Happy Friday people! I'm blogging to you live from a McDonalds. Glamorous right? It's just how awesome ECHL bloggers roll people. I'm sure you're all super jealous of me sitting here sipping my yummy (not) carmel frappe, being leered at by old men while they sip their senior discount coffee. Anyway, here's your usual stash of fun links!
- I was at the College Classic yesterday so I wasn't able to listen to the Everblades game. Apparently, that was for the best.
- Only one of the Everblades made it to the All-Star game. Hard to imagine a team that has five players dominating most of the major stats categories only has one player invited, but whatever. Way to go Mitch Fadden, have fun in California dude.
- Did you know the Zamboni company has a store? With shirts?! I think I could spend more money there than on my favorite shoe website, and I love shoe websites.
- Third String Goalie has become one of my must-read websites. My favorite this week? Their look at Ref jerseys. Neat to see the zebras duds have evolved too.
- I got Pelle Lindbergh: Behind the White Mask for Christmas. It's an amazing look at an amazing man. I have to warn you though, I've been sobbing like a baby since the middle of the book. It's so sad, I'm only managing a chapter a day.
- I'm pretty sure my cats are in on the invasion too.
Several Everblades had trouble making it back from their holiday vacations. In fact, defenseman Kyle Lawson was apparently stuck somewhere in the Midwest when the Blades took the ice. With the defensive core already shrunk thanks to injuries, forward Ross Carlson had to, once again, play defense.
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The Blades started off quite sluggish. That play led to the Royals getting the first goal of the game 2:30 into the period. The Blades had some good chances, but the puck just wasn't bouncing their way. Another goal from the Royals in the closing minutes gave them the two goal lead heading off the ice.
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The Blades played much stronger in the second. They played strong, and held the Royals off the board. A great effort from Francis Lemieux was rewarded with a short-handed goal that was assisted by Mitch Fadden and Phil Paquet. With that goal, you could almost feel the momentum shift and the Everblades wake up. The final score when they left the ice at the end of the second was 3-1.
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Unfortunately, the Royals weren't going down without a fight. About seven minutes into the third they managed to get one past goalie Bobby Goepfert. It looked bad for the Everblades.
Then they got a powerplay, and the Royals were dumb enough to get called for a second.
The Blades went on the offensive.
Mitch Fadden was the first to score. That narrowed the score to 3-2. Mike McKenzie followed that up with one of his own on the power play about a minute later to tie it up with less than three minutes to go.
Neither team was able to convert in the closing minutes, even with the Everblades on the penalty kill. It was time for a little overtime.
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The Blades were able to kill off the last seconds of the penalty kill that carried over to OT. There was a lot of back and forth and tons of opportunities. Then, a seemingly innoucuous shot from the blueline somehow managed to slip past.
The goal was credited to Matt Pistilli who somehow managed to tip in the slapper from Ethan Graham and the Blades got the win! the final score sheet is here.
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It was a really great effort against a team that is number one in it's division, and has the second best record in the entire league. Although they had a depleted roster, and some had just arrived in Reading that day, the boys were able to overcome. It really says a lot about the team that they never gave up or let any of the adversities in their way cost them the game.
I have to take a minute to congratulate Matt Beca on being the ECHL player of the week!
On to business. You may have heard the Everblades holiday jerseys made ESPN. If you missed it, like I did, you're in luck. I can't embed it into the blog (stupid ESPN), but you can click here, to head over to YouTube.
Also, I found the Gladiators call on the line brawl and goalie fight.
The Blades take on the Royals tonight at 7:05. There should be some signing announced later this afternoon. At the very least Markowicz will be signed on as emergency back-up goaltender since Janus is still up in Norfolk.
I was happy to find a pretty good opposite angle of Wednesday's melee. It's much easier to see why Bobby Goepfert jumped in to defend Graham. it also is a little shocking to see the ref stand there and watch Graham have his head repeatedly drilled into the ice.
The bonus in this video? Ernie Hartlieb with the call.
- I put up three new videos from Tuesday and Wednesday on the blogs YouTube channel.
-I have all the pictures up on the Flickr photostream, Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Someone request the Goepfert t-shirt in a womens style and I have to admit, it's pretty cute.
Happy Friday guys! Here's your weekly set of links (on time for once).
- Hockey Broad has all the photos she took at the game up on her Flickr.
- I designed a Goepfert shirt and put it up on CafePress.com. I'm pretty proud of it. If you guys have any other t-shirt ideas let me know. I've never been happy with the variety the team offers.
