WEDNESDAYS #4 vs. BLACKHAWKS:

(vol. 17W, no. 4; newsletter by k.r.)
The warning “Beware the Ides of March” has a certain relevance on the day that I'm writing this — Monday, March 15. It is five days later and I must try to remember what happened at last Wednesday's game against the Blackhawks. But let's press on ...

8-3. Not as bad as the score indicates. It almost seemed as though they scored every opportunity we gave them. In the league, eight chances is not that many and if two or three bounces went our way we would have been right in it. The Pirates took the game to them, but in the end it was not enough. Even Chris G. (last season's PIM league leader) did his part by staying out of the sin bin and allowing us to benefit from his fine play. The 1st period was played to a draw. The Pirates came out and held a 2-1 lead until late in the period. Evan Miller scored first (on a feed from Russ), and then Chris netted one (assist to substitute Scott LeMatty). We were playing well and keeping to our positions.

The 2nd period was the beginning of the end. We skated with only five forwards and fatigue started to show. Without two full lines on “O” and “D” we began to leave holes and the steady Blackhawks made the most of their chances, scoring three in the 2nd and three more in the 3rd. Keith would add a meaningless goal to make the final 8-3. The game was alot closer than the score indicated but the result was still a loss. Although it gets frustrating to always play the “A” teams, if you stop a look around we seem to be getting better after each effort.