Blaze v Aalborg running diary

18:28: And so here we go! We are live in Aalborg, with Geoff Foster, and Andy Buxton, with 120 or so Blaze fans making a nice amount of noise. Including the four who stand down by the front of the plexi at the Skydome. For some reason Aalborg are playing Bob Sinclair as the music...which can see me having the odd dance, were I there.

18:31: We start with the triple C line...Carlson, Cowley and Calder. Apparently Aalborg are going to come straight through the middle of the ice. Weaver comes in for a shot which JUST gets saved. Amusingly, all you can hear are the Blaze fans, as the old "When the Blaze go skating in" kicks into play.

18:34: Would it be a bit unfair to expect Geoff and Andy to learn the names of one or two of the Danish team, just in order to make things a little clearer to us at home? Meanwhile, there's just two or three Blaze fans singing.

18:41: Powerplay. Blaze seem to put out the line of Carlson, Calder, Huppe, Cloutier, and Weaver. Otherwise known as the "no f-ing way" line , as in "no f-ing way are you stopping this line from scoring"

18:45: Penalty gets killed. Cloutier comes close, Moore also comes close, but it seems to be a bit quiet. Aalborg sound like a better version of Hull at the moment-you hardly hear the Danes shooting. It's still noisier than the Metro Radio arena in Newcastle, though, Vipers fans. :)

18:50: "It's going to be a great tactical battle?". Hm. It's not sounding a bad game, and the No F-ing Way line is back on. In the Elite League, you'd be able to smell the fear of the oppositin fans with that five out now...

18:52: The Danes play Van Halen! Yes! Welcome to Denmark, where it's always 1985!

18:55: Geoff's managed to confuse David Vychodil (6'2, 213lbs) with both Neal Martin and Adam Calder in one period, both of whom are a little smaller. This is easy to do. In my first or second season, way back when, I managed to confuse Mike Ware (6'5, 215lbs) and Vezio Sacratini (5'8, 170lbs), much to my embarassment. Hey-I was watching the numbers, and 26 and 28 look similar, particularly on those old London Knights shirts.

18:56: Aalborg score. Bjarke Larsen puts a delayed penalty goal in after Carlson did his hooking thing...

18:57: Has Andy Buxton ever commentated on a game that wasn't a "great spectacle"?

18:59: End of the first period. It's not bad so far, from the sound either on the ice or the commentary off it...Right. Off for a toilet break. Back in twenty minutes with the second period...

19:14: And we're back in Aalborg! They're playing Hermes flipping House Band as we start the period...

19:16: There are two Cockneys in the Danish crowd, by the sounds of things...all you can hear is "KARM AAN ARLBERG!" back and forth...Blaze back on the powerplay...

19:19: We've got a name for one of the opposition! The Aalborg goalie is Peter Hirsch, everybody. He's just made a save from Weaver. Still nowt happening on the powerplay, though.

19:21: Both commentators have called Aalborg "Salzburg" in the past thirty seconds. Is it Saturday already and I've missed it?

19:23: Two Aalborg players have names now-Henrik Blomqvist and the Blaze's Matty Soderstrom have a verbal or two.

19:30: Penalty kill. Huppe goes into the box for High Sticks. Andy comes out with "there's no point arguing, they can't understand you anyway". Forget that most Swedes and Danes speak good English...

19:34: "Watkins tries to rim one for Vychodil" is followed by "Cowley's on his knees and sliding into the crease". The non-ice-hockey watchers in the CWR studio are cringing, thinking that there's reckless innuendos coming out of the sport...:)

19:42: Blaze are now 5-on-3, and Aalborg score just as the 5-on-3 ends. Trouble is, the penalty hadn't yet expired. So Blaze are still a man down. Still-Herning went 2-0 up, and Blaze managed to come back against Danish opposition then, so there is hope...

19:50: "A thousand years ago, they gave us the Vikings. It's taken a while, but we're invading them this time-to win". The CWR ad-writing team, everybody! Loving their work. Blaze are 2-0 down at the end of the second and Rumun (Ndur) sums up the task with "we've got twenty minutes to score twice. We can do that". Now it's rugby-union time, so another toilet break beckons. Back in twenty minutes for period three...

20:05: Mmm, lamb stew....We're back for the third period...two minutes late, but it doesn't sound like owt has happened..

.20:06: I speak too soon. Cowley gets close...I have to admit, I thought I'd have to quickly swallow my lamb stew in order to celebrate a goal, there...

20:07: The Aalborg DJ has heard the dubious reactions of us in the UK-a bit of Metallica's "Whiskey in the Jar" raises a smile...

20:10: Blaze are absolutely murdering Aalborg possession-wise at the moment...several chances go begging. In another upset, the Danish DJ (who we'll call Magnus, for ease's sake) follows up Metallica with Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls"...
"whoa, won't you let it all hang out, fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin' world go round"...
Now that song will be in my head all night...and on a night out in Coventry, that is not a song you want, for fear of giggling when you see the dancing in Jumpin Jaks round about 2 am...

20:13: Ouch...we just heard Danny Stewart hit the ice from 400 miles away. Without the radio...

20:14: "Sweet Child O'Mine"?! Magnus the DJ has turned it right around from the first two periods...Meanwhile, Moore rips one just wide...

20:17: Now Magnus has lost it...we've got Danish dance back. Back on the game-erm-what? Where did the last ten minutes go, cause there's only seven minutes left...

20:20: Can you say the phrase "hot goalie"? Hirsch is stopping just about everything...

20:23: It's all gone quiet now. And Hirsch has stopped another one! Stewie could have flicked that one in, by all accounts-a rebound right in front of him.

20:25: Hmm. Make that 3-0. Three on one breakaway and Aalborg sew up the game through Tobias Holm. Apparently there's been a load of "decorative stuff" dumped down the far end. The word is "confetti", I think...

20:27: The Blaze fans finally make some noise again-a bit late at 3-0...and Magnus pulls himself back up again with a bit of AC/DC...which wakes the two Danish Cockneys up...

20:29: The scoreline isn't fair, apparently. A good point-I'd love to see the shot count for this game-Hirsch has absolutely stood on his head in the Aalborg goal.

20:33: Andy channels his inner Jerry Springer as Geoff asks him for his "final thoughts", which add up to "Hirsch was awesome, and the Aalborg players know that. Blaze played well, but the Danes did their job and took their chances"

20:35: And so that's that. Nothing to add from me, really...there is no way I'm hanging around to listen to Steve McClaren, so here ends the first running diary...back tomorrow, I hope.

Hope you enjoyed it, and keep your eye on the puck...