Papa Roach: "Lifeline"
And so, in we go for another review of a weekend which had some fun, rivalries renewed, and a statement of intent from north of the border...
So, that one hasn't calmed down some after all, then: Sheffield and Cardiff shared the honours in a fiery double-header, roughing penalties a-plenty and a scrap between Matt Towe and Jeff Hutchins on Saturday in Cardiff's win being followed by a niggly game on Sunday which saw the Steelers come out on top, although with somewhat more ease than the 5-4 penalty shot win the Devils came away with on the Saturday, mainly thanks to a superb Jeff Legue hat-trick in their 6-3 victory.
Meanwhile, in Coventry, Thommo is on his bench, and all's right with the world again:...thanks to a two-win weekend for the Blaze, although they did their level best to let Belfast back into the game on Saturday, much to the chagrin of the crowd watching the live stream in Crosby's back at the Skydome-Pat Bateman scoring a hat-trick in a losing effort has to be one of the efforts of the weekend. That was followed on Sunday by a hard-fought 4-2 win against Hull on Sunday which saw the Blaze huff, puff and eventually blow the Stingrays house down, although as we'll see, that came with a bit of luck...
The scoreboard only says that you score, not how you score them..: a fact which Blaze forward Joe Henry will be more than grateful for this morning, after his man-of-the-match performance (an award which would have been well deserved even without his score) was capped off by probably the easiest goal he or any Blaze forward ever score, as a shot from Weaver hit Tommy Sandahl's pads, then Henry's skate as he was already turning away looking for the rebound, and dribbled in without either player knowing a huge amount about it. It was also the game-winning goal, which means that, somewhere, the hockey gods have a sense of humour sometimes...
As far as season openers go, that's one of the better ones they've ever had: Edinburgh finally entered the fray this weekend, and started off with a two--hatrick performance (Scott McKenzie and Simon Lambert the men having dream debuts) and three more for good measure as they tanked Hull 9-2. Owen Fussey and Chris Allen also opened their accounts, while Darius Pliskauskas hit the other. However...
Wince of the Week: Doug Christiansen-one game, one slightly misjudged check, one shattered kneecap and a damaged pelvis to boot. Ouch. Best wishes to one of the more likeable big, nasty power forwards of the British game as well as a fast-improving coach-let's hope that this doesn't derail a promising Caps season...
But then, they didn't do badly without him: On Sunday night, however, the Caps very nearly pulled off a win that would have really put the Cap amongst the pigeons, losing 4-3 to Nottingham in overtime thanks to Jade Galbraith, after Owen Fussey had pulled it back from 3-1 to 3-3 with two unanswered third-period strikes. Murrayfield will not be a nice place to go this year if you're playing for the opposition, it seems.
He's still going, people: Matej Kralj continues his scoring run-he didn't hit the net himself against Belfast after scoring the night before, but he did get himself an assist to extend his point-streak another weekend...and his run against British teams too...However, the Vipers themselves only earned themselves two points from a possible four, after another hot player, Jade Galbraith, led Nottingham to a 4-3 win in Saturday's top-of-the-table clash.
Well, it seems he's trying so far: Jade Galbraith, points-scoring leader with 6+6 from six games...not a bad way to convince your crowd that you're making an effort this time...
And, just for those who thought he was losing his touch: A quick drop to the EPL shows a Manchester result of 7-4 against Basingstoke. A close, but fairly unremarkable scoreline in the course of the season-until you bear in mind that four of the Phoenix's goals were scored by one man, that man had had one training session and been in the country 24 hours, and barely knew what his new team-mates looked like, with the possible exception of two...
And people said that Ed Courtenay would take a while to adjust to playing hockey again. Be afraid, EPL goalies. Be very afraid.
That's your weekend reviewed...apologies it's a little late...
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