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Soundin' Off -- the lifeboat

Saturday, October 14, 2006

GFWM*

Alternate captain Jeremy Colliton, like a good leader should, sums it all up in one line. You'll see it in the paper. (Of course, as late as I'm posting, it's on the Web already.)

No one in this franchise's long and storied history had set up four goals in one game, until Blake Comeau did it Sunday.

No one in this franchise's long and storied history had recorded five points in one game, until Blake Comeau did it tonight.

The mathematical trend says bet on him for five goals Saturday in Wilkes-Barre.

Obviously, no one had nine points in two games before. Were I crazy enough to look it up (did enough of that last week looking for three-assist and four-point games), I doubt anyone even had seven in back-to-back games.

Aided by empty-net goals in both games -- both short-handed, too, BTW -- Comeau is on the scariest offensive streak in the franchise's long and storied (402-game) history.

LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: Comeau-Colliton (A)-Regier
Nokelainen-Ogorodnikov-Nilsson
Pitton-Nielsen-Tambellini
Marjamaki-Koalska-(Goulet-scratch)
D: Fata-Berry
Mitchell-Wotton (C)
Halvardsson-Rourke (A)

HARTFORD
Falardeau-Helminen (A)-Weller (C)
Byers-Dubinsky-Jessiman
Korpikoski-Immonen-Moore
Petruzalek/Lessard
D: Liffiton-Girardi
Purinton (A)-Degon
Baranka-Lampman

You look around in warmup and don't see Peter Ferraro and Luch Aquino, and you just go, wow. There's 13 legit AHL forwards here now.

But you also see the youth. Particularly early, there were some shaky mistakes, failures to clear the zone, things like that. Then Fata fought Weller, and things settled down, just like the preseason.

And after Colliton's goal, there was no coming back for Hartford.

Dan Marshall said they're still looking at some guys, getting some guys some extra game time, which is why Ferraro and Aquino were scratches. Tambellini was one guy he wanted to give some extra time; he took the two penalties early, then got some shifts going and played better.

About the worst traffic I've ever seen going into Hartford this afternoon, BTW. No idea why. I had stopped at Tim Hortons, so I didn't mind much.

Whether it's an Internet-traffic thing or a coincidence, stuff from Norfolk and Milwaukee tends to arrive in my inbox around the same time. That leads to fun juxtapositions like tonight's: "Admirals Can't Complete Comeback" above "Admirals Power Past Springfield."

Said hi briefly to Mark Lee after the game. He's doing OK, hoping to get into the lineup when he can. Same ol' smile on his face.

Interesting idea on the Uni Watch blog this morning: Teams that have rounded or symmetrical logos on their sweaters may tend toward higher save percentages. (Or, given the proportions, teams that don't have rounded or symmetrical logos may tend toward lower save percentages.) It'd be interesting to run a lot of numbers and see what they look like.

Seems JB's had some blognical difficulties, too. He returned Friday night with an outstanding reference. It's something in the virtual water, folks... or else someone's just got it in for AHL blogs. Do they go after Sharp next, or cut straight through to Kramer? Stay tuned.

And so we come to Wilkes-Barre, which for me will be like "Game 7 - Observed," with a lot less on the line on the ice, of course. Try to do at least some of the things I wanted to do on April 29. Tonight Caldwell grabbed the notebook out of my hands and said he was going to interview me. The last time he had done that? April 26, after Game 5, a little less than three hours before I ended up in a ditch. Yeah, I'm not that superstitious, but you know what? I took the notebook back from him....

*-The 'F' probably doesn't stand for what you think it stands for. And has nothing to do with the BST game tonight**.
**-(Ahem) So Taguchi?!?!

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