- Your Wikipedia hockey page for today- "The Red Mile"
There has never been any love lost between the Gladiators and Everblades. In fact, the Gladiators are probably the Everblades most hated rival. You may remember a post on the rivalry from the off-season, but if you missed it give it a look.
When your most hated rival comes to town on a seven game losing streak and you hand them their eighth, you can be sure the next night is going to be intense.
(As promised, here's Bobby Goepfert's new Everblades mask)
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The play was pretty evenly matched for most of the first. Then, Lightning prospect Mitch Fadden was hauled down on a breakaway. The Ref awarded him a penalty shot:
Fadden's 14th goal of the year gave the Blades the lead. Mike McKenzie followed that up with his 11th goal of the year a minute and a half later. The Gladiators tried to even it up, and they had a lot of good chances, but Bobby Goepfert stayed strong and the teams left the ice with the Everblades leading 2-0.
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The second period started off like any other. Apparently, this was the calm before the storm. A Gwinnett goal around the six minute mark helped them narrow the lead.About four minutes later, Jared Staal notched his fourth of the year to give the Blades a two goal lead once again. The Gladiators responded with one of their own less than a minute later. A mere 15 seconds later, McKenzie responded with his second goal of the game to make it 4-2. You could tell passions were running high at this point. Then it happened.
Thirty seconds after McKenzie's goal a normal enough play ended in Goepfert freezing the puck. The usual little scuffle that happens when a teams been crashing the crease ensued. At some point something was said and it escalated to a big scuffle. It was hard to see what was going on in the corner, but from what I understand, one of the Gladiators was slamming Ethan Graham's head into the ice repeatedly. Bobby Goepfert didn't appreciate that. He jumped in to help his teammate, and the Gladiator goalies, Billy Sauer, came down to answer for his team. The already loud arena became deafening as the goalies squared off.
(Photo courtesy of Hockey Broad, check out more pictures she took last night on her Flickr photostream here, her awesome blog here, and her Twitter account here)
The rest, as they say, is history:
(I'm going to take a minute to plug another past post, my look at ECHL goalie fights is one of my best)
In the end, both goalies, and several players were tossed. The final tally of penalty minutes was something like 55 minutes. You can read the News-Press re-cap, with some great quotes from Goepfert, here. The Naples Daily News re-cap, with a diffrent angle of the fight is here.
It took a long time to sort all the penalties out. When all was said and done, and new goalies were in the net, the Everblades had a power play. a mere ten seconds in, Alex Imbeault scored his 16th of the year to make it a 5-2 game. In the closing minutes Imbeault recieved a game misconduct for being too awesome and leading the ECHL in goals for too long (actually, it was an unsportsmanlike conduct for having the nerve to argue with the ref). When the buzzer sounded on the end of the period, the Blades had a comfortable 5-2 lead.
The third period was an absolute bore compared to the second. It was so back and forth I felt like I was at a tennis game. The teams traded rushes and opportunities, but none of them were getting past the goalies. A late rush by the Everblades, made with seconds on the clock, resulted in the second goal of the game for Staal. Officially, it was at the 19-59 mark, but the clock had .05 left when he scored. Surprisingly, after everything that happened in the second period, the Glads quietly slipped off the ice as the Everblades celebrated are hard fought victory. On their way out, the Blades saluted the fans, and got a rousing cheer from the crowd in return. The game sheet is here.
The three stars:
3. Mitch Fadden
2. Bobby Goepfert
1. Mike McKenzie
This game was hands down the craziest and loudest I've ever seen in Germain. Games with the Gladiators are always physical, but this takes the cake. The next game against Gwinnett will be a road game on 1/11. They will be back in town for the Pink in the Rink game 2/18 and 2/19. I can't wait to see if this rivalry gets even more intense than it already is.
If you have video from the game please include a link in the comments or e-mail me. I'll be more than happy to include it in this post.
The Guys will now have some time off before they head on the road to take on Reading and Trenton in an exhausting four games in five days road trip. While the boys are away, the College Classic will be coming to town on the 28th and 29th. This years teams will be Maine, Cornell, St. Cloud State, and Miami. I loved it last year, and you should really consider coming out, one ticket will get you into the two games that day.
You probably couldn't have chosen a better team to come into town than the Gladiators. Their seventh game losing streak has put them in a tough position. Unfortunately for them, the Everblades saw some beneficial players come back from the AHL just in time to hand their eighth loss in a row.
(How horrible are these pads?)
