Blaze Earn Two Points on Tough Weekend
Published on November 25, 2009 under All American Hockey League (AAHL)
Chicago Blaze News Release
Rolling Meadows, Il - The Blaze entered this last weekend perched atop the AAHL, and with a three game home stand, they looked to add to that lead. However, thing did not go as planned for the Blaze. They dropped the first game getting shut out by the Chi-Town Shooters, then beat the Detroit Hitmen, and then fell, in perhaps the most exciting game of the season, to the Battle Creek Revolution.
The theme of the weekend was slow starts for the home team. All three games the Blaze found themselves trailing by two goals at the end of the first period. They were not able to pull back into the game on Friday night, a 7-0 loss to the Chi-town Shooters, however both Saturday and Sunday saw inspiring comebacks from the Blaze.
On Saturday the Detroit Hitmen took a 3-1 lead into the locker room at the first intermission. The Blaze did dent the net first on T.J. Schneider's first goal of the night. The Hitmen answered back with three goals on Blaze back-up goalie Jon Smarsh, who was getting his 2nd start of the young season. The Blaze came out in the second and netted a pair as Pat Lee scored his ninth goal of the year followed by Schneider's tenth to tie the game at three. The Blaze have had a knack for scoring in bunches and that skilled showed again to start the third. Nigel Hawryliw and Lee scored 53 seconds apart with Lee's goal coming at the 2:00 minute mark. The Hitmen evened the score for the fourth time when Sanders scored just 1:10 later. The Blaze followed with a three goal tear with the markers going to Hawryliw, Schneider (for the hat trick), and Arik Lebda. Schneider's third goal would prove to be the game winner. The final score was 8-6 and Jon Smarsh made 26 saves to earn his second win of the year.
On Sunday the Blaze went to the dressing room trailing by a pair of goals after one. The Blaze dominated the play in the middle frame but Justin Grevious stood on his head for the visiting Battle Creek Revolution. The Revs put another pair of pucks in behind Blaze keeper Adam Dekker for a 4-0 lead and it looked that the Blaze were heading for their second blow-out loss of the weekend. That outlook appeared even more certain when BC added a fifth goal chasing Dekker with less the 14 minutes remaining. Captain Joe Pace, finally got the Blaze on the board at 10:17 when he beat Grevious from the right circle. Tony Giacalone and Pat Doyle then scored 30 seconds apart to pull the Blaze within two as the Blaze once again put goals on the board in bunches. Then with just under five minutes to play Chris Affinati wanted to fight the newest Blaze player Shane Heffernan, Heffernan refused, and Affinati was given a two minute roughing penalty. Lee scored with four seconds remaining on the power play to pull the Blaze within one goal of the opponent. With just over a minute remaining and a draw in the BC zone coach Steve Pronger pulled Jon Smarsh for the extra man. The Blaze had several chance but were unable to bury any of them. The Revolution were able to hit the empty net with eight seconds remaining to finish off the Blaze.
Overall it was a disappointing weekend for the Blaze who fell two points out of first place. That said there were several encouraging developments to come out of the weekend's games. Smarsh seemed to gain confidence with the win on Saturday and played much better in relief duty on Sunday. Shane Heffernan looks like he will be a solid offensive player for the Blaze. T.J. Schneider netted his first professional hat trick on Saturday and Kyle Thompson picked up three assists on Sunday. Also, Mark Hammersmith and Bill Horton should both be returning from injury soon to bolster the Blaze blue line.
The Blaze are on the road for three games over the next two weekends. They return home on December 11 and 12 for games against Detroit and Evansville. Tickets for all Blaze home games are available at the West Meadows box office or under the "tickets" tab at www.chicagoblazehockey.com
All American Hockey League Stories from November 25, 2009
- Blaze Earn Two Points on Tough Weekend - Chicago Blaze
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