YouTube Tuesday

I completely forgot that yesterday was the blogs two year anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long. It honestly feels like I've only been at this a couple of months. Anyway... happy birthday blog!


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

On to the fun. Today's YouTube selection is a double feature staring two players that must come back for next season to be bearable. Both videos also happen to be from a 6-0 blowout of the Toledo Walleye (somehow this makes it infinitely better).

First up David Fischer:



And now... Mathieu Roy (sign him already Blades [or make the announcement, whatever]):



I have to admit, I'm really going to miss Kevin Reiter. That dude really could call a hockey game. The Blades better hire someone just as good if not better. Preferably better.

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. Walleye (11/19/10)

Normally, I would start a post with something about the Everblades needing to work hard for the win or some cliche like that. I'm too pumped to even go there.

It was a complete curbstomping. There were so many fights I lost count (check out the game sheet, it takes a lot of scrolling to get through all the penalties).

Frankly, it was nuts.

The way the first period started out, it looked like it wasn't going to be anything like the last game. The Walleye really came out strong and put on a lot of pressure. It was apparent that the rough stuff from the end of last game was going to continue. Mike McKenzie ended the stalemate, and his scoring drought, by notching his first goal of the season. A few minutes after that, one of the Walleye decided to pick a fight with captain Mike Egener. It took the linesman a long time to break them up. When they finally did, the Blades captain was sent off the ice with about two minutes left in the period. The teams left the ice with the Blades up 1-0, the SOG were 18-6 in Toledo's favor.



I have no idea what coach Poss said to the players during the first intermission, but I know he needs to say it more often. The Blades ripped into the Walleye and notched 4 goals, three of which were scored in a three minute time-span. Matt Pistilli opened it up with a power play tally, Ross Carlson scored his first of the year a minute later, and Alex Hutchings dealt the back-breaker about a minute after that. Later, Francis Lemieux added a short-handed goal and it was obvious the Walleye needed a miracle. The period ended with the Blades up 5-0 on the Walleye, the SOG for the period  was 13-8 in the Everblades favor.

It was pretty obvious at that point that there was no way the Walleye were going to be able to come back.Alex Imbeault drove that point home by scoring a power play goal  about three minutes into the third.period. The Blades were on the power play because the player who had fought Mike Egener in the first went after him again. They both received game misconducts for continuing a fight, and had to leave. A few minutes after that, a Walleye player went after David Fischer (I was a little confused as to why you'd go after him of all the guys on the ice, but whatever). A few minutes after that, yet another fight was started by a Walleye player, this time it was with Drew Larman. The game calmed down (at least for the moment) and Mathieu Roy was able to get his sixth goal of the season a few minutes later. Three minutes later, the Walleye ruined goalie Jaroslav Janus' shut-out and scored their first goal of the night. From that point on, everything went even more South than it already was.

There were some scuffles, a player was ejected, and next thing you know water bottles were thrown to the ice from the Walleye bench. Needless to say, the ref was not happy about that and the offender, the Walleye's coach, was ejected from the game.

That put the Everblades on a power play. The Blades took advantage and Ross Carlson scored 41 seconds later to make it 8-1. There wasn't much action in the last few minutes, and the Walleye had no way of coming back.
Obviously, it was a great game. A lot of players made the scoresheet. A quick summary:

• Mike McKenzie- 1G, 3A
• Francis Lemieux- 1G, 2A
• Alex Hutchings- 1G, 1A
• Ross Carlson- 2G
• Matt Pistilli- 1G
• Mathieu Roy- 1G
• Mitch Fadden- 3A
• Bobby Raymond- 2A
• Phil Paquet- 1A

One of the best performers of the night  was goalie Jaroslav Janus who made 40 saves on 41 shots.

That bears repeating. 40 saves on 41 shots.

Unbelievably, the local media decided that wasn't enough to earn him one of the three stars of the night. Of course later, they seemed to realize how dumb they were, and they've made him the second star.

The Everblades have one more game Saturday night, to close out the series with the Walleye. I think the chances of it being a wild one are pretty good. Too bad Trevor Hendrikx is still injured...

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.

YouTube Tuesday

Happy Tuesday everyone. I'm hoping now that the Blades have started announcing signings they'll keep it up. Until the next announcement, enjoy this proof that local news stations do actually include hockey in the sports segment. Also, Ryan Lang goal and Brusty in net!



Amazing right? A sportscaster talking about something other than football, high school football, baseball or golf. I would start watching the local news again (and suffer through the inane smalltalk and hideous hair) just to hear some Everblades talk.