The play was mostly back and forth for the early half of the first period. That all ended when Mitch Fadden got one past the Glads goalie. The Gladiators responded right back scoring 26 seconds later. three minutes after that, the Everblades took the lead once again with a goal from Matt Beca, his fourth of the year. The period was pretty uneventful up until the closing minutes of the period when one of the Gladiators sent Mike McKenzie awkwardly into the boards. The offending Gladiator ended up receiving a five minute major for boarding. Unfortunately, Matt Pistilli, was called for tripping 20 seconds later. Neither team was able to convert on the brief four on four before the period ended. The teams left the ice with the Everblades up 2-1 on the Gladiators.
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After the four on four was completed, the Blades went back on the power play. They weren't able to convert on the remaining time. Shortly after the completion of the five minute major, the Everblades gave the Gladiators a power play thanks to a slashing call on Mitch Fadden. It ended up working in the Blades favor as a fumble from the Gladiators goalie led to an unassisted short handed goal for Matt Beca. I only wish I had been able to get it on video because there really is no way to describe how hilarious that goal was. The goal really took the wind out of the Glads sails, and you could see them almost give up after that. Mike McKenzie's goal a few minutes later made the Blades lead even more comfortable.
(This is right before he scores!)
Obviously, the Gladiators weren't happy about what was happening and they started getting stupid. Mere seconds after McKenzie's goal Evgeny Timkin got involved in a weird series of events. As he was skating through the neutral zone, he got checked in a weird way that sent him cartwheeling to the ice. Just as he got to his feet behind the Gladiators defense, the puck appeared almost magically next to him. He then took of on a breakaway that ended up being unsuccessful. As he was about to get on the bench, the Glad that had checked him went up to him and shoved him from behind. The ensuing fight was pretty even and they were eventually pulled apart. Here's a one angle of the fight, I'll have mine up on Saturday:
When all was said and done, the period ended with the Blades up 4-1 on the Gladiators.
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Things calmed down a lot for the third and the Gladiators even managed to slip one five-hole on Jaroslav Janus in the opening minutes of the period. Unfortunately for the Gladiators, they then proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot by taking three penalties, including a too many men, in a row. The Everblades, who seem to be struggling on the power play lately, couldn't convert on any of the chances. With seven minutes to go, the Gladiators seemed to wake up. They put some really intense pressure on the Everblades. The Blades put in a great defensive effort and held the Glads off for the rest of the period, even when they pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. The final score was 4-2, the game sheet is here.
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Some thoughts:
- Matt Beca had an amazing night. Two goals, including his short handed unassisted game winner, and one assist
- I hate to say this, but Timkin and Pistilli shouldn't have received one of the three stars over McKenzie or Fadden.
- This might be a crazy idea, but why not let the fans text in votes for the three stars? The local media (or at least two of the three local media) tends to miss more often than not.
- I'm really liking the new guy Ed Snetsinger. Of course, all a defenseman has to do to earn my love is shot blocking, and he did tons of that last night.
- Paquet didn't play last night because of his two game suspension. Hutchings, Egener, and Reid are all injured. I have no idea why Imbeault didn't dress, I would rather he have played then some of the guys on the ice.
- The Blades were 0-8 on the power play. It's been struggling lately, which is odd considering they had one of the best in the league.
- Mitch Fadden had been held off the board for two games, but is goal last night gave him a six point lead in the ECHL scoring race.
-Bobby Goepfert has a new mask and new pads! The mask has the Everblades logo on it, and his pads are all white. Someone likes it down here...
The Blades take on the Gladiators again tonight. Their still doing the buy one ticket get one for a kid under twelve free offer as well as the usual Wednesday deals.. If you stick around after the game you can skate with the team and Santa Clause. also, if you have some extra money on you, consider entering the fan club or peewee Everblades raffles. The money goes to a good cause, and you might win something like I did last night. I'm now the proud owner of a signed Mike Egener stick (and a dancing alligator in a Santa suit). The thing is taller than me, and I almost couldn't get it in my car, but it's awesome!
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.
Throwing up a quick (and very late post), but better late than never right? Now, I know you've all seen my video of the teddy bear toss, but I found another from a different vantage point. Check it out:
And just for fun, the Gladiators teddy bear toss from last season.
Whoever thought up the original idea for the teddy bear toss is a genius. It's too much fun.
Here's a quick round-up of some Everblades related stuff:
- It sucks that we lost Pistilli, but he had a great game yesterday and managed to score a goal in the Checkers win over the Hershey Bears. A fan up there was kind enough to send me a picture from the game.
- Also worth a mention is Jacob Micflikier's (this is the 8th way of spelling his name that I'm aware of) two goals and an assist in the same game. He now plays on the top line, and has 11 goals, and 10 assists so far this season.
- Francis Lemieux has appeared in two games for the Manitoba Moose and has yet to earn a point.
