Goalie Fail.

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Hehehe.  Sorry guys.

AND?

The most consistently entertaining as well as talented man on the team.

Simon Ferguson (in green jersey) is my all-time favourite.  Not just on the team. Not just in the ECHL.  EVER.  He is my boy.  Very soon I will post a lengthy description of why but just know that Simon is the best. And that's all I have to say about that in this post.

Giffen Nyren says "NO" to Toast.

I stopped the always-impeccably-dressed and downright adorable Giffen the other night and told him about the blog.  He laughed for a bit before giving a shy blush. When I asked him to say hello to all of you he froze and stammered.  So I prompted him: "Say you like toast!"   He paused at that...did the adorable puppy dog head tilt thing (oh to have gotten that shot) and replied with a shrug, "I like Utah and I really love this city."

 

Look at the adorable.  Just look at it. Even if he doesn't like toast. 

NO WAI.

Oh Hugo (Carpentier 49) and Max (Tanguay 16) you are so entertaining together.

OH MY! What's this?!!

Idaho Steelhead Enforcer Brad MacMillan brought on specifically to fight Riley Emmerson...and who was defeated within seconds by Riley Emmerson...never returned to the ice after that fight.

He didn't play Friday.
He didn't play Saturday.

All I have to say to that is: ...

You win some, You lose some

Zenyatta didn't stay perfect, but we still loved her in defeat.  I suppose I could say I feel a measure of the same sort of unconditional devotion to my Grizzlies, who played their heart out despite numerous setbacks on Friday and then were called to do so again on Saturday and found themselves thoroughly stomped.  Listening in on the game, I refused to call the situation hopeless; after all the very same night the ECHL saw the Toledo Walleyes pull themselves out of a 5 goal deficit to Elmira to win a spectacularly thrilling game 8-7.   If the Walleyes could make such a comeback, certainly my Number Ones could.  It was not to be so.

Nevertheless I am not irritated with my boys.  I am, however, irritated with those who fix the blame squarely on our "goalie-situation."    Don't get me wrong, losing Andrew to injury during Friday morning's skate definitely impacted our outcome.  Having just lost Jean Philippe Lamoureux to the AHL Abbortsford Heat, Andrew was our ONLY goalie. When Andrew pulled up limp only hours before a significant second game with the Idaho Steelheads, suddenly tossed into the spotlight was a goalie from the Toronto Junior Canadiens named Marc Rinfret.

Now you have to give it up to our boys. Simon Ferguson and goliath-on-skates Alternate Nick Tuzzolino among others did their damnedest to protect Marc and give him a not-so-unpleasant baptism into his first real hockey paycheck.   They also did their damnedest in general on Friday. It wasn't enough, but it was a hell of an effort.   Short-handed, missing Kilburg (on suspension), missing Gannon (called up to all-stars), missing Andrew and relying on the new guy they've only just met. They tried every play, every angle, every trick, everything they could think of to tie that game aside from throwing hockey sticks at the other team...no wait...they did try that too (but they deserved it...*glares at Steelhead Adam Huxley...you may be pretty...but you're still a pest*).

Despite the loss I was proud of the goalie from Québec.  He may have let in 2 goals early in the game on Friday, but he didn't let them back in again (whenever Idaho actually managed to get the puck on the other side).   There were only 10 shots on goal in the last two periods against you...and you kept all ten out. 

Saturday.  Oh Marc...bienvenue à la jungle.

Marc I'm not going to criticize you or tell you something you already know.  What better way to start off your professional career than with the best ECHL team there is? 

And last but not least....you lose some.....you win some.  Friday we lost Tyler Ruegsegger to the Alaska Aces in exchange for Maxime Tanguay.  MAXIME TANGUAY.


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Two Québecers in one day. We got two Québecers in one day.  And one of them is a Tanguay. 

Maxime, my new darling, you require a post all your own.

