This is not to prevent dissenting opinions, it's done to eliminate the hundreds of "Blades Sux!" comments that seem to flood in from one IP in Pennsylvania.

Also, all this seriousness is totally out of character for this blog. Enjoy a nice LOL Cat...


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

YouTube Tuesday

I know some of you have been wondering what exactly the lovely folks in section 113 (and the surrounding sections) always chant when the Everblades score a goal. It happens to be a pretty standard chant, especially in college hockey. I personally would love to chant the "Sieve! Sieve! Sieve!" part but it's hard to start a new chant on your own (ask Roy). Anyhoo, enjoy the taunting, I know I did...



That's all for now.  I will be at the game tomorrow tweeting as always, and hopefully remembering my camera. Most importantly, I get to stay after the game! Anyone who finds me (without any help) gets a high-five!

We Have Pictures!

As you can see we had really great seats for last Fridays game against the Gladiators. I understand now why some people won't sit anywhere else in the arena, too bad my penny-pinching makes seats like these a treat.

(This is one of my favorite pictures so far this year!)

(Who else thinks Thelen and Brusty are making fun of Healey's suit?)

(Roy and Nicholson)

(Roy, Nicholson, and Zanon)

(Zanon is so awesome he can cover the wall by himself)

There will be the usual YouTube Tuesday posting, but I have set it to a later time than usual. That will allow everyone who stops by time to enjoy this post.