- Everyone's favorite Jake Gyllenhaal look-alike has been blogging for the Watertown Daily Times. It's a pretty cool look at what goes on behind the scenes.
- If you get the chance, why not head on over to here, and submit your ballot for the AHL All Star Classic. There are a lot of former Everblades to choose from.
Admittedly, it was not the best week for the Everblades. They saw their seven game win streak grinnd to a halt, lost two of their best players to AHL call-ups, and seen the IR list grow.
They only managed to wrestle two points out of their three game series. Of course, they managed to get those points from the best team in the entire ECHL so it's not as bad as it seems.
On the other hand, I managed to not only get myself involved in the yarmulke drama (we still haven't heard anything by the way). I followed that up by sending an e-mail, with pictures attached, to one of the writers for the most popular hockey blog on the Internet to let him know about the terrible holiday jerseys.
Well... the story got picked up. It also landed on the front page of Yahoo! sports and now has somewhere around 700 comments (most of which are more nuts than usual).
It got a little nuts obviously. I'm going to look for the silver lining and hope whomever is in charge of the final approval of the special jerseys will think long and hard before they approve the next one.
In good news, I got all the pictures from Friday and Saturday up, as well as the video of the teddy bear toss:
There really are no words to describe what went down tonight.
Like any decent hockey fan, I check out Puck Daddy pretty regularly. It's always good for a laugh, definitely informative, and the comments remind me why I will never be a people person. So, when the put a post up about a zany giveaway I laughed.
Unlike past posts, this wasn't some crazy CHL giveaway or the Wranglers up to their usually insanity. No, an NHL team was giving away something pretty out there.
For whatever reason, the Florida Panthers decided it would be a great idea to give away yarmulkes.
So, as I'm just laugh at the insanity of the Panthers marketing team something occurs to me. We kind of live a short drive away. I could have a Panthers yarmulke if I wanted to, all I would have to do is drive right across to Sunrise. It couldn't be any better right?
Because I'm a good friend, and I know two of my Twitter buddies @CaityKauffman and @CVClyde, are just as appreciative of zaniness, I sent off some texts and of course they were in. Seriously, who wouldn't be?
Tuesday afternoon rolls around and off we go to the Panthers game, absolutely pumped by getting our hands on some sweet yarmulkes. We get over to the East coast without any problems, walk right up to the ticket booth, and next thing we know they're offering an upgrade to the eighth row on the seats we wanted.
Couldn't get any better right?
We get through the security check and get our tickets scanned. No problems.
I know I stood around pretty confused for a good two minutes. Where was the guy handing me my awesome Panthers yarmulke?
We eventually flagged a guy who worked for the team down and asked if they ran out. He informed us that they were only for special group packages.
Well, um, OK. Might as well head to our awesome seats, right?
Unfortunately, for the Panthers, technology today is to the point where you can check the Internet from your phone, or your friend can send a tweet to the person who wrote the original blog post that inspired you to drive an hour and a half across the state of Florida for a piece of cloth with a Panthers logo on it.
So, we had no choice but to launch an investigation. I'm going to quote from Caity's Twitter stream. Mostly because I may have been to chicken to get all up in someones grill. Also, someone had to guard our seats (at least that's what I'm going to tell myself).
@wyshynski I'm going to go do some journalistic questioning of Panthers employees... I demand my yarmulke!
Guest services has no idea about alleged yarmulkes. Sent to section 105. #yarmulkegate2010
Um, section 105 is a random Jewish heritage DJ who is not affiliated with the Panthers. Lies. GIVE ME MY TACKY YARMULKE #yarmulkegate2010
At guest services hanging out with an actual Hebrew woman who is distraught about lack of yarmulkes.
According to Panthers guest services, a third party (Jewish organization) was supposed to provide yarmulkes. Looks like it fell through.
I actually want to watch the game, so after the second period ends (7:37 remaining), I'll finish the quest for a Panthers yarmulke.
JUST SAW A STACK OF YARMULKES CLANDESTINELY HANDED TO A MAN IN A SUIT WTF.
Confronted gal who had custody of mysterious yarmulkes - in charge of sponsorship. Showed her NHL press release. Sent to client services.
Second intermission. Off to confront client services. #yarmulkegate2010
According to this dude: group sales only. Mailing some to season tix holders... & now us
After all this goes down, the Florida PAnthers finally mande an announcement. Sort of.
*Tonight's giveaway was not an actual giveaway to everyone that attended, just those that bought a special pack for the game...
Then, after sending this out via Twitter they went back, and actually changed information regarding this event on their website. Like I said, there really are no words.
