Split personality. Liking the arts, especially opera, and hockey and Los Toros. I know, I know THAT one is non pc currently. But I can't help it saw some in Spain and got hooked, but good.
But on the other hand right now opera and hockey are in the forefront!
After the soso game two nights ago, this was a wild fast paced, exciting game between two worthy opponents. A funny little tidbit: Aeros Nr. 35 battled Checkers Nr. 35 (net minders) :-D.
Garnering for Kuemper in goal (finally - his fans were so pleased) the Nr. 3 * nomination as he stopped 30 of the 32 sogs with which the Checkers peppered him, even increasing the number in periods 2 and 3.
Considering that the Aeros Only shot 21 sogs on Justin Peters, making this a win in OT was - almost - a miracle. Tonight's Aeros defense was present and accounted for IMO.
Overall I really liked the quality of the game played by both teams. Fast, furious and (almost) no holds barred, even though IMO the Checkers managed to slide past a goaltender interference call or two, despite TWO referees, who called 6 penalties, one resulted in the PP goal by Granlund. Jordan and Medvec had at it to the pleasure of excited yelling and screaming fans, and sat in the box for roughing.
Zac Dalpe (19 ) tries but defense and Kuemper hold him off
Tripping up a Checkerman ;-)
I am totally in awe over the speed, ice sense and well aimed passing that Granlund seems to toss off effortlessly.
On the other hand I felt Cuma lacked some umph tonight, despite doing yeoman's work checking Checkers (lol) opponents often, his slow and often short distance passing almost caused another goal by checkers! Yikes!
Attacking the Aeros net
Caught between Cuma and Kuemper
And what a surprise to see Petersen (11), latterly with the Solar Bears, get his AHL goal in the first period with the help of McIntyre (26).
Larsson whoops it up after his game winner goal
And the game winner by Larsson (with Bagnall) about halfway through Overtime went over rather well to the 7 000 plus fans
YES indeed,
the Aeros achieved a win in OT 3-2 - AT HOME - against a formidable opponent, the Abbortsford Heat (thankfully sans Krys Kolanos and Barry Brust).
Not that Danny Taylor was a slouch in the net for the Heat!
Jason ZUCKER (he's just such a sugar :-) on the ice, he is) with the help of blond locked Larsson, scored the winning goal 5, yes, just Five, seconds into OT.
How sweet :-) THAT was for fans.
OK gang, this was a fun to watch game.
When I consider that the HEAT played their third game in a row, they played well, fast and aggressively,
especially Piskula who scored the evener goal in the Third, sailing the puck right over a prone Hackett, who was literally helpless before him!
Other wise Hackett had a good night, he stopped all but those 2 the Heat threw at him.
Fontaine Goal
Fontaine with Cuma and Phillips scored in the 1.
Piskula Goal
Followed soon by Heat's Olson goal.
McIntyre with Palmieri and Fontaine made it 2 Aeros in the second, and fans were getting ready to celebrate when the
Pesky Piskula scored goal 2 for Heat...............................................
Of course, tempers flared at times, and later when it happened that someone interfered with Hackett, Bagnall took it upon himself to discipline, without a major fight, the Heat who interfered with Hackett...............
see photos.
Sadly, Palmer could not score when Taylor was out of crease with ..the net wide open like the photo at right shows :-)
- that will surely give him some nightmares to come.
Equally sadly Bulmer had to be escorted off the ice..
And at another time the two team captains conferred with the referees about an Aeros goal, which wasn't
while Chilly sits waiting!
But all went well in the end with players celebrating en masse,
and Hackett jumping on top (for a change) of the pile of happy players!
McIntyre, in honor of his Birthday - no doubt, scored the First goal vs. the Monsters, almost single handedly..Broda's assist was added a bit later.
