But Thunder show Blues how to lose with style Mouser absent due to ‘Charmed’ double-episode
Final Thunder – 4 Stingers – 6 Kirkwood “Lindbergh Blvd. Memorial” Municipal Arena and Multipurpose Plex Attendance: 1 (thanks Rob!)
Mr. Hyde Returns Displaying their finely tuned Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality, the Thunder trudged out of the gates to a 4-1 deficit Tuesday night. Actually, Copeland got us going with a great end-to-end rush that the Stinger defense never seemed to fully respect. They watched him steadily pick up speed all the way down the ice until it was too late. A tardy hook was applied, but Copeland’s backhand was enough to get us an early 1-0 lead.
Then, I don’t know what happened. I never know what happens when the Stingers play us tough. They don’t skate circles around us, but somehow their persistence has us running in circles. We had some good early shifts, including the one on Copeland’s goal. But a few chaotic scrambles and one odd-man-rush later, and we were down, 4-1. Apparently, the beer Thunder drink after a win is a different sort of potion.
At the post-game digestion at Stenson’s house, Walker was naturally blamed. His comedic fall right in front of our bench was alleged to have demoralized the troops and turned the momentum. Never mind that he still managed to clear the zone.
Feldmann made some snazzy glove saves amid those scrambles to keep us in it, but K-Feld can only do so much before he needs to get paid, y’know what I’m sayin’?
And that was that. We're back to .500. We tried rallying the troops throughout the game, but without Mouser’s ground-moving vocals to back us up, it wasn’t to be. But cut him some slack -- running a 'Charmed' fan site is hard work, and holiday orders for the special edition clocks have been off the charts.
So What's The Good News? On the bright side, our power plays didn’t look disorganized last night, with every line creating pressure and scoring chances with the man advantage. And of course, we did mount a late rally to make it interesting - and differentiate ourselves from the local semi-pro NHL team that shat the bed on Brett Hull Night.
Ah yes, speaking of Brett Hull Night: Irv no doubt enjoyed the festivities at Kiel Center from a lofty perch. Rob, too, was there to take it in, but since in the actual game (yes, Blues, there was a game to play, too!) they started off far worse than we did, Rob chugged his final beer, left early, and made it to Kirkwood for a chorus of cheers in the locker room. I couldn’t tell if the beer affected his play, and fortunately, he never belched in my general direction. Unfortunately, Stenson has that job covered.
Other non-disaster highlights included:
“Decoy” Martin netting his second goal of the season from the exact same spot as his first – about a foot above the crease. Funny, at Warger’s house beforehand, Fantasy Camp Goalie Spenard remarked that Dino Ciccarelli’s 500+ career goals probably traveled a cumulative distance of 100 feet. For some reason that came to mind just now...must be the hair.
Hoagland The Greater continuing his anti-Lady Byng campaign with another outrageous penalty. “Outrageous,” as in, he was framed, and the ref wasn't buying his conspiracy theory. The Captain will have to have an old-fashioned Hoosier-to-Hoosier talk with him if this goonish behavior is not corrected.
Stenson attempting not one, but two drop passes on the same shift. If they weren’t intended for me, I would chide him, but Brett Hull Night encouraged me to demand all of our passes, all the time, team be damned.
The hilarious three-quarters speed collision of Garrett and Martin. That was a treat. I only saw it in my peripheral vision, but I heard it and knew based on the traffic patterns that those were my linemates who backed into each other like two old ladies in a Shop ‘N Save parking lot. That’s what it’s all about. Whoever makes it through this season without being hit by Martin better buy the rest of the team a lottery ticket.
There were actually several savory near-misses. A Hoagland two-pack rush here. A Carlton outlet there. A pretty Williams-Copeland combo that just-missed. An open-net rebound going torturously through my legs and Garrett’s legs. And our defense was great all night at both keeping the puck in and pressuring with shots from the points (whatever these mythical “points” d-men talk about are…I don’t know…I never use 'em).
The Saw But that’s all I can stomach to say about the game. Beforehand, a bunch of us got to see good ol’ Chainsaw Warger. He is doing really well, tragedy and injury notwithstanding. Doing his rehab, wheeling around his house, working from home, getting good care from people who have encouraged him that he can do whatever he wants with the right outlook. In addition to losing his leg above the knee, his whole left arm and shoulder were, essentially, shattered.
But it sounds like he had a great, respected surgeon, and though he has a long, long way to go, it’s incredible how far he’s come. I simply can’t express how good it was to see him. While it would have been nice to do the proverbial “win one for the Saw,” I have to say that just having seen him takes much of the sting out of the loss.
Next Game Wednesday, Dec. 13, 9:30 p.m. North County '1960s Memorial' Rink and Cage Home (white) vs. the Inbred Corporate Board Longnecks
As you may have noticed, the site has changed. Sampa, the free-site host, did a version 2 of some sort.
Despite an FAQ that made it sound like allowing one's site to go through v.2 surgery would be okay, there were several flexibilities that surprisingly disappeared with the click of a button. (e.g. I cannot believe sidebars like this one are even narrower than before.)
And I'm told -- miraculously! -- that the conversion cannot be undone. Truth be told, I'm actually quite pissed. But free is free. Sampa has otherwise been good to me.
So I need to sort through site "features" to see how I can make do. Except that I don't have the time at the moment, in the middle of graduate classes and Lighthousehockey.com. (btw, I've removed that Lighthouse RSS feed so that you're not clogged with random Islanders hockey gibberish).
But I promise to touch up the accessories when I get a chance, and return to irregularly scheduled blogging.
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