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Iowa Chops drop pre-season opener to Flames, 4-1

October 4, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Iowa Chops News Release


It wasn't the first Iowa Chops game (officially), but Saturday night was the first time in history that players donned an Iowa Chops uniform as the 2008 Pre-season faced-off with the Iowa Chops traveling to Moline, Illinois to take on the Quad City Flames. The Chops, dressed in their white uniforms, came out hard for the first couple of shifts, outshooting the Flames 4-1 early on in the period. Both teams were hitting as well. A first period scrum after a goaltender interference call on Chops forward Jason Bailey seemed to fuel the Flames as they turned up the pressure on Chops goaltender Dave McKee. The Flames struck first as a 2 on 1 led to a great sprawling right pad save by McKee, but the rebound found the stick of Flames forward Kris Chucko, who was trailing the play and nailed home the rebound off the crossbar for the first goal of the game. The Flames kept the Chops offense quiet the remainder of the period thanks to three power plays, all of which the Chops killed. The first fight of the night came with :12 seconds remaining in the period as Matt Stefanishion squared off with veteran Flames toughman Peter Vandermeer, which ended with both players tangled on the ice after wrestling and failing to land a punch. The Flames outshot the Chops 11-6 in the period.

The Chops took it to the Flames to begin the 2nd period. From the drop of the puck, they were much more aggressive, especially on the forecheck. It paid off just over a minute into the period as a broken 3 on 2 led to Chad Painchaud picking up a loose puck on the left side and slipping it past the glove of Flames goalie Scott Reid to tie the game at 1-1. Matthew Caruana and Steve Gainey had assists. The Chops continued the pressure after tying the game thanks to some Flames penalties and some quality time spent on the power play. Some close chances by the Chops Michal Birner, Bobby Bolt and Ryan Dingle (post) were denied by Reid, but the Chops pressure was evident. Although the Chops only posted the one goal, they outshot the Flames 11-3 in the 2nd period.

The Flames began the 3rd period, taking advantage of a Chops defensive turnover behind their own net on the power play, which led to a pass from Warren Peters to a streaking David Van der Gulik who put the Flames ahead 2-1 with the shorthanded goal. The Flames struck again just two minutes later to make it 3-1 as a relatively harmless shot from the right boards by Brett Palin handcuffed Chops goaltender Dave McKee. The Chops would not go quietly into the night and tried to get the momentum back with back-to-back fights involving Tim Spencer against Jonathan Tremblay, and Matt Stefanishion against Brett Palin, but the Flames continued the offensive heat with some time on the power play. The fighting continued with a small tilt between Sean Hurley of the Chops and Kris Chucko of the Flames, and again between Liam Huculak of the Chops and Brad Cole of Quad City. The Chops Jason Bailey and the Flames Brandon Straub engaged in fisticuffs for the fifth fight of the period. A late 2 on 0 goal by Carsen Germyn sealed the 4-1 win for the Flames. The Chops and Flames finished even for the night in shots with 24 a piece.

Iowa Chops Head Coach Gord Dineen had the following to say after the game... "Overall, I was pretty happy with the game. The guys stuck to the structure the first two periods and I thought we were pretty dominant in the 2nd period. Unfortunately, the shorthanded goal to begin the third period and their quick third goal really took the wind out of our sails. Going into Sunday's pre-season game we will try and create some different combinations to get some different perspective on some guys, but we will look forward to playing in Des Moines."

The Iowa Chops return to the ice with their for the first pre-season game in Des Moines against the same Quad City Flames on Sunday, October 5th at 6:00pm at Bucs Arena in Urbandale. The event is free for Iowa Chops and Des Moines Bucs season ticket holders. The general public is asked for a $7 donation at the door to benefit Des Moines Youth Hockey. For more information, visit www.iowachops.com.

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