Then the Monstrous (8 over 6.3 ft tall guys) Monsters scored in rapid succession - three in the 1. 1 in the 2... while peppering Hackett with18 SoGs. But our 'third period' Aeros came bouncing back a bit with a PP goal by Genoway with Fontaine, Stretch at almost last minutes of the 2. And in the 3. two more goals by Taffe (maybe his dry spell is over now?), Reed (an other newcomer-for the 2nd time, methinks) and Rau, and Foucault with Stretch (he seems to work out rather well!) and Radja.
Mcintyre on defense
Coleman saves
Coleman a monster goalie at 6.5 and 215 pds and
Hacket at 6.2 but much thinner at 176 pds, seemed about equal in talent.
On Hackett 4 of 25. In the SO he stopped all 4.
Aggression by Genoway
Fontaine Nr. 1 Star
On Coleman 4 of 34. Coleman stopped 3 in SO but let in 2 by Fontaine and Stretch (again -he is 'stretching' towards a permanent position for the rest of the season, maybe?).
Something struck me tonight:
most of the guys scoring points were under 6Ft... Rau, Fontaine, Genoway, Stretch for the Aeros and Mauldin, Mercier and Strong for the Monsters.
Mauldin tries again!
Force Foucault ;-)!
In the end after 4-4 in regulation - one was pushed in by Hackett-really! No goals in Ot and Aeros 'shot out' the Lake Erie Monster, to add points.
BTW
Wellman had an assist with theWhale!
And the Wild lost to Dallas in a Shoot out.. alas.
but in a nice way.
Because..
well, because the Aeros are leaving 2011 with a win!
And are still in 3rd place in the West right after Heat.. which won last night as well, which will please KK fans!
By the enormous effort of Hackett!
Who was listed as the Nr. 2 Star between McIntyre (1) and Penner (2)
Who stopped 38 of 40 sogs thrown at him by a hyper aggressive but almost fruitlessly scurrying Rampage.
Last night at the ATT Center, to which a slew of dedicated, and ultimately very happy, fans traveled.
Well, what more can I say.
I was not there. Aeros 5 Rampage 2. Aeros got five goals on two goalies...
yes, Markstrom pulled for Grumet Morris. Markstrom had a really bad 'ice day'.
While Hackett, according to the Voice of the Aeros, acrobatically managed to make save after huge save! Maybe similar to above!
Now, astute chers readers -
you will have guessed, that I am back on a freshly scrubbed,
free from insidious Trojans and viruses (or ought that be viri?) computer.
After the first day with withdrawal symptoms, lol, I did not miss it abysmally.
Really enjoyed reading BOOKS.
You know that kind that one holds and flips its pages with moist thumb :-)!
The most interesting IMO was Alan Furst's "Night Soldiers".
Of course, I have read one or two by him before. But I felt this one was the most fascinating, yet!
How to describe it? Best I can do is borrow the name from a reviewer "Historic Espionage novel" and so it was. And rather absorbing, too.
Following its Bulgarian protagonist through training at the NKVD (KGB or whatever initials used) through the Spanish Civil War, German occupation of France to his ending up finally in the USA after 'escaping' the long reach of the NKVD, at least that is the assumption on which the novel ends.
Next in line in fascination quotient was "The Lost" by Daniel Mendelsohn, a deeply felt and researched history into the lives of "lost" relatives, interspersed with Torah excerpts. A must read for anyone who is a student of the holocaust and its effect on the generations following. "Snow falling on Cedars" by David Guterson, sort of a court room drama which involves events following Pearl Harbour, the Japanese internment and its long term effects of that. Only to end on a positive note. Well written and gripping, he does let the characters grow in stature, at the end.
"Tell Me Another Morning", an autobiographical novel by Zdena Berger is one of the rare books that provide some insight into the lives of women and girls during the Nazi years, and in the camps. The way the author uses the 'present tense' makes reading it even more stirring.
After that came two 'easy reads' fictions.
The less said the better.. just a few hours spent on those.
But one has to step away from the sad and horrible, just to relax!
