Krazy Karl Stewart Returns to the AllState! Rochester Takes 2 points from Wolves wins 4:3

I've written briefly before about Karl Stewart, the Wolves agitator of the past par excellence but there was more to him than that. Karl had a quality on the ice that I value as much as skill and sportsmanship, joy, yes, joy. Karl played with the heart of a kid at 2:20 listening for the school bell and running home to strap them on a hit the pond. When everything is a possibility and life is a frozen pond until dark, when dinner and homework beckon. When Karl Stewart skated he made those of us who were lucky enough to have had such a childhood feel it again, when he scored a goal we were back on the pond with him. This was the Krazy Karl I hope to see last night on the ice.

Stewart was with the Wolves for three years, some of my favorite Karl moments were his break-a-aways, he could go from one end of the ice to another before the opposition knew what hit them. I always suspected he scared the jingle bells out of most goalies at those moments. Sometimes after scoring a goal he would grab the goalies water bottle and take a nice long drink, just to let the guy know he was there. That usually got him a penalty and John Anderson's ire,Stewie didn't do that often but when he did the crowd loved it. If you watched his mouth it was constantly in motion, yipping and yapping especially as he skated by the bench. He was as someone put it a total agitator and we loved him for it, he was our very own Krazy Karl.

I had a couple of chances to talk to him personally ,Stewart once told me he played with "his heart on his sleeve". That was as much a asset as a problem to the team. Krazy Karl was not so much a loose canon but a pistol at times, no question his often ill timed penalties hurt the team. I wondered what might of had changed over the years with the spent in the NHL would he still be the same player gripping our hearts as he took the ice?


When the announcer called his name there were cheers, knowing the layout of the Allstate he had to of heard them. When he hit the ice he was still there our Karl Stewart. Probably not crazy after all these years but still, the heart was there. In his stride, the smile and a few of his moves and a though he left Ondrej Pavlelec's water bottle alone after he scored his goal he did take a long loving look at it.

Believe it or not there was other action on the ice last night. The final score was 4:3, Amerks the last place team in the AHL showed that they are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future. In the last year Rochester has had more than a few blows. The Amerks have changed coaches, almost lost their building, changed affiliations mid year last year and had most of their stars leave for greener pastures. The team that was on the ice worked as a team and the second goalie, Mike Brodeur, well he was a pretty sight to see with that rare goalie "wall" glow. After pulling Tyler Plante at the end of the first Mike Brodeur put in a performance that should make him a starter. It simply was poetry, many will remember Brodeur from his third position with Rockford last year, judging by last night he deserves to move up the roster.

As always her are some images of the game:



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