Last night was the Blades annual teddy bear toss, and it didn't quite go as planned. The Checkers managed to score twice in the first period, and once in the second. The problem is the Blades didn't manage to score at all. With about 1:45 left in the second a close call led to some people throwing bears early, which led to other people throwing just because, eventually the announcer told everyone to go ahead and toss their bears. It was the largest crowd so far this season and there was a ton of bearsand other stuffed animals on the ice, and they didn't stop for quite a bit. A video Woody from the Blades blog took (mine won't be up for a while).
They ended up playing the last 1:45 at the beginning of the third, and then switching sides and playing the third. In the end the Blades were unable to score and the Blades ended up losing 3-0. Some of the awesome pictures I was able to take from the great seats I got for that game...
The next series will be against the Wheeling Nailers, one of the worst teams in the ECHL right now, and maybe the Blades can get something out of that series. The first game of the series will be next Wednesday, and hopefully the Blades wake up by then.
For the first time in a long time the Blades had a good first period. They actually played pretty well for most of the game. Unfortunately, they lost 1-4 to the Checkers. They had some chances, including a 5 on 3 for 22 seconds, but they weren't able to take advantage of any of them. As you can see from the updated roster, there are a lot of key guys missing or injured. That's no excuse, but I'm sure it's hard to get into a groove when no one is around or healthy for very long.
I do have some pictures from last night...
I will be going to the teddy bear toss tonight (I finally took some time off), and tweeting live as usual. I'm ready for a good game tonight, and I'm definitely ready to get the toss on video, and get tons of pictures. I also found a sweepstakes to win a trip for two to see the ECHL All-Star game, good luck!
A quick Round-up from Wednesday's game: The Blades won in OT, and it was quite exciting. The first period was very physical, but the Blades were sloppy and Brusty let in three goals. Cameron put Morrison in goal for the second period, and the rest of the guys seemed to wake up. The Checkers were held off and the Blades managed to come back and force overtime. Duffy, Buck, Reed, and Lang all scored, with Lang scoring the overtime winner. Some pictures I took (including Big Red's awesome stache/beard combo and the poster they gave away)...
There has also been a ton of roster moves in the last two days...
- Ernie, Hoffman, Reed and Pistilli have been called up to the AHL
- All the call-ups have left the roster very depleted, to fill in some holes the Blades have signed veteran Paul Healey (stats here and video below, I won't hold being an ex-Flyer against him if he's good), as well as a short term contract for ex-Blade Bill Kinkel (stats here, remember him?).
I hope everyone is ready for Mac & Cheese night! I will be Tweeting live from the game as usual. I will be going to Saturday's game as well; I have my teddy bear do you?
The Blades start their home stand tomorrow (remeber to bring canned goods tomorrow), and until then here's some random things to keep you entertained until then.
-This gallery of Zamboni's is pretty awesome, the one with the flames is awesome! Also, I'd love to have that Zamboni cake for my Birthday (hint, hint). Also, I want to drive the Zamboni tees make excellent Christmas gifts (hint #2)!
- Great article on the Blades radio-analyst Dave Clark over at NDN.
- Poor Tebow, he's stunned. Someone call me when he takes up hockey, then I'll care about him.
- Voting for the AHL all-star team is underway, and Amerks player Graham Mink has been named captain, and voting is underway for the rest of the team. Over at Let'sGo Amerks! they're encouraging everyone to vote. Make sure you get in and vote for the boys from our AHL affiliate!
I will be Tweeting live from Wednesdays game! And I'll get a blog post full of pictures up for you guys.
As I write this the Blades are playing their second to last away game in Cincinati. They have had a pretty good road trip losing one game in regulation, and one in OT. They have one more game in Cincinati on Saturday. There have been some roster moves lately...
-Flick (the ECHL player of the month!) has been called up to Albany.
-In return forward Matthew Pistilli was sent down (stats here), and a recent video...
-Aiello was traded to Stockton for future considerations (anyone know what this means?)
-Buck is back from Houston!
There are some promotions coming up, including the snow day this Saturday. Remeber to bring your canned food for the home games next week, you'll get a free ticket to see the College Classic (Cornell, Main, Princeton, and Colorado this year)! Friday is Mac & cheese night, and the Saturday after that is the Teddybear toss.
And finally, some random bits and pieces...
-Great article on my favorirte D-man Zanon, I'm really going to lobby for his nickname to be Big Red anyone disagree? No? Good... Zanon is now Big Red.
-I love that my new favorite Penguin got a hat trick a few hours after I posted the link to the Wikipedia page, I also love that the Rags lost twice. Lets see if this works... Goalies who have scored a goal in an NHL game.
-You won't be able to hear the game on the radio, but you can stream it from SportsJuice.com (Thanks to my Twitter buddy CVClyde for the fix).
- I'm sorry I haven't posted one of these in a while, I think this hideous thing makes up for it.
