Week In Review: 11/13/11 "Dirty Edition"

A lot has been made this season by Missouri Maverick fans about the ethics or conduct of play by Wichita. So far this season there has been one suspension handed down to the Thunder. A two game suspension on forward Alex Bourret for an illegal check to the head. Matt Summers was called for the same penalty but it was later rescinded by the league. Other than that there have been no major incidents involving Thunder players. Unless you count Chris Greene being jumped after a clean check in the corner. Early speculations and reports say Greene received a broken Orbital bone and concussion from the incident. Please note neither of these have been confirmed. Or if you want to consider Matt Summers being jumped after his penalty. Matt has an injured shoulder and is currently on the 10 day IR. It seems to me, as has been pointed out numerous times on the Thunder Message Board, that Missouri fans need to read up on their hockey knowledge. Checks happen, open ice hits happen (ask Gordon Bell), and fights happen. This does not make a team dirty. What makes a team dirty are when events happen which are intended to injure. Tyler Fleck on Travis Clayton. Stacey Bauman on Luke Hunter. These incidents are dirty. What else is dirty? Jumping a guy because you got embarrassed in the corner by a check. Maybe the Maverick fans need to look at their own team before they start judging others. I read on their team Facebook page someone saying the reason they lost the game was because Wichita was dirty. The reason you lost the game was because you could not keep a three goal lead. Why? Because Mike Wakita decided to drop Chris Greene. That cheap shot led to a power play goal for Wichita and the rest was down hill from there. Another fan said she was glad that Greene got hit and hoped he lost teeth. I for one am the type that doesn't like to see any player injured, whether it be on our team or another team. Guys go out there every night and risk their bodies and careers to entertain us. No matter what type of player they are, a career ending injury is sad for everyone involved. Why wish injury on another player? Is your team really that important to you that you'd risk another person's safety and well being to see your team win? Let's get real Missouri, stop with the finger pointing and false theories on how dirty our team is, and start playing hockey. I think a fan said it best on the Message board when he said "They want to call us goons? Fine let em!" I like that, because these "goons" are 2-1 against you on the year.

The week started off for me quite eventful. I was at home when I received a phone call from a close friend, who also happens to be a CHL off ice official. He told me they were short staffed and asked if I wanted to work in the away penalty box that night. I had to check my extremely busy schedule, please read into that sarcasm, and told him I would be happy to do it. I signed a liability waiver and took my place in the box. I eagerly awaited my first visitor in the box. It took 18 minutes for that to happen when Shawn Limpright got called for interference. I often heard stories of players being polite and chatting with you in the box. This was not the case, I opened the door, he sat down and a minute and forty-nine seconds later I let him out of the box for the end of the period. Not one word was spoken. This was not the case for my next visitor. Two minutes into the second period Rapid City's Anthony Perdicaro was called for roughing. He came in visually and verbally upset at the call made by referee Peter Tanaris, yelling through the glass as I shut the door. It was about that time when a few fans sitting behind the box decided to comment on Perdicaro's hair and why he wouldn't fight Erick Lizon. What ensued in the next roughly two minutes, was a display of profanities, innuendos, and adult scenarios which definitely were not intended for the "Family Section" of Intrust Bank Arena. I must admit though, several comments Perdicaro slung out made me laugh. I was fortunate enough to see Anthony three more times during the contest and between all the profanity laced innuendos he was quite the nice guy. All in all it was an experience I will never forget, and one I hope to get to do again. By the way the Thunder won that game 5 to 3 Colin Hemingway led the way with a hat trick.

This was my view from the box.

Friday night Quad City came to town, not much to right about this game except for Dustin Donaghy dispensing of Mallards forward Mickey Lang in quite the impressive fight. Thunder won this game 4-1.

Saturday was my first road trip of the season, and first overall to Independence Missouri. I arrived to the Independence Event's Center with three friends around 5:20. They open the doors at 5:30. We picked up our tickets from will call and headed in. I was asked by a local fan if I was lost, but apparently he didn't know what team his beloved Mavericks were playing that night as I was wearing my Thunder jersey. But I digress. The IEC was a nice venue, about the same size locally as Hartman Arena or The Broomfield Event's Center in Colorado (Home of the now defunct Rocky Mountain Rage). The concourse area was nice, offering several different food choices and wide walkways to accommodate a full house. Inside the seating bowl is staged perfectly for a tight and intimate experience. Knee room was average, but the seats were narrow. They  definitely pack 5,800 fans into a small bowl. It quickly filled up as it was apparent thirty minutes before game time that it would be a sold out crowd. The game operations were done well, providing high intensity music and videos to pump up the crowd. My one large and glaring complaint about the IEC? No main scoreboard. They have two video boards on the walls but no center ice scoreboard. The game started out at turtle pace for the Thunder, Allowing three goals in 6:35. But after Chris Greene was jumped by Mike Wakita, who received five minutes for fighting, two minutes for instigation, and a ten minute misconduct, the tempo seemed to change. Brett Hemingway started it off, scoring on Wakita's power play. The Thunder went into the first intermission trailing 3 to 1, but there was a pulse. Missouri out shot Wichita in the first period twelve to eight. Over the next two periods Wichita out shot Missouri twenty-five to eleven. The second period started out with a bang, when Jarred Mohr fed a streaking Alex Bourret who faked a slap shot and sniped a wrist shot five hole on Charlie Effinger. And right before it looked as if Wichita was going to go into the second intermission still trailing, Aaron Davis got his stick on a loose puck and buried it inside the left post to tie the game at three just fifty-one seconds before the intermission. At this point in the game, sitting there surrounded by around 5,600 crazy Maverick fans, I felt the momentum. I was thinking that this was our game to win. Home ice advantage, the noise, the early three goal lead was no longer a factor. This Thunder team can over come anything. I firmly believe that. They overcame a three goal deficit to Allen and now Missouri. The third period started and Wichita picked up right where they left off. Jarred Mohr took an amazing pass from Alex Bourret and buried it on the power play to give the Thunder a 4-3 lead. But Wichita wasn't done there. Five minutes later the Thunder put the nail in the coffin. Alex Bourret picked off the puck in the neutral zone and headed down ice with Andrew Martens on a two on one. Bourret tucked the puck around the Maverick defender and Martens finished the play by redirecting the puck top shelf to push the lead to 5 to 3. Missouri got a late goal with less than a minute left, but it was too little too late. The Thunder took a hard game in Missouri 5 to 4.

Sunday was not so fortunate for the boys in blue. The Thunder led twice in the game but could not control the lead in Tulsa. Wichita looked tired all game. And after four games in five days I can't say I blame them. Tulsa netted two goals in the final frame including the game winner which was practically an empty netter as Ryan MacDonald was pinned behind the net to win 4 to 3.

Overall this was, in my opinion, a successful week for the Thunder. As I mentioned earlier this week the combined record of the four teams we faced this week was 18-8-3. That record is now 22-14-3 after this week. To come out 3-1 is a success. The power play improved going 5 for 20 (25%) on the power play over the four game stretch. The special teams was one of my keys into the week and going 25% was an upgrade. This week the Thunder play a home and home with Tulsa, Friday and Saturday night. Quite the upgrade in scheduling compared to the four in five situation of last week. I see this team continuing to improve which is scary, in a good way, considering the 8-2 start. At the beginning of the season I predicted this team to win around 45 games. Right now they are on pace for that, but with the continually improving team, that number could go even higher.

Until next time.