…Well, we lost.
Or, to be more exact, thanks to a (literal) minute of madness from the D in the 2nd period, we lost what was, up to that point a pretty tight game. There were plenty of positives to take from it though. Beauregard looks sharper each game, and is starting to gel with Tony. The 2nd line looks like it will give defences some real hard nights throughout the season. And the PP looks liek a massive improvement on last seasons.
Negatives….well, the D still are not in sync yet. Smurph needs to learn when to kill the puck and when to play it (ie not when the oppositions forwards are bearing down on you), and thats it really.
Now, the much vaunted ‘new’ ice………….
Well, it certainly looked good from the stands. Pretty painted sponsor logos, clear lines, and a nice uniform finish. Down at ice level however, and the ‘mend and make do’ nature of the job became apparent. The ice had clearly been cut down to a level above the old markings, as the patch of sand that was visible infront of the timekeepers/announcers box was still fairly visible. The corner of the pad infront of block 11 is grey, not white (sand showing through I assume), and the gap round the boards has been filled in, but bizzarely not painted, so in places there is a brown.grey strip nearly and inch and a half wide around the base of the boards. And it looked soft.
Personally, I think we will be ina similar situation regaridng the ice in a couple of months. The current work hasn’t really address the fundamental problems with the ice. I feel that the whole pad needs redoing, and I mean the whole pad. Take it right down to the sand, and start again. But Silver Blades won’t do that (too much lost revenue).
And I still don’t have my crested ST holders cup jersey. Ordered through White Magic on the web before the season started, and I wouldn’t really be annoyed at waiting 3 weeks, but folks who orederd through the club office, or from Matt and Becky on the desk after I did ahve recieved theirs already. Went to the shop to ask where my order was……. and they had no idea. I admit I got a teeny little bit angry (no shouting, mind, just a very clipped tone), when no explanoation was forthcoming, but thankfully the ever wonderful Mags from the office is looking into it for me.
Oh, and the pub this week was the Faulkners. Nice beer, clean toilets, but not a very welcoming atmosphere. definately a ‘local pub for local people’.