Signing Round-Up

(I have no idea how I managed to confuse the Rochester Institute of Technology with the Rhode Island Institure of Technology [I'm not sure it even exhists]. I think it's either too many Family Guy re-runs, or the biggest blond moment ever. It's fixed now, and I appologize for such a huge error. I also want to thank the wonderful reader that e-mailed me)

Just when I'm about to start complaining about the lack of signings the Everblades finally announced the first signing for next season. Bobby Raymond, a defenseman, is the first signing of the Poss era. According to the press release he's a two-way defenseman who played in France last year, and the Rochester Institute of Technology before that. By the way, how sweet is this goal?



 I've taken the liberty of embedding his stats below (much better than sending you over to a site that bombards you with pop-up ads)...




The team also included the usual "quote" from him about how excited he is to be playing the Everblades, Yay! can't wait to play for Greg Poss, and the ECHL feeds to the AHL stuff they always make sure to include. I don't know about my fellow fans, but I'd love to have some hint at his personality. It would maybe get us excited and want the eighty something days until the start of the season bearable. Either way, it's the first of many signings, and now I'm getting a little excited.
 
In sad news, my Barry Brust comes to play with us pipe dream is dead. He's signed with the Binghamton Senators of the AHL. It's good for him, an AHL job is a no-brainer. It's kind of funny that he's taking the spot opened up by Chris Holts' bolt to the KHL (I couldn't help myself). You remember him right? The boys ruined his (short) playoff stint in the ECHL last season.

(Fun Fact: Goal is цель in Russian)

I also find it amusing that if he does get sent down to the ECHL, he'll be playing for the Elmira Jackals and their new coach. Whats his name... Oh yeah, Malcolm Cameron. I don't know if this coincidence was on purpose or by accident, but it's a little weird.
 

 
 
In some more sad news, the Everblades lost their last red-head (I'm seriously sad about this). Dominic Osman has signed with Toledo. You may remember he was acquired from Toledo for Jordan Morrison. He wasn't a high scorer or anything. He was always moving, and always seemed to be playing his heart out, so I'll miss him.

I'm glad the team is finally announcing some signings, there are only so many cat pictures and hockey fight videos on the Internet.

Gladiators Go Down (3-2 & 5-1)

(unfortunately I don't have the pictures from last night's game at this time, I will try to post the pictures soon)

The Blades continued their winning ways against the Gladiators, extending their streak to 5 games.

(The Blades Express is starting to really roll!)

Friday's game was a lot tamer than Saturday's, that didn't make it any less of a nail biter though (The game sheet is here). The Glads opened up the scoring 24 seconds into the first period. The Blades were able to answer back with a goal by captain Ross Carlson. No one was able to break the tie until the second period when Colin Nicholson and Chris Capraro gave the Blades a two goal lead. A third period onslaught by the Gladiators allowed them to slip one by Barry Brust, narrowing the Blades lead to one goal. At the 19:40 mark Ernie Hartlieb mixed it up with a player from the Gladiators, and they were both sent off the ice. The game came down to the wire, but the Blades managed to come out on top 3-2.

Saturdays game was much more physical (game sheet here). The first period was relatively quiet with no one scoring. During the second period the Blades exploded scoring four goals in the second period. Ross Carlson, Mike Bayrack, and Milan Gajic all scored, with Bayrack notching two of the four goals.Goalie Barry Brust had his shut-out ruined by the Gladiators lone tally in the second. Benn Olson traded punches with one of the Gladiators late in the second. This clearly gave the Blades the energy they needed to overcome the Gladiators as two of the Second periods goals were scored after the fight. Brandon Buck was able to score the only goal of the third with an amazing buzzerbeater that is officially listed as having happened at the 19:59 mark.

It looks like the Blades have found whatever it was they were missing. They have been playing some really great hockey lately and the streak has allowed the Blades to tie the Walleye for third place in the American Conference. Next week the Trenton Devils come to town for a three game series. The Blades finished up their roadtrip by sweeping their series with the Trenton, with the Devils coming to town maybe the Blades can gain some space in the standings heading into the last half of the season.

Friday Links

Happy Friday! Here are some links to keep you entertained for a bit...

- The Walleye have decided to add to my collection of ugly jerseys, ugh.

- Ever wonder how much Ref's get paid? This story has some details on hockey, as well as other sports.

- Your Wikipedia Hockey page- "The curse of Muldoon". I'm pretty sure this is still in effect, how do you explain a 47 season drought?

- Time to stock up on USA hockey gear for Vancouver.

- I think this poster speaks for itself...