growl89
12-04-2006, 02:12 AM
Since i don't have much of a social life i decided to drive the 20 minutes, spend 10 bucks, and watch the minutemen and blaze go at it... suprisingly, i was not disappointed in my decision to skip watching the Giants blow it (again)
The first game started out with the Blaze controlling the puck all over the rink... they have some guys from the Mission Snipers Narch Pro team and they use the same style there as they do here, control the puck and force mistakes... and that's exactly what they did, forcing the MM to take a penalty, after being peppered with shots, Gary Kull found the back of the net on a pass across the crease to put the Blaze up 1-0... Kyle D. played awesome in net keeping the MM in striking distance... the second half saw the same back and forth action with the Blaze having a lot of the attack time, but could not solve the goalie. They took a questionable penalty in that eventually led to a Eddie Baron goal off the far post from havelock to finally beat Wolf in net to knot the game at 1-1. the first over time saw some good back and forth 3 on 3 chances that could have ended the game on each shot if the goalies were not on their game. 2 brutal calls sent Johnny P. on 2 penalty shots in the first OT and he just missed the first one as a sprawling Kyle D. made a great save and then johnny shot high and wide on the second one. The first OT ended... In the second OT the MM got a make-up call that send Chris Havelock on a penalty shot... he came in and ripped a snap shot off of the cross bar... play resumed and went back and forth till the Blaze goalie made a heads up clearing attempt that would have sent Johnny P on a break away, but Kyle D. came out and played the puck, but it deflected back into johnny, there was a scramble, and from his knees johnny scored a back hand low to win the game for the Blaze.
Game 2 was not as dramatic but saw stellar goaltending from Kyle D. and Mike Perry from the Blaze.... the game was back and forth, with the Blaze getting most of the action and puck possesion. A errant penalty put the MM on the PP and they worked it around getting a few shots off until finally Havelock netted a slapper off of the post from the point to put them up 1-0. That is how the half would end. The second half saw solid goaltendind again from Kyle D. The MM would get another PP and this time eddie baron fed jack leinart back door for an easy tap in to make the 2-0... not to be out done the Blaze answered back almost immediatley to make it 2-1. The Blaze would then take over the puck getting numerous chances, including Pudge Kull with a wide open net in front and D'aolsio somehow got across and got his glove on it, leaving the Blaze shaking their heads. The MM got a break when Mike Perry seemed to have a miscue playing the puck and Bill Moy was able to tap the puck into a wide open net making it 3-1 with about a minute left. The blaze would get a few more shots on net before the final buzzer sounded but nothing broke through for them.
over all thoughts on the weekend... after playing in 2 games and watching 4 others i have come to notice a few things... first of all the Conn Blaze are better then their 1-3 record shows and will be a force in the league, they outshot every opponent so far. Second the small rinks in the NE make each game close and exciting. The new Penalty shot rule is not the greatest, focusses on individuals instead of the team. The MM are much better then i gave them credit for at the Beg of the season. ISCA will also be tough if their goal tending keeps up... only 4 goals allowed in 2 games... should be a fun year!
The first game started out with the Blaze controlling the puck all over the rink... they have some guys from the Mission Snipers Narch Pro team and they use the same style there as they do here, control the puck and force mistakes... and that's exactly what they did, forcing the MM to take a penalty, after being peppered with shots, Gary Kull found the back of the net on a pass across the crease to put the Blaze up 1-0... Kyle D. played awesome in net keeping the MM in striking distance... the second half saw the same back and forth action with the Blaze having a lot of the attack time, but could not solve the goalie. They took a questionable penalty in that eventually led to a Eddie Baron goal off the far post from havelock to finally beat Wolf in net to knot the game at 1-1. the first over time saw some good back and forth 3 on 3 chances that could have ended the game on each shot if the goalies were not on their game. 2 brutal calls sent Johnny P. on 2 penalty shots in the first OT and he just missed the first one as a sprawling Kyle D. made a great save and then johnny shot high and wide on the second one. The first OT ended... In the second OT the MM got a make-up call that send Chris Havelock on a penalty shot... he came in and ripped a snap shot off of the cross bar... play resumed and went back and forth till the Blaze goalie made a heads up clearing attempt that would have sent Johnny P on a break away, but Kyle D. came out and played the puck, but it deflected back into johnny, there was a scramble, and from his knees johnny scored a back hand low to win the game for the Blaze.
Game 2 was not as dramatic but saw stellar goaltending from Kyle D. and Mike Perry from the Blaze.... the game was back and forth, with the Blaze getting most of the action and puck possesion. A errant penalty put the MM on the PP and they worked it around getting a few shots off until finally Havelock netted a slapper off of the post from the point to put them up 1-0. That is how the half would end. The second half saw solid goaltendind again from Kyle D. The MM would get another PP and this time eddie baron fed jack leinart back door for an easy tap in to make the 2-0... not to be out done the Blaze answered back almost immediatley to make it 2-1. The Blaze would then take over the puck getting numerous chances, including Pudge Kull with a wide open net in front and D'aolsio somehow got across and got his glove on it, leaving the Blaze shaking their heads. The MM got a break when Mike Perry seemed to have a miscue playing the puck and Bill Moy was able to tap the puck into a wide open net making it 3-1 with about a minute left. The blaze would get a few more shots on net before the final buzzer sounded but nothing broke through for them.
over all thoughts on the weekend... after playing in 2 games and watching 4 others i have come to notice a few things... first of all the Conn Blaze are better then their 1-3 record shows and will be a force in the league, they outshot every opponent so far. Second the small rinks in the NE make each game close and exciting. The new Penalty shot rule is not the greatest, focusses on individuals instead of the team. The MM are much better then i gave them credit for at the Beg of the season. ISCA will also be tough if their goal tending keeps up... only 4 goals allowed in 2 games... should be a fun year!