On Frozen Blog

I’m a blogger banished to the American League on a behavioral conditioning assignment. As banishments go, Hershey’s hardly a hardship. If you’ve read this blog for three months, you know of my affinity for this community, its state-of-the-art rink, the quality people surrounding the team, and its unrivaled hockey heritage.

There’s a lot more to recommend this visit. This Hershey Bears’ club, which a month into the season appeared to be in rebuilding mode, is today 21-14-0-2. They’re nine points back of first-place Philly but just three points back of Wilkes Barre for second. The Bears lost last night in Wilkes Barre 3-1, where BJ apparently stood on his head to keep the game close. No wonder he got called back to D.C. so fast. Anyway, big-time turnaround going on here. Sound familiar?

It’s also the first-ever visit to Giant Center by the first-year Lake Erie Monsters. That’s historical, not in an alert the National Archives sense, but quirky novel enough as inducement for me to drive up on a January Saturday night with the Caps idle. When the Monsters unveiled their logo prior to the season, we had a little fun with it. Tonight, too, there’ll be some prospects I haven’t seen play in Bears’ sweaters, like Daren Machesney and Patrick McNeill. And Chris Bourque is recently returned to the lineup recuperated from a concussion.

Machesney is fast becoming a real story here. He’s 11-2-1-1 with a 2.02 goals-against and am epe-popping .933 save percentage. As Caps’ goalie prospects go, I’m not sure he was on the tips of too many Caps’ fans tongues three months ago, but I wasn’t long in the Hershey press box tonight before a handful of writers and Bears’ folks brought him up to me.

Eric Fehr played last night in Wilkes Barre but is getting tonight off. Understandable that the Bears wouldn’t want him going all three games this weekend. He’s likely to play tomorrow.

Josef Boumedienne is making his first appearance for Hershey tonight since December 1.

Stephen Werner scored his first goal of the season on a nifty shorthanded breakaway just 2:08 in. Then: the Monsters, on a Jeff Jillson tally, knot up it just seconds later.

The PA announcer may earn his stipend tonight: still not 5 minutes in, and three goals are already up on the board. 2-1 Bears on a Jason Morgan marker.

And not five minutes in, we have the evening’s first Louis Robitaille dance card, with Monster Mitch Love. A lot of prelude and prancing, but a decent tilt that I’d award the slight decision to Robitaille, though Love definitely got some un-love blows in.

It’s really enjoyable seeing two promising forward prospects — Andrew Joudrey and Andrew Gordon — skate on a line together, and at the 7:13 mark, Joudrey made a superb centering feed from the half boards that Gordon blasted home. If Hershey scores a fourth here in the first, will Monster netminder Tyler Weiman get the hook?

Speaking of getting hooked, I mean hitched, Oh My God, another marriage proposal at another hockey game! She said yes, but it took her a while. On this weekend when I’m trying to remind Mr. Leonsis of my virtues, being a bit of a Cupid karma in rinks is one, no?

16:12 into the first: Lepisto with a well-aimed, low bomb from the right point that Andrew Gordon deflected past Weiman. Weiman’s still in, but there was nothing he could do on that one. It was a superb redirect by Gordon. He’s doubled his goals on the season (4) after just one period tonight.

One uber-impressive period in the books: 4-1 Bears after one.

During the first intermission, I was invited to join Bears’ radio voice John Walton for a chat during intermission two. I wonder what he wants to talk about?

Two Lake Erie power play goals in the first 10 minutes of period 2 drew the Monsters to within one, 4-3. The second extra man goal came from Jamie Lundmark, the former New York Rangers’ top 10 pick (1999), on a 5-on-3. Ten-and-a-half minutes into the second frame Chris Bourque sprang out of the penalty box, gathered in a center-ice feed, and showcased some superb pull-away speed on a breakaway. He made a strong move on Tyler Weiman but was thwarted on a nifty right-toe save.

Hershey charged back in the period’s second 10 minutes. Sami Lepisto from Stephen Werner and then Andrew Gordon earned the first professional hat trick of his career at 15:38. All manner and color of seasonal hats flew out onto the Giant Center ice. Weiman got the hook after Gordon’s hat trick goal and was replaced by Mike Wall. Hershey had once again seized control of the game: 6-3 after two.

During the second intermission I had a great visit with John Walton for about 7 minutes on his broadcast. We launched straight into a chat about Bruce Boudreau’s remarkable run in D.C. I told John that I’d driven up from Washington this Saturday to personally thank the Hershey community for sending Boudreau to us, and then delivered the bad news that I didn’t think it was a loan.

“I don’t think you’re getting him back,” I said.

Walton mentioned how impressed he was by some recent Capitals’ victories, particularly in Montreal last Saturday. I told him that from visits I’d made to Hershey the past couple of years I recalled Boudreau’s Bears being distinctly resilient, winning games after falling behind, and how now I was seeing the same thing with Boudreau behind the Caps’ bench. The Caps, I told John, fell behind 2-0 in Montreal and stormed back to earn a stirring victory in overtime. And they’ve done this with some frequency the last six weeks.

We also discussed blogging’s big impact in Washington a bit. John asked me how things came together as they did for OFB, and I pointed out that we were fortunate to be in absolutely the best market in the NHL for this work. The Caps, I said, are simply the leaders in all of professional sports in terms of recognizing where media is heading and getting out in front of it. I specifically referenced the team’s inclusion of bloggers in the press box, and how welcoming they’ve been out at Kettler for events like the mid-summer Rookie Camp and autumn’s training camp.

John, who’s fast become another superb friend I’ve made from this venture, also heaped some lavish love for OFB to his listeners near our segment’s conclusion. We had a trying week here of course, and so I was deeply appreciative of his support.

A lone Monster goal in the third period accounted for the game’s final, 6-4. Daren Machesney wasn’t brilliant tonight, but he did face 36 shots, and with 1:40 left and the Lake Erie netminder pulled he made a huge glove save to keep it at 6-4. So he’s now 12-2-1-1, and after the game I asked the Patriot News’ Tim Leone is Machesney might supplant Freddie Cassivi in net.

“Nah.”

The game’s three stars, selected by Don Scott of the Lebanon Daily News:

1. Andrew Gordon (easily)

2. Stephen Werner

3. Sami Lepisto

I also asked Tim if he’d ever recalled a coach being promoted from the American League on going on to win the Jack Adams award the same season. It’s not easy to stump Tim on any question about the American League, but this one had him puzzled. I bet he emails me the answer before I make it back to D.C. tonight.