Wilkes Brarre Roars Back Series Tightens With Pens Win!

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Last night history was made in the hills of Pennsylvania, the WBS Penguins came back from a 3:1 deficit and essentially restarted the series. This morning they will pack their bags board a plane for the second time this season and fly to Chicago to prepare for game 6. You can't help but be impressed by the tenacity of a team like that can come back like that, they played with greater heart last night and that is what in the end carries the day in the finals.

Last night Brian Pochmara did make a few calls, 28 minutes with 10 infractions for Chicago, 6 minutes and 3 infractions for WBS. Wolves columnist Timmy the Heckler has a mantra "good teams overcome bad officiating". In general I concur,, but it wasn't the case last night. Yes, the lopsided penalties did effect the game however the deciding factor was that the Pens simply out played the Wolves. As I see it the end of the game occurred at 6:35 in the third frame when on one of the three precious PP two of the WBS players did not have sticks, the PP ended without a goal. The air went out of the Wolves tires and the rest as they say is history. So we go on to a game 6....

Will the Pens take one for pride?

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It's 3:30 am, 80 degrees and we are looking at a day of thunderstorms, probably starting within the hour. Good thing the team is in WBS. Somehow I don't think the Baby Pens will go down tonight, those guys will win one for pride then hit the showers in game 5. Chicago takes home the cup on Saturday.

Another prediction, its going to be nasty.

Penguins out on the ice flow...Wolves lead the Calder Cup series 3:0

Powderhornhockey
The Wilkes Brarre -Scranton Penguins came out strong scoring the first goal in last nights game. Center Kevin McLean found the hole in Ondrej Pavelec's leather for first blood at 10:44. . It proved to be their best effort of 60 minutes. Soon afterword the parade of Chicago goals would begin. Second period, Joel Kwikowski (5:39), Jesse Schultz (8:20, 13:38), Jordan Lavalle (14:32) and at 16:38 rookies Matt Anderson and assisted by Gui Desbiens and veteran Brian Sipotz all three their first of the playoffs. Third period, saw a new WBS goalie, David Smith but no change in karma. Again a rookie, Mike Hamilton, found the net at 10:01. Leaving the final score at 6:1, there was no joy in Mudville.

Possibly the most shocking observation made about the entire game was the way the arena cleared out during the third period. By the end on the game the original crowd numbered at 6419 looked down to 1/3 it's original count. As a life long fan I know it is painful to see your team inundated in a playoff game but a bit of stamina is required of a true fan, hockey or otherwise. In other words, stand by your team!

We will see what tomorrows game will bring, a Wolves win will yield a short series of 4 games. Probably a bit of a rough one, let's hope the AHL sends it's best on ice crew to manage the fun.

Wolves win first in Calder Cup series , 5:4

The night started with a familiar ritual marked by old superstition. The league was there to present the conference championship trophy to the Wolves, sort of a hollow presentation, for none on the winning team was willing to touch the silver. A long held superstition is that once you touch a lesser trophy in a contest that's the one you will ultimately end up with. As we all know it is quite an honour to take home a conference championship, however everyones eyes are on the lovely Calder at this point. Maybe Mr. Andrews should have waited until the end of the series and presented it to the Wolves before the final ceremony for who ever takes the final silver home. Just a thought, athletes are a superstitious lot, deal with it!

Shortly after this awkward trophy presentation the game started in earnest. It was fierce, both teams came out fighting from the get go. However the Wolves seemed to have John Curry's number in the first frame scoring a total of three times. at 7:15 (Jesse Schultz), 15:06 (Kevin Doell)and 18:31 (Jordan Lavalle) The Wolves went into the locker room to a standing ovation and the Baby pens with eyes that looked like saucers. Whatever WBS coach,Todd Richards said to his team to bolster them must of worked because it didn't take log for the Pens to answer. At 1:11 Alex Goligoski fired one past Ondrej Pavelec and a second followed at 2:26 by Kurtis McLean silencing the previously exuberant crowd. Yes, there was a reason the Baby Pens were here and for the rest of the game they would be happy to show everyone in the Allstate on and off of the ice just why.

For the rest of the game the crowd was treated to a nail biting, palpitation inducing period and a half ending in a hard fought win just the way playoff hockey should be! Before the game I confidently predicted that the Wolves would take the series in 6. After seeing these two teams square off and feel each other out. My more informed opinion now is that the winner will be the team that simply plays 60 minutes+ of hard hockey and stays out of the box. Four out of the nine goals scored last night were on PP. The Wolves impressive PK may have met it's match in the Baby Pens- just stay out of the box guys and save the legs for the dump and chase.

Now here are some images of Calder Cup 2008' Game 1, all rights are reserved, images are the property of Jane Rickard and Powderhornhockey.





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