Chicago Beats Milwaukee Admirals 5-4 in Shoot Out!

Leaving the game last night I had already had this entry written in my head, little did I know that when arriving home a computer glitch would cause the photos that would be needed to be lost and along with it most of the power of the argument. Oh well, it is one of the prerogatives of the blogger to be blatantly biased on this bright Sunday morning I am going to embrace a bit of that purgative.

The job of the linesmen and the referees are difficult the amount of physical training necessary for the position is almost equal to that of the players. Then there is the confidence and the poise necessary to know the rules, understand the application and the gray areas to know when to let something slide, swallow the whistle and when to step in. There is a season ticket holder who sits by us, Kieth, who is a retired linesman. Talking to him at games has increased my understanding and respect for these watchers and shepards of the game. However, I also have a lowered tolerance for shall we say the referees that have been with the AHL, a development league for players and referees for two or more years and just don't seem keep up with the learning curve. Mores the pity when lack of control of the tone of the game results in players injuries. Injuries happen at any time but seem to happen with more frequency when players either seem to sense a loss of control or lack of confidence in the referee.

Last night the Chicago Wolves hosted the Milwaukee Admirals, historically these teams have always had physical encounters. Historically even their fans have had physical encounters, in short it's an exciting atmosphere at most Wolves/Admirals games. Last night was no exception , first period started out with a bang Riley Holsapfel scoring first for Chicago at 1:33. Mike Santoreli answered for Milwaukee at 2:18. The first penalties were awarded to Milwaukee's Cal O'Riley, and Kelsey Wilson involving an incident where Wilson stood over Chicago's Scott Lehman as he lay prone on the ice and as he attempted to rise Willson struck him across the shoulders with his stick three times. Referee Terry Kohraski awarded Willson 2 minutes for roughing and 2 for cross checking. Cal O'Riley 2 for unsportsmanlike conduct for adding his opinion on the matter. It is possible the treatment of this incident and the light penalty could of contributed to the general roughness of the game? That is this simple photographers musing.

The following minutes of the game were no doubt exciting, both teams pushed each other to the limit and I have some stunning images to show it. Stevie Martins Chicago's #26 played like his hair was on fire and showed us just why so many fans hope he plays as long as he wants in a Wolves uniform. SOG Drew McIntire for Milwaukee faced 31 for 27 saves and Ondrej Pavlec for Chicago 34 for 30 saves. In total for the night Penalties were evenly handed out, Milwaukee 24 minutes for 12 infractions and Chicago 29 minutes for 9 infractions. However neither team acted like angels on skates, linesmen Al Stensland and Brian Panchic did a great job separating and escorting players to opposite corners.

Enough of thee words, on to the images!





Powderhornhockey