And nothing relaxes more that a steamy romance,
or some cleverly constructed crime, fiction...no? :-), :-D!!!
So now you know, chers readers, that having only limited access to the web was rather relaxing.
At least for me.
Ah, you say what about "News of the World"? Well t'was sufficient to just get the biased (alas) condensed versions on the Nightly News (lol).
No real worries about 'catching up' with Tweets, FB.
I may have missed some birthdays.
Or other momentous event?
Maybe!
That a friend was "at this or that place" which by the time most of us get around to reading it, is already old news, :-)!
And new photos posted by friends around the world.
But never fear others will be posted - that is a given.
So a few days without the web was not devastating... after that First Day! Lol.
Between the officiating of the two Referees (Meyer and Croft) nothing resembled the Van Ryn Motto:"Keep It Simple (usually followed by Stupid-KISS)".
I lost count of the many three on five penalties both teams endured.
And some were called rather innovatingly:
Delay of game BEFORE puck drop in Third? Duh?
Closing Hand on Puck? Double Duh?
Others were the usual offenders.
At least in the end they were evenly divided 10 and 10, and both teams made two of them count!
Both Cuma of the Aeros and Pistilli (looked like) of the Checkers went down on the ice and needed attention from the teams' athletic trainers. Thankfully both came back to skate some more.
Neither incident was (apparently) severe enough for a penalty on the other team, this time!
Action around Murphy
Now after an unsually hectic fast paced first period in which the Aeros managed 5 Sogs to the Checkers 13, the score was 1 Aeros - O Checkers..
Eyes-on-the-Puck Endras :-)
Endras simply making save after save - seemingly in most incredible ways...deep butterfly, stretched body, high glove catches, hard blocked shots (you could literally hear the puck striking his pads!)...
Just to recap Aeros Goals:
Taffe, Chenoway, DiSalvatore (1. period).
Foucault, Fontaine, Ortmeyer (2.)
Wellman, Taffe, DiSalvatore, Unassisted goal by McMillan, and finally empty netter by McIntyre, Fredheim all in the 3.
To the far right Ortmeyer and Foucault Goal 2
After Goal 1. PP by Taffe
Samson still looking (for a Delilah, perhaps? lol)
Checkers:
Soryal, Faulk, Staal;
Matsumoto, Samson, Faulk;
and Samson, Terry, Matsumoto all in 2.
Di Salvatore, Foucault chasing after puck
Soryal goal
Sutter (C) consoling Murphy after Houston goal 3
McMillan=Number 1 Star with unassisted goal.
I truly believe this was one of the worst officiated games I've seen.
And the "Third Period Aeros"DID show up again to win this game against all odds...truly!
Almost unbelievable officiating (all those 3 on 5 calls) plus some less than stellar playing by several Aeros (Cuma, Bagnall (he ought to know better after all the years), Broda, Medved).
Did they, mayhap, mishear Van Ryn's "Keep It Simple"?
Well, whatever the case.
Aeros kept Checkers in check - but only by the skin of their teeth - especially in the second period.
Warming up in the 1. (as we now know they like to do).
Barely making it in the 2. (aided perhaps by ref's calls!)
And roaring back as the by now - almost expected - AEROS OF THE THIRD!
Win with 5 to 3 vs Checkers.
.
"The Lost" by Daniel Mendelsohn, a deeply felt and researched history into the lives of "lost" relatives, interspersed with Torah excerpts. A must read for anyone who is a student of the holocaust and its effect on the generations following.
by David Guterson, sort of a court room drama which involves events following Pearl Harbour, the Japanese internment and its long term effects of that. Only to end on a positive note. Well written and gripping, he does let the characters grow in stature, at the end.
an autobiographical novel by Zdena Berger is one of the rare books that provide some insight into the lives of women and girls during the Nazi years, and in the camps. The way the author uses the 'present tense' makes reading it even more stirring.
