Our annual visit to the Giant Center in Hershey Pa to see the Devils AHL affiliate occurred last night and for a change,the Devils hung in there and challenged the Hershey Bears,despite the 7-4 score.Honestly,one could even say it was a controversial win and usually I cannot say anything near that after Hershey hammers the Devils squad,whether they were named the Albany River Rats,Lowell Devils or Albany Devils.
The Devils played the Bears to a 4-4 tie for close to two and a half periods until a 45 minute delay due to bad ice in the Albany crease that never got better,but a soft area doomed the Devils chances as Hershey scored two goals that were at least partially accountable to that factor after the delay.
Boos to the behavior of Hershey coach Mark French,who spent time slamming the entry doors to the ice and screaming at the referees about the delay.
Well,Mark,since you aren't that concerned about the surface and its safety for the players,perhaps you should have put your goalie on the end with the issues.?
Poor behavior on the part of French,especially since it is his teams surface that was having the issues.
Moving along from the event aspect,since I have written about that before,I was impressed with some of the Devils that I came to scout.
Adam Henrique was very impressive with two assists and just missed a goal.
Henrique was the most impressive Devil all night and I came away feeling really well about his chances of contributing to the parent club next season.
I also liked David McIntyre,who scored a goal and he showed a high energy game that might need a bit more seasoning,but might be a Devil in the making.
Mike Hoeffel played some,but didn't really stand out as he is getting his feet wet in just his third game as a pro.
Alexander Urbom looks to be progressing as a puck mover and could be a Devil as early as next season with the defensive group.
The final highlight was a fight that saw Hershey's tough guys roll over as Chris Murray tossed Brian Fahey down the ice in a skid and Pierre (3L) LeBlond pound a turtling up Mattheu Perreault.
Watching the youtube one can see Albany goalie Jeff Frazee challenging the Bears netminder Nolan Schaefer to add to the brawl,but his challenge was dismissed.
All and all,I always enjoy the Giant Center,although I have yet to enjoy a result of the game yet!
Two good meals over the course of the day with the better of the two being a long time favorite-the Middlesex Diner in Carlisle PA.
Huge portions,a very reasonable price and 24 hour access makes Middlesex a usual stop after Hershey Bears and Harrisburg Senators games.
The parent Devils were shutout in Buffalo 2-0 last night.
In Lou We Trust coverage here
Photo Credit-Cherie Heimberger
1 comment:
Just a dreadful job by the AHL officials or whomever is in charge of these things.
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