I'm not surprised that this went down. It really is a good way to sum up the organization as a whole. Lots of promises they can't keep, disappointment, half-arsed apologies, and no ability to admit they were wrong.
Now, I admit it was pretty silly to pester people about a scrap of cloth with a Panthers logo, and really, it is incredibly silly. If the stupid thing doesn't show up in my mailbox within the next week I'm going to be able to go on with my life.
But, the next time I think about seeing an NHL game I'll think twice about heading to Sunrise. I'd rather travel the same distance to Tampa and give my money to the Lightning. Because honestly, the Everblades, an ECHL team that's afraid of technology and their fan base, runs a tighter ship than the Panthers. And that's sad.
There really isn't much to say about this video it's just plain hilarious:
I'm just happy to see a player actually enjoy the dumb stuff the team puts them through. I'm also happy to see a player with some on-ice personality.
On a quick programming note, the Blades are back in town after they went 5-0 on their road trip. They now have the 2nd best record in the entire ECHL. This week they take on the Greenville Road Warriors, the only team with a better record. To say this will be an important series is a little bit of an understatement. If you haven't made it to too many games this season, now's the time to show up and make some noise. This season's team is one of the best we've had, time to show up guys.
The D2 Eagles took away wins for the weekend, as well did the D3 Eagles vs USF Bulls. This mornings game was the last of the semester for the Eagles, but they return to the ice in January. First they must hit the books, ace their Finals and head home to their families and friends. On behalf of FGCU Ice Hockey and everyone in between, have a safe and great Holiday. . .we will see you next year.
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.
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.
Games 3 & 4 TONIGHT of FGCU vs CANADA (FIVE GAME HOCKEY WEEKEND) ! Come support your Eagles and local charities by bringing an unwrapped toy to tonights game for TOYS FOR TOTS! Take a break from studying to cheer on your EAGLES!
GAME TIMES Saturday D3 (vs USF) at 630 PM Saturday D2 (vs Ice Warriors) at 9 PM Sunday D3 (vs Ice Warriors) at 11 AM
free parking for all; free admission with student i.d $5 non FGCU fans FGCU HOCKEY tshirts will be sold for $5
*****PLEASE BRING AN UNWRAPPED TOY TO DONATE TO 'TOYS 4 TOTS.' YOUR EAGLES WILL BE BRINGING THESE TOYS TO THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF SWFL*****
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.
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.
I'm a little late today, but last nights Eagles game went to OT and a shoot-out after starting at 8:30, so you can imagine it was quite late after I drove all the way back from Estero. Also, it's cold (for Florida) and it's just impossible to get out of my nice warm bed when it's really cold out.
Anyway, here's your late serving of nice hot links.
- Tonight's Everblades game won't be on the radio, you'll have to head over to this site to get a stream of the game. If your Internet is as cruddy as mine you can still catch the game, I found an app in the Android market (and I'm assuming the apple store carries it as well) to stream the game to your phone. Just do a search for "uStream viewer," once you get that downloaded search for "Everblades" and you're set.
- I did take pictures of last night's FGCU game. You'll be able to see photos of the D3 squad in action over on the Blogs Flickr page Saturday afternoon.
- I just downloaded this book on Jean Beliveau to my eReader (I may have just found the power cord after two weeks of searching and not being able to read). I'm really excited to read about such an amazing player.
- On the same note, Greatest Hockey Legends has an amazing post on him.
- Someone's found yet another creative use for hockey sticks, picture frames!
- So, a certain annual celebration is coming up and lets just say I'm hoping my loved ones know what kind of cake is needed for said celebration.
- I'm probably the only person fascinated by a very old interview with a Zamboni driver, but here's the link anyway.
Come support your D2 Eagles as they fight for a win vs the Ice Warriors; D3 lost last night in a headstrong fight in OT which led to a shootout. Your D3 Eagles are on the road vs USF, but return to home tomorrow. . .Be loud, be proud & GO EAGLES!
GAME TIMES Friday D2 (vs Ice Warriors) at 830 PM Saturday D3 (vs USF) at 630 PM Saturday D2 (vs Ice Warriors) at 9 PM Sunday D3 (vs Ice Warriors) at 11 AM
free parking for all; free admission with student i.d $5 non FGCU fans FGCU HOCKEY tshirts will be sold for $5
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.
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.
Some of you may remember last season's edition of Seeing Stars. I had so much fun with it last time, I think it's about time to bring it back. If you're interested in finding your match you can head over to the site I used (although you do have to register with them). I refuse to put my picture in though. I just know I'll end up with Dame Edna as my match and won't be able to leave my bed for a month.