Why I love the Grizzlies

Simon Ferguson (3) - Scoring  the game tying goal last night with 18 seconds left in regulation. Are you &(^%ing kidding me?!  I have believed in this guy from day one.  He may brood now and then, but he's an entertaining instigator and endearing leader who shows up both with fists and with goals.  *flail*

Riley Emmerson (59) - Take one look at this face:

Now tell me that looks like the face of a man who ripped apart, schooled, humiliated, and thoroughly embarrassed newly recruited man-with-a-bad-reputation Idaho Steelhead Brad MacMillan less than twenty minutes into the game?!  Don't let his LW offensive position or innocent-looking face fool you, this 6'8'', 250 pound, 24 year old guy is an absolute force to be reckoned with.  Example: THIS MAN RIPPED APART, SCHOOLED, HUMILIATED, and DOWNRIGHT EMBARRASSED BRAD MACMILLAN.   Now for those of you who do not know, Brad MacMillan is the former Colorado Eagle who was given out a 22 game suspension, very nearly tossed from the CHL, and barely avoided criminal charges for shattering the face of Odessa Jackelope Captain Dan Van Drunen on October 9, 2010.  See the news report on the incident itself below:

Now look back up at that adorable face.   Yes. That's right. YOU LOVE HOCKEY.

Kevin Deeth (21) - Again don't be fooled. The smallest guy on the team is also quite possibly the most ridiculously cool Center in the ECHL....ever.   You would never believe it unless you saw it.  And as soon as there's video I guarantee you I'll post it and you will be converted to the worship of this man.  What makes Kevin so completely badass?  He is FEARLESS.  I have seen this guy take on defensemen twice his size and weight, check them hard into walls, ignore their taunts, return their taunts, and dance circles around them while scoring goal after goal.   You watch him and you laugh because you can't believe what you're seeing.  I've brought young kids to see the games and they always marvel at Kevin Deeth.  He's worth marveling over.

Marcus Carroll (8) - Don't be fooled! Don't be fooled! Second smallest guy on the team with a girl's name for a last name...and another center, is an incredible agitator. This is a recent development for him I only just noticed and I am super impressed.  Versatile. Clever. Swift.

Brock Wilson (25) - Blink and you've missed him.  Really.  You can't help but notice this man for how fast he is on the ice.  Somehow he's always RIGHT THERE and when he grinds along those boards going faster than everyone else? Pretty hair fluttering under that helmet? Hehehe, you can't help but swoon.

last but absolutely not least:

Andrew Engelage (32) - Goaltender. Grizzly fans once worshiped the very talented Jean-Philippe Lamoureux before he was called up to the AHL, but for me...it's always been about Andrew.  Only recently has he tasted defeat and for a long long while I thought this man never would.  The absurdly tall Andrew is a show in and of himself.  He snatches pucks out of the air like a clone of Carey Price, he stands on his head, he does the seeming impossible.   I saw him lose for the first time a week ago.  Used to praise, used to the awe of the crowd, he took it badly.  His reaction since then reminded me of a disillusioned early Fleury of the Pittsburg Penguins.  He lost three more...back to back...growing more and more frustrated.  But like Fleury, I think Andrew will figure it out and he'll hear the crowd praising him just as he used to...except it'll be to 20,000 people in some rink for the AHL/NHL....which is where he ultimately belongs.

Blame Québec.

I've found most people familiar with ice hockey aren't surprised to learn I was converted by a diehard Montrealer.   Not only does Québec turn out wicked cool (and frequently handsome) players on a regular basis, they also turn out legions of hockey fans who pounce upon unsuspecting horse-racing fans with the enthusiasm of religious zealots.

I still recall when my descent into hockey fandom began. Said Montrealer was flailing over a Habs game and replied to my sigh with: "You are a hockey fan; you just don't know it yet." 

I got my start listening to Montreal Canadiens' games (the French radio version because I did not realize there was an English version for weeks...which I then switched back to a week later after realizing that hockey just wasn't the same in English) over the internet.  Through all of the French, names and personalities began to take shape:  Carey Price. Brian Gionta. Michael Cammalleri. Maxim Lapierre. PK Subban. Hal Gill and so on.  Names from other teams began to surface as well.  Styles of play. Rivalries. Slights. Fights. Etc.  I may not have understood all of the rules (I certainly did not understand all of the French), and I may not have had a background in the history of ice hockey, but I was already figuring out that Montreal was right.  Hockey told one hell of a story.  I hadn't even seen a game with my eyes, but I was hooked...like a child seated in front of a radio in the old days, envisioning a game I knew next to nothing about.  I needed to change that.

Finally in 2010 I attended my first real game. It was ECHL.  It didn't matter that my home team lost...the very next day I purchased season tickets.